The cake lady is at it again! Here is yet another, in the unfolding series of birthday cakes for family members enjoying those special zero-year milestones….

…and this one, made for my brother-in-law, Ted’s 50th, is tangy beyond measure, thanks to the rhapsodic pairing of lemons and raspberries.

Tart, cooling…It’s a summery dessert, to be sure. Lemons and raspberries each have assertive, zingy notes that don’t require a load of sugar to sing. And, really, who wants the burden of sticky-sweet, especially in hot weather?

The cake batter has lots of lemon juice and zest, and plain lowfat yogurt lends rich body without heaviness. The cream cheese-buttercream icing, flecked with lemon zest, takes on a pretty, light yellow hue. The raspberry filling is simple to make, divine sitting on top of the icing, as well as over some vanilla ice cream, should you decide to make extra.

The recipe that I’ve given you will make 2 9″ layers, or fill a bundt pan, if you’d like to make a simple glazed lemon bundt cake.

Because there were close to 50 guests at his party, I doubled the recipe to make the 3 10″ layers for Ted’s cake. And, because his party was held at their country home close to 50 miles from my house, I assembled the cake in my kitchen, and put on the finishing touches once I delivered the cake to my sister’s kitchen.

With heat and humidity being factors, Summertime Cakes have their distinct challenges, especially when a 50 mile drive is involved. But, a trip across town can be just as risky!

One of my first Big Summertime Cake endeavors, (over 25 years ago!) involved a multi-tiered orange-scented spongecake for a wedding. It was an ambitious effort, with each layer having a different filling: chocolate, apricot cream, strawberry-vanilla. The bottom tiers were stacked; the top tier was to be supported by three crystal glasses. Peach tea roses and small clumps of white hydrangea would adorn the cake.

The wedding was held outside at nearby home, on the absolutely hottest, most sultry, dripping August evening. Working at home, in and out of the refrigerator–and a chest freezer I had at the time–I filled and iced the layers, stacking the 14″ and 10″ rounds (and securing them with dowels pushed through the layers) , leaving the 7″ topper separate.

My car at the time was a 1963 Valiant convertible (no a/c, needless to say)—a most improbable vehicle for transporting wedding cakes. I had the sizeable base propped on the backseat, the topper on the front floorboard, and somehow managed to make a safe delivery. The site was only 2 miles away—but felt like 20!

That hurdle crossed, I then assembled the cake in the foyer where it was to be served. I piped simple borders to unite the layers, balanced the top tier on the three crystal cordials, garnished with fresh flowers, and took a deep breath. Success!

But the a/c was not cooling the foyer effectively. So, the host decided that the cake should be moved into the dining room with the other food. Two men in linen suits gingerly shifted the cake across the hallway and onto the dining room sideboard. Phew. Success, again.

Post-backyard-ceremony, the wedding party and guests came into the house, sweat-drenched and delirious. Champagne and heat had gone to everyone’s head. After partaking of more bubbly and the dinner buffet, the host decided that the cake would be more dramatic if it were cut and served from the round table in the foyer as originally conceived.

Indeed.

Our two linen-suited men stepped in, once again, to make the move. It all happened so fast. I remember hearing a groan and then seeing a creamy-white form fly across the room, a spray of flowers and greenery, followed by the crashing of three little crystals….

To be fair, It did supply the Drama. I must report that all was not lost—it was the topper that went sailing. The base layers–the majority of the cake–were undamaged, mostly. And still quite delicious.

LEMON YOGURT CAKE
2-3 Lemons—2T. Lemon Zest and ½ cup Lemon Juice
1 ½ sticks soft Butter
1 ½ cups Sugar
4 Eggs
1 cup Plain Lowfat Yogurt
3 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 t. Baking Powder
½ t. Baking Soda
½ t. Salt

Sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Cream butter and sugar together, add juice, yogurt, zest. Then add eggs, one at a time. Add dry ingredients. Pour into 2 9″ cake pans that have been coated with baking spray.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Cool on rack before removing.

RASPBERRY FILLING
1 1/2 cups Raspberries, or Mixed Berries, rinsed
1/4 cup Water
1/2 cup Sugar

Place a saucepan on medium heat and add berries, water, sugar. Stir until dissolved. Cook the mixture for 15 minutes, occasionally stirring. The berries will break down, releasing their juices, and a sauce will begin to get a glaze and thicken.

LEMON CREAM CHEESE ICING
1 lb. Cream Cheese, softened
1 stick Unsalted Butter, softened
1-2 Lemons, for Zest and Juice
1 1/2 cups Confectioners Sugar

In a mixer, cream together the softened butter and cream cheese. Add the juice and zest of the lemons and mix well. Add confectioners sugar and beat until well incorporated. Taste for sweetness—and tartness—and adjust.

