Apple Picking Time

 

Berry Buttermilk Cake

This recipe is from the July issue of Bon Appétit magazine, originally for Blackberry Buttermilk Cake. I used blueberries and raspberries, as the blackberries from the garden have already come and gone.

If you read the comments on the recipe link, you'll see that there was a wide range of results, from overcooked to raw. I used a 10", glass-bottomed springform pan, set slightly higher than the middle of the oven. At 1 hr, the top of the cake did look quite brown, probably due to my poor positioning of the oven rack, so I covered it with a loose piece of foil, and it turned out just right when checked at 1:20.

As I sometimes (but not always) do when trying a recipe for the first time, I followed the recipe almost to the letter, including the double-sifting of the cake flour. (I did leave out the orange zest.) All ingredients were at room temperature. The sugar was a slightly coarser grain than my usual baking sugar, but as I said, it seemed to turn out just fine. The cake was moist and had a nice, creamy flavor, and the raspberries added just the right tang to the sweet blueberries. (About 3/4 blueberries to 1/4 raspberries).

When I do this again, I don't see any reason to use a springform, rather than the upside-down cake method (Plum or Pear) in a regular pan, as long as your pan is both wide and high enough to hold this amount of batter. A thicker pan will transfer heat more evenly than a thinner pan, so use a good quality cake pan.

I found the sequence below of, "Remove pan sides. Invert cake onto rack and remove pan bottom; peel off parchment." to be unnecessarily complex, not to mention awkward with a warm cake. (We had a bit of a fail on this part, which didn't affect the deliciousness.) Much easier to invert a single cake pan onto a plate, allow to cool further and remove, or, if you've used a parchment circle, cool, invert, de-pan, remove parchment. If you do use a springform, I'd recommend loosening the edge with a knife, then inverting onto a plate, then removing the sides, then the bottom, then the parchment, rather than trying to get a rack involved.

All that said, this is a very tasty cake. I may just adapt my normal USDC recipe and use sifted cake flour and buttermilk to get the flavor without the fuss.

Berry Buttermilk Cake

Ingredients

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan and parchment
2 1/3 cups cake flour (sifted, then measured) plus more for pan
2 1/2 cups (10 ounces) fresh blackberries
1/4 cup plus 1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
Powdered sugar (for dusting)
special equipment:

Use a 9"-10"-diameter springform pan
Preparation

Position a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350°. Butter pan; line bottom with a round of parchment paper. Butter parchment. Dust with flour; tap out excess. Arrange berries in a single layer in bottom of pan; sprinkle evenly with 1/4 cup sugar.
Sift 2 1/3 cups flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat 3/4 cup butter and remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar in a large bowl at medium-high speed, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and zest. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating just until incorporated. Pour batter over berries in pan; smooth top.
Bake until cake is golden brown and cake bounces back when pressed gently with fingertip, about 1 hour 25 minutes for a 9" pan and about 1 hour for a 10" pan. Let cool in pan set on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a thin, sharp knife around the edge of the pan to loosen. Remove pan sides. Invert cake onto rack and remove pan bottom; peel off parchment. Dust top generously with powdered sugar and let cool completely.

Read More http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2011/07/blackberry-buttermilk-cake#ixzz1TuJ47OSM

Homemade Lemon Curd

Homemade Lemon Curd

5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice (from 2-4 lemons, depending on size)
lemon zest from 2-4 lemons
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pats and returned to the fridge


Fill a medium saucepan with water to 1” up the side. Place water on med-high heat. (This is for a double-boiler, so make sure you have a metal mixing bowl that is big enough to sit in the saucepan without touching the water.)

In the bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until smooth, about 1 minute, then whisk in lemon juice and zest.

When the water reaches a steady boil, reduce the heat slightly and place the bowl on top of the double boiler. Continue whisking on the heat for approximately 8 minutes, or until the mixture is a light yellow and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon thickly.

Remove from heat and drop in the pats of butter one at a time, whisking until each is completely melted and incorporated before adding the next.

