Carrot Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Since Kurt’s birthday is just a few days before Valentine’s Day, there have been years when there was an overload of sweet treats during that second week of February. This year, it was a little different since Kurt was traveling for work on his birthday. We waited and celebrated both occasions on the 14th. Of course, I questioned him in advance regarding what kind of cake he wanted this year. In early December, I read Alice Medrich’s latest book, Flavor Flours, in which she suggested the New Classic Boston Cream Pie made with corn flour chiffon layers with a rice flour-thickened pastry cream is better than the original wheat flour version. I was sure this was going to be Kurt’s birthday cake because he lives for Boston Cream Pie. Instead, he shocked me by requesting a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. I was surprised but delighted to make a carrot cake. My go-to carrot cake recipe has always been the one from The New Basics Cookbook by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. It includes walnuts, shredded coconut, and crushed pineapple, and the cream cheese frosting has a little lemon juice in it which I love. I’ve been making that recipe for years and never felt I needed a different approach to carrot cake. But, I decided to try something new this time. Also in Flavor Flours, there’s a Carrot Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting made with rice flour and oat flour that’s touted as being a better-than-ever and gluten-free take on a classic. Now, let me explain, neither of us has any sort of gluten sensitivity, but I do love experimenting with different types of flour to discover new tastes and textures. This carrot cake is completely gluten-free, but, more importantly for me, it’s completely delicious with a delicate crumb. It seems impossible since carrot cake is usually somewhat dense, but even with the walnuts this was a light and crumbly cake. 

It’s very similar to my standard carrot cake recipe in that it’s made with vegetable oil rather than butter, and that’s mixed with sugar and eggs. Rice flour and oat flour were combined with baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt. The dry ingredients were mixed into the wet, and then grated carrots and toasted, chopped walnuts were added. Thanks to perfect timing, I had just received a bunch of fresh carrots from our CSA that I shredded for the cake. I baked the cakes in eight-inch round pans and let them cool. For a layer cake, one and a half times the recipe for frosting is needed. The frosting recipe here includes cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar, and vanilla, and I added lemon juice because I can’t give up that detail of my usual carrot cake approach. One thing to keep in mind with this cake is that because it is especially crumbly, it definitely requires a crumb coat of frosting. I scooped some of the frosting from the big bowl in which it was mixed into a smaller bowl to use for the crumb coat. That way, any crumbs from the spatula will only get mixed into the crumb coat frosting and not into the entire batch. Chilling the cake after applying the crumb coat is a good idea since the frosting will set more firmly. Then, the pretty final coat of frosting can be applied.

This version didn’t have the shredded coconut or crushed pineapple that I’ve become used to in a carrot cake, but I liked that leaving them out eliminated some sweetness. Mostly, I really liked the tender, crumbly texture and the flavor from the spices and nutty oat flour. It really was amazingly the opposite of dense given that it was a carrot cake. Kurt was very pleased with his choice as well, and I now have two favorite carrot cake recipes. 

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Brown Sugar Angel Food Cake

Can we talk birthday cakes? Choosing what cakes to bake for Kurt’s birthday and my birthday is a lot of fun, and this year, the two cakes kind of worked together. I went with classics this year. For Kurt’s birthday in February, I made a Boston Cream Pie from the Baked Explorations book. It was filled with both vanilla and chocolate pastry cream and required seven egg yolks. At that point, I already started planning ahead for my birthday which was last week. I saved the seven egg whites, whisked them together in a small container, and stashed them in the freezer. I knew they’d come in handy for making my angel food cake. As my birthday approached, I just had to decide exactly which kind of angel food cake to make. There’s a Black and White Angel Food Cake in Barefoot Contessa at Home that’s made with chocolate chips and topped with a chocolate ganache. I want to try that one someday, but it wasn’t what I wanted for my birthday. In the book Flour by Joanne Chang, there’s a Toasted Coconut Angel Food Cake that became a serious contender. In Ruhlman’s Twenty, he shows a classic angel food cake covered in whipped cream and topped with chopped homemade toffee and shards of chocolate. I always veer toward toffee, so that one had my attention. But, I had visions of fresh, local strawberries on the plate with each piece of cake. For a moment, I thought maybe I should stick to a lemony angel food which is one of my favorite cakes. No, wait, hold everything, I thought I remembered from years ago on an early version of the Martha Stewart show, she made a Brown Sugar Angel Food Cake. I’d never made one or tasted one before. That needed to be my birthday cake this year. The recipe I used is found in The Martha Stewart Cookbook, and that version is cut and layered with whipped cream and blackberries. The same recipe for the cake itself is also online where it’s served with candied citrus. I did neither of those things because strawberries simply had to be involved. 