ASSEMBLING THE CAKE

With cool but workable icing, put a “skim-coat” on your first layer. If your kitchen is warm, put the iced layer in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to set up. Then, spoon your raspberry filling on top. Spread it across–but not to the edge. You don’t want the raspberry to bleed through. Place the next layer on top and skim coat it.

Again, let that set up in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. (30 minutes is better!)

Ice the cake in its entirety. Pipe with simple bordering, stars, and decorate with fresh berries, and a little reserve of raspberry filling. Lemon basil leaves make a nice garnish, too.

Just don’t move it more than twice.

Panna cottas in myriad variations have been tested and tasted by cooks across the food blogosphere; when you have something so simple it lends itself beautifully to experimentation. Consider the merits of this eggless custard: It has, in a sense, a neutral base. Its list of ingredients is scant. It’s barely cooked.

How is it so dang good?

In the case here, the dessert is greater than the sum of its parts. Thick, luscious with tang Greek yogurt takes most of the credit, and the cream is no slouch. Sweet, but not too, you won’t reel from sugar shock after a few bites.

I am rather fond of crushed cardamom, and have found that flecks of this complicated spice pair nicely with the yogurt. It adds somewhat floral, somewhat citrusy dimensions, with heat like ginger. It doesn’t take much in my mix–a little dances a long way across your tongue.

When I was called on to make a fancy sort of dinner for a visiting group of Bill’s business managers, this was my choice to complete the meal. It was something that I could prepare quickly in the morning, and pour it into individual serving pieces to chill. In the past, I’ve put the mixture into white ceramic ramekins, but I wanted a more elegant look. (Another beauty of the recipe is that it can be poured into whatever you like!)

A search through my china cabinet turned up these pretty cut glass cordials.

They once belonged to my grandmother on mom’s side, and had been passed on to her. A couple of years ago, mom was paring down her stuff and called, “I never use these and I think you might.”

We don’t drink liqueurs in my household, but I loved their look and their family connection. I felt certain that I’d put them to good use at some point. I stashed the eight crystals in my cabinet, and promptly forgot about them. Two years of waiting patiently on the china cabinet shelf, the cordials finally got to come out and play.

After placing the filled stemware into the fridge to chill, I turned my attention to the topping. I wanted something fruit based. Although I had local strawberries in the house, I was already using them in a salad for the dinner. Then I recalled a gorgeous jar of marinated apricots that I had seen on Chez Danisse’s blog….inspired from a posting by Erin of The Endive Chronicles. Those might be lovely spooned over the dessert.

Her recipe is very simple-dried apricots, sea salt, good olive oil, lemon zest and thyme. The only issue for me is that this recipe takes several days of sitting to soften and manifest flavor. Even though I had all the ingredients, I had only hours.

Nonetheless, it was enough to spark this cooked sauce. While it is indeed a departure from Erin’s–I substituted orange for lemon, added a little sugar and cardamom, remembered the small bag of candied ginger in the pantry—it’s quite delicious in its own right. I so enjoy how all these blogging connections inspire creativity, and look forward to making her recipe soon.

In the meantime, the Greek yogurt panna cottas, bedecked with the jewel-like sauce, made a stunning yet soothing finish to the dinner party.

And, there were a couple of extras, treats to spoon into the following afternoon.

Cardamom Scented Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta
1 package Gelatin
2 T. Water
1 cup Cream
1/2 cup Sugar
1 t. Vanilla
1 t. ground Cardamom (if you have whole pods to grind yourself, so much the better!)
2 cups 2% plain Greek Yogurt (1 17oz. container is fine)

Sprinkle gelatin into a bowl, and stir in the water. The gelatin will soften and clump, but don’t worry, it will smooth out in the brief cooking that’s to follow.

Gently heat the cream in a saucepan. Stir in the sugar, vanilla, cardamom, and finally, the gelatin. Stir steadily with a wooden spoon until sugar and gelatin has completely dissolved throughout the mixture. Do not let this boil.

When all is incorporated, remove from heat. Stir in the Greek yogurt. Taste for spice–add a little more cardamom if that suits you. Its flavors will continue to bloom in the cream.

Pour into your individual serving pieces. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours.
Serves 8

Apricot Sauce with Cardamom and Candied Ginger
1/2 c. Dried Apricots
2 Clementines, or Mandarin Oranges, for juice and zest
3 T. Sugar
1/2 c. Water
a splash of White Wine (opt.)
Cardamom
2 T. Candied Ginger
2 T. Olive Oil

Simmer dried apricots in a saucepan with sugar, water, the juice of the mandarins (or clementines, or an orange) and their zest. I like the zest in thin peels. Add a splash of white wine, if you like. Simmer for 10 minutes or so; the apricots will soften—as well as the zest—and the liquid will begin to thicken. Add cardamom, 1/2 teaspoon perhaps, and bits of candied ginger. Finish with olive oil. Cool.

