Dairy Recipe Winner

If you love strawberry shortcake, you will love  Bossy's Buttermilk LeMoo-Cakes created by Aggie Richter of  Boone County for the Arkansas Farm Bureau Dairy Foods contest.  It's a perfect recipe for enjoying dairy products and local Arkansas grown fruits during June Dairy Month!

Bossy's Buttermilk LeMoo-Cakes

Cake Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter,room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
Zest of 2 lemons (approximately 1 teaspoon)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (takes about 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk

Topping Ingredients:

Heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons honey
1 pound of seasonal berries-strawberries,blackberries,raspberries are all perfect for this recipe.


Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray muffin pans with Pam. Place butter and sugar in mixer with whisk attachment. Beat on medium-low until butter and sugar are creamy. You may need to stop the mixer and scrape down the bowl a few times. While mixture continues to beat, add eggs one at a time until the mixture is smooth. Add lemon zest,lemon juice, vanilla extract and continue mixing. Add 1 cup flour,1/3 cup buttermilk. Mix until incorporated. Repeat two more times. Using a cookie scoop, measure batter and fill muffin tins 3/4 full. Place in oven and bake for approximately 20-22 minutes. Use a toothpick and test center to make sure cakes are done before removing from oven. Let cool on counter for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Topping Directions:

While the cakes are baking, remove any stems from the berries and if needed slice into bite sized pieces. Rinse under cool water and drain. Place fruit in a bowl, drizzle with honey and toss slightly. Let sit at room temperature until cakes have finished baking (up to 30 minutes). This allows the berries to release their juices and creates a sweet sauce for the cakes. Using a whisk, beat together the heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar until it forms slight "peaks". Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Once cakes have cooled slightly, place on plates and add a spoon of whipping cream and fresh berries. Cakes served warm.

World Food Day-October 16

World Food Day gives recognition to our continued need to feed the hungry. In 1943 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt brought representatives of the allied nations together to consider the establishment of an international organization to deal with food and agriculture issues after World War II, the world population was smaller but faced what appeared to be insurmountable problems of hunger and devastation. With today's expanding world population, the solution to world hunger will require choosing to use existing and expanding scientific knowledge and technology in agriculture.

As a dairy farmer/dairymom  and consumer, food is the center of my universe every day. If I'm not shopping for food,preparing food or eating food, I am working three hundred sixty five days a year producing safe milk for consumers. Ninety-eight percent of all dairy farms in America are family farms, like mine, and regardless of the size of the farm or the method of production--our ultimate goal is to produce safe,healthy milk or milk product.

In a world with hungry people, we must be able to use every bit of sound science and technology that is available to feed our rapidly growing population. According to USDA statistics, United States dairy farmers today are producing almost three times more milk with about half the number of cows compared to 1960. Producing more milk has reduced the amount of feed,water and space needed. (Sustainability and Dairy Farming Fact Sheet found at http://www.midwestdairy.com/). Over the past sixty years, improvements in animal genetics,feeding rations,animal health programs,cow comfort and overall management practices have reduced dairy's carbon footprint by sixty three percent.  Sustaining our family farms by using our resources wisely supported by sound science and technology will allow us to continue to produce the needed food.

Sometimes the solution to hunger can be simply helping your neighbor.  Today, on World Food Day, I challenge you to consider donating to your local food pantry or work with an organization in your community to feed the hungry.  You can follow World Food Day comments on twitter by using the hashtag #bad11 or visit the Blog Action Day site at http://www.blogactionday.org/.