This year I was asked to bring dessert to the large family Christmas Eve celebration. And since there would be over 20 people in attendance, I needed something that served a lot of people. I found this recipe in my to-try file. I’ve had it around since 2005. But the recipe’s credentials are very blue-ribbon worthy as it won a Sunset Magazine contest that year, for the dessert category.

Roasted sweet potatoes (the orange-flesh yam type ones) are combined with typical cheesecake ingredients, but with some added fall spices, and baked in a nut crust. The original recipe, submitted by Kari Bowers of Bellevue, Washington, had a pecan and flour crumbly crust. I changed that in order to make this eat-friendly for my cousin Gary, who is wheat intolerant. If you’d prefer to make the prize-winning crust, just go to the Sunset site. This version is made with a ground pecan-cinnamon-butter crust. Very simple. In any case, my version here, is gluten-free. Generally, cheesecake is already GF, but I merely changed the crust to a nut crust.

Don’t attempt to make this if you’ve got 5 other things you’re making for a special dinner. It takes time and a whole lot of bowls and dishes. It’s not difficult to make, just time consuming. But probably no more than any cheesecake, if that’s any better explanation. It is recommended that you make this a day or two ahead. I slightly increased the recipe, since I wanted to serve more people, so mine is certainly taller than the original recipe. I also had to bake it longer too, in order to get it to the just-barely-jiggling-in-the-center done-ness.

People who submitted comments to the Sunset site talked about how good it was, but many mentioned the texture – super smooth. Like silk, one person wrote. It definitely served 20, and it definitely was fine 3 days later, even. Velvety smooth texture. We liked the nut crust, actually. The maple whipped cream was very nice, although I couldn’t really pick out the maple syrup added – I guess there were so many flavors going on in the cheesecake, I couldn’t really taste the maple in the whipped cream. We needed and wanted more whipped cream than the recipe indicated, so plan on whipping up about double the quantity. I’d make this again, with no changes to the recipe except the whipped cream topping. Delicious. Particularly lovely for Fall. Or Thanksgiving.
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A year ago: Cranberry Porter Trifle (the dessert I made for last year’s Christmas Eve dinner – it was delicious too)

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The other night I/we had a gathering here at my house. Of the investment club that 5 of us were still in. Except that the club finally folded its doors this month after 12 years. But this festive gathering included current and used-to-be members. About 16 of us altogether. We’ve been having these parties nearly every year. We all enjoy each other’s friendship, so most years we get together with everyone. It’s a potluck affair. I offered to make dessert. I’d made cookies last week (the chocolate sable ones and the harlequin pinwheel cookies), so I could have put those out. But even though the group doesn’t usually eat a lot of desserts, I thought it would be fun to try a new recipe. I’d had this one in my to-try file and thought it sounded good. Guests could take a really small slice if they wanted to.

It wasn’t hard to prepare. A butter-rich crumbly crust is pressed into a springform pan and partway up the sides. Then a fresh bread crumb layer (very little) is made with just crumbs and butter. That gets sprinkled on the bottom. Then fresh apples are peeled and sliced. Oh, and meanwhile, you have soaked a few raisins in rum too and the raisins are sprinkled over the top of the apples (tossed with lemon juice and sugar) after you’ve piled them into the crust (I did a little bit of arranging of the slices, but not a lot) and it’s baked for 15 minutes. Meanwhile you make a custard with eggs, sugar, milk and the leftover rum. That gets poured on top of the apples and it’s baked at a slightly lower oven temp for about an hour. Then you have to let it sit until it’s completely cool before removing the springform rim. Obviously it’s fragile and you need it to cool and “set up,” before making it look purty.

This recipe is listed on lots of websites, so I don’t know the origin of it. None of the sites listed one. But I do know that it’s a German type cake, because it’s also called rahmapfelkuchen, or rahm apfelkuchen. Kuchen means cake, apfel is apple, and rahm is cream. So, cream-apple-cake. In my prowling around the internet I found that in Germany you can buy a boxed MIX for this cake. Hmmm. It’s not hard to prepare, so why would you need a box mix. Oh well.