Life is full of cycles and surprises.

Of late, my family circle has been experiencing a birthday cycle of the zero years, the “round birthdays,” as friend Lee calls them. It began with Madeleine’s 30th last September, followed by
my mom’s 80th in February, and now, gasp, Bill’s 60th.

For a man who 1. needs nothing and 2. is rather chagrined at the sound of …utter it in low, almost inaudible tones…Sixty, this particular birthday presented a bit of a challenge.

How to make something new…different…memorable?
A bonifide surprise party , that hadn’t been done for the man!

We did manage to pull it off, no easy feat. I had Bill convinced that while I had planned to give him a dinner party at our home on his actual birthday–a Monday—too many friends were unable to come that night. Jenn had to study for an exam, for starters. Wendy and Jim had to meet up with the relatives from Tupelo, no getting out of that.

” We’ll do it Friday, instead, when everyone can come. You don’t mind, do you?” I said.

A shake of the head. No.

“Roger invited us to the Indian restaurant,” I continued. “It’ll be fun.”

A smile and a nod.

Everyone was instructed to show up at said Indian restaurant at 6pm, with cars parked out-of-sight and a toast or a roast in hand. We’d arrive at 6:15.

It all worked like a symphony.

In the meantime, I had to furtively make this singular cake that ended up showcasing two of Bill’s faves: strawberry and chocolate.

To be truthful, I had started out to make a fresh strawberry cake, which would have been perfectly delicious in and of itself. But, then I remembered a lone layer of chocolate cake in the freezer—wouldn’t that be scrumptuous sandwiched between two strawberry ones?

Sometimes I surprise myself.

slice of strawberry cake

The strawberry cake is simple to make—and perfect timing:local berries are just now coming in. It is especially nice with cream cheese icing, recipe found here. If you add a chocolate layer, some chocolate ganache icing, and strawberries in syrup spread over the dense cake will push it over the top.

Strawberry Cake
3 c. fresh Strawberries
11/2 c. Sugar
1 c. Butter, melted
1 c. Milk
1 t. Vanilla
2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour, sifted twice
1 T. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
4 Eggs

2 9″ cake pans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Pulse strawberries in a food processor fitted with a swivel blade until pureed.
In a mixer, whip together strawberries with sugar, milk, vanilla. Beat in eggs., then flour, baking soda, and salt. Pour in melted butter and beat well. Pour into 2 (” cake pans that have been coated and lined with parchment. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove, cool on racks.

Post Script: What a difference a week can make: Nashville and surrounding counties have all been inundated by drastic rainfall–over 15″ in only two days. We had a flooded basement-about 8″ of water in Bill’s studio, but got it pumped out. Many, many friends have experienced much worse. A flood of historic proportions affecting unlikely, unforeseen places. All kinds of surprises in life—and all best thoughts to those who lost so much.

In Tennessee, fresh strawberries are soon to come, their small white flowers giving way to ripe fruit. They are especially juicy, finger-staining when picked, fleeting in the pleasure they bring.

But, some of that pleasure can be simply preserved.

For our Nashville Earth Day Festival, I demonstrated some basic methods in “Yes We Can Can”—a beginners guide to the seemingly daunting home canning process.

As a novice canner myself, I find that sometimes newcomers to an art are more helpful in Demystifying the Daunting: In other words, if I can do this, so can you!

This recipe for Strawberries in Syrup requires nothing more than ripe berries, sugar, and fresh lemon. There’s no pectin for thickening, as you would use for jellies or jam.

So, it’s a tetch thinner than what you find in the stores, but perfect for spooning over ice cream, shortcake, (or, as seen here, BOTH!) pancakes, and the like. Or spread over a piece of hot buttered sourdough toast…

And the flavor—ahhh—intensely strawberry. Not too sweet: the lemon giving it a nice boost before it disappears into the background.

Now, for preserving: The equipment list isn’t long.
Mason jars, lids, rings,
a big pot for your boiling hot water bath
Tongs to pull out the processed jars,
rack for the big pot’s interior
A wide-mouthed Funnel to guide your pouring
Time involved–about an hour. Really.
Not a bad trade-off when you consider how nice those berries in syrup will be tomorrow, or next November…

Strawberries in Syrup
2 qts. fresh Strawberries, washed, stemmed, hulled
2 1/2 cups Sugar
Juice from 1 Lemon

Quarter strawberries and put into a 3 qt. saucepan on medium heat. Stir in sugar and lemon juice. Cook for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Skim off foam as it accumulates on the surface. You’ll want a nice, clear syrup, and this removes any impurities. Sugar will cook into the juices and thicken somewhat.