The most difficult thing about this cake is sifting the brown sugar. I don’t know if my sifter is too fine or if my brown sugar was particularly coarse, but it took a bit of work to get it all sifted. The cake flour needs to be sifted as well, but that was much simpler. Half of the sifted brown sugar was then combined with the cake flour, and that mixture was sifted together twice. Next, fourteen egg whites were needed, and I was glad to have seven ready and waiting that I had pulled from the freezer and thawed. To bring the egg whites to room temperature, I set the mixing bowl into a larger bowl of hot water and stirred the egg whites around until they warmed up some. The room temperature egg whites were whisked using a stand mixer until foamy, and then cream of tartar was added. The mixer speed was increased, and the egg whites were whisked until very thick. Half of the sugar was added, and the whisking continued. The remaining sugar was added and whisked until the egg whites were stiff. The flour and sugar mixture was folded in in three additions. Lemon zest was to be added with the last addition of the flour mixture, and I worked the zest into the flour to be sure there were no clumps before adding. The batter was spooned into a tube pan and baked for about 45 minutes. I hulled and chopped strawberries and sprinkled them with vanilla sugar to get the juices running. The cake was served with whipped cream and those sweet, juicy berries. 

The light, airy texture of this cake is the same as any other angel food, but the crumb has a delightfully honey-like color. The lemon flavor is subtle here, and the brown sugar gives the cake just the slightest hint of butterscotch. It’s like a sweet angel food cake with a little something extra. It was exactly what I wanted for my birthday cake. And now, I want to try all those other versions too. 

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Pistachio Cake

I love eating sweets, making sweets, learning new types of sweets to make, and sharing homemade sweets. It was a given that I was going to enjoy the new book A la Mere de Famille from the Parisian shop of the same name, and I recently received a review copy. It first opened in 1761 as a grocery shop on land that at the time was a farm. Today, that property is on the Rue de Provence in the Faubourg-Montmartre quarter, and there are other locations as well. A timeline of the shop’s owners and its evolution is given in pieces spread throughout the book. There are also profiles of customers revealing how long they’ve shopped at A la Mere de Famille, which location they frequent, their favorite treats, etc. It’s clear that the clientele cherish the shop, the confections, the window displays, and the pretty, orange packaging. I hope to visit the original location one of these days. The recipes include cakes, chocolates, candies, jams, cookies, frozen treats, and syrups. There are delicate-looking Chocolate-Mendiant Lollipops which are swirls of piped, tempered chocolate onto which dried fruits and pistachios have been set. Speaking of pops, there are also Vanilla, Milk Chocolate, and Hazelnut Marshmallow Pops which are homemade vanilla marshmallows on a stick dipped in chocolate and then topped with nuts. There are caramels in various flavors, and I can’t wait to try the Cherry Caramels. And, there are nougats which I’ve wanted to attempt for the longest time but never seem to be ready to do so on a low-humidity day. The candied fruits and pate de fruits are delightfully colorful, and the ice cream sundaes and ice pops look impossible to resist. The first recipe I tried was the Pistachio Cake baked in a loaf pan with a crunchy topping of chopped nuts. 

The cake is made with pistachio paste which was made by toasting shelled pistachios and grinding them in a food processor. A sugar syrup was made and added to the ground nuts while pureeing. The pistachio paste recipe calls for orgeat syrup which I love, but I was out at the time and since such a small amount was needed, I used some almond extract instead. The paste can be made in advance and refrigerated for about a month. To begin the cake, eggs and sugar were whisked together in a mixing bowl, and cream and pistachio paste were added. Flour and baking powder were folded into the batter before melted butter was added, and it was poured into a parchment-lined loaf pan. Chopped pistachios were sprinkled on top. It was placed in a 400 degree F oven for five minutes, and then a lengthwise incision was made in the top of the cake. It was to be placed back in the oven with the temperature reduced to 300. I think there was a typo in the recipe because the baking time of 35 minutes at 300 degrees F was off. It needed more like 55 minutes and/or a higher temperature. The cake baked into a pretty arched top studded with chopped nuts. 

First, I have to tell you that the pistachio paste will not win any beauty contests, but the aroma and flavor are truly lovely. And, I’m glad to have enough of it leftover to use in the Pistachio Nougat. It gave the crumb of this cake a pretty, pale green color. It’s a buttery, nutty, delicious pound cake that’s easy to make. I can tell I’m going to have fun with all the recipes in this book. 

Pistachio Cake 
Recipes reprinted with publisher’s permission from A la Mere de Famille. 

Preparation time: 15 minutes 

Makes two 6-by-4-inch cakes or one 9-by-4-inch cake 

4 eggs 
1 1/2 cups sugar 
1/3 cup whipping cream, warmed 
3 1/2 tbsp pistachio paste 
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted 
1 1/2 tsp baking powder 
6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted 
Handful of chopped pistachios 

MAKING THE BATTER 
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar until the mixture is pale and thick. Add the cream and pistachio paste and whisk until combined. Fold in the flour and baking powder. Finally, stir in the butter. The batter should be smooth and shiny. 

BAKING 
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line two 6-by-4-inch or one 9-by-4-inch loaf pan(s) with parchment paper. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and scatter the chopped pistachios over the top. Bake for 5 minutes, then make a lengthwise incision in the top of the cake with a sharp knife. Lower the oven temperature to 300°F, then return the cake to the oven for about 35 minutes (mine required a longer baking time of about 55 minutes), until the cake is golden-brown and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out of the pan. Cool completely before serving. (The cake will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.) 

Chef’s tip: To keep the cake moister, wrap it in plastic wrap as soon as it comes out of the oven and allow it to cool like that. 

