cakes and cupcakes Archives - East of Eden Cooking

2018/07/25

Picnic Cake with Buttermilk and Summer Fruit

Bites of sweet summer fruit peak from the buttery Picnic Cake with Buttermilk and Summer Fruit. Picnic Cake with Buttermilk and Summer Fruit is a sweet way to use up leftovers from binge buying too much summer fruit.

“It’s a pleasant little stream that gurgles through the Alisal against the Gabilan Mountains on the east side of Salinas. The water bumbles over round stones and washes polished roots of the trees that hold it in. The smell of azaleas and the sleepy smell of sun working with chlorophyll filled the air. On the bank the Ford car sat, still breathing softly from its overheating. The back seat was filled with azalea branches.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Picnic Cake with Buttermilk and Summer Fruit announces summer to everyone who shares a slice. Bites of sweet summer fruit peak from a buttery, buttermilk laced cake lightened with whipped egg whites. This cake is a sweet way to use up the odds and ends leftover from binge buying too much summer fruit. This is a versatile cake recipe, adapted from a vintage church cookbook. Any type of stone fruit or cane berries can be used, apricots, plums, peaches or nectarines. Cherries and cane berries, whatever you would like to use.

Essentials

Picnic cake, snack cake or sheet cake, it’s all the same type of cake. Fill an oblong pan with cake batter, frost or not, slice and serve with enough to share. The term sheet cake is the current trendy term. I’m partial to Picnic Cake. It evokes summer with a setting, a place to relax and share. Pick the name that brings joy, and make Picnic Cake with Buttermilk and Summer Fruit. READ MORE . . .

2017/08/222018/01/25

Plum Almond Cake

Simple, Seasonal, Scrumptious

“There were three kinds, yellow, red, and green. Oh, yes, I remember.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Not all summer fruit has the best flavor. The most beautiful peaches can be dull and mushy. I’ve had cherries that didn’t taste like much of anything at all. Plums and pluots can taste like they don’t understand that without the tang they aren’t worth the bother. Such a disappointment. The first time I made the Plum Almond Cake I had stellar plums. The plum tang was nuanced and came in a cascading rainbow of bright, bold flavors. The second time I made the recipe the plums were lackluster, boring. I’d let them get a little soft, hoping for a sweet ending since I couldn’t find that pop of flavor I crave. What a surprise, both times the cake was excellent. Baking the plums in the Plum Almond Cake changed everything. As the cake bakes the plums sink into the batter, melting into sweet, jammy pockets of summer delight. A hint of almond and lemon intrigue lingers, making for nuanced layers of taste and textures. This is definitely the cake to make with any kind of plums and pluots, yellow, red or green all will be simple, seasonal and scrumptious. READ MORE . . .

2017/05/012018/02/09

Rhubarb Almond Cake

A Favorite Spring Cake

“Lee poured the scalding green tea. He grimaced when Adam put two spoonfuls of sugar in his cup. Adam stirred his tea and watched the sugar crystals whirl and disappear into the liquid.”

Inspiration

Dessert aficionados roughly fall into three categories, always chocolate, lemon first and the insatiable who just crave sweets. I always choose lemon first, which leaves the Mr and picky daughter mystified. They have their eyes on the chocolate. I’m convinced that rhubarb is revered by those who prefer lemon first. Rhubarb is very tangy, even sour, more intense than a well grown Granny Smith apple. With a texture reminiscent of celery rhubarb is easily ignored. I like my rhubarb matched with something sweet, but not so sweet than it overpowers the tangy fresh taste of the rhubarb. If you agree, this is a cake for you. A thick slice of the Rhubarb Almond Cake makes a fine companion for coffee or tea.

I’ve made this cake from Bon Appetit half a dozen times, finding it flexible enough to use different shapes and types of pans and varying the almond component between, blitzed blanched almonds as the original recipe suggests, or taking a short-cut and using almond flour or almond meal. The ingredients don’t need to be weighed, careful measuring will make a favorite spring cake. Taking a few minutes to pick the reddest pieces of rhubarb, measure and cut them for the top of the cake is a simple pleasure. Pushing the stalks deep into the thick batter and topping them with an avalanche of sugar delivers glistening rhubarb. The exterior of the cake is almost caramelized with pleasingly crunchy edges that contrast with the moist rhubarb that fills the interior. READ MORE . . .

2017/04/072018/02/09

Berry Basket Cake

With Fallen Meringue and Lemon Curd

“Adam started. He sighed deeply. Isn’t it too simple? he asked. I’m always afraid of simple things. It isn’t simple at all, sad Lee. It’s desperately complicated. But at the end there’s light.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

The first strawberries of spring have arrived. I always say I’ll wait until later in the season to buy them. They will be much sweeter then. But then I cave, and buy them anyway. I’m glad I brought home two baskets. As soon as I was home, I ate almost an entire basket standing at the sink. I was too greedy to wait. The berries were much better than I imagined. But then, my winter tastebuds are hungry for spring. READ MORE . . .

2017/01/312018/03/23

Orange Scented Olive Oil Cake

Seasonal Baking in Winter

“It ballooned in great dark rolls above, and beneath it drew a long trailing skirt of rain, and as they looked the cloud rumbled and flashed fire. Borne on the wind, the cloudburst drummed hollowly on the fat wet hills across the valley and moved out over the flat lands.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

It’s been raining, raining and raining, just what the central coast of California needs. So much rain that the drought is almost over. We had a break filled with sunshine and cold mornings but it will rain again. This is the winter we have wanted for the last three years and now that it is here we can breathe again. California will be fine. READ MORE . . .