Have mason jars washed in hot soapy water, rinsed well, and dried. Have big pot filled with water to cover the jars by about 2 inches. Bring this to a boil.

Fill jars with strawberries and syrup, leaving a half inch gap at the top. Wipe the rims and place the sealing cap on top. Put on the ring bands and tighten.

Lower into the boiling water. Set timer for 10 minutes and process. Remove the jars and let cool. Soon, you will hear the distictive POP sound of the seal being made. Hurray!

Any extra strawberries and syrup can be kept in the refrigerator and enjoyed during the week to come.
Makes 5 half pints (or 2 pints and 1 half pint)

These cakes can be made in a snap, and use ingredients so basic to the pantry. They are rather receptive to the syrupy goodness… and the melting ice cream.

Basic Genoise Cakes
4 Eggs, room temperature
4 T. melted Butter
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup All Purpose Flour, sifted twice
1/8 t. Salt
1 t. Vanilla

1-9″ round cake pan, greased -or-
4-6 small ramekins or brulee ovals

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat eggs with salt, vanilla, sugar until tripled in volume. Fold in melted butter and flour. Pour into greased baking pan(s) and bake for 15 minutes, if using individual ramekins, or 20-25 minutes if using 9″ round cake pan.

When cooled, remove from pans. Serve with vanilla ice cream and strawberries in syrup.

Wheeeee! This crazy, verging on Mardi Gras, merry-go-round of chocolate decadence, this Amazonian cupcake, was my creation for my mom’s 80th birthday–just celebrated Sunday. Its ingredients were inspired by her abiding love of chocolate in its myriad forms, and its wack-a-doodle look was inspired really, by her joyous take on life.

My mom has always had boundless energy and interests: watercolor artist, art and music teacher, girl scout leader, bowler, bridge player, NYTimes crossword puzzler. She turned her wedding dress into curtains, turned our garage into a craft cranny workshop, turned every picture in the house upside down to see if my dad would notice.

The little string of phrases underneath her senior picture (from the 1948 annual “The Crusader” Mary Louis Academy–an all girls Catholic high school in Jamaica, Long Island, New York) , particularly the last one, always makes me smile:

“pretty as a picture…plays a solid saxophone….laughing brown eyes…

…Fascinating, and a little different.”

Yes, ma’am. To honor this fascinating-and-a-little-different person, I made two cakes into one. The base was a triple-layered sour cream chocolate cake: dark, dense yet moist. The domed top was a chocolate-mousse filled zucotta–incredibly rich yet light: a spectacular (and simple) dessert alone.

From the Italian zucotto for “Skullcap”, a zucotta is a ladyfinger lined, mousse-filled bowl. When chilled and inverted, it makes a cool dome shape that can be further embellished with a smooth coating of ganache.

When placed atop an already over-the-top dessert it became a wild monument to chocolate: a monument whose assembly nearly ended in disaster . The dome almost toppled mid-flight before its precarious three-tier landing. And then, the construction reminded me of a thatched beehive hut we visited in Ethiopia. Yes, this creation was shaping up to be a contender for Cake Wrecks.

Be assured, there is much that can be remedied with more frosting, a long cake spatula, and a pastry bag filled with cocoa whipped cream. And the notion that, when something is meant to be ostentatious, More is Better.

The recipes that follow will make 1 large zucotta–which will serve 12-15, and 1 10″ layer cake to split or 2 9″ layers. Either Zucotta or Sour Cream Chocolate Cake is Lovely-Lovely by itself—you don’t have to go All Fascinating and Little Different if don’t want to!

Chocolate Zucotta

one 4 qt. glass bowl
2 pkgs. plain Ladyfingers

9 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, coarsely chopped
12 T. unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces
4 T. Espresso, or strong Coffee
2 T. Vanilla
3 T. Crème de Cacao
6 Eggs, separated
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup Heavy Cream, lightly sweetened and whipped

Line the bowl with plastic wrap, with ends coming over the sides.
Then, line the interior of the bowl with ladyfingers. Brush with creme de cacao and set aside.

In a heavy 1 qt. saucepan under low heat, melt the chocolate and coffee together.

Whisk in the vanilla and creme de cacao. Then, stir in the butter, one chunk at a time, until it becomes smooth and shiny. Remove from heat.