Pistachio Paste 

Makes about 1 pound 

Preparation: about 15 minutes 

1 1/2 cups blanched pistachios 
1/2 cup sugar 
2 tbsp water 
1 1/2 tbsp orgeat syrup (see chef’s tip) 
2 tbsp plus 1 tsp hazelnut oil 

PREPARING THE SUGAR SYRUP Preheat the oven to 325°F. Place the pistachios on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and water and cook over medium-high heat until the syrup registers 250°F on a candy thermometer. 

MAKING THE PASTE Put the pistachios in a food processor and process until they are finely ground. With the food processor running, slowly pour the hot sugar syrup through the feed tube and continue to process until combined. Add the orgeat syrup and hazelnut oil and continue to process until the mixture forms a smooth paste. Transfer to an airtight container. Store the pistachio paste in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. 

 Chef’s tip: Orgeat syrup is an almond-flavored syrup that is often used in cocktails. It is available in most good liquor stores. You can use this pistachio paste in many ways—try making a pistachio-based cream instead of an almond-based frangipane in a pear tart. Mmm. . . 

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Meyer Lemon Tea Cakes with Pomegranate Glaze

As I started reading a review copy of Sweet by Valerie Gordon of Valerie’s Confections in Los Angeles, the first thing I liked about the book was the one-word chapter titles. Pedestal (celebration desserts), Plate (everyday cakes), Tin (pies and tarts), Box (chocolates and confections), Bowl (desserts to eat with a spoon), Jar (cookies and bars), Larder (jams and marmalades), and Hand (breakfast and snacks to eat on the go). Each title defines the category so well and so simply and directs you to options for every possible occasion. Valerie’s Confections began as a boutique for toffees and chocolates and has grown to offer a wide variety of sweets. I was fascinated with the recipes for cakes from the past. Through research and trial and error, well-loved cakes from Los Angeles bakeries and restaurants that no longer exist have been recreated. Blum’s Coffee Crunch Cake, topped with coffee whipped cream and shards of a coffee-flavored, honeycomb kind of candy, looks delightful, and I have to try The Brown Derby Grapefruit Cake with cream cheese and grapefruit juice frosting during citrus season. The truffles, toffees, and caramels would all make great holiday gifts, and there are tips for packaging them beautifully. In fact, there are helpful tips throughout the book for making your sweets as pretty as they can be including best ways to frost cakes, how to score toffee before it sets, and how to candy rose petals or mint leaves for garnish. And, I was thrilled to learn of Valrhona pearls which are chocolate-coated bits of puffed cereal that dress up the vertical surface of a frosted layer cake. I made several mental notes of fancy cakes I’d like to attempt some day, but the recipes I wanted to try right away were the Salted-Peanut Blondies, the Hazelnut Orange Cakes with Orange Glaze, the Tangerine Sour Cream Pound Cake, and the Meyer Lemon Tea Cakes with Pomegranate Glaze. 

These are pretty, little, lemon, mini cakes with a pink topping from the pomegranate juice in the glaze. In the headnote of this recipe, it’s mentioned that these are popular items in the spring and summer, but I couldn’t wait to make them. And to me, Meyer lemon and pomegranate are fall ingredients. That’s when the Meyer lemons on my trees ripen and I get very excited to use them in new and different ways. The recipe makes 24 mini cakes, so I cut the quantities in half to make 12. Also, I used a muffin tin rather than mini cake pans. The little cakes are tender-crumbed and delicious with butter, creme fraiche, Meyer lemon zest and juice in the batter, and it’s an easy batter to make. It was scooped into buttered muffin tin cups and baked for about 20 minutes. After cooling, the cakes were dipped into the thin glaze, and they were left to dry. The cakes keep very well, and it’s noted in the book that they freeze well too before being glazed. 

These tea cakes are perfect for dessert, snacks, or tea time or for whenever you can get Meyer lemons. Next, I need to decide which candies to make for the holidays. It’s going to be fun having one more book on the shelf for sweets for all occasions. 

Meyer Lemon Tea Cakes with Pomegranate Glaze 
Recipe reprinted with publisher’s permission. Excerpted from Sweet by Valerie Gordon (Artisan Books). Copyright © 2013. Photographs by Peden + Munk. 

makes 24 individual cakes 

We feature this cake every spring and summer at our farmers’ market booths, and time and again I hear the same question, “What is that?!” The jolt of pretty, pastel pink glaze always elicits a response from children and adults alike. Mini-cake pans, with 12 cups each, are available online. 




for the cakes: 
3 1/3 cups (17.3 ounces) all-purpose flour 
3/4 teaspoon baking powder 
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
3 3/4 sticks (15 ounces) unsalted butter, softened 
2 1/4 cups (15.75 ounces) sugar 
1/2 cup (4 ounces) creme fraiche 
6 large eggs 
1/3 cup grated Meyer lemon zest 
1/2 cup (4 ounces) Meyer lemon juice 

for the pomegranate glaze: 
2 cups (9 ounces) confectioners’ sugar 
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
1 tablespoon unsweetened pomegranate juice 

to make the cakes: 
1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Coat 24 large muffin cups or 3-inch mini-cake pans with nonstick baking spray or butter. 

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. 