Pour into a container and refrigerate for at least one hour, covered with a sheet of plastic wrap placed directly on top of the curd. Lemon curd keeps 2 weeks covered. (Recipe from Alton Brown's Good Eats.)

Mike used this as the filling between the layers of my fantastic birthday lemon layer-cake. It would be nice with any sponge/white cake, and whipped cream frosting is lovely and doesn't make a cloyingly sweet cake. With so many Meyer lemons about right now, we've got to use as many as we can!

You could also...
spread it on a hot buttered scone
layer it with Greek yogurt and blueberries in a parfait
fold some into whipped cream to top a fruit dessert or tart
stir it into vanilla ice-cream
layer it in a trifle with lady fingers and fresh fruit
or use the lady fingers to make little lemon-cream sandwiches for an easy dessert…
lots and lots of uses to keep you from simply eating it from the container with a spoon!

Something Bright

I love these ranunculus (ranunculuses? ranunculi?) this time of year. So cheery and bright. And my favorite color!

Mom's "Secret" Pumpkin Pie Recipe

This recipe, for the very best pumpkin pie, is one my mother got from a cookbook in the 1960s. It is legendary in my family and outside of it, and has been shared with many friends and neighbors. Warm wishes and fragrant kitchens for the holidays ahead.

Mom's Famous (Secret) Pumpkin Pie 
(Makes 2 pies)

2 crusts, rolled and chilled
1 Large can pumpkin (or equivalent amount home-roasted and pureed): Libby is best
2 cans sweetened condensed (not evaporated) milk: Borden is best
2 large eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp each ginger and nutmeg
+/- 2 C HOT water

Mix and pour into chilled crusts
Bake at 375 degrees 50-55 minutes until center is still ever so slightly wiggly.

Allow to cool to at least room temperature before serving. The pie will be more dense and solid the next morning after time in the refrigerator. (Irresistible for breakfast!)

The Very Best Pie Crust
(Courtesy of Grandma Landre)

Ingredients
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 c Spectrum shortening
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1/2 to 1 cup ice water

Tools
Food processor or pastry blender
Rolling pin

Method
Place flour, salt, sugar in a food processor, spin to combine. Distribute fats on top of flour, close processor, and pulse until it resembles coarse cornmeal.

Sprinkle about 1/4 c of the water on top of mixture. Pulse a few times to mix evenly, sprinkle a little more water, pulse again. What you are looking for is a mixture that will just hold together when squeezed. You don't need any more water than that.

Scoop out into a bowl or a floured work surface and press together into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disk, roll out.

I always roll and shape my crust, then chill it in the refrigerator or freezer while I'm making the filling. Easier to work with that way.

I find this easiest in a food processor, but it can also be done with a fork or pastry blender (that weird D-shaped thing in the back of your kitchen drawer with wires or blades and a handle).

The First of July Already?

I received a copy of this book for my birthday. Crawling my way through it and very much enjoying it. Reading it has revived my desire to wander out into the garden just before sundown and shoot some pictures.

Siamese twin crookneck squash!

Poor Forgotten Little Blog

Here are some of the things I've been up to in the last few months:



Vacationed on a distant island.


Had my eyes checked.


Picked some berries.


Drank martinis.


Cooled off.

Shopped for furniture.


Watched the vines grow.


Went to the seashore.

Met some princesses... and some frogs.

And still had time to read a few books.

And Whiskers on Kittens

A brief wet spell in the Napa Valley makes for fun shooting. The gardens and grounds are full of blooms, some I don't remember seeing before. The pink dogwood has come and gone, and the white dogwood is just starting. I've seen irises in an abundance and diversity of colors, including a gorgeous yellow-gold. Tried to shoot that yesterday, but there was just enough of a breeze to thwart the close-up focus.

Today, blue skies are alternating with dishcloth-gray clouds seeping a bone-chilling rain and mist. The calla lilies outside my office window still look starched, fresh and white, but the deep purple irises of my grandfather's that I have in pots in the back have taken a beating. Still beautiful though.

What is spring without rain, asparagus and strawberries? I picked the last shoots of asparagus in the garden a few days ago. So sweet you could eat them raw. There may be a few more reaching edible height soon, but they are consistently available at the store now too.

