Favorite Moosewood Desserts

The grand finale of favorites for you: three of my favorite Moosewood desserts!

To start us off: Stovetop Rice Pudding. I made this with soy milk and agave syrup, but you could go the traditional, non-hippie route and try some cow's milk and cane sugar. The cinnamon in this recipe is perfect and the raisins plump up as the pudding cooks. I just love that.

Next: Danish Cherries! An absolute must over a bowl of vanilla ice cream. I distinctly recall having two servings of this dish ... no regrets. I love cherries: cherry crisp, cherry juice, cherry yogurt, all of it!

Here's my very own pièce de résistance for you: Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake! Yea yea yea, it didn't flip out of the bundt pan perfectly, but who cares?! It tasted delicious and was a comfort to my family on the day my niece was born.


Flash forward two years later and my niece is a healthy, happy little lady. Over the weekend we made fresh pineapple juice together in our tiny apartment kitchen. As we pressed the pineapple wedges down into the juicer she hollered, "Charlie! Come look!" The sincerity and excitement of childhood will always bring a smile to my face.


I look forward to making this cake with you someday soon, Aubrey Clare!


Lemon Blueberry Poundcake
Adapted from Mollie Katzen's New Moosewood Cookbook


Butter and flour for the pan
1 pound (4 sticks) butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
4 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons lemon extract
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh grated lemon zest
2 cups fresh blueberries


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour the bottom and side of a bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar with an electric mixer at high speed until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Set aside.
4. Sift together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Mix together the milk, lemon extract, and lemon juice. Add dry and wet alternately to the butter mixture, beginning and ending with the dry.  Fold the blueberries in with the last addition of dry ingredients. Mix by hand: just enough to blend thoroughly without excess beating.
5. Spread the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until a sharp knife inserted all the way down comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a plate. Cool completely before slicing.

A Happy Taste Notes
The pound cake took much longer to bake than the recommended 50 to 60 minutes. Ovens vary, so plan accordingly.
This is a fusion of two pound cake variations: lemon and blueberry. There is also a Mocha Swirl Pound Cake recipe in the New Moosewood Cookbook. Interested? Email me at alliwri (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll share the recipe with you!