Apple Marzipan Cake and Gingerbread Creatures

2016 has not stacked up to be the most beloved year, but I didn't want to let it slip away without documenting a few personal holiday baking triumphs. Above, from Luisa Weiss' Classic German Baking (a much appreciated Christmas cookbook present), is a towering apple marzipan cake. Infused with almond paste, and with apples both cubed within and splayed artfully on top with a glaze of apricot jam, it evoked powerful childhood taste memories of afternoon outings to elegant German cafes for the ritual of Kaffee und Kucken. The recipe can be found here.

In anticipation of Santa's visit, we had fun making gingerbread creatures, following the recipe from the Joy of Cooking (the classic version). When we ran out of patience for rolling and cookie cutting, we used up the final dough with free form snails, pretzels, and a friendly mole skink, sporting fetching icing spots.

Best wishes for peace and happiness in the new year.

Gingerbread Men 

from Joy of Cooking (makes 2 sheets of cookies)

gingerbread dough
1/4 cup butter
1/2 brown sugar
1/2 cup dark molasses
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/3 tsp salt
1/4 cup water

icing
1/4 cup confectioner sugar
a few drops of water

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Blend until creamy the butter and brown sugar and then beat in the dark molasses. Sift the flour and then resift with the remaining dry ingredients. Add the sifted ingredients to the butter mixture in about 3 parts, alternating with 1/4 cup water. You may have to work in the last of the flour mixture by hand. 

3. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness, cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place them on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. You can combine the scraps and chill in the freezer for a few minutes before rolling out again. When you run out of patience, turn the last scraps into hand-formed shapes like snails. If you like, decorate them with dried fruit such as currents and cranberries. 

4. Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, according to their thickness. You can test them for doneness by pressing the dough with your finger. If it springs back after pressing, the gingerbread cookies are ready to be cooled on a rack. 

5. To decorate them with icing, stir the confectioner sugar and a few drops of water together in a small bowl to make a paste. Apply the icing with a toothpick or pipe through a sandwich bag with a tiny opening snipped in the corner. Allow to dry. The cookies will keep for a week or so if stored in an airtight container.

Plum Torte

At last week's farmers market, Camas Swale Farm had these gorgeous purple plums, a welcome sight because I've been baking a lot of plum tortes from this New York Times classic recipe by Marian Burros.

The recipe starts with a standard cake batter of creamed butter and sugar. Then you pile on plum halves, sprinkle with a bit of sugar and an hour later you have the most perfectly moist cake infused with fragrant plum juices. You can serve it as a dessert or an afternoon teacake and with just a little bit of rationalization, as breakfast fare because of all the fruit. Be prepared to start baking your second one as soon as you cut into the first.

Marian Burros’s Plum Torte

¾ cup sugar
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup unbleached flour, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
1 teaspoon baking powder
 Pinch of salt (optional)
2 eggs
24 halves pitted purple plums
Sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon for topping

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cream the sugar and butter in a bowl. Add the flour, baking powder, salt and eggs and beat well. (I also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract at this point.)

3. Spoon the batter into a spring form of 8, 9 or 10 inches. Place the plum halves skin side up on top of the batter. Sprinkle lightly with sugar and lemon juice, depending on the sweetness of the fruit. Sprinkle with (about) 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, depending on how much you like cinnamon. (I just used a teaspoon of raw sugar and no lemon juice or cinnamon).

4. Bake one hour, approximately, until the top is brown and a fork come out of the cake clean. Remove and cool; refrigerate or freeze if desired. Or cool to lukewarm and serve plain or with whipped cream.

5. To serve a torte that was frozen, defrost and reheat it briefly at 300 degrees.

Marbled Birthday Cupcakes

This year, my Winter Solstice seven-year-old son was eager to help bake his birthday cupcakes. We decided on chocolate and vanilla marbled ones (no need to give a bunch of bouncing seven year olds too many choices). We adapted this marble cake recipe from Chocolate and Zucchini, and my son laboriously transcribed the ingredient list, increased by 50% to ensure sufficient cupcakes for his party.

He distributed the first layer of vanilla batter,

helped mix in melted chocolate for the top layer,

and marbled the two with a skewer. 

The resulting cupcakes were just big enough to hold seven candles for the afternoon festivities, and just plentiful enough for a second afterdinner wish.

Marbled Cupcakes

adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini, makes 18-24 cupcakes

150 grams (7 ounces) good-quality bittersweet chocolate
6 eggs
330 grams (2 cup plus 4 tablespoons) sugar
3/4 cup yogurt or buttermilk
330 grams (3 1/3 cups) flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
180 grams (a little less than 13 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
pinch of salt
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 330°F.