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl, using a handheld mixer), cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 

4. Mix the creme fraiche, eggs, lemon zest, and juice together in a small bowl with a fork or small whisk. With the mixer on medium speed, alternately add the dry and wet ingredients in batches and continue beating until the batter is smooth, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes. 

5. Using a large ice cream scoop or a large spoon, scoop approximately 1/2 cup batter into each prepared muffin or cake cup. Bake for 18 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes appear matte and the shiny center has disappeared; do not bake until the cakes turn golden. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing them. Cool the cakes completely on a cooling rack before glazing, about 1 hour. 

to make the glaze: 
1. Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a medium bowl. Add the lemon juice and pomegranate juice and stir with a small spatula until completely smooth. Let the glaze sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before using.to glaze the cakes 

2. Pour the glaze into a wide shallow bowl. One at a time, pick up each cake, rotate the cake so the top is facing down, and dip it into the glaze. Carefully move the cake in a slow, circular motion so the entire surface is coated with glaze, then shake the cake gently so any excess glaze falls back in the bowl and put on a baking sheet. Put the cakes in a cool, dry area and let stand until the glaze loses its sheen and sets, about 20 minutes. 

storing: Once the glaze has set, the cakes can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. 

tip: If you want to freeze some or all of these cakes for future use, freeze them unglazed and then glaze them only after they are completely defrosted. This recipe makes a lot of little cakes—feel free to halve it if you like. 

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Espresso Bundt Cake

I fell pretty quickly for the brand new The Model Bakery Cookbook of which I received a review copy. Right away, the book felt like one I’d want to settle in with to do lots of baking. The sight of the big, beautiful English Muffins that greet you at the start of the Breads chapter was the first sign that I was really going to like this book. Like most of the bread recipes in the book, this one includes a pre-ferment which results in great flavor. I can’t wait to try them. A few pages later, I jumped right in and baked the Toasted Walnut and Sage Pain au Levain which makes two sourdough boules and might just be the most perfect bread ever for a turkey sandwich. And, then I discovered the Yeasted Sweets chapter. There are croissants, Danishes, Bear Claws, and the Morning Buns made with croissant dough, rolled into swirls, and covered in cinnamon-sugar that look irresistible. The recipes are classics from experienced bakers who know what works, what’s delicious, and what people love. I’m looking at the Plum Galette recipe right now and hoping I can find some perfectly ripe, dark purple plums to use for it later this week, and then I want to bake the Carmelita Bars just to try this version with walnuts. In the Cakes chapter, there’s a Sunny Lemon Cake layered with lemon curd and topped with a lemon buttercream, a Coconut Cake with coconut in the batter as well as sprinkled on the frosting, and a Carrot Cake kept simple with just shredded carrots and walnuts and nothing extra. These are all familiar treats but made in particular ways that have proven to work well. As I looked over the recipe for the Espresso Bundt Cake, call me psychic, but I sensed it would be tasty given the cup of butter and two cups of sour cream in the batter. I was absolutely correct. 

The photo in the book shows a nicely layered cake in which the espresso batter is baked into the middle of the cake with plain batter above and below. Mine ended up more marbled, but regardless, this is one delightful Bundt cake. The batter is made with butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla into which sifted cake flour with baking powder, baking soda, and salt is mixed alternately with sour cream. Next, you separate a third of the batter into a second bowl and whisk some cold espresso into it. You first place half of the plain batter in a prepared Bundt pan, then the espresso batter, then the remaining plain batter. The cake bakes for almost an hour and is left to cool. I always fear cakes sticking to the ridges of a Bundt pan and butter them excessively. Thankfully, the cake slipped right out. The glaze was made with confectioners’ sugar and more cold espresso and was poured over all those pretty, Bundt ridges. 

To say this cake was a winner is a huge understatement. I always go for espresso flavor in sweets, and it was insanely good in this tender-crumbed cake and glaze. Kurt agreed and at one point asked me to cut a piece for myself so he could have the rest of the cake. I have a feeling there will be similar experiences with everything else I bake from this book. 

Espresso Bundt Cake
Recipe reprinted with publisher’s permission from The Model Bakery Cookbook. 

MAKES 12 SERVINGS 

We have customers who can’t get enough coffee. Even though Karen is a tea lover, and is rarely without a glass of iced tea within reach, we pay a lot of attention to the quality of our coffee beans and their preparation. This caffeinated Bundt cake is great any time of day, but it is especially good with a morning cup of freshly brewed coffee. 

CAKE 
1 cup/225 g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan 
Unbleached all-purpose flour for the pan 
3 cups/390 g cake flour (not self-rising) 
1 1/2 tsp baking powder 
1 1/2 tsp baking soda 
1/2 tsp fine sea salt 
2 cups/400 g granulated sugar 
3 large eggs, at room temperature 
1 tsp pure vanilla extract 
2 cups/480 ml sour cream, at room temperature 
1/2 cup/120 ml cold brewed espresso or Italian roast coffee (or 1 Tbsp instant espresso dissolved in 1/2 cup/120 ml boiling water) 

GLAZE 
1 cup/115 g confectioners’ sugar, sifted 
3 Tbsp brewed espresso (or 1 tsp instant espresso dissolved in 3 Tbsp boiling water), as needed 

1. TO MAKE THE CAKE: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F/180°C/gas 4. Butter the inside of a 12-cup/2.8-L fluted tube pan. Dust with all-purpose flour and tap out the excess. 

2. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a bowl. Beat the butter and granulated sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light in color and texture, about 3 minutes (or beat by hand with a wooden spoon for about 10 minutes). Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Add the flour mixture in thirds, alternating them with two equal additions of the sour cream, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, mixing until smooth. 

3. Transfer one-third of the batter to a medium bowl. Whisk in the cold espresso. Spoon half of the plain batter into the prepared pan. Top with the espresso batter, and then the remaining plain batter. Smooth the batter with a spatula. 

4. Bake until a long bamboo skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack for 15 minutes. 

5. Run a dinner knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cake. Invert and unmold onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. 

6. TO MAKE THE GLAZE: Put the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl. Whisk in enough of the espresso to make a glaze about the thickness of heavy cream. 

7. Put the cake, while still on the cooling rack, over a large plate. Drizzle the glaze over the cake, letting the excess glaze drip down the sides. Let stand until the glaze sets. The cake can be stored, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature for up to 3 days. 

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Espresso Cardamom Crumb Cakes

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the big bake sale that was being planned to raise funds for recovery efforts in West, Texas. I’m thrilled to report that it was a huge success, and we’re all so thankful to everyone who came out for the sale and made donations online. The total raised was over $19,000! As planned, I baked more of the Chocolate Chip and Cherry Scones, and I wanted to bring a second option to the sale as well. I was in a crumb cake kind of mood, and really, I’m always in the mood for a crumb topping. I found a great recipe in Baking: From My Home to Yours for a Cardamom Crumb Cake that has orange zest and espresso powder in the cake itself and in the crumb topping. I had to try it. Since I was baking for a bake sale, I made individual, small cakes in paper molds that are actually made for crumb cakes or so says the label. The little cakes were easy to slip into cellophane bags. I doubled the recipe in the book, lined up the paper cups on a baking sheet, and started filling them until the batter was gone. I ended up with ten little cakes. These paper molds are sturdier than a regular cupcake liner, but they didn’t hold their shape perfectly. What was perfect was the aroma of cardamom, espresso, and orange zest as the cakes baked. 

You start with the most important part—the crumbs. Flour, chopped toasted walnuts, sugar, orange zest, instant espresso powder and I always add a little extra, and cardamom were combined in a bowl. Butter was then worked into the flour mixture but not overworked. Big pieces of crumb topping are always a good thing. For the cake, flour, baking powder, and salt were combined with more cardamom and espresso powder. More orange zest was mixed with sugar, and Dorie suggests rubbing the sugar and orange zest together with your hands. It releases the oil from the zest and ensures the zest will be well-distributed in the batter. The wet ingredients included melted and cooled butter, eggs, whole milk, brewed coffee, and vanilla extract, and they were whisked together and then stirred into the dry ingredients. I scooped the batter into the crumb cake cups and topped each cup with crumb mixture. My little cakes baked for about 20 minutes. 

I only kept one cake at home to taste and soon wished I kept at least two. But, luckily, it’ll be quick and easy to mix up the batter and crumbs again. In the book, Dorie includes a tip about baking extra crumbs on a baking sheet and using them to top pots de creme or ice cream. That’s one more reason I’ll be making this again soon. 

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Burnt Caramel Cake

I was sure it was going to be a cake filled with lemon curd and topped with a toasted meringue frosting. Then, I changed my mind and considered a simple, vanilla angel food cake with strawberries on the side. And, there are two different pistachio cakes that I’ve wanted to try for ages. I have a hard time choosing when it comes to my birthday cake. In the end, my decision was made when I remembered the Burnt Caramel Cake in Basic to Brilliant, Y'all. I mean, caramel covering multiple layers of cake? Of course I had to make this. There are three cake layers rich with butter and eggs, and the icing is a cooked caramel made thick with butter and cream. In this book, every recipe has a tip for making it “brilliant.” For this cake, an embellishment of apple hazelnut compote is suggested as a filling between the layers which sounds lovely but in more of an autumnal way. I decided to dress it up with chopped, toasted pecans between layers instead, and I sprinkled big flakes of sea salt on top. The recipe is available online, but there’s a missing bit of instructions. It skips over adding the eggs which should be mixed in after the butter and sugar have been creamed. The instructions for the caramel icing are great though. This reminded me of the frosting I made for Kurt’s birthday cake which needed to be spread swiftly which I learned as I went. Here, Virginia Willis points out that if you place the bowl of caramel icing in a bigger bowl of warm water, it keeps the icing from setting quite so quickly. It’s a great tip and one I’ll remember next time I work with a similar frosting. Once on the cake, the caramel sets nicely and, the cake stores well at room temperature. 

It’s a simple cake to make which starts with softened butter that’s creamed with sugar. Next, four eggs were added one at a time and mixed into the butter. Flour that had been sifted with baking powder was added in three parts with milk being added alternately. The batter was divided among three pans, and the cakes baked for about 25 minutes. To make the icing, sugar was caramelized in a skillet while more sugar, butter, and cream were brought to a boil in a saucepan. The caramelized, or burnt, sugar was then poured into the cream mixture, stirred to combine, and cooked to reach the soft-ball stage. Off the heat, vanilla and salt were added. It was allowed to cool a bit before being whisked in a stand mixer. Placing the bowl of icing into a big bowl of warm water worked perfectly to prevent it from setting too quickly as the cake was assembled. Still, once the icing was spooned onto the cake, it needed to be spread quickly before setting. I had toasted and chopped some pecans in advance and sprinkled them on the two bottom layers after spreading the caramel icing. 

