Cast Iron Cake

Everyone should have at least one cast iron frying pan in their cupboard.  Cast iron has so many uses and isn’t just for frying chicken.  I’m not sure exactly who used the first cast iron skillet, but I think it’s associated with the south and southern cooking.

You can use this type of skillet for defrosting meat and other things.  A cat iron pan becomes smooth (seasoned) from lots of use and then things never stick.  You can place it in the oven and not have to worry about burning or melting the handles.  It’s virtually indestructible and is one of those things that get better with age.

Besides main dishes, you can bake cornbread or cakes.  Here’s an easy cake recipe.

Blueberry Muffin Skillet Cake

Ingredients:

8 T. unsalted butter

1/3 cup of milk

1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1 t. vanilla

Zest of I lemon, divided

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup of sugar

1 ½ t. baking powder

3/4 t. salt

2 cups of fresh blueberries

For the topping:

3 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

½ cup of all-purpose flour

¼ cup of sugar

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350°F

Place the butter in a 9 or 10-inch cast iron skillet and heat over medium until the butter lightly browns.  Remove the skillet from the heat and pour the batter into a dish to cool.

In a large measuring cup, whisk together the milk, egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined.  Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk half of the lemon zest with the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add the milk mixture and browned butter.  Gently stir together until just combined.  Don’t over mix; a few streaks of flour are okay.  Fold in the blueberries and scrape the mixture into the cast iron skillet you used to brown the butter.

Make the topping:

Use your fingers to combine the butter, flour, remaining lemon zest and sugar until crumbly.  Sprinkle over the top of the batter.  Bake in the center of the oven for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Cool on a rack for about 15 minutes before slicing and serving.  May be stored at room temperature up to two days in an airtight container

Approx time: 45 minutes

Yield: One 9-inch cake

Another Use for Cast Iron



Who Would Have Ever Thought You Could Do This?


Now I have to admit this is something new I recently learned and it’s so useful and clever I wanted to pass it on. Some of you may know this already and to tell the truth, I’m surprised I’ve never heard about this before.

A cast iron skillet was probably the first piece of cookware I ever owned and I still have that same skillet today. I won’t tell you how many years of use this pan has had. One thing about cast iron is nothing ever sticks in it after the pan reaches a certain state with age.

Anyway, on to the something new – you can thaw food in this pan! It works terrific for stuff right out of the freezer, just set the package in the pan, and put the pan on the cold stove. Within two hours just about anything thaws, including meat, which is safe to leave out at room temperature for two hours. It usually takes far less time than that. You can speed the process up by lining the iron skillet with foil. Of course, this probably wouldn’t work with a turkey because it’s too thick.

This is how it works: Iron skillets conduct heat, even when they are cold. It’s incredible to think that this can happen, but try it and you’ll be amazed.

I usually thaw things out in the microwave, which is not very desirable because it is a science as to which power level to use and for how much time. All this is necessary to begin with because, as I said, I hate to cook and usually cooking and eating are the last things on my mind, since writing and thinking about writing fills up my brain capacity. Therefore, I seldom leave things out ahead of time so they can thaw out to cook later.

I was happy to discover this little trick.