Sweet & Simple Spice Cake

I have a weakness for vintage cookbooks. They’re just fun.  SO fun.  For this blog post, I decided to give a recipe from a vintage cookbook a whirl.  The recipe, for an old-fashioned spice cake, was inspired by Green Mountain Kitchen Recipes (Elizabeth McWhorter, 1948).  I found this spiral bound collection of recipes in a community thrift shop in Vermont last winter. It has sweet illustrations and several wonderful recipes – and it cost a $1.

Some vintage recipes take a matter-of-fact-no-hand-holding approach with the reader. For example, Ms. McWhorter’s instructions for this cake: “Mixed and baked by the conventional method, the cake calls for the following ingredients…” The ingredients are then listed and the baker is expected – expected! – to know in what order to mix the ingredients and how to bake the cake. Yikes! 



Sure, sure, you and I both know to cream the butter and sugar together, add the eggs, add the molasses and then alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients. Of course we do! But a jumble of ingredients with no instructions may as well be a description of my pantry.  So, I’ve made sense of the original recipe, tweaked it here and there [Hello, touch of nutmeg! Hello, orange zest!], and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Sweet & Simple Spice Cake*

Makes one lovely bundt cake

Preheat oven to 350°

Prepare a 10” bundt or tube pan (butter and lightly flour the pan, shaking off the excess flour). Alternately, you may coat the pan with a no-stick vegetable oil cooking spray (I won’t tell).

Have all ingredients at room temperature.

1 cup (225 g) light brown sugar

1/2 cup (112 g) unsalted butter

5 large eggs

1/2 cup (170 g) molasses

1 cup (250 ml) buttermilk

2 tsp orange zest

2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups (338g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1-1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp nutmeg (freshly grated is best)

1/4 tsp salt

Sift dry ingredients together and set aside.

Combine buttermilk, vanilla and orange zest and set aside.

In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, combine butter and sugar and beat well (the mixture will look like a grainy paste). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down bowl twice. With the mixer on low speed, add the molasses in a slow, steady stream.  Scrape down bowl again. Beat until well combined. The mixture will look a little soupy at this point.

Alternate adding the dry ingredients and buttermilk/vanilla/orange zest, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Mix until just combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until cake bounces back when pressed lightly, and/or a cake tester comes out with a few moist crumbs attached.

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then unmold and finish cooling the cake on a wire rack.

To finish the cake, when cool dust lightly with powdered sugar. Serve slices with a dollop of freshly whipped cream. Garnish with an edible flower or a pretty, slim slice of orange or both!

*Note: my Sweet & Simple Spice Cake recipe originally appeared as a guest post for The Fat Expat - a fun blog with interesting peeps and clever writing.

Caroline Dowd-Higgins Discusses My Business Recipe

I was recently featured on career coach Caroline Dowd-Higgins' blog. She tells the not so simple story of how I took my passion for baking and turned it into a business:

"So how does the Chief Household Officer now manage a growing baking business in addition to her family? Michelle admits that work/life integration is a challenge. Her boys are all very excited about the business and in addition to being expert taste testers and home kitchen helpers – they enjoy seeing their mom gain recognition and achieve success with her business in their community."

You can read the whole article here. [source: Caroline Dowd-Higgins]

Summer Part III, Sunflowers & Chuchee’s English Muffin Bread

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer at my house. Thanks to Hurricane Irene, I finally got my wish and the kids went back to school today instead of last week. I was very happy to have them home, it was like a bonus vacation for all of us.

This August, when we went to Montauk, NY for our "real" vacation, I drove by LKL Farmstand in East Hampton, NY several times before I worked up the courage to pull over and ask if I could take some pictures of their sunflower field. I didn't expect to be allowed in the field and up and down the rows - and they generously allowed both. If you've never walked in a field of sunflowers late in the day in late summer, and I hadn't before, please put it at the top of your list of things to do. There was a lovely hum of bees and a feeling of total peace. Everything seemed just as it should be. Here are a few of the pictures I took that day.

In the picture on the right, you can see the bees on a sunflower.


Made of cloth or recycled materials, I love the American flag. This one is from LKL Farmstand.

Some LKL Farmstand peaches in jars. I'm going to make my grandma's Peaches 'n' Cream Pie, which calls for preserved peaches, with LKL Vanilla Peaches this winter.


Since I started Sweet & Simple, I've been baking more than ever, but in a commercial kitchen. I do miss the quiet time in my own kitchen. So yesterday was Labor Day and, even though it was hot and humid out, I wanted to relax at home in the afternoon and bake something. I thought English Muffin Bread would be great for back-to-school breakfast this morning - and it was! I had mine with butter and apricot preserves.

No surprise, some of my best recipes are from my favorite people – my friends and family. This English Muffin Bread is super easy to make and delicious to eat. My friend and former neighbor, Chuchee, an amazing baker and cook, made this for us many times. With her permission, I'm sharing her recipe. Chuchee’s English Muffin Bread is best toasted with lots of butter and jam. Or, try cream cheese, peanut butter or Nutella. All are popular at my house! You will find some of Chuchee’s other recipes here.