Among other things, the cake is really attractive looking. You can see the raisins poking through the top. The custard filters down through the apples to hold it all together. I served it with whipped cream. Germans and Austrians mostly serve desserts mit schlag (with whipped cream). I drink coffee with cream – always have – though not usually whipped. But in Salzburg one time my DH and I stopped in a cute little cafe and ordered some kind of cake with coffee in the mid-afternoon. We’d walked for miles all around the castle/fortress. The waitress said “mit schlag?” Never forgot the term after that. In subsequent foreign trips I usually learned how to ask for cream in whatever language I needed to know. Mit schlag. Yup.

In looking at the photo at top, you might think that’s it’s more cake. It’s not. The part in the middle is all apples with the custard around it. There is a very small breadcrumb layer under the apples, too. But, I sort of think the name is a misnomer. The only thing that’s “cake” is the crust. The filling is just apples, raisins and a custard mixture. It’s almost more like a pie, really. Or a tart, since it’s made in a springform pan with straight sides. So how was it? Delicious. The rum added a nice side note to the apples. It’s a soft kind of dessert – the apples are very moist. The custard of course, is smooth. The crust is crumbly and good. Altogether delicious. Will I make it again? Maybe. Certainly not because I didn’t like it – I did – but I might try something similar, and different. If I were to change anything I don’t know what it would be.
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A year ago: Spiced Peaches (goes well with a breakfast, brunch, holiday breakfast)
Two years ago: Chicken & Dumplings (oh, delicious)

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Sometimes when I decide to print-out, tear out or otherwise keep a recipe to try, it’s because of the name. Or the ease of it, maybe. Or the fact that it might be unusual. Or where it came from even. Like a name chef, perhaps. In this case first it was the name. Portuguese? I know very little about Portuguese cuisine, let alone Portuguese baking, even though I’ve been to Portugal twice. But this time it was the photograph that had me intrigued. The recipe said tartlet, but it looked like a muffin. If you go over to Marie’s blog, The English Kitchen, you’ll see her photos look much like mine, although hers are more brown on top. But in this case when I read the recipe, I also read the ingredients. Hmmm. Puff pastry? With a custard thing in the middle. Sounded different. Interesting. So I tucked it away for some day when I needed just that something special for dessert.

(Pictured above, the tartlets just before baking.) I purchased the Pepperidge Farms puff pastry. And I checked the date on the box right there at the frozen food aisle – good until October 2010. Okay. Good. Following the instructions I defrosted the puff pastry overnight in the refrigerator, then unrolled each tri-fold piece of pastry and rolled it up in a tight roll from the short side. Then cut that into six pieces. I have silicone muffin tins, so it was very easy mushing the pieces of puff pastry into each muffin cup, with my fingers dampened with cold water. I ended up shaping them a bit in the palms of my hands first, then carefully placing each down into the muffin cup and then pushing it out and up the sides. Be careful you don’t get air bubbles underneath – if so, pull the circle away from one side and gently move it back into the right position. The shells went into the freezer while I made the filling.

(Here are the tartlets just out of the oven.) The filling: It was a bunch of egg yolks, heavy cream, grated lemon zest, cornstarch and a tiny bit of salt. That’s gently brought to a simmer, stirring constantly, until it’s about the texture of lemon curd. It ISN’T lemon curd, though, since it has no lemon juice in it. That custard eggy stuff is scooped into each puff pastry tart shell and baked at 500° (yikes, is that ever hot) for 15 minutes. And they’re done. Cool. Serve. I made a double batch (makes 12 – using the full box of puff pastry) because I needed more than six, but there’s no difference in the preparation whether you’re doing six or twelve.