Have I stressed to you the importance of buying organic strawberries? Strawberries have a soft and vulnerable flesh. Conventional farmers use pesticides and herbicides on them, and these are absorbed into the skin of the strawberry. It is number one on every list I've seen of recommended foods to buy organic vs. conventional. So, from the time organic strawberries are in season in the spring to the time they go out of season (if they do), they are a constant presence in the refrigerator.

To keep them fresh and ready to eat, I rinse the strawberries well when I get them home, then place a dry paper towel on top. Snap the lid closed (or put a rubber band around the basket and paper towel) then flip them over (on a plate for a basket without a lid). The remaining water drips onto the paper towel, preventing rot, and the moist paper keeps the berries from drying out in the refrigerator for the few days it usually takes us to polish off the basket. I call it a "strawberrium". Pics here, in case this doesn't make sense. (Strawberry Rhubarb Pie link here.)

If get a good price at the market at the height of the season and have too many to eat fresh, I hull the berries, cut them into small pieces and place them in a single layer on a parchment-covered baking sheet in the freezer. After they're frozen, I allow the sheet to sit at room temperature for a few minutes, then pop them off into a zippered freezer bag to use for smoothies.

You can also make up a batch of cobbler dough, and cut or pat it roughly into rounds to fit 8 oz ramekins. If you're not going to use it right away, wrap the rounds individually in plastic wrap and place in a zipper bag in the freezer. When you feel like a little cobbler, set out a dough to defrost for an hour (or all day in the fridge), fill a ramekin with berries (frozen raspberries are delicious too), sprinkle with sugar. Top with a defrosted dough round and bake at 425 for 20-30 minutes or until dough is golden brown.

Here's my favorite smoothie at the moment:

Buttermilk Berry Smoothie

2 c buttermilk (less fat and more protein than milk or soy milk)
(You can also substitute 1 c buttermilk and 1 c milk of your choice if buttermilk is too tangy for you, or milk plus 1/2 small container plain yogurt.)
1/2 - 1 c fresh strawberries, cut into small pieces, or any other berry, fresh or frozen
(I love blueberries in this.)
4 level tablespoons hemp powder
1/2 - 1 tablespoon agave syrup, or to taste

This is about 400 calories, so it makes a solid breakfast, with an almost perfect ratio of fats to protein to carbs, and half of the daily recommended amount of fiber. To reduce the calories, you can substitute water or non-fat milk for 1/2 the buttermilk. Buttermilk (be sure to buy organic if you can get it) also has beneficial "probiotic" cultures for your digestive system. You can tinker with the quantities. Sometimes I add a tablespoon of ground flax seed, but mind the fiber if you're not used to it.

Springy watercolors here.

********
Here's another totally unrelated tip that I don't have another place for: next time you use a paper toilet seat cover, turn it perpendicular to the seat instead of trying to line up the opening with the seat. It won't slip in as easily.

Rose Mary Waszkiewicz Landre
June 3, 1923 - March 6, 2009

Spring!

Daphne, apple, mustard, quince and wild plum.

Adorable Little Cake

This cute little cake is from Bon Appetit. I made it for my special guys for Valentine's Day using milk chocolate. This one was made for me by my adorable husband for my birthday using 70% chocolate for the cake and 62% for the icing. Besides using three bowls, it's really a simple and fool-proof cake.

Here is the recipe from their website (apparently they are a little formatting-happy over there):

Top Tier Devil's Food Cake with Sour Cream-Fudge Frosting

Ingredients

Cake

• 1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 ounce high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt, Perugina, or Valrhona *or Scharffenberger if substituting dark), chopped
• 1/4 cup boiling water
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Frosting

• 8 ounces high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt, Perugina, or Valrhona *or Scharffenberger if substituting dark), chopped
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 4 teaspoons light corn syrup
• Organic roses (for garnish) *optional- we decorated simply with shaved chocolate

Special Equipment

• 2 5-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides *I used large ramekins. The first time, I trimmed using a large biscuit cutter to adjust for the shape of the ramekin, the second cakes required no adjusting. You can make one tall, 4-8 layer cake (if you halve the 4" layers) or two four-layer cakes in this size.