2. Melt the butter in the microwave, and set aside to cool. Melt the chocolate in the microwave, and set aside. 

3. Combine the flour with the baking powder and pinch of salt and set aside.

4. By hand or in a mixer, beat together the eggs and the sugar until frothy. Add in buttermilk and whisk to combine. Combine in the flour mixture and then incorporate the melted butter and the vanilla, without over mixing. 

5. Line 18 to 24 muffin tins with paper muffin cups. Scoop a soup spoon of batter into each cup, using half of the batter. Mix the melted chocolate into the remaining batter. Scoop a soup spoon of the chocolate batter into each cup. The cups should be about 3/4 full. Using a skewer, pierce each mound of dough and give it a quick swirl to create the marbling.

6. Bake for 25-28 minutes until a clean skewer comes out clean.

Note: we made 18 cupcakes (our household's muffin tin capacity) and had batter leftover for a mini cake, so I think one could stretch this recipe to 24 cupcakes. 

Yogurt Cake: Child's Play

My son's birthday is on winter solstice, and it's hard for me to believe that he is already five. Among the many remarkable implications of this statistic is that his sister is nine and a half and quite capable of baking him a birthday cake. Although her preference would be for chocolate, her brother requested a white cake. I suggested that she try a gateau au yaourt, which is apparently a recipe that all French children master at an early age. In fact, you can measure out all the ingredients in individual yogurt containers. Since we buy big tubs of Nancy's yogurt, my daughter used regular measuring cups, and not being too strict about European traditions, Swedish horse cake pans.

During baking, the batter spilled out a little from the pans, but just enough for the baker to sample her work before the official celebration.

When the time arrived, we dressed up the little cake as an elaborate zebra with a whipped cream coat and raspberry stripes. My son was delighted to have a cake baked by his big sister and devoured the whole thing. My daughter was proud of her baking accomplishment and vowed to stop calling her brother "baby" (unless he does something especially annoying).

Gâteau au Yaourt
from Chocolate and Zucchini

1 cup whole milk plain unsweetened yogurt (or use two 4 oz yogurts, and use the containers to measure out the rest of the ingredients)

2 eggs

1 cup sugar (2 yogurt containers)

1/3 cup vegetable oil (bit less than 1 yogurt container)

2 cups all-purpose flour (4 yogurt containers)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

a good pinch of salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


1. Preheat the oven to 350° F, grease a round 10-inch cake pan or equivalent. 

2. In a large mixing-bowl, gently combine the yogurt, eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla. 

3. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture into the yogurt mixture, and blend together without overworking the batter. 

4. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean (the little horse cake was done after 20 minutes). Let stand for ten minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.

Blueberry Snack Cake

We're in the midst of summer berry season and summer camp season. Although experts tell us parents to stop hovering, it's difficult to temper the trepidations that come with sending one's child off to her first overnight camp. My approach toward self-composure was to bake this blueberry snack cake with my daughter before she left.  

I soothed myself by thinking that the nutty top would fuel my daughter through her canoeing, zip lining, and archery, but really I just wanted the tender baked blueberries to burst in her mouth and taste like home.

Brooke Dojny's Blueberry Snack Cake with Toasted Pecan Topping

from food52's Genius Recipes

Serves 8
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar, divided use
2 eggs
1/3 cup whole or lowfat milk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 cups blueberries
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan.

2. Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

3. Using an electric mixer or a food processor, cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest and process or beat until smooth. Spoon the flour mixture into the processor or bowl and pulse or beat just until the flour is incorporated. If the batter is in a food processor, transfer it to a large bowl.

4. Sprinkle the blueberries over the batter and gently fold them in, just until combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle with the nuts and then with the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar.

5. Bake until the nuts are deep brown and a tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool. (The cake can be wrapped well and stored at cool room temperature for 1 day or frozen.)

6. Cut into squares or wedges in the pan to serve.

Buckwheat Chocolate Cake

It is birthday season in our household. For her birthday party, my daughter considered offering her favorite meal of homemade pasta with pesto and rhubarb buckle, but was worried that not all of her friends would like this menu, so she decided instead on pizza and chocolate cake. Her thoughtfulness in this matter is exemplary of her gentle and generous nature, nascent nine years ago in her deep brown newborn eyes and more apparent with each passing year.