Since I tend to use a mixer or Cuisinart for most recipes – including pie dough and challah bread – I enjoy making this by hand in a Pyrex bowl with a wooden spoon. And the 45 minutes of wait time is a great excuse for yet another cup of coffee.

Chuchee's English Muffin Bread

Makes 2 loaves

Lightly grease 2 8-1/2 x 4” loaf pans and sprinkle with cornmeal.

3 cups plus 2-1/2 – 3 cups all-purpose flour
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups milk
1/2 cup water
cornmeal (for pans)

Combine with a whisk, 3 cups flour, yeast, sugar, salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Set aside.

Heat milk and water in a small saucepan until very warm. Add milk to flour mixture. Beat well. Stir in 2-1/2 – 3 cups more flour to make a stiff batter. Spoon batter into pans. Loosely cover and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes. While the bread is rising, preheat oven to 400º. Bake 25 minutes. Remove immediately and cool on wire rack.

Goodbye, Summer. Thank you for sweet memories and happy days. See you next year!

Summer Part II, Molly’s Blueberry Zucchini Bread

A few weeks ago I asked my sweet friend, Molly, if I could take a few pictures of her summer garden and animals for this blog. She agreed.

We’ve been enjoying fresh and beautiful eggs from Molly’s hens for months and I wanted to meet them. Turns out the hens had nothing to say to me - but they sure are pretty, aren’t they? And look at this zucchini – blossom and squash!

And Molly had just added two furry babies to her house – Peaches and Ron (Weasley). They are soft and sweet and hoppy as can be!

How do you prepare summer squash? Or, what’s your favorite way?

I like to take a combination of zucchini and yellow squash, cut them on a diagonal in medium slices, sprinkle lightly with sea salt and sauté in olive oil until crispy and golden brown on both sides. Just don’t crowd the pan – if you do, they steam (and I make a frowny face) - work in batches until all the rounds are done. Then I arrange the slices, slightly overlapping in concentric circle in my sauté pan, sprinkle generously with grated Parmesan and stick the pan under the broiler. Yup. That’s what I do. Watch the pan carefully and please-oh-please have those oven mitts handy to remove the pan when the cheese is crispy and golden brown!

Beautiful yellow squash. Love how different the blossoms are from zucchini blossoms.

Molly has a GREAT tip for all that extra zucchini. She grates it, measures out servings and puts them in individual plastic freezer bags for the winter. As needed, she adds the frozen zucchini to pancakes and baked goods for her kids. Garden zucchini in the darkest days of winter would make ME smile!

I had a few recipe ideas for this post, but Molly gave me some loaves of her quick bread to take home that day and I quickly lost interest in my own recipe ideas! Here’s the recipe for her Blueberry Zucchini Bread. It’s delicious and I’ve left the recipe as is – no tinkering, no inspired by, just a lovely recipe from her home to mine and now to yours.

Thank you, Molly! I've known you since our first born babies were in pre-school together and you are a wonderful mother and friend. Not to mention a fabulous gardener and cook. XO

Molly’s Blueberry Zucchini Bread
Makes 4-5 mini loaves or 1 8 x 4-ish loaf

Preheat oven to 350°
Prepare loaf pan(s) by lightly greasing with vegetable oil.
[If you’re using bake-and-serve-loaf pans, skip this step.]

3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/4 cup white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all purpose, unbleached flour
(or, 2 cups all purpose unbleached, 1 cup whole wheat)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cups fresh blueberries, washed and picked over

Combine with a whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and and cinnamon and set aside.

In the work bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla and sugar. Switch to the paddle attachment. Add the zucchini and beat until just combined. Add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Remove attachment and work bowl and with a spatula or wooden spoon gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini loaf pans.

Bake 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans then turn onto wire racks.

Guacamole

Avocados are my favorite fruit. So good! In a perfect world, I would have avocado with every meal. So, no surprise, I love guacamole. I take ripe avocados, sprinkle them with lemon juice and sea salt and then mash them up with a fork. That’s it!

What about lime juice? Glad you asked. I’ve experimented with lime juice and it adds a whole different quality to the guacamole. Although equally delicious, and I used it in the picture below because that's what I had on hand, my preference is lemon juice. The lime can overwhelm the avocado, so use less to start than you think you need.

I don’t particularly care for guacamole add-ins like chopped tomato, garlic, onion, or cilantro, though I understand those are components of an “authentic” guacamole. If you like those, go for it!

If possible, I highly recommend a sunny summer afternoon, an ocean breeze, music and a good friend or two to go with the guacamole and corn chips. And don't forget a couple of cold ones. Just sayin'.

Guacamole
Serves 4-6

3 ripe avocados*
Lemon juice to taste
Sea salt to taste

Halve, pit and peel avocados.
Put avocado halves in a work bowl.
Add lemon juice sparingly (you can always add more).
Add sea salt to taste.
Mash avocados lightly with a fork, taste and adjust lemon/salt.
If you like your guacamole smooth, keep on mashing.
If you like your guacamole chunky, stop when the texture looks good to you.
Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