Vanilla Lemon Pound Cake

I took a course at BBC (Bogasari Baking Center) a baking course by Indonesia's biggest flour mill 2 years ago and now I finally have the time to bake! Since my friend borrowed 7 of my most beloved cookbooks, I am only left with the basic recipe given by BBC. I didn't want to manipulate the recipe too much, so all I did was to change the ingredients from Margarine to Real Butter (it makes all the difference!) and add 6 tablespoon of Real Lemon juice and 1.5 stalk of vanilla bean (seeds only).

The result was not bad, I'll have pictures next time and the recipe itself. It was pretty simple, 20-25 minutes of prep time and then close to 1 hour of baking time.

Next time I am going to add some lemon rind and some triple sec (from Bali Moon of course, since I am really trying to use some local ingredients). I am really hoping I can bake it this weekend, after all the dust of opening www.bukabuku.com has settled (my bones are breaking from lack of sleep and running around office, franctically making sure all orders are fulfilled :-))

All about vanilla

I heard about vanilla bean for the first time on Food TV, Gale Gand of Sweet Dreams was making some sort of custard that look so appetizing. So, I decided to take the plunge and purchase the $3/stick vanilla bean at University Avenue's Penzey's Spice in Madison. I purchased 5 sticks, 2 of which I used in my vanilla ice cream. The first batch was gone in several hours, mainly consumed by my sister and me :-) It became my favorite recipe and I proudly brought vanilla ice cream to any social gathering that required desserts.

In 2005, I left the States for good and return to Indonesia to be closer to my family. Since then, I have been learning a lot about vanilla beans . Vanilla beans are naturally grown in Indonesia and yet, most of the people in Indonesia think that vanilla is that white powder in the bottle from Carrefour or Hero. So, I decided that it is time to introduce what real vanilla bean is to them. I will try recipes using vanilla and post them in my blog and I will also make vanilla beans available for purchase through my blog. I know they are kind of hard to get your hands on, but I promise you they are not anywhere near $3/stick and they are really worth it!!