Plum Yogurt Spelt Cake with Butter Crumb Topping

As some of the Italian plums bought last week were beginning to look a little soft, I was sorely tempted to make the Crunchy-Topped Whole-Wheat Plum Cake for which Marian Burros published a recipe in the New York Times at the beginning of the month. I even purchased some Irish butter at Trader Joe's for that purpose but then I couldn't bring myself to make a cake so rich that the Man shouldn't be eating and, I knew full well, would eat nevertheless. I still had The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger, which I had taken out of the library last week, and as I was desultorily browsing through it, I came across a yeasted plum crumb cake that I thought would do the trick. The recipe called for buttermilk and sour cream, neither of which I had on hand, but I did have creamy plain non-fat Greek yogurt and I decided to go for it. Naturally, half-way through, I realized that I didn't have a cake pan with a removable bottom either but by then, I was committed and I decided to go with the flow and use whatever pan we had. Feeling all virtuous and reasonable for renouncing the buttery plum cake, I also decided it wouldn't hurt anybody's health to make the topping Beth recommends. It calls for half-a-stick of butter which equals less than 60 g (or 4 tablespoons), i.e. half-a-tablespoon per serving, and taste-wise, it really makes a huge difference. Of course some of us had many more than one serving but, hey, you only live once! Ingredients For the cake 400 g Italian plums, pitted (or enough to cover the surface of the pan) 162 g all-purpose flour 55 g whole spelt flour (Beth only uses all-purpose but I like to throw in some whole-grain whenever I have a chance. If I had had white whole wheat, I would have used that instead) 150 g plain non-fat yogurt (I used the Fage brand which I had bought at Trader Joe's because I like the texture. If you use another brand of plain yogurt, make sure to pick one that contains nothing but milk and live cultures) 50 g sugar 56 g vegetable oil (I used extra-light olive oil) 1 egg zest of one lime (Beth uses lemon but we didn't have any and besides, I love the complex and exotic taste of lime zest) pinch of salt 3 g instant yeast (Beth uses 1 tablespoon of active dry yeast) 80 g water For the cream layer 162 g yogurt (Beth uses sour cream. I looked up yogurt as a substitute to sour cream and saw that it should be mixed with some baking soda. Of course I had no baking soda. For lack of anything better, I beat the yogurt with 5 g of corn starch but I don't think it was a valid substitution) 50 g sugar 8 g all-purpose flour 2 g vanilla extract For the butter topping 40 g all-purpose flour 57 g cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces 50 g sugar (Beth also uses cinnamon and mace but I like fruit desserts better without spices, except when it comes to apple pie à la mode!)

Method

1. Mix flours and yeast
2. In a large bowl combine the yogurt, sugar, oil, salt and zest, using a whisk
3. Add the flour progressively until it forms a smooth batter. It will be sticky and stiff
4. Generously butter a 9-inch quiche pan at least 2 inches deep with a removable bottom (if available). With a spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Spread with lightly floured fingers to fill pan evenly
5. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm area until slightly puffy, about 30 minutes
6. In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt (adding a good pinch of baking soda, if available), sugar, flour, water and vanilla. Beat until smooth with a whisk. Set aside
7. To prepare the topping: in a medium bowl combine the flour and sugar (as well as spices if using). Cut the butter in until the mixture is the consistency of coarse crumbs
8. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 400° F/204° C. Pour the yogurt layer evenly over the batter. Gently distribute the plums over it. Sprinkle the crumb mixture to completely cover the fruit
9. Place the pan on the center rack of the oven and bake about 45 minutes, or until top is lightly browned and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cook in the pan 15 minutes. Remove it to a cooling rack. Cut in wedges and serve warm or cold.

The Plum Yogurt Cake goes to Susan's Wild Yeast for Yeastspotting.

Hazelnut Cake with Pears & Ginger

I think I need help. I truly do. I mean, my life is being taken over by the things I make. Just look at the wild yeast starter for instance. It requires to be fed twice a day. Each time I feed it, I can only keep a small portion of it and the rest, well, the rest has to be either thrown out or used, right? And if I decide to use it, it's now or never. The wee beasties won't wait. Not even one hour. When they are ready, they are ready. Either you put them to work or they kamikaze into oblivion, turning embittered and nasty along the way. So I have no choice. And it's eating me. I don't have either the time (I am back out of retirement working full-time until mid-December) or enough hungry mouths to feed (even though I do have a fair number of those, counting immediate family, friends and neighbors), to bake every single day. But I hate to throw food away. I just hate it. So the other day I made the sourdough chocolate cake from the King Arthur website. It came out voluptuously plump (I didn't even have time to frost it, it went out to my daughter's house in its birthday suit, demurely cloaked in confectioner's sugar, and pff! it was gone, no picture, sorry!). It had been so quickly put together that yesterday I decided I might as well make another cake. See how easy thrift entraps you in its twisted logic! However, since I was being virtuous (making a cake we didn't need to save wild yeasts we didn't need either), I decided to take stock and look around. What else did I have to use in a hurry before it turned on me? Three pears which were definitely starting to look like they were ready to go over the hill, some fresh ginger which was shriveling under my eyes and a pint of creamy homemade yogurt (which was perfectly fresh as I had just made it the day before but which I also had to find a use for, right?). I also had a big jar of hazelnut butter that a friend brought me from France a few months ago and I looove the taste of pears with hazelnuts and ginger. So here is what I came up with! Totally haphazard (hey, I even forgot to put eggs in) but it worked! It's going out tonight to some friends. Maybe I'll be able to sneak a slice back home. My starter is back on timeout in the fridge, so I won't be baking tomorrow. Too bad...