She is not a fan of flamboyant cakes and cloying icing. Instead she favors subtle, fresh flavors and (a girl after my own heart) bittersweet chocolate. Searching for a suitable birthday cake, this buckwheat chocolate one from Beatrice Peltre caught my eye, especially since we still have a sizable stash of buckwheat flour from our Lonesome Whistle Farm CSA. 

This is almost a flourless chocolate cake (and an entirely gluten-free one). The small amount of almond meal adds a rich texture and the buckwheat gives a hint of sourness that complements the bittersweet notes of the chocolate.

A decorative dusting of powdered sugar and a scoop of vanilla ice cream elevated this subtle cake into party fare suitable for celebrating a truly sweet daughter.

Buckwheat Chocolate Cake

adapted from Smitten Kitchen, 

adapted from La Tartine Gourmande: Recipes for an Inspired Life 

7 Tbsp unsalted butter, plus extra for buttering pan
4 ounces bittersweet dark chocolate
4 large eggs at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
A good pinch of sea salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
scant 1/4 cup slivered almonds
Confectioners’ sugar to serve (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper. Melt the butter and chocolate together in in short bursts in the microwave, stirring frequently. Set aside.

2. Prepare the almond meal by pulsing together the slivered almonds and buckwheat flour in a food processor until finely ground.

3. In the bowl of a stand mix or with a handheld mixer, beat the eggs and sugar with salt until light and pale and doubled in volume. Deb Perelman advises that one spend 5 to even 9 minutes on this to develop the cake's crumb, but with my little handheld mixer I didn't have quite the stamina for this and the cake still turned out nicely.

4. Gently fold in the vanilla and melted chocolate mixture. Sprinkle the buckwheat and almond mixture over the batter and fold gently to combine. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out dry.

5. Let cool for five minutes on a rack then invert onto the rack, remove the parchment paper, and return upright on a serving plate. Serve in wedges, dusted with powdered sugar.

UPDATE: I made a Pacific Northwest version of this cake with ground hazelnuts instead of almonds and it was delicious.

Zwetschgenkuchen

This Sunday at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market you can expect the following produce from SLO Farm, Sweetwater Farm, and Songbird Farm:

• multiple varieties of apples and plums
• pie pumpkins
• tomatoes: heirlooms, cherries, and San Marzano romas
• cucumbers, zucchini, eggplants, string beans
• peppers including bell peppers, poblano, and hot peppers 
• root vegetables including beets, turnips, potatoes, and kohlrabi
• kale, chard, lettuce 
• onions, leeks, garlic
• eggs, honey

SLO Farm offers a variety of purple prune plums that my kids devour by the basketful. 

As soon as I saw these jewel-like fruits, I had a flood of memories of sunny afternoons on the patio of my grandmother's home in a small town in Southern Germany, feasting on Zwetschgenkuchen, a yeasty cake covered with slightly tart plum halves and embellished with streusels. I  recall the glee with which my sister and I realized that Germans have an official midafternoon meal devoted to the consumption of cake (Kaffee und Kuchen). It was a daily pleasure to be called away from daisy chain fabrication for the sole purpose of sampling yet another baked delicacy, accompanied by sweet, milky coffee. 

To make my own zwetschgenkuchen, I combined a yeast cake dough from here and a streusel recipe from there, and recruited my daughter to arrange the plum halves (which she did with such conviction that I had to rescue a few drowning ones from the dough).

The baking cake filled the kitchen with yeasty, sweet aromas from my childhood that made me wistful for a Kaffeeklatsch with my mother and sister. But I was happy to watch my own childrens consume the cake with gusto and roll the exotic name around on their tongues.

Zwetschgenkuchen

for the cake dough
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups flour, such as Camas Country Mill's soft white flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, softened and cut into 1 inch cubes

8-12 prune plums, halved

for the streusel

1/4 cup flour

1/8 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup white sugar
pinch of salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbsp butter

1. Combine the yeast and water and allow to stand for about 5 minutes, until frothing.

2. In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt. Mix in the yogurt, egg, and vanilla extract. Then pulse in the butter in batches until it is all incorporated. The dough will be quite runny, and I found it easiest to leave it in the food processor bowl to rise. Allow it to rise for 1 1/2 or 2 hours.

3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 10 inch round cake pan. Pour in the yeasty cake dough and cover with a layer of plum halves, pressed into the dough with their skin sides down.

4. Rinse out the food processor to make the streusel. Pulse together the dry ingredients. Then add the vanilla and butter and pulse until it is a coarse crumb. Sprinkle the streusel over the cake.

5. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 55 minutes, until the streusels are browned and a fork poked into the dough comes out clean. Allow to cool partially before serving.