This is an old-fashioned, caramel-dream of a cake. It was like one giant, Southern praline wrapped around layers of buttery, vanilla cake. I'm not good at deciding on a flavor of ice cream when presented with several options either. This wasn’t a quick decision, but I think I finally chose well. 

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Walnut Spice Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting

The birthday cake conversation has changed over the years. There was a time when I would ask Kurt what kind of cake he’d like for his birthday, and the answer was chocolate. No pondering, no pause, no prompts for suggestions. Just chocolate. In recent years, the answer hasn’t come quite so quickly. He still likes chocolate but wants to hear other ideas too. This year, I presented three options that I thought he’d like, and he chose this lovely, layered creation with white cake and spice cake topped with chocolate fudge frosting and chopped walnuts. It’s from Saveur, and the recipe is online. It’s simpler to make than it appears because you only mix one cake batter rather than two. After making the white batter and pouring half of it into a pan, you add spices to the remaining half before pouring that into a second cake pan. I liked that approach. And, the frosting was something new and different to me. It’s cooked on the stove and brought up to just below soft ball stage before being mixed briefly to fluff it up a bit. Then, you have to work quickly to top each layer and cover the cake before the frosting sets. Next time I make it I’ll know just how quickly it sets up and once it does, there’s no moving it. My only regret with this cake was that I didn’t really get the walnuts pressed into the sides of the cake because the frosting set so quickly. The fine powder of the walnuts stuck to the frosting on the cake sides but not the bigger pieces of nuts. In the end, I placed the nuts around the edge on top of the cake and around the bottom edge which was good enough. Kurt was happy with his choice, and I was thrilled with the spice cake flavors mingling with the chocolate fudge frosting. 

Although the recipe suggests using vegetable shortening, I never use it. I used butter instead which worked perfectly well and gave the cakes better flavor. Before mixing the cake batter, dry ingredients were combined, and wet ingredients were combined separately. Also, the spices including cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and I added nutmeg were mixed in a small bowl and set aside. In a stand mixer, butter and sugar were creamed before egg whites were added. I had a laugh at the recipe which states “add egg whites one at a time.” Of course, I had already separated all six egg whites into one bowl. I just slowly added them a little at a time while mixing. Have you ever separated egg whites into separate bowls? The dry ingredients were then added in three batches with the wet ingredients being added alternately in two batches. Half the batter was poured into a nine-inch prepared pan, and the spice mix was stirred into the remaining batter before it was poured into a second cake pan. After the cakes baked and cooled, each layer was cut in half horizontally. You’ll want to have the layers sliced and ready for the frosting. To make the frosting, sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa powder were brought to a boil and cooked while stirring until the temperature reached 232 degrees F which took about 30 minutes. Then, off the heat, vanilla and baking soda were added. With a hand mixer, the frosting was mixed for only about one minute. And, then you have to work very quickly. A spice cake layer was placed on a cake stand, and it was topped with frosting. A white cake layer was added followed by more frosting. You’ll feel as you spread the frosting that as soon as it’s spread thinly, it cools and sets. Quickly, quickly, the next two cake layers were added, and the top and sides were frosted. I spent too much time making swirls on top of the cake and didn’t realize the frosting on the sides was meanwhile setting up too much for the walnuts to stick. Lesson learned. 

Who knows where the birthday cake conversation will lead next year. Maybe we’ll circle back to plain chocolate. I do know that Kurt will pick his cake more quickly than I ever pick my own birthday cake. I can never easily decide what kind of cake I want, and my birthday is only a little over a month away. I should probably start thinking about this now. 

Cranberry Orange Cornmeal Cake

I’m enjoying this concept of tryouts for Thanksgiving dessert. Why didn’t I think of this years ago? It’s a perfect excuse to sample several desserts, test the recipes, and eventually make a decision for our menu. Today’s contestant hails from the LA Times. I believe I stumbled upon it two years ago when it was part of a slideshow of Thanksgiving dishes, but it was originally published in the paper in 2008. I hope you’re not thinking this is a light and healthy dessert with the fruit and cornmeal in its title. I wouldn’t want you imagining this isn’t rich and decadent enough for the biggest food holiday of the year. No, this is a buttery cake with plenty of eggs and ricotta to make the crumb very tender. There are also maple syrup and vanilla along with the orange zest and fresh cranberries. It has all the flavors we love at this time of year, and it’s easy to make.

