Fall Spice Cake with Caramel Fudge Icing

Fall Spice Cake with Caramel Fudge Icing

Come late September early October, my mind turns once again to baking.  One of the memories that also returns is of my Dad’s favorite, spice cake.

 
In an article titled How Smell Works, Sarah Dowdey tells us “smell can bring on a flood of memories, influence people's moods and even affect their work performance.  Because the olfactory bulb is part of the brain's limbic system, an area so closely associated with memory and feeling it's sometimes called the emotional brain.”

While Dad’s favorite was spice cake, my favorite is anything caramel.  Put the two together and “fall” in love with these smells and make your own memories.

Fall Spice Cake

2 1/2 cups cake or all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
2 sticks (1 cup)unsalted butter
1 3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 fresh eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour two 9 inch cake pans or a 9x13 pan.

Cream the softened butter, sugar, and salt together until fluffy. 

Butter-Sugar-Salt-Eggs

Continue to beat in one egg at a time, beating well after each egg.
Measure all of the dry ingredients into one bowl and mix them together.
Measure the milk and lemon juice into a separate container.
Alternately, beat the dry and the wet ingredients into the butter, sugar, and eggs, beginning and ending with dry ingredients as follows: 1/3 dry - 1/2 wet - 1/3 dry - 1/2 wet - 1/3 dry.
The batter will be light and fluffy.  Spoon it evenly into the cake pans and spread it out.

Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  You may bake this as a 9x13 or in cupcakes or even mini muffins but vary the times accordingly.

Once baked, turn the cake(s) out to cool on a rack.

 

Caramel Fudge Icing
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/4 cup milk or cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 cups of confectioner’s sugar

Melt the butter with the brown sugar in a saucepan.  Bring it to a boil and cook it over medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove the pan from the heat and add 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar.  Beating with a spoon or a mixer until smooth, add the vanilla and the additional cup of confectioner’s sugar.  The mixture should be thick but still pour-able.  If it gets too thick, warm it again gently and add a touch of milk.

While the mixture is thick but pour-able, pour a puddle on the first cake layer.  Spread it quickly with a knife and put the second layer on top.  Quickly pour the rest of the icing around the cake making ribbon like motions or just let it drip down the sides and empty the remaining icing into the center of the top of the cake.  It is important to work quickly with this icing because it is like fudge.  It will set up quickly.

UMmm. UMmm. Memories, light the corners of my mind, Misty watercolor memories of the way things were...  Remembering you Dad!




Also just in case you see it and are curious.  The plate does say something... it has a drawing of a turkey, a tipi, and a little Indian and it says "Two Bobbe - Ray, 1976"  That's when my son was 6 and he made the plate for me in school - yes, more memories...

Enjoy!

Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

My husband could eat butter cream icing from a bowl with a spoon any day of the week, but it is the main thing that I don’t like about cake.  I’ve found a delicious way around dealing with icing and that is the old fashioned upside down cake.  I’m going to give you two versions of this cake so that you will be free to experiment with any fruit you like.  It seems like such a great answer to never having to deal with icing again.  I make them frequently with whatever fruit I have on hand or that is in season.

I make a version of this cake with my frozen Flathead cherries that is beautiful and delicious too.  If you’re using frozen fruit or canned fruit, be sure to drain the fruit before using it in this recipe.  There are just 2 basics steps to this recipe.  The topping, which goes into the pan first, and the cake.

Upside Down Cake

Begin all cakes with a generous spray of Pam or similar vegetable spray on the 9 x 9 x 2 inch deep square pan or a pan that will accommodate the cake.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Heat the butter, sugar, and vanilla to make a sauce.

The topping:
4 Tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar (for caramel apple) OR 3/4 cup white sugar (for other varieties)
1 teaspoon of vanilla (for caramel apple) OR 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice (for other varieties)

Melt the butter, sugar, and vanilla or lemon juice in a small sauce pan over low heat until the sugar melts and the mixture bubbles.
Pour into the prepared pan and coat the bottom of the pan.

Layer the fruit on top of the sauce.

2-3 Apples or fruit of your choice
Add a layer of apples or any fruit to cover the bottom of the pan.  (Apples, cherries, peaches, pears, apricots, and pineapple of course) Fresh apples like I used can have a double layer or overlap significantly as they do shrink.  Other more moist fruit won’t shrink.

 



The cake:
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup of milk (or use apple cider for the apple cake)
1 ½ cups sifted flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla

Sift together the dry ingredients into a bowl and set aside.
Cream together the butter and sugar.  After this becomes light and pale, add the eggs one at a time and then the vanilla.

