Plate of Love Part 1: Spicy Maple-Glazed Pecans

I made this as a snack for Jordan the other day.

I was jealous.

The cake is a Raspberry Yogurt Cake, inspired by Clotilde at Chocolate & Zucchini, has become one of my favorite summer afternoon tea-cakes. It is light, buttery, spotted with fresh, juicy raspberries, and topped with crunchy, caramelized coarse-grained demerera sugar. Because of the moisture and richness provided by the yogurt added to this cake, it requires a lot less butter than most cakes. And, if you use sweetened yogurt you can drop the sugar level down quite a bit, too.

The crackers are simple rosemary-garlic snack crackers, with a mild enough flavor to support toppings. They are topped with soft goat cheese and last summer's savory-jam-experiment, my Golden Cherry Tomato and Ginger jam.

The strawberries... oh! the strawberries! They were the first organic strawberries to arrive in the market this season, and they are sliced in half and stuffed with the same soft goat cheese. But the crowning piece to this amuse-bouche are the Spicy Maple-Glazed Pecans.

I must have had a particularly inspired afternoon, because these turned out amazingly (and surprisingly!) well in the first attempt. They are sweet, spicy, crunchy, buttery, with layers and layers of flavors that may make you ask... "Is that balsamic vinegar I taste?" I first made the pecans to provide some crunch to a spinach salad that included strawberries, that lovely goat cheese, and a herby vinaigrette. However, as soon as they came out of the oven, Jordan and I started snacking on them, and frankly... we couldn't stop! I trust you won't be able to either. Wasn't it that Pringles ad that challenged, I dare you to eat just one?

This is the recipe you're getting today. I will post my recipes for the tomato-ginger jam and the cake soon.

Spicy Maple-Glazed Pecans

Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush the parchment paper with melted butter. (Trust me on this one.) Preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit... basically you will be broiling these.

In a bowl, mix together until smooth:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Fold in, tossing gently so as not to break the halves into smaller pieces:

2 - 2 1/2 cups pecan halves

Broil for four minutes. Stir or turn over the pecan pieces carefully; they will be very hot and bubbly! Broil for one more minute on the other side.

Let the pan cool completely before serving. They will get crunchier as they cool.

a "profound" Carrot Cake Hybrid

Yesterday afternoon we attended a garden party. The sun was shining, there was a light breeze, and we could hear the rides at the PNE as they motored uphill and the screams of gleeful riders as they hurtled, whirled, and dove.

It was Susan's birthday. And she had requested carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, please!

I had made a carrot cake for Jordan's birthday a number of weeks ago, and was pleased with how it turned out. However, as with most recipes, I love tinkering the second time around. I also tend to experiment on people I love, and this was for a dear friend. As usual, I wanted to turn down the sugar and turn up the flavor. Using Joy of Cooking as my basic guide, and More With Less for some inspiration, I came up with a Carrot-Applesauce-Nut Cake hybrid that was incredibly delicious. It was quite crumbly in the center, and didn't hold up terribly well to slicing. However, the tenderness of the crumb, the layered flavors, and the tangy-lemony cream cheese icing elicited "mmm"s from everyone. Kirsten said, "Tora, this is a profound cake."

Profound, indeed. The batter is light and bright, unlike many carrot cake batters that I've encountered, which are dark, oily, and taste syrupy-sweet. Adding extra baking powder and soda gives the cake loft. The applesauce combined with the spices gave the cake a lovely gingerbread-fruity undertones. And the lemon! I simply cannot have cream cheese frosting without lemon zest, forevermore. I trust that once you taste it, you won't go back, either.

Profound Carrot Cake

This recipe makes two 8-inch layers. I think it would also work well in bars, so you could easily pour the batter into one 9 by 13 inch pan. It is also extremely handy if you have an electric mixer and/or beaters to make the batter, and a food processor for the frosting.

Line your pans with parchment paper, or butter and flour them copiously, and especially in the corners. I traced the bottom of my pans onto parchment paper, and Jordan cut them out for me. I put these circles on the bottom of the pans, and buttered the flat sides of the pan. This worked beautifully! The cakes came out easily, and because I kept the paper on the bottom of each cake, they stacked well for transporting.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whisk together in a bowl and set aside:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground or grated nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt

Shred and set aside:

2 cups shredded carrots (this will take about 2 large carrots, peeled)

In the bowl of your stand mixer (if you have one), cream together:

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar, packed

Add to the creamed mixture, and beat until just combined:

3 eggs

1 cup applesauce

Add the dry ingredients to this wet mixture, and beat on low speed until just combined.

Then, add in, stirring again until just combined:

your previously shredded carrots

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup golden raisins

Pour the batter into your cake pan(s). Bake for 25 minutes, until the center of each cake is set (not batter-y), and the top is golden brown. Let cool for five minutes in the pan, then turn out the cakes and let them cool completely on racks. (If you're using a 9 by 13 pan, let the cake cool in the pan. Once it's completely cool, then you can frost it in the pan and cut into bars.)

When your cake is cool, and you are just about ready to frost the cakes, make the frosting.

Pulse in your food processor until smooth:

8 ounces of COLD cream cheese

Add and process until combined:

2 tsp vanilla

Add, and process until combined:

3 cups powdered sugar

Pour your frosting into a separate bowl, and STIR in:

the zest of two lemons

Frost your cake, and devour!