Okay, now on to the taste. They’re incredibly rich – well, when you consider puff pastry (think butter, butter, butter) and the filling with egg yolks and cream. Okay. Rich. But oh so delicious. As I’m writing this I’ve eaten a half of ONE. Loved it. Most of my guests ate the rest, but we do still have a couple. I think they’re best warm or at room temp, so keep that in mind. And they’re not as good leftover, I’m sure (haven’t tried it yet) because the puff pastry will get a bit soggy. So just make as many as you’re certain you’ll eat. But make them you should for a special occasion.
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A year ago: White Batter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Two years ago: Watercress, Belgian Endive & Olive Salad

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A week or so ago I was trying to find yet another pudding that my friend Norma could eat. Since I’ve made so many, I’m having some difficulty trying to do something different. I’ve done some twice, but my eye scanned over a lemon pudding cake and this one I found in several places on the internet had different proportions than the recipe I’ve always used. How odd, I thought. You’d think a pudding cake would require almost identical quantities of liquid to flour to eggs. But, with this recipe, I’ve now learned that it does not. This one has more eggs, less milk, more flour and more sugar. Very odd altogether. But it worked. This one is less lemon-forward, if you will. But it was tender and unctuous. I made one big bowl and poured just a tad of batter into these teensy-tiny little bowls I have (above) which provided about 6 bites for each of us. The bowls are hardly larger than the bowl of a spoon, as you can see. The sliced almonds are placed in the bottom of the buttered dish. And you do have to put this in a water bath – although my water bath wasn’t big enough for both of these little puds, so the one above actually sat out on the oven shelf. It was fine! A little more done than the other one, but still very moist and tender. So if you don’t feel like doing the water bath, I’m not sure it’s necessary!

Here the progression:

There’s the buttered bowl with the sliced almonds sprinkled all over.

The egg whites were whipped up and sweetened. The egg-lemon cake batter was mixed, then the two were gently combined. The mixture was poured into the prepared dish (and the two little ones I did on the side).

There it is just out of the oven, still sitting in the water bath. You let it sit for about 15 minutes to cool enough so you can pick up the bowl. Ideally you should let it cool completely, then, and chill before serving. Sometimes I serve pudding cake with a dollop of whipped cream, but my favorite is a little bit of half and half. This was good. I suppose I’d have to taste my other recipe side by side with this one to determine whether I like one better than the other. This one, however, is fairly low-fat. That’s always a good thing!
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A year ago: White Turkey Chili
Two years ago: Apple Parsnip Soup

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As I write this, I’m laughing at myself. It must have to do with [my] left-brain thinking. (In case you’re interested, it’s only when I have a watercolor paintbrush in hand that I seem able to force my brain to work on the right side and only then with some difficulty!) The recipe said “Rum Raisin Apple CAKE” (that’s my emphasis on the word cake). But it was baked in a loaf pan – a bread pan. So my left brain said bread pan = bread. No, Carolyn, you’re wrong! So as I cut, with my camera poised (still thinking bread), I made a narrow slice expecting more of a bread consistency. I don’t know why I’d think that since there is just a cup of flour in the batter and whole lot of apples. But I didn’t pay any attention to that part as I made it!

Well, as the saying going, “that makes no never mind.” because this thing – this CAKE – is really tasty. Very moist. I mean VERY moist. It has lots of complex flavors going on – from the dark rum-soaked golden raisins, to the multitude of apple chunks, to the apricot glaze on the top. It’s not difficult to make – peeling, coring and dicing the apples was the most time consuming. The batter came together relatively quickly, then you fold in the soaked raisins and the apples. The CAKE doesn’t rise much (how could it, with so little batter – it’s almost more like apples with a little something to hold it together).

Here’s the progress:

Not all that much batter, actually. Maybe I’d scale this recipe up by a third so it would be a tad thicker (and bake it longer). But really, it’s fine just the way it is – but it won’t serve all that many people – probably 6? Or possible 8 smallish pieces.

There’s the batter poured into a LOAF pan. Ready to pop into the oven for an hour. See, even here I was thinking wow, that batter has a long way to rise to mound over the pan edges. Jeesh – there was only 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder in the batter. How the heck could that happen?