The recipe recommends using a nine-inch cake pan that is three inches tall. My cake pans are two inches tall. So, I used a nine-inch springform pan which is taller. You’ll want to butter and flour it well, and place a round of parchment in the bottom of the pan. My cake stuck on one side of the springform pan just a little. Next time, I’ll add a ring of parchment around the inside of the pan as well. The dry ingredients were whisked together, and those included flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, eggs, maple syrup, vegetable oil, and vanilla were combined. In the bowl of a stand mixer, butter, sugar, and orange zest were creamed. The egg mixture was added to the butter and combined. Then, the dry ingredients were mixed into the batter in two parts. Ricotta was added with the second addition along with some fresh cranberries. The batter was poured into the prepared springform pan, more fresh cranberries were scattered on top, and they were topped with a little sugar. The cake baked for an hour and fifteen minutes. To serve, you can choose whether you’d like the cranberry surface to be the top or bottom. I flipped it so the top was completely flat.

The cake was shown served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Since this was just a tryout, I served it plain with only a dusting of confectioners’ sugar. A dollop of maple whipped cream on each slice would be another nice way to embellish it for dessert. Or, I think this would make an excellent coffee cake for breakfast or brunch. Pies usually get more attention at Thanksgiving time, but we should make some room for cakes on the dessert table too.

Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream

I feel like I’m holding tryouts for Thanksgiving dessert. I love planning the Thanksgiving menu every year, and there are always about fifty desserts I want to make. And, that means that every year several things I really want to bake get lost in the shuffle. So I thought, why not try a few things in advance to increase the number of autumnal desserts I get to taste this year? The only problem will be if everything turns out as good as this dessert, I’ll still have a hard time picking one, or two, for the big day. This cake is from Ina Garten, and it appears both in Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics and on the Food Network site. I learned awhile ago that roulades are much easier than they look, and they tend to store really well. This tender, sponge cake has pumpkin puree and spices, and the filling is made with mascarpone and crystallized ginger. It’s everything you could want in a dessert for fall, and you can make it the day before you plant to serve it.

The thin cake is made in a big sheet pan lined with parchment that is buttered and floured. Flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt were sifted together. Eggs and granulated sugar were mixed in a stand mixer, and pumpkin puree was added. You can use canned pumpkin puree or homemade. I had just brought home a cute, pie pumpkin which I roasted and used for a few different recipes. After the pumpkin is mixed into the eggs, the flour mixture was slowly added until just incorporated. A spatula was used to finish folding the flour into the batter. It’s always a good idea to fold a batter with a spatula few times after taking the bowl off the mixer to be sure there are no unmixed, dry ingredients at the bottom of the bowl. The cake was baked for a mere ten minutes, and then it was turned out onto a towel dusted with confectioner’s sugar. It’s a scary moment to just plop the hot cake right out of the pan, but don’t even worry. With the parchment, it comes right out. The parchment was peeled off, and the warm cake was rolled with the towel rolled into it, into a spiral starting at a short end. If the edges look uneven, they can be trimmed later. Rolled into the towel, the cake was left to cool completely on a rack. The filling was made with mascarpone, confectioners’ sugar, and heavy cream. Once those ingredients were well-mixed, finely chopped crystallized ginger was added. To finish the cake, it was unrolled, the filling was spread over the top, and then it was rolled back into a spiral without the towel this time of course. The edges were trimmed, it was placed on a platter, and it was dusted with more confectioners’ sugar.

This pumpkin roulade will be a serious contender for a spot on the menu this year. I have a few more weeks to keep testing desserts which is starting to seem like not enough time. There are so many great things to make with pumpkin, and then there are cranberries to consider. Do you try new desserts every year for Thanksgiving, or do you have favorites that are expected on the menu?

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Almond Rosemary Cake with Lemon and Creme Fraiche Glaze

“Rustic” is such a handy word when it comes to describing food. My homemade sourdough baguettes are always “rustic” which means I’m sloppy about shaping the loaves, and when my pastry doesn’t turn out as perfectly as it could, all is well if the word “rustic” is added to its title. However, there are times when “rustic” isn’t a euphemism for messy. Sometimes, a thing is “rustic” because it’s simple, charming, or well-textured. This almond cake is that kind of rustic. When I saw it in the June issue of Food and Wine, it went directly into my to-try stack of recipes. I have a not-so-successful history with almond cakes, so I headed into this recipe with a little concern. In the past, almond cakes I’ve made have been dense, dry, and dull. Thankfully, there were a few tricks to making this cake that prevented all of that. The cake batter is made with polenta and minced rosemary which added interest in both the flavor and texture departments. Also, the eggs were whipped with sugar to a fluffy state, and folding the mixture into the dry ingredients lightened the batter. One last trick was the use of a sugar and lemon syrup that was poured over the warm cake and prevented it from becoming dry.

Let me run through the details and the minor changes I made the original recipe. Skin-on, raw almonds were toasted, chopped, and ground in a food processor. I added some of the sugar to the almonds in the food processor to prevent them from forming a paste. The dry ingredients were combined, and I always sieve dry ingredients. I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose, and polenta, baking powder, and salt were also included. After sieving those, I added the ground almonds, minced rosemary, and lemon zest. In a stand mixer, the eggs were mixed with the remaining sugar using the whisk attachment for about ten minutes until tripled in volume. Then, creme fraiche and cooled, melted butter were added. The egg mixture was folded into the dry ingredients in three additions. For baking, an eleven-inch springform pan is suggested, but I used a ten-inch pan. The cake baked for 25 minutes while the syrup was made. Sugar, water, and lemon juice were boiled and reduced for five minutes, and then I added a sprig of rosemary to steep in the syrup as it cooled. When the hot cake was removed from the oven, the syrup, minus the rosemary sprig, was poured over the top, and it was left to cool completely. Once cool, it was glazed with a mix of confectioners’ sugar, creme fraiche, and lemon juice and topped with pieces of rosemary.