Continue beating adding ½ the dry ingredients, then the milk, and follow with the other half of the dry ingredients.
Spoon the batter onto the top of the fruit and bake until the cake is well risen and golden brown.  At around 45-55 minutes, the cake will be firm to the touch, a tooth pick inserted into the center will come out clean, and the cake will begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Apples shrink so add twice as many as you think.

Have a plate or platter ready to receive the cake.  Run a knife around the edges to make sure it is free.  Immediately upon removing it from the oven, invert it onto the plate.  Leave the pan inverted for a few seconds, up to a minute and then gently lift it off.  Should any of the fruit have stuck to the pan, you can quickly transfer it back to the cake.

Allow the cake to cool and serve with a little whipped cream.  You won’t miss the icing.

Rustic Tart with Flathead Cherries

It's cherry season here in western Montana and that means Flathead Cherries.  For those of you unfamiliar with the term, The Flathead as locals refer to it, is a large valley stretching from just north of Missoula up to the Kalispell-Whitefish area.  Flathead Lake runs up the valley and is the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi in the lower 48 states, with over 200 square miles of water and 185 miles of shoreline.  The lake moderates the temperatures just perfectly for growing sweet cherries in the fertile foothills around the lake.  

Lapin Cherries

Mostly you’ll find the big dark sweet cherries, Lamberts and Lapins, and many growers also grow the beautiful Rainiers.

Rainier Cherries

Each year we try to go up and pick a lug, or get some from the co-op or local farmer's market.  Those that we don’t devour immediately, get pitted and put into quart freezer bags for later use.  Since the cherries this year are just a few days late, I decided to go ahead and use my last quart from the freezer to make this delicious Rustic Tart.
                   
Some people call this type of pastry a galette, but here in Montana the term Rustic Tart  fits just perfectly.  This can be made with many different types of fruit.  Also try apricots, peaches, or plums.

Start with a rich and flaky crust.  Here is the recipe that I use:

THE CRUST:
1 1/2 cup organic all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick of unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus more as needed iced water

Either by hand or using a food processor, incorporate the flour, sugar, salt and the butter, just until the mixture looks like a coarse meal.  This is best accomplished with a few quick pulses of the food processor or by cutting in with a pastry cutter.

Fill a 1 cup measuring cup with some ice and some water and allow to stand for a minute or two.  Then I use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to drizzle in 1/4 cup of the ice water (strained, no ice) into the tube while slowly pulsing the processor.  Because we live in such a dry climate, I find that I always need more so as I slowly drizzle more into the processor, I watch for the dough to come together.  You can check it with your fingers to see if it is still crumbly or if it will stick together nicely if you are in doubt.  As soon as the dough comes together, stop adding water and pulsing and turn the dough out onto a floured board.  I fold the dough over 1 or 2 times and form into a flattened disk.  Refrigerate the dough for at least 1 hour.

Dough comes together

Wrap disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

THE FILLING:                                       
Now for the fruit... I drain the cherries because they produce a lot of juice when they are frozen. If you are using fresh cherries just wash and pit before measuring.

About 3 cups of fresh or frozen Flathead Cherries (or fruit of your choice)
1/3 cup of organic sugar
a pinch of salt (optional)
1 rounded tablespoon of organic cornstarch

THE TART:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Beat an egg in a dish with a tablespoon of water. Prepare your pan by covering it with either parchment or aluminum foil. ( I used my pizza pan and I covered it with two layers of aluminum foil.)  Spray the foil lightly with oil.
Roll out your chilled crust into a round about 1/4-1/8 inch thick, and about 15 inches in diameter.  Fold it in half and gently transfer it to the pan, making sure it is centered.  Then open it up again.
Toss the filling ingredients together and dump into the center of the crust.  Spread them out to be about 10 inches in diameter.
Then gently grab the edges of the crust and with a folding motion, take the edges and fold them toward the center, around the crust, making a circle with an open center.
Brush the crust with an egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 1 hour or until beautifully browned and rustic!
Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for a truly Montana dessert.

Beer Anyone?

Vortlimpa - sweet and dark!

I'll admit, I'm not a beer drinker.  It’s not that I couldn’t get to like some of my husband’s homemade dark beer, it’s a calorie and quantity thing.  To me drinking a delicious tasting homemade dark beer is like eating an entire chocolate cake by myself in one sitting - too rich and too filling.  I prefer a nice dry red!