Once out of the oven (the cake doesn’t brown but a little bit) I was still thinking I must have made a mistake in the recipe because the cake hardly rose a smidgen. What a dope I am! I looked again at the recipe to make sure I’d put in the correct amount of baking powder. Yes, I did. But I went on ahead . . . you cool it in the pan for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the cake out onto your outstretched palm and arm and turn it over onto a serving platter. While it’s still hot, you press apricot preserves through a fine-mesh sieve onto the top of the cake. What’s left in the sieve (the chunks of apricots) can go right back into the jam jar. I think I used less than the 1/4 cup called for – I used Trader Joe’s organic reduced sugar apricot preserves, and I let just a little bit of it drizzle over the side. Then you let it cool completely.

If you have lots of apples around, here’s a way to use up at least two, maybe three. The recipe calls for a pound of apples (juicy type, not like a Granny Smith – you want Rome or Fuji – I used 2 large Braeburns which weighed in a 1.2 pounds). And when you CUT the CAKE, just do it in squarish servings, okay? Don’t cut it like bread. Your family might laugh at you! But they’ll only laugh until they put the first bite in their mouths. They’ll luv it in whatever shape you happen to cut! The recipe came from one of my favorite blogs, Alpineberry. She got it from Simply Sensational Desserts by Francois Payard.
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A year ago: Stuffed Poblanos with (Leftover) Turkey & Cheese
Two years ago: Dilled Broccoli & Leeks

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Don’t you just want to grab a spoon and scrape up that drip and move it directly into your mouth? Because the soufflé top was tilting the way it did, I couldn’t photograph the top without viewing the drip. So, drip it is. Does it make it more real?

I mentioned last week that I’d been to a Julia Child cooking class. Taught by one of my favorite teachers, Phillis Carey. She was a particular fan of Julia’s, so it was no trouble for her to find recipes for a class. Phillis made coq au vin, chicken fricassee, the Roulade au Fromage, and Beef Bourguignon too. And this chocolate treat. Over the years I have made chocolate soufflé – maybe once. And I’ve made a chilled frothy gelatin kind of soufflé, but unless it’s baked like this one, it’s not a true soufflé. And although the instructions below seem long and tedious, it’s really not that hard. One of the great things about this recipe is that, except for baking them, you can make these ahead – yes, really – you keep them chilled until you’re ready to bake. They will keep overnight, but ideally make them earlier in the day and pop them in the oven about halfway through your dinner. Small ramekins take about 35 minutes. A larger single bowl of soufflé would take longer, probably 55 minutes or so. Whatever you do, once the top is puffed up (do NOT open the oven door to peek – you need to look through the door) don’t overbake it or it will be dry. Phillis told us that in France they generally bake soufflés at a 425 (a higher temp) for a shorter time period, because they prefer the center to still be soft and molten. This may be a change Julia made to this recipe – or Phillis did. Am not sure, but these are baked at 375 for 35 minutes.

What you see in the top-center is a small hole in the soufflé where Phillis piped in some freshly whipped cream, which oozes down into the soufflé. In France they serve a dessert soufflé (making a slot in the middle of the soufflé and spooning in something) with either a chocolate or vanilla sauce. In this one it’s just whipped cream, which I liked very much. Just remember that you must whisk these to your dinner guests immediately – within a minute or two – or the soufflé will begin to deflate, and you definitely don’t want THAT! Serve the ramekins on a plate with a small cocktail napkin underneath, to catch any drips and so the crock won’t slide around on the plate.
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A year ago: Filet Mignon with Mushrooms and Blue Cheese

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My friend Debbie used to work for me. She was a whiz at typesetting on one of the very early computerized typesetters, and she also did some early programming of WordPerfect forms. This was in the 1980’s. But during that time we became friends, even though I was her boss. We have stayed in touch over the years, and I’ve never forgotten the wonderful apple pie she used to bring to our office potlucks. So I asked her recently if she’d come to my house and make the pie and piecrust, I’d document the process with photos, and we’d each make a pie. AND, I’d post the story on my blog. Bless her heart, she said “yes!” Debbie has an interesting background – she was born in Venezuela to American parents. She learned to speak Spanish, obviously, from a very young age. She’s a VERY accomplished artist, a wife, and a mom to 3 grown kids and grandma to several grandchildren too. She cooks some South American specialties (like fried plantains, and smashed fried plantains too). Maybe another day I’ll get her to show me how she does those! So, here’s part of the dialogue we had going on pie-day.