• Test-Kitchen Tip

  Five-inch cake pans are available at some kitchenware stores and restaurant supply stores and online from cheftools.com and amazon.com.

Preparation

Cake

• Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 350°F. Butter two 5-inch cake pans with 2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with parchment paper; butter parchment. Combine cocoa powder and milk chocolate in medium bowl. Pour 1/4 cup boiling water over; whisk until mixture is smooth. Whisk in buttermilk.
• Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt in another medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat both sugars, oil, egg, and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Add flour and cocoa mixtures; beat until blended (batter will be thin). Divide batter between pans.
• Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out with some crumbs attached, 28 to 30 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn out onto racks; peel off parchment. Turn over; cool on racks.

Frosting

• Place chocolate in large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water and stir until melted and smooth. Remove bowl from over water. Add butter and stir until melted, then add sour cream and corn syrup and whisk until smooth. Let frosting stand at room temperature until thick enough to spread, about 20 minutes.
• Using serrated knife, trim top of cakes to make level. Cut each cake horizontally in half. Place 1 cake layer, cut side up, on platter. Spread 1/4 cup frosting over, leaving 1/2-inch border. Top with second cake layer, cut side down. Spread 1/4 cup frosting over, leaving 1/2-inch border. Top with third cake layer, cut side up. Spread 1/4 cup frosting over, leaving 1/2-inch border. Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down. Spread 1/3 cup frosting over top and sides. Chill until frosting is set, about 30 minutes. Keep remaining frosting at room temperature.
• Spread remaining frosting evenly over top and sides of cake. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and store at room temperature.
• Arrange roses atop cake and serve.

Aebleskivers

SO MUCH to catch up on! I'm just going to start where I start and get where I get...

Aebleskivers! (Also seen as Aebelskivers or Ebleskivers.) Another recipe (besides Dutch Baby, which has entered my permanent repertoire) that was an obsession of my grandmother's. I don't know how many times she called to offer me the cast-iron aebleskiver pan in her garage, or how many times I refused it. It became a running joke, along with our separated eggs, that made us both laugh. I have the pan now, Grandma! And I'm using it!

AEBLESKIVERS

3 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
2 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
1 tsp bp
1 tsp bs

Whisk yolks briskly, add sugar, salt, vanilla and buttermilk, whisk to combine.
Sift together flour, bp, bs, add to egg mixture.
Whisk egg whites to soft peak stage, fold in gently. Set batter aside.

Preheat and lightly oil an aebleskiver pan.
Pour batter to fill pan hollows. (I use a soup spoon for portioning.)


When top bubbles and edges dry, use a skewer (I use a skinny crab fork) to scoot the aebelskiver about a 1/3 turn. Wait just a minute or two for the new section to brown, then turn it the rest of the way. If you've over-filled, just poke the excess back into the ball when you turn it.

The traditional Danish version that gives the dish its name (aebleskiver = apple slices) is made by poking a small chunk of apple into the middle of the ball before turning, and is served with jam. Apple chunks are yummy, but keep them small so they aren't too crunchy.

Applesauce and blueberries, which I also tried, were too messy and sticky. Not recommended.

blueberries sticking to the pan

We like to serve these with a dab of melted butter poured over (or not) and a shake of powdered sugar. Mike likes his with real maple syrup.


(An entertaining video for Takoyaki, or Japanese Octopus Balls, a savory dish which uses a similar turning technique and pan, is here.)

I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on. I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on. I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on. I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on. I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on. I promise to use my good camera not the iPhone, from now on.

Pilgrimage

I woke up in the middle of the night knowing I’d go to see the butterflies. The next day, my anxious mind wrestled with my need to drive, until I’d exercised my last excuse and finally coaxed myself to the door.

They have come from hundreds, even thousands of miles away, on fragile wings, sometimes fringed with wind-wear. To see them, it’s astounding that they travel at all. Fewer and fewer of them each year, dwindling to naught or simply dipping, we don’t know.