But, there’s more than one way to have your stout... A number of years ago, I first made this delicious bread using a homemade stout. So, beer drinkers and aficionados of fine taste, here is my favorite way to have beer.

The recipe originated from my 1987 version of Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Breads. 

Vortlimpa

This recipe makes 2 long slender loaves.  Bernard describes it this way, “Stout (or dark beer) tempered with molasses, orange zest, and fennel gives Vortlimpa a sweet, dark taste that will confound and delight the tongue.”

Ingredients:       (My changes and comments are in italics.)

2 cups stout or dark beer
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons butter
½ cup dark molasses
2 packages dry yeast
3 cups medium rye flour          (1 ½ cups medium rye and 2 cups whole wheat)
2 cups unbleached bread or all purpose flour, approximately
Zest of 1 orange, finely chopped    (1/4 teaspoon orange oil)
1 Tablespoon ground or crushed fennel seed   (Optional )

1 Tablespoon molasses mixed with 2 Tablespoons water

(The rye flour is sticky and I like the flavor mixed with whole wheat.  I rarely have a fresh orange on hand, but I always have my orange oil in the pantry so I don’t have to buy any special ingredients. I’m sure the orange zest would be wonderful if you have it.  I also do not use the crushed or ground fennel seed, I just like the bread without.)
Warm the beer, salt, and butter until the butter has melted.  Let cool to lukewarm and stir in the yeast.

Measure the rye flour (and whole wheat flour if using) into a large mixing bowl and pour in the stout mixture. Beat by hand about 100 strokes and add the orange zest (or orange oil), and (optional) fennel seed.  Stir and work the dough.  (You might be tempted to skip the orange, but don't, it really makes the overall flavor. I encourage you to try to fennel too.)

Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface with a cup of flour.  In the beginning the dough will be sticky. Handle the new dough gingerly, dusting well with flour until you have struck a workable balance. This could mean the addition of a cup or more of flour. After the dough is well formed, continue kneading for at least another 8 minutes.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap.  Leave to rise at room temperature until doubled.  (My dough and my loaf look a little grainy.  I used a medium ground rye flour which turned out ok, but I think I'll go back to my finely ground rye flour in the future.)
Turn the dough out onto a flat work surface and cut in half.  Flatten each half with the palm of your hand into a long rectangle. Roll each into a long slender cylinder, about 12"-14" long.  Place on a prepared baking sheet (greased and dusted with cornmeal).  Be sure to place them far enough apart that they do not touch when they rise.  If they threaten to touch, place a flour dusted kitchen towel between them. Let them rise a second time to be about double.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees about 20 minutes before baking.  Prick the tops with a toothpick, 1" deep to allow steam to escape without lifting off the top of the loaf.  Bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes and then turn the heat down to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 30 minutes more.  Halfway through baking, turn the loaves around and brush the tops with the molasses-water glaze.  About 4 minutes before the loaves are done, brush them with the glaze again.

They are done when the loaves are dark and shiny and the bottom crust is hard and sounds hollow.  Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.  (By all means, have some softened butter ready, hack off a piece and enjoy it as soon as you can handle it.)

To keep it crisp, store it in a paper sack.  For a soft crust wrap it in a plastic bag.

The Missoula Community Food Co-op now has a nice selection of wine and beer and as soon as I heard that, my first thought was of this bread! 

Eggs - Another Spring Bounty

                  
Another sign of spring - EGGS!  If you have your own backyard flock, you will now be appreciating more and more eggs as the hens return to production from their winter rest.  

I thought I’d share with you a recipe that I developed over 20 years ago while living on Steamboat Island Road in Olympia, Washington.  Back then, I had 24 chickens and way too many eggs.  I would make this big batch of custard and have it for breakfast in the mornings.  You can cut the recipe in half if you aren’t ready for the big batch.

Farm Fresh Egg Custard

6 cups of milk (you can use any kind, whole to non-fat dry milk with water)
3/4 cup sugar    
1 3/4 cups of whole fresh eggs (10-12 eggs)
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon salt

Microwave the milk until hot (on high 5-8 minutes) or bring it to just below a boil on the stove.  This is called scalding.   Scalding is an old term for heating milk to 180 degrees prior to using it.  I don't understand all that happens in this process, but it does have an effect on the milk proteins and it reduces whey separation in custards and yogurt making.

Crack the eggs into a 4 cup measuring cup until you have about 1 3/4 cups.  Add the vanilla, sugar, and the salt, and mix together.  Mix thoroughly, but avoid incorporating air into the eggs. 