Honey Hazelnut Cake

This morning I went to visit my friend M. for tea. And I always want something sweet and baked to go with my tea. My ideal cake is one that is light, moist, fragrant, filled with subtle flavors, with an interesting texture. Especially if that texture is slightly caramelized and crunchy on top. Going through the cake recipes on Chocolate and Zucchini (Clotilde's recipes never fail!), the Honey Hazelnut Cake filled all these requirements in my baker's imagination. 

Of course, I made my own adjustments. I find most recipes have too much sugar. This one definitely did, since it called for twice as much (yes, you read that correctly) sugar as it did flour. I changed that ratio around, and because of the addition of melted honey to the batter, I didn't miss the sugar one bit. In fact, next time I might try reducing it even more. I also took Clotilde's advice on doubling the recipe and toasting the hazelnuts. 

You could probably make some substitutions to this cake - trying other nuts instead of hazelnuts, for example - but who wants to mess with a good thing? (Apparently I do, blatantly thumbing my nose at even Clotilde!) The combination of toasted hazelnuts and fragrant honey is ethereal and earthy. (You ask me if this is possible, and I say "yes!") The crust is slightly crunchy, and the inside is a moist and cakey. And what a combo... honey and hazelnuts completely infuse the cake, making it absolutely irresistible. 

I would eat this anytime of the day. Breakfast, tea, dessert, midnight snack... you doubt my gluttony? This is what's left of the cake and it's only 5 o'clock! 

I'm pretty sure J. and I will polish the rest off for breakfast tomorrow. I am also pretty sure I will be making this at least two more times this week. 

Honey Hazelnut Cake 

(adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini)

1/2 cup sugar (or 1/3, if you want a little less sugar, like I might)

1 cup flour (of your choice, unbleached all purpose is just fine)

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 eggs

2/3 cups whole raw hazelnuts

10 Tablespoons butter (1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp)

6 tablespoons honey

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Have a rack set in the middle of the oven. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Add eggs one at a time, making sure each egg is somewhat incorporated before adding the next one. 

Then, toast the hazelnuts. Rub them in a teatowel to remove the brown skins, which can get bitter. Chop them roughly (I pulsed them a few times in my food processor), and let them cool before folding them into the batter. 

Meanwhile, melt the butter and honey in a small saucepan, and let it cool just a bit before adding it to the batter. Fold in until just incorporated. 

Pour batter into a greased and floured cake pan or tart pan (I did mine in my tart pan, as you can see in the photo above), and make sure the top is level. 

Bake at 350 F for 25 - 30 minutes, until the middle of the cake is set and the top is golden brown. Serve with a little bit of whipped cream, or just as it is, slightly warm. 

I could also see this cake modified a little bit to make a stunning informal layered cake. Reduce the sugar to 1/4 cup, and make a double batch. Bake the batter in two separate cake pans, and layer the cakes when cool with whipped cream flavored with honey, and perhaps a little buttered rum? Go nuts. 

Every Day Fruit Crisp

In More With Less, Doris Longacre Janzen ponders the purpose of dessert. Is it to add unnecessary calories to our diets? Is it to lengthen the dining experience? Is it actually a practice of gluttony? She writes that, instead, dessert can be an opportunity to add a few more nutrients to the meal. I would agree, and would also add that it can be one of the best times to truly appreciate the culinary bounty of any season: spring, summer, winter, or fall.

I am a fruit-a-holic. All winter long I feast on bursting juicy oranges. I pine for the summer berry fields - strawberries in early summer, raspberries and blueberries in high-summer, the late summer stone fruits - cherries, apricots, peaches, plums, and the final stretch into fall filled with harvest pears and apples and Saturday morning forays into wild blackberry patches.

You must understand, then, that my go-to dessert, my favorite of all, is one that preserves, even enhances the fresh beautiful textures and flavors of perfectly ripe, perfectly sweet summer fruits. The recipe is for a fruit crisp topping that can be piled on top of any fresh fruit. I've done this with apples, pears, a raspberry-blackberry mixture, and a few weeks ago with peaches. Having filled my freezer with berries, I hope to make a few apple-blueberry crisps as the fall winds its way into winter.

So when my friend Farnaz tasted the peach version of this fruit crisp, she immediately said, "I need this recipe!" However, she immediately followed that with a comment on her inexperience with baking. This recipe is much easier than pie. It's easy enough to make on a whim for a home-cooked meal, and elegant enough to take to a dinner at a friend's house to be topped with floppy whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

So for you, Farnaz, for special days and for every day, my favorite fruit crisp.

Fruit Crisp

1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup flour (whole wheat or white)
3/4 cup large flake oats
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 tsp each cinnamon and nutmeg
(or, any other spices to complement the fruit you are using... like ginger with pears, etc.)
a dash of salt

In a bowl, stir together everything except the butter. Then, cut the butter into small chunks and add that to the dry mix. Using a pastry cutter (or better yet, your hands!), cut the butter into the dry ingredients until there are no big lumps of butter, but the whole mix is about the consistency of peas.

Pour this topping onto 4 cups of chopped fruit, or berries, or any mix of fruit you like. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Berries may cook more quickly than other fruits such as apples or pears. The ripeness of your fruit will also determine cooking time. The final test, though, is that the top of the crumble is golden and toasty, and the fruit offers little resistance to a fork.

Serve warm, with whipped cream or ice cream.