– – – – – – –

Carolyn: So, Debbie, where did this recipe come from, this pie, your famous apple crumb pie?

Debbie: I have no idea where the original came from, but it goes w-a-a-ay back. The only recipe I have is on a piece of paper in my own handwriting. The directions are vague. I must have tried it at someone’s house and asked them what was in it. Since I’ve had the recipe, I’ve done lots of experimentation and received advice from different sources – what kinds of apples to use, how to line them up in the pie shell, etc. – to come up with my current version. The pie crust recipe came from my friend Betsy who I’ve known since the 70’s.

Carolyn: What’s unique about the pie?

Debbie: Hmmm. I suppose part of its secret is the use of two kinds of apples – Granny Smith and another kind of crispy apple. A non-acidic apple. That part was in my notes, actually; the non-acidic part. I still use Red Delicious for the crispy ones, but have been a little unhappy with the texture, so have used Fuji sometimes. You must not use a soft apple, even a Golden Delicious. It must be crispy. I’m still experimenting with apple varieties to find a firmer, crisper apple instead of the Red Delicious.

[Sidenote: it was at this point that I told Debbie the story about Red Delicious and what happened to the breeding of them and why they’re so mealy and un-delicious anymore. If you’re interested, go look at my post about it.]

Carolyn: Well, I remember when you used to bring this apple crumb pie to our office potlucks we had a few times a year, and it was the topping that was special. And the fact there was never a crumb leftover by the time we were all done with it!

Debbie: Yes, the crumb topping isn’t as common in apple pies, although there isn’t anything unusual in it – just flour, sugar and butter, crumbled up and sprinkled on top, with a little bit in the layer below it. I started sprinkling the crumb mixture in the lower layers thinking that the flour would thicken the juice from the apples – nothing worse than a runny pie.

Carolyn: When you slice the apples, do you put them in a bowl of acidulated water to keep them from getting brown, or does it matter?

Debbie: Oh, no, no water. If you soak the apples in acidulated water, the pie will be too watery and soggy. I learned that the hard way! I sprinkle fresh lemon juice over the apples as I slice them, and just toss them around with my free hand to get most of the apple surfaces. Plus, just that little bit of acidity from the lemon juice counters the sweetness of the apples. I think it makes a good combination.

Carolyn: Tell me about your pie crust.

Debbie: Actually, I’ve made different kinds of pie crusts over the years, but have in the last few years settled on this one made with vegetable oil. No shortening. No butter, or egg either. A little healthier, I think. Just flour, oil, water and salt. It’s a very easy dough to work with – the dough is soft and pliable. But once it’s baked, it’s firm enough to hold its shape when you wedge a piece out of the pan.

Carolyn: Is there any special technique you use to layer in the apples. Like any particular pattern?

Debbie: Yes, definitely. I place the apple slices in circles around the outside edge and work in, slightly overlapping the apples with the outside edges, the thicker edge of the apple facing out. Some of the cinnamon sugar mixture is sprinkled on top of each of the 4 layers. I don’t toss the apples with the cinnamon mixture, but sprinkle it on each layer. Maybe it would work to toss it all, but that’s just the way I remember doing it. I think, a long time ago, I tried mixing the cinnamon mixture in the apples before placing them in the shell, but something must have gone amiss causing me to return to the sprinkling method.

[Later . . .]

Debbie: So what do you think of the pie?