Mixed, strained and ready to pour into my custard cups.

Temper the egg with about a cup of the hot milk stirred quickly into the eggs and then pour the egg mixture into the hot milk and stir well to dissolve the sugar and salt and get the mixture consistent.

Then using a small screen strainer, I pour the mixture back into the measuring cup through the strainer.  The measuring cup makes it easier to pour into the custard cups.

After placing the pan in the oven add an inch of water to the pan.

Pour into custard cups (about 8 -12 cups depending on the size) and stand the cups in a pan with an inch of water. If you like, you can put a little sprinkle of nutmeg on the top of each cup.

Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  The custard will dome up and be jiggly when it's done.



Once cooled, cover and refrigerate your custard.  Serve it plain or if you desire, you can top it with a tablespoon of maple syrup, fresh strawberries or raspberries that have been tossed with a little sugar to bring out the juices, or a dollop of whipped cream.

Muffin Magic!

Even if the thermometer says 50 degrees, it's still only January.  Time for soup and bread.  As I started the beans for a pot of delicious chili, I decided to experiment with a muffin recipe that I had been wanting to try. These muffins had their origin in Vermont, in the test kitchens of King Arthur Flour Company. These people have been making and baking since 1790 and they have some extremely talented bakers.  I love all of their products.

I came across this recipe last fall on the King Arthur web site.  http://www.kingarthurflour.com  I’ve made it a number of times and it is fabulous!  But probably not what I would want with chili so my brain has been running through this idea of taking the basis of this recipe and making it savory.  First here is the recipe from King Arthur.  I only made one minor change to this recipe when I made it and that was, I used ground ginger instead of cinnamon... it just sounded better to me. You will not believe how delicious these muffins are and really, you would never know they had tomato juice in them.

Whole-Grain Vegan Cranberry-Nut Muffins   
Muffins without eggs, milk, or butter — what's the secret? Tomato juice, which adds the necessary acidity for leavening; nice, moist texture, and gorgeous burnt-orange color to these cranberry-nut muffins. And don't worry; they don't taste like tomatoes!


    2 1/4 cups King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
    1 cup brown sugar
    3/4 teaspoon salt
    2 teaspoons baking powder
    1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon  (I used ground ginger)
    1 cup dried cranberries
    1/2 cup diced walnuts or pecans, optional
    1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    1/2 cup vegetable oil
    1 1/2 cups tomato juice or blended vegetable juice (e.g., V8)

Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease and flour the wells of a muffin pan, or line the pan with paper liners, and grease the liners.
2) Whisk together all the dry ingredients, including the cranberries and nuts.
3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, vegetable oil, and tomato juice.
4) Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients; don't over-mix, stir just until everything is moistened.
5) Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each nearly full.
6) Sprinkle the tops with coarse white sparkling sugar, if desired.
7) Bake the muffins for 18 to 20 minutes, until they've domed nicely and they're lightly browned around the edges.
8) Remove the muffins from the oven, and transfer them to a rack to cool.

Yield: 12 muffins.

Now here is the recipe for my Savory Dinner Muffins using the genius, tomato-acid leavening concept.  The corn gives them a rustic appearance, only enhanced by a bowl of chili.  Give them a try.

Savory Dinner Muffins
 2 cups of unbleached or white whole wheat flour (or 1/2 and 1/2 )
1/2 cup of medium ground corn meal
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon dried herbs (I used an herbes de Provence blend)
1 cup frozen corn (or use your imagination - I can’t wait to try chopped olives, sundried tomatoes, green peppers, sharp cheddar or asiago cheese or a combination of these - just make sure you are adding about 1 cup total for 12 muffins) 
1/3 cup vegetable oil or olive oil
1 1/2 cups tomato juice or blended vegetable juice

Follow the same mixing directions and put into the muffin cups.  Fill those cups right up to the top.  This makes 12 beautiful muffins.  I sprinkled the tops with a little coarse salt and some more of the herb blend.  The baking took just a little longer because I had frozen corn in the mix.  They were done in about 21 minutes.  (You know how to test these little quick breads for doneness don't you?  Just tap on the top with your finger - if they seem spongy, they aren't done - if they are firm to the touch good to go.)
At around 10 minutes the smell of the herbs was mouth watering and I could hardly wait to try one.  As soon as they came out of the oven, I sampled one immediately.  These don’t taste overwhelmingly like tomato either, and they are fabulous, just like the sweet cranberry version.

Until next time...