Ingredients (for one 9x9 square cake and 11 hazelnut-ginger babycakes): (if you are making just the cake, use half of all the ingredients except the first four) 15g butter, melted 25g light brown sugar 3 Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and sliced 50g candied ginger, sliced or chopped 240g mature sourdough starter (hydration: 100%) 12 g ground ginger 2 inches of fresh ginger, peeled and grated 12g baking soda 260g wholemilk yogurt 130g hazelnut butter, smooth (can be replaced by another roasted nut butter) 100g agave syrup 225g all-purpose flour 225g low-fat powdered milk, reconstituted 1 pinch of salt pieces of candied ginger to top the babycakes (optional) Method:

1. Heat the oven to 375F/191C making sure the lower rack is in
2. Put melted butter in the cake pan and rotate to spread evenly
3. Dust with brown sugar
4. Arrange the sliced pears on top
5. Put the pan in the oven, bake for 20 minutes and take out of the oven
6. Chop or slice candied ginger on top of the pears, pushing it with a teaspoon into the pear syrup at the bottom
7. Meanwhile, gently fold all the other ingredients into the starter and mix well
8. Pour the starter mixture into the pan until three quarter full
9. Pour the rest (if using) into muffin pan paper liners, sticking a piece of candied ginger on top of each babycakes
10. Bake at 375F/191C for 40 minutes (checking during the last 10 minutes that the cake or babycakes are not browning too fast. If this is the case, tent some foil over them. The cake and babycakes are done when a tester comes out clean.
11. Let the cake cool for a few minutes in the pan on a rack
12. Then, before the juices at the bottom have time to set and stick, turn the cake upside down on a plate.
13. Let it cool completely before eating.

Enjoy!

All these babies are going to Susan, from Wild Yeast, for Yeastpotting. Thanks, Susan! I love Yeastspotting. It's a wonderful way to bring us bakers together...

Apricot-Black Currant Upside-Down Cake

I don't usually bake with butter as some of us are supposed to watch their cholesterol intake but we had friends over for dinner and, with three lean teenagers and a four-year old also at the table, I decided to forget about restrictions and go for it.
The fact is that, like Eve in Paradise, I had been sorely tempted. In my case, the snake was the recently published Rustic Fruit Desserts by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson, a luscious cookbook which features seasonal fruit (the recipes are arranged by season) and simple ingredients.
If I had a bakery, such desserts are the ones I would like to offer. I can see them already in my mind's eyes, colorful but quiet, unassuming to the point of being coy but, oh, so delicious!
I adapted the recipe somewhat as I used more apricots than indicated and tucked black currants between the apricot halves (both because I love the taste of "cassis" and to make the cake more visually interesting). I also used a saucepan and a 10-inch springform cake pan as I didn't have the recommended cast-iron skillet in which to both make the caramel topping and bake the cake.
I had taken advantage of a recent daytrip across the river to Kingston, Ontario, to stock up on frozen apricots and currants at Tara Natural Foods. Using fresh fruit might have been better but, unless you grow them or have access to a pick-your-own farm, both are either too expensive or unavailable in the northern region where our summer cabin is located.

Ingredients:
For the fruit topping

• 6 apricots (or as many as necessary to fill the bottom of a 10-inch cake pan), sliced in half and pitted (or frozen, straight from the freezer)
• a handful of black currants (if unavailable, use blueberries instead)
• 56 g unsalted butter, melted
• 107 g sugar (the recipe calls for brown sugar but I didn't have any on hand)

For the cake

• 157 g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 106 g fine cornmeal (I only had coarse cornmeal on hand and it worked fine. I even think I liked it better that way than I would with fine cornmeal)
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 113 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 127 g granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 167 g buttermilk 

 Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F/177 C
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and add the sugar
3. Stir until dissolved and golden
4. Pour into an oil-sprayed 10-inch springform pan (I had lined the bottom with parchment paper)
5. Place the apricots cut side down on the bottom of the cake, add the currants or blueberries (if using)
6. Whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Ising a mixer (handheld or stand), cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed for 3 to 5 minutes, until light and fluffy
7. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition, then stir in the vanilla
8. Stir in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk in two additions, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally
9. Gently spread the batter over the fruit and bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes or until the center of the cake springs back lightly when touched
10. Allow the cake to rest about 20 minutes before flipping it over. This cake is best eaten the day it is made but the leftovers (covered with plastic wrap) make a yummy breakfast.