Carolyn: Oh my goodness, this pie is SO, SO good, Debbie. It’s been years since I’ve had your apple pie, and it’s every bit as good as I remembered. I love the crumb topping – nice and crispy, crunchy. The pie shell is flaky, but it’s also firm. I noticed how easily the slice came out of the pie plate. Everything held together so I got even the first slice out with no trouble at all. That’s an accomplishment! There’s just the right amount of gooey-ness to the apples. No liquid to leaking out at all and the bottom crust isn’t soggy at all; just perfectly cooked apples inside. The cinnamon adds just the right amount of high note. I love cinnamon. The vanilla ice cream adds a nice foil to the apples. Got to be vanilla, though. Nothing fancy. Do you ever serve this with whipped cream?

Debbie: Nope. Ala mode is the only way! I’m glad you liked it!

Carolyn: Thank you so much, Debbie, for coming over to my house and baking with me.

[The next day Debbie emailed that she’d had fun too, and that instead of lunch, she had a slice of, you guessed it, apple pie!]

Here was our pie-baking process. First we made the pie crust.

It comes to a ball very easily – really easily – you knead it some and then you plop it out on a flat, floured surface.

It looks like it would be dry, but once you begin rolling it out, you’ll see. Very easy to roll, even for me who is moderately pie crust challenged.

Don’t turn over the top edge – it will make it too thick. But, gee, isn’t that a PERFECT lookin’ crust? I thought so, thank you! Okay, teach’, do I get an A so far?

You set aside the pie crust, then start peeling, coring and slicing the apples. In the bowl above you can see the two different kinds of apples, the greener ones are Granny Smith; the yellow ones are Red Delicious. I’d just sprinkled a little bit of lemon juice over them. A half a lemon is enough for one pie. Just toss the apples around a bit so the lemon juice gets on most of the surfaces.

Note how the slices are arranged in concentric circles but the outer edges are lifted up and overlap. Debbie was just sprinkling the sugar and cinnamon mixture on top.

There’s a better shot of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Divide it up between all 4 layers.

The crumb topping was mixed up and about 1/3 was sprinkled on the next to the last layer. Another layer of apples went on top. I got demerits for my apple layering . . . see below on the finished pie.

Here’s the top – we gently poured the crumb mixture in the center and lightly moved the crumbs outward so they almost completely covered the apples.

There. All done and ready for the oven. I got demerits for not-fine-enough crumbs. Should have kept mixing them up (by hand) until they were more like bread crumbs. I left too many bigger chunks.

Talk about golden brown, huh? Salivary glands are working in overdrive! That was my pie, and Debbie told me that I hadn’t quite positioned the apples correctly to the outside edge on the top layer – you want no gaps where topping can sink down through. Right there at the bottom, you can see a hole between the crust and the apples. More demerits. Hmm. Can I re-register for this class – to just audit? I don’t want a letter grade, okay?

Oh, but was this ever tasty! Most folks wouldn’t notice all my mistakes, and they surely didn’t make any difference to the taste. Thank you, Debbie!
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A year ago: Rack of Lamb with Mint Crust

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Rice pudding may not be on everyone’s radar. Maybe too comforty. Too old time. Too yesterday. But even though I don’t make it very often, whenever I do, it’s just so gosh darned GOOD. Hits the spot. And this one may be my forever go-to recipe from now on. My friend Norma thought rice pudding sounded good. She’s still recovering from very major surgery and because of radiation damage to her throat, has a very hard time swallowing. She’s had major skin cancer caused by anti-rejection medication she must take for the rest of her life. Taking the medication allows her to live with her transplanted lung, but she seems to be one of the many who develop skin cancer because of it. She’s getting better, but slowly.

A day or so ago I made another big, huge batch of the Italian Sausage and Tomato Soup that I just posted about 3 weeks ago. It was so good I had to make more of it. Half went to Norma and she says it tastes good. She just can’t swallow very much of it. But puddings she can do. They go down more easily, as long as they’re kind of soupy. There isn’t a pudding I haven’t made. I’ve done butterscotch, chocolate, tapioca, vanilla, milk chocolate and rice. So we’re starting back on ones I’ve made before, this time rice.