I finally got over my losing streak with almond cakes. This is in no way light and fluffy like a chiffon, but it definitely wasn’t as dense as other almond cakes I’ve attempted. The sugar syrup worked like a charm in warding off a dry texture too. Next time, I might add a bit more minced rosemary to the batter since its flavor was very subtle, and those extra flecks of green will just make the cake even more “rustic” in a very good way.

Blueberries and Yogurt with Buttermilk Crepes

We all know that some foods are healthier than others, but not everyone considers how specific foods can make us feel better from day to day. I know I have more energy when my menus include lots of fresh vegetables and whole grains, but I’m lucky to not specifically depend on any particular ingredients. For Chef Seamus Mullen, he’s found that eating certain foods has a positive effect on the inflammation he experiences that’s caused by rheumatoid arthritis. He explains, in his very down-to-earth approach, the benefits of filling his diet with those foods in his new book Seamus Mullen's Hero Food. But, the book isn’t a health-food, diet book at all. It’s a tour of eighteen ingredients that he’s come to appreciate, and they’re presented in dishes that fit into his style of cooking. I received a review copy from the publisher. The hero foods include things like olive oil, almonds, berries, good fish, mushrooms, and good meat. Many of the dishes are influenced by traditional Spanish cooking, since he lived and worked as a chef there and has operated Spanish restaurants in New York, and others are inspired by dishes served at his family’s Vermont farm. The food is seasonal, fresh, full of big flavors, and made with a few interesting techniques just like you’d expect from a chef. For instance, he includes instructions for making smoked olive oil which can then be used to impart smoky flavor to whatever is cooked in it. There are lists like “10 Things to do with Corn” and “10 Things to do with Almonds” that are above and beyond recipes. And, the recipes range from the decadent egg fried in olive oil and served with sweet potatoes and sobrassada to crispy grilled Tuscan kale.

Moving from season to season through the sections in the book, Mullen repeatedly mentions the provenance of ingredients. He refers to “good eggs,” “good fish,” etc., and that means they’ve been well-raised, are sustainable, and are environmentally safe foods. Regarding good fish, choices like sardines, trout, salmon, and anchovies are both environmentally safe and high in omega-3s, and that’s why they are hero foods. As for choosing fruits, for him, it’s not enough that berries are good for you. He’s more interested in berries when they’re in season and picked at the height of ripeness. When fruits are picked fully ripe, they have a chance to develop more nutrient density than when picked early for distant shipping. Of course, these well-chosen, fresh ingredients also happen to taste better than others. In keeping with the theme of the book, I wanted to use some locally grown blueberries I had just received from my CSA. In the berries chapter, there’s a pretty stacked cake made with crepes, layered with sweetened yogurt, and topped with berries. It’s shown with raspberries, but any fresh berries would be great here. It has tangy flavor from buttermilk in the crepe batter, and the yogurt spread between stacked crepes was sweet from honey and spiced with freshly ground black pepper. You can taste as you add the pepper to decide how much you prefer, and it’s a surprisingly good match with berries.

I know I’ll be flipping back through this book often for recipes like the Five-Minute Eggs with Romesco, the Salt-Baked Carrots and Beets, the Salbitxada sauce for grilled vegetables, the Pickled Plums, the Line-Caught Atlantic Cod with Picada, and the Autumn Squash Salad. I’ll be eating lots of healthy things with these dishes, and I know it will be great-tasting food.

Blueberries and Yogurt with Buttermilk Crepes
Recipe re-printed from Seamus Mullen's Hero Food by Seamus Mullen/Andrews McMeel Publishing.
(Note: this is Raspberries and Yogurt with Buttermilk Crepes in the book.)

Serves 4

Most people think of crepes as breakfast food, but I prefer a savory breakfast. The tart yogurt filling and the buttermilk in the batter balance really well with the sweet raspberries (or blueberries).

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups milk 
1/4 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons clarified butter
Zest of 3 lemons
1 1/2 cups plain unsweetened yogurt
2 tablespoons honey
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup fresh blueberries
Sprinkle of confectioners’ sugar

Mix together the flour, granulated sugar, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, buttermilk, 3 tablespoons of the clarified butter, and the zest of 1 lemon. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk into a nice, thin batter. If the batter seems too thick, add a bit more buttermilk.

Heat a crepe pan or 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Brush the pan with butter. Add about 2 tablespoons batter, lift the pan and roll the batter around to create a thin, even layer. Once the crepe starts to form little holes, bubble a bit, and begins to turn golden brown, it’s ready to turn. With a spatula, carefully flip the crepe over and cook another 30 seconds. Remove the crêpe to a large plate and repeat until you’ve used all the batter, making about 10 crepes.

In a small bowl mix together the remaining zest, yogurt, honey, and pepper. Place one crepe on a large plate, smear on a thin layer of yogurt, and top with another crepe. Repeat until you’ve layered all the crepes into a beautiful cake. Top with raspberries and confectioners’ sugar.

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