Using an electric mixer and balloon whisk, beat the egg yolks and sugar together until the yolks become really pale yellow and thickened, almost triple in volume. This will take several (at least 5) minutes. The yolks will cling to the whisk.

Your chocolate mixture should be warm—but not hot.
Beat it into the thickened egg yolks, and pour into another large mixing bowl.
Clean and dry your mixer bowl and whisk. Beat the egg whites until stiff and glossy. Fold the whites into the chocolate mixture.

Fold in whipped cream. Pour mixture into lined bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

When well-chilled and set, unmold onto a platter or plate. Skim-coat with chocolate frosting and/or Cover with chocolate ganache. Decorate with fresh strawberries, whipped cream.

Chocolate Ganache
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 t. Vanilla

Heat cream gently–to a simmer. Stir in chocolate chips and vanilla. Stir until melted and glossy. Remove from heat. While warm, but not hot, pour over the zucotta. Chill and serve.

I used a 4 qt. glass bowl, with a diameter similar to the cake. Short on time, I used packaged ladyfingers, although I have recipe posted here for them, if you’d like to make them yourself.

This filling is similar to my basic wonderful chocolate mousse, although this recipe has whipped cream folded into the batch.

After this sets up—-overnight is best—-it unmolds quite easily.

Here, I “skim-coated” the zucotta with some sour cream chocolate frosting, left over from the cake. It’s now ready for the dark chocolate ganache.

Sour Cream Chocolate Cake
2 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate
1/2 cup chopped Bittersweet Chocolate
1/2 cup Cocoa
2 sticks Unsalted Butter
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Coffee
1 cup Sour Cream
1 T. Vanilla
3 Eggs
2 t. Baking Soda
1/2 t. Salt
2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour

In a microwaveable bowl, place the first 5 ingredients and heat for about one minute–until chocolate and butter is melted. Remove, stir, and heat again for another 1/2 minute, so that sugar is dissolved.

Stir in coffee, vanilla, and sour cream. Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Sift flour, soda, and salt together. Beat into wet mixture.

Pour batter into greased 10″ cake or springform pan or 2 9″ cake pans.
Bake in 350 degree oven 35-40 for the 10″/25-30 minutes for the 9″.

Cool. Split 10″ cake to frost.

Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting
1 1/2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup strong Coffee
2 sticks softened unsalted Butter
1 t. Vanilla
1 cup Sour Cream
3 cups Confectioners Sugar

Melt chocolate chips and coffee together–stir until smooth.
Beat softened butter with vanilla. Beat in sour cream, cooled (but not hard) chocolate. Beat in confectioners sugar, one cup at a time.
Taste for sweetness and adjust.

Crazy-Messy, and Oh-So-Good. Voted best cake ever—and best party ever—by the River Rest residents….

One Year Old. (not the cake….the blog!)

I hadn’t intended for this post to be a dessert one, but suddenly, in the whirl of The Season, I realized that this little Good Food Matters blog had passed a milestone. A whole year old on the 16th. (!)

So, in honor of It–the persistence of its existence—and You, the persistent dear reader, I present this most delicious cake, recently made for our friends visiting from Italy, and their guests.

Now, there are carrot cakes, and there are Carrot Cakes. I took my long-time, well-proven recipe and tweaked it by substituting fruity olive oil for the common, neutral vegetable oil. What a difference!

The result was extraordinary—the richness of the olive oil enhanced and deepened the spicing of the cake, while retaining moist texture.

That, coupled with raisins, organic carrots which are sweeter, and you can effectively cut back on the sugar. (Had there been pineapple in the house, I would have included 1/2 cup of diced bits, too.) My original recipe called for 2 cups, but I found that 1 1/2 cups total, combining both brown and white sugar, was just right. However, if you like a sweeter cake, boost the sugar back up to 2. It’s okay.

This recipe will make two 9″ layers, or one 9″x13″ rectangle. For my friends’ party, I doubled the recipe to make this grand confection.

The cream cheese icing is rather silky, luxurious, and also not-too-sweet. Fresh lemon juice and zest, along with vanilla, enliven the butter-cream cheese blend. Be sure that both are soft before you cream them together—that way they will marry smoothly.

After the two are well blended, I add the lemon and vanilla. The flavors infuse better. Confectioners sugar is added last, which you are welcome to increase to your taste. I like that dulcet tang to come through, and so am judicious with adding the powdery stuff.

So, here’s to a blog birthday, and all the season’s best.

From here at Good Food Matters,
I wish you all love, health, and happiness,
and, of course,

good food and company.

Cheers!

