Column from August 5, 2010

 

Restaurant cooking at home

 

Eric and I drove to the Tri-Cities Friday to have dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. After we ate, the waitress asked if we wanted dessert.

This particular restaurant has a lemon cake that I really like. I typically have a slice … or take one home to enjoy later.

However, they have a new triple chocolate cake that also looked really tasty. So, Eric got a slice of the chocolate and I ordered the lemon – both “to go” – and we shared them later that evening.

I have to say, the chocolate was good, but it was very rich. In fact, even though I love chocolate, that cake was a little too much.

Many restaurants have some of their recipes posted online. They are very choosy about which ones they share, though, because many are proprietary and considered “top secret.”

There are now books available that have copycat recipes from famous restaurants and websites are out there that offer even more.

Here are just three sites where you can pick up favorite recipes: http://www.olivegarden.com/recipes, http://www.redlobster.com/lobster/recipes.htm and http://www.outbacksteakhouserecipes.com.

A quick search will also lead you to many other sites that offer the copycat versions of recipes from lots more restaurants. Just type in “copycat recipes” and you’ll be surprised what you find!

Here’s the copycat recipe for my favorite restaurant dessert.

 

Lemon cream cake

1-3/4 cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon lemon zest
6 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup white sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2-1/2 cups lemon pie filling
8 slices lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and 1/2 cup sugar. Add oil, egg yolks, water and lemon rind.
Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.
In a small bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until peaks form.
Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar, and beat until very stiff and shiny peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain.
Turn batter into ungreased 10 inch tube pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Invert cake and cool completely in pan.
When cool, loosen edges and shake pan to remove cake.

To make filling: Beat cream to stiff peaks. Fold in lemon filling. Chill until stiff.

To assemble cake: Slice cake horizontally into 3 equal layers. Fill layers with 1/3 cup of filling. Spread remaining filling on top layer. Decorate with lemon slices.