When I lived in Santa Cruz, on the west side, the park was an easy bike ride from my shabby student rental in “the circles”. I don’t know how many visits I made on my new bike, helmetless in those days, hair blowing dangerously in the wind, before they arrived that first time. Down West Cliff Drive, hook a right at the park on a quiet weekday morning, follow the road and then head down the dirt path to the right.

Riding that bike, the first bike I’d ever purchased with my own money—probably the first big thing I’d ever purchased, if I think about it—was one of my favorite things to do. Sometimes I felt like I was ten years old again, riding wherever I wanted to go as fast as I could, with no particular destination.

The first time, I don’t know that I knew they were there before I went, or if I had heard they would come. Dripping from branches, in flickering clusters, they warmed themselves in shafts of light that seeped through the canopy of eucalyptus into the quiet grove. What I remember is how magical and serene it was to ride through the mist and stay there in the quiet of that half-lit grove among them.

Now, twenty-five years later, young, clean-shaven park rangers patiently answer questions from a road-addled tourist at the gate. Yes, the butterflies are here. Yes, you can take your dog into the park, but not to see the butterflies (duh) and please make sure your car is parked in the shade with the windows down and obvious water for the dog and don’t stay too long because other people get really upset if they see a dog in a car for a long time. Ten dollars for day use, please.

The quiet dirt path has been replaced (very necessarily) by a new boardwalk, which is attractive and sturdy, designed to take the abuse of eager nature-lovers. At the base of the walkway in the grove itself is a low multi-level deck.

At first, it is lovely just to see the Monarchs flitting silently between the trees. You'll notice that there are no close-up photos. The butterflies are very, very high up, though when it's quiet, and bored children have dragged their parents back to the beach, they'll swoop teasingly close to the deck.

A mother and her young daughter were lying on the edge of one of the deck’s steps, looking up at the treetops. They were talking sweetly, sharing an enviable mother-daughter moment. A small family group was listening to a female ranger talk in whispers about the butterflies and their journey. I caught just the end, just enough to hear her say, “…people who saw them twenty years ago, in the 80s, say that there were hundreds and thousands of them…what you can do is plant milkweed to grow during the seasons that they are traveling…”

I don’t want the butterflies to be just another thing that is dwindling, dying, disappearing. Once there were hundreds, herds by the millions across the plain, great black clouds of wings in the sky, etc., etc. My generation really is Generation D, for disappointment. Everything “used to be” bigger, more. Everything is just outside of our grasp, lost to us by just a little bit.

But then I think, how lucky that I was one of the people who saw them then, who got to stand in that grove alone, on a quiet weekday, not surrounded by well-meaning eco-tourist families whispering questions below the fluttering clusters of insects. I could come down any morning I wanted, and see them hanging on drooping eucalyptus branches, wings still too wet with dew to fly.

As soon as the woman and her daughter left, I found my own spot on the deck and leaned back, resting my head against the wood. The family group moved on, and the couples that trickled down into the grove were respectfully silent.

Directly above my head was a branch whose clustered leaves fluttered—every bare twig shimmered with the dun undersides of their orange and black wings. The sky was blue, and the smell of eucalyptus was caught up in the occasional breeze. There was a serenity in the scene that made me wish to stay. But I had promised the rangers that I wouldn’t leave my dog for long, even though she was safely parked in deep shade, and so I had to be on my way.

***

First stop: The Bagelry, downtown Santa Cruz for a "Dark Star": An "everything" bagel with thickly-layered with cream cheese, chopped olives and chopped walnuts. (PS- they call it the "Ultimate" now.) Mike’s favorite from his MBA days. Mike does not have a Master’s in Business Administration, but he was once the assistant dean at the Monterey Bay Academy. After a walk around the block with the dog, fill the water jug, use the clean bathroom for customers only and park in the free parking for customers only.

Second stop: Butterfly grove

Third stop: Lighthouse point

Fourth stop: Caffe Pergolesi for a chai (the chai by which all others must be judged-- perfect.)

Fifth stop: Pizza My Heart for a pesto pizza to bring home to Mike. Another favorite.

Sixth stop: Cemetery