Olive Oil Carrot Cake

1 cup Olive Oil
3 cups shredded Carrots
1 1/2 to 2 cups Sugar—divide equally between Brown and White
4 eggs
1/2 cup Pecans
1/2 cup Raisins
2 cups All Purpose Flour
2 t. Baking Powder
1 t. Baking Soda
1 t. Salt
2 t. Cinnamon
1 t. Nutmeg
1 t. Ginger
1/2 t. Cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly coat cake pans.
Using a mixer, blend all the “wet” ingredients together. Add raisins and pecans, pineapple too, if you like. (These ingredients are optional. You can make it simply carrot.)
Add dry ingredients and mix until all are well-incorporated.
Pour into baking pans, and place into the middle of the oven. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until center tests done.

Allow to cool. Remove from pans. Let cool further before icing.
Note: This cake freezes well. It also stays moist for a long time, wrapped, so you can safely make the cake in advance.

Cream Cheese Icing
12 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
4 oz. (1 stick) Butter, softened
3 T. (or more) fresh Lemon Juice
1 T. Lemon Zest
1 T. Vanilla
1 1/2 cups Confectioners Sugar

Using an electric mixer (I am fortunate to have a Kitchen Aid stand mixer–and I use the paddle attachment for this.) cream the softened butter and cream cheese together. Add lemon juice, zest, and vanilla and mix well. Add the confectioners sugar–about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until smooth.

Taste for lemon and vanilla, as well as sweetness; add more as you see fit.

Bill always wants a pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. Never before, and rarely after the big feast, and yet it is a dessert that he looks forward to eating with gusto. This year, in a move to enliven tradition, I chose to make this pumpkin treat instead.

While it is a cheesecake, it doesn’t have the same heft, that ponderous commitment to dessert that defines cheesecake. This one has all the spiciness of pumpkin pie, with the cream cheese imparting a nice tang. The gingersnap-pecan crust, simple to make, adds a distinctive crunch.

The best part, however, is the cultured whipped cream. It’s part creme fraiche, part mascarpone, totally divine.

And, one of those happy accidents.

My original intention was to make creme fraiche, but I got started a day late. After stirring in the buttermilk, I waited a bit, and on a whim decided to stir in some fresh clementine juice. (Hurray, the clementines are here!)

Overnight, the mix thickened somewhat, but acquired a more complicated and pleasing flavor–slightly sour, slightly citrus.

It whipped up beautifully, sweetened with a little confectioners sugar, and made a stunning accent on the pumpkin cheesecake.

Verdict: Enjoyed by all. Even Bill approved of the little change-up.

And, while we may or may not see pumpkin in some sweet form until next year, the cultured whipped cream will be showing up with another delectable dessert soon. Very soon.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Gingersnap-Pecan crust
12-14 Gingersnaps
1 cup Toasted Pecans
2 T. melted Butter

In a food processor fitted with a swivel blade, pulse the gingersnaps and pecans together. Mix with melted butter in a bowl, and press into a 9″springform pan. Bake for about 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove and cool.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling
1 lb. cream cheese
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
3/4 cup Sugar
1 lb. pumpkin (one 15 oz. can works)
2 eggs
1 t. Vanilla
1 t. Ginger
1 t. Nutmeg
1/2 t. Cinnamon
1/2 t. ground Cloves
1/4 t. Salt
a pinch or 2 White Pepper

In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugars with the cream cheese. (I used a Kitchen Aid stand mixer with the whisk attachment.) When smooth, add the pumpkin and continue mixing. Then add the eggs, vanilla, and all the spices. Whip until smooth and fluffy.

Pour into springform pan and place in the center of a 350 degree oven. Fill a baking dish with water and set on the rack underneath the cheesecake.

Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until knife comes clean. Cool, then refrigerate.

Decorate with cultured whipped cream and pecans before serving.

Serves 12 or more.

Cultured Whipped Cream
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1 Tablespoon Buttermilk
1 Tablespoon Clementine Juice (or orange/tangerine)

4 Tablespoons Confectioners Sugar
2 teaspoons Vanilla

Pour heavy cream into a glass bowl and stir in the buttermilk. Let this sit out for about an hour, and occasionally give it a stir.
Then, stir in the clementine (or whatever citrus you fancy) juice.
Again, let this sit out for an hour or so, stirring occasionally.

Refrigerate overnight.

Before serving: Whip the cultured cream with confectioners sugar and vanilla.

Pipe or dollop onto the pumpkin cheesecake.

There’s an old large pear tree on Maggie’s property that produces abundantly—-we don’t know its proper name—Maggie says she just known it as a country pear, or canning pear. The skin is tough, a bit mottled, blemished; the interior firm, large-celled—very open to accepting and marrying other flavors.