I did a search for rice puddings – even though I’d made Dorie Greenspan’s recipe the last time, I wanted to try something different. Norma wanted a thin, not too rich one. I found one at Elise’s blog, Simply Recipes that intrigued me. Basically I used her recipe, but I changed it a bit. I like the proportion of milk to rice (I added a tetch more rice than Elise did). And I used part 2% milk and part half and half. I used converted rice because I’d read a story awhile back about why it provides a better texture in rice pudding. I also used a part of a cinnamon stick to flavor enhance the milk/rice mixture. I also used  half the amount of brown sugar. I tasted it and thought it was just fine. I also added nutmeg. The real freshly grated stuff – both to the pudding and just a whiff of it on top too. This one’s a keeper.
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A year ago: Butternut Squash Soup with Pancetta

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Doesn’t look like all that much, does it? Like maybe vanilla ice cream. But oh, it’s not. Nothing like vanilla. Other than the color. My friend Cherrie brought this a week or so ago when we had the Woodford Pudding. It was just PERFECT with it. You see, the sour cream ice cream, as you might imagine, has a bit of a tangy edge to it, just like the sour cream does. It’s mostly sour cream in the mix, after all. The recipe came from the Food Network, from a Gale Gand show, apparently. It has 4 ingredients: sour cream, half and half, sugar and lemon juice. No eggs, no egg yolks, not even vanilla! No time spent making a custard. If you have a good ice cream machine, you can make this up in no time flat.  You don’t even have to chill the mixture, just whisk it together in a bowl and pour it into the ice cream machine. My thought: this is best served WITH a dessert, not all by itself. Although it’s sweet like ice cream, that sour cream twang might put off some appetites if you ate it solitary. But try it!
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A year ago: Mexican Rice and Chicken Tacos
Two years ago: Grilled Mozzarella Bread Skewers

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Last week my friend Cherrie and I attended a cooking class – yes, yet another cooking class.  We’re seriously Phillis Carey fans. And it’s the rare recipe that we don’t just l-o-v-e. And this class was no exception. I’ll be sharing some of the recipes in coming days or weeks. I’m going to make every single recipe, and will wait until I do to post the recipes.

The dessert – these cupcakes – though, needed just a little bit of help. Cherrie and I both liked the flavors very much, but the cupcake was dry. Too dry. Now, I suppose, the kitchen staff may have over baked them. We saw a few set aside that had some fairly major cracks in the top. So perhaps they were. Or, they were baked at a higher temp than they should have. But knowing that a cake texture can be improved, I set about trying to fix the recipe.

First I went to Ratio, the book by Michael Ruhlman, that synthesizes almost all baking things to a simple ratio and preparation or cooking method. This was my first opportunity to put some of the tenets in this book to use. These are the rules that every trained chef knows by heart. They can recite them at a moment’s notice.

So here’s your cooking lesson for today. We’ll talk about the difference between a pound cake and a sponge cake. In this instance I adapted Phillis’ recipe to make it more sponge-like than pound cake-like. It wasn’t hard.

Note that there are plus signs ( +) and colons ( : ) . That means that you combine 1 part butter with 1 part sugar and mix. Then you add 1 part egg and mix. Then add 1 part flour and mix. That a pound cake makes.

Here you’ll see the MEASUREMENTS are the same – identical – but the method of mixing them is different. You start with egg, then add sugar, then flour, then butter. And that a sponge cake makes.

In the instructions in Ruhlman’s book he suggests that to get a more spongy, lighter or taller cake, add more eggs, more baking powder, and/or cake flour. So, that’s exactly what I did. And I changed the mixing method as well to the sponge cake type.

So just a little bit more info about the cupcakes themselves. Great Fall flavors – with ginger, cinnamon, and cloves. Some molasses too and dark brown sugar. Then the batter is tempered with sour cream (which becomes a liquid in the chemistry of baking). The cream cheese icing is very straightforward, but has the addition of lemon zest and lemon juice. So even though the frosting is sweet, it has a lemony tang to it. Delicious. Our older grandkids would love these if they were around to try them.
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A year ago: Salishan Lodge (a resort hotel in Oregon)
Two years ago: Tuscan Chicken Soup (not a chicken soup, but beef, and yes, that’s what it’s called)

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