Last fall, which was Maggie’s first year to experience the pear harvest, was (like many fruit harvests of 2008) overwhelming. Pears everywhere! A preponderance of pears.

I went totally overboard, bringing home a hundred and some odd—-making pear butter, pear vinegar, pear coffeecake, pear pie, pear chutney—-and still having pears to spare. They took over the kitchen!

This year, I have vowed to be more balanced. For my first pick, I brought home 20 pears. Now, that’s manageable! These country pears are most amenable to poaching; you can take them in any flavor profile direction you’d like. Try fresh ginger, brown sugar, and star anise. Or red wine, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Or vanilla beans and rum.

I had some local wildflower honey that was intensely floral; I was convinced it would add something unique to a pear dish. It went into my poaching liquid, along with a little white wine and orange zest.

A pleasing result—still very “peary” but with subtle layers of citrus and lavender.

These poached pear slices melded nicely in a brown sugar-walnut-ricotta layered tart using phyllo dough. Simple, crisp, and not-too-sweet—the sort of treat that you can throw together, in a trice, and enjoy with a cup of coffee.

But these same poached pears would be rather elegantly partnered on the savory end, served with roast chicken or pork:all good food for the season.

More pear recipes to come……

peeling pears in Maggie’s kitchen

Honey Poached Pears
4 cups sliced pears
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup wildflower honey
zest and juice of 1 Orange
2 t. Vanilla

These are “shallow poached.” Place all ingredients into a large skillet, stirring and tossing so that everything is well mixed. Cook on medium heat, covered, stirring occasionally for 40 minutes. Pears and zest will soften. Uncover and reduce heat, allowing liquid to thicken, and poach for another 15 minutes.

Poached Pear-Ricotta-Phyllo Tart
2-3 cups Poached Pears
1 cup Ricotta, whipped until very smooth (immersion blender or food processor)
1 cup ground walnuts
1 stick melted butter
2 T. brown sugar
Phyllo Dough–thawed, so that it is maleable
pastry brush
8×8 baking pan

In a small bowl, mix ground walnuts, brown sugar and melted butter together. Open up roll of phyllo dough and brush it with this butter-walnut mixture and place it into the baking pan. Repeat with successive layerings, about 8 times, until a frilly crust is formed. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look even or pretty.
Layer in smooth ricotta.
Top with poached pears.
Garnish with walnut pieces.
Bake in 325 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, until phyllo crust is golden brown.
Serve warm or room temperature.

With its layers of phyllo, and ground walnuts with brown sugar, it is vaguely reminiscent of baklava. The ricotta adds a nice bridging layer between the crisp phyllo and the fruit.

The Zero Birthdays are the BIG ones—there’s something about marking off the decades, these milestones, that stirs the ethers. Memories are conjured. People bubble up from the past. Karmic ties either unravel, or tighten. (We prefer unraveling…)

In a way–as a matter of reflection of life and times past–the event is as significant to family members and friends as it is to the birthday person. Herself.

This past weekend we celebrated my daughter’s 30th Birthday.
We threw a big wild wonderful party. With LOTS of family, friends, food.
And Gypsy Music. Dancing.

And this magnificent Mocha Fudge Torte.

When I first asked my daughter what kind of cake would she like, she told me she’d have to think about it and get back with me. A couple of days passed when she called,

“Momma, you used to make this really good chocolate cake that had coffee flavored icing. Sometimes you soaked the cake with a raspberry liqueur.”

“Ah! The Mocha Fudge Torte!” I said. I had totally forgotten about it. And, yes, sometimes I did brush some Chambord liqueur onto the layers. I recalled the little round bottle with the royal gold plastic banding and plastic gold crown top—so 1980s!!!!

“Yes! That’s what I want.”

This is such a delicious cake; how could I have forgotten it? The coffee cream cheese icing alone is divine enough to eat in great spoonfuls. Oddly, it’s about the only recipe where I use instant coffee. Trust me, this is what it takes to get that rich coffee flavor while still maintaining the integrity of the frosting. The Chambord is truely not critical to the cause. Madeleine and I sampled it on a piece of leveled cake while I was assembling, and decided it was frou-frou.

Three types of chocolate go into the batter.

Mix the batter by hand, if you like. I love being low-tech when I can.

I actually prefer making the cake in one deep pan, and then splitting the layer. The cake seems moister that way.

MOCHA FUDGE TORTE

The CAKE
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
½ cup cocoa
2 sticks butter
2 cup sugar
1 cup strong coffee
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon vanilla
3 eggs
2 ½ cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
parchment paper to line 1 deep 10”springofrm pan, or 2 9”cake pans
baking spray

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cut parchment paper into circles (trace around the cake pans). Lightly spray inside of cake pans, line with parchment and spray again.
Place both kinds of chocolate, cocoa, sugar, butter, coffee, milk, and vanilla in a microwaveable bowl and heat in microwave for 3 minutes. Stir, and repeat if chocolate is not melted. Stir until smooth and sugar is dissolved.
In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients together.
Whisk eggs into chocolate mixture, one at a time.
Finally mix in the dry ingredients.
Pour into cake pan(s). If using 1 10”springform, bake in the middle of the oven for 35-40 minutes. If using 2 9”cake pans, bake in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes.
Cool. Remove from pans. If using 10″spring pan, split the layer in half.

I rarely measure confectioners sugar, or vanilla, or the instant coffee—these are approximations that I think will work. I always add a little, and then sample, and then adjust.

INTENSE COFFEE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
12oz. softened Cream Cheese
4 oz. (1 stick) softened Butter
2 cups Confectioners Sugar
2 Tablespoons Instant Coffee dissolved in
1 Tablespoon Vanilla

Dark Chocolate covered Espresso Beans (optional garnish)

Using a mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese together. Add confectioners sugar and
dissolved vanilla-coffee syrup. Beat well, and taste for coffee flavor and sweetness.
Adjust if necessary.

The Assembly
A Lazy Susan and long flat spatulas help the cause! Level the cake, by slicing off the little rounded top. Place a mound of frosting in the center of the first layer and spread out to the edges. Place second layer on top. Place another mound of frosting on the top, spreading out to the edges, and smoothing over the sides. Slowly rotate the lazy susan, while holding the spatula in place to bring the frosting evenly around the cake. Set in refrigerator to set up before decorating.

Note: I doubled my recipes for both cake and icing for my daughter’s cake to make it extra BIG with three layers (and the fourth layer is in the freezer…)

Thank goodness that we had a bountiful plum harvest. I suppose I’ll have to thank the squirrels for that.

Unlike the birds, (actually one very clever mockingbird) who—despite all the netting–managed to get 95% of our blueberry crop, the squirrels were equitable. They gave us a fifty-fifty cut of the plum share–more than enough to make this delicious tart—-and plenty of other plumgood things.

I also picked these beauties just as they were getting that first blush, and allowed them to ripen in a great bowl in my kitchen. This helped keep things fair and balanced (!) with our bushy-tailed friends.
(Blueberries, regrettably, won’t continue to ripen once picked. Birds could care less.)

I enjoyed monitoring the plum ripening process; the colors ranged from light green to red violet. Spectacular.

It’s pretty simple to prepare the plums. I wash and stem them, then toss them whole into a large pot. I add a cup of water, a cup of sugar, turn the heat on low, and allow them to simmer. Over time, the juices come out, the skin dissolves, and the pulp cooks and thickens. You can add more sugar if you like. I start out with a small amount, in case I want to use the mixture in something savory. You can always make it sweeter.

Eventually, you’ll have a batch of cooked plums, with pits that are not difficult to fish out of the pot. It’s thick, tangy, and ready to use for preserves, sauces, or vinaigrettes.

Or, this luscious tart.

I was inspired by a posting on Joy of Cooking foodblog. Joy Ramirez presented an Italian sweet pastry crust recipe that she uses with marmalade—-crostata di marmellata. I thought this could be perfect to use with my plums, although my preserves as filling on their own might be too much. Then, I recalled a cream cheese pie that I used to make. If my preserves were cooked as both base and topping with an almond cream cheese filling, it could be just right.

It’s rich, and a little different, in a good way. I love the look of the plum stripes against the cream; the stripe at the bottom of the tart takes people by surprise. I brought it to a party recently; one of the guests eating a piece said, “This is ridiculous!” In a good way.

Sweet Italian Pastry Crust (makes enough for 2 crusts)
12 T. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 cups all purpose flour
pinch salt
2 T. icy water

In a food processor outfitted with a pastry cutter, pulse together all the ingredients, until it forms a large mass. Divide the dough in half, form into balls, and wrap in plastic. (You may freeze the additional doughball.)

Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour. (can be made up ahead the day before.)

Almond Cream Filling
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 t. almond extract

Mix all ingredients until well blended.

1 1/2–2 cups Plum Preserves
1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds

The Assembly

Roll out pie crust and fit over pie or tart pan, pressing and crimping.
Spread about 1 cup of plum preserves over the bottom of the tart.
Add almond cream cheese filling.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. When the top feels set, spoon remaining plum mixture over the top, spreading it so that it covers entirely. Sprinkle with almonds and return the tart
to the oven to cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off the oven and allow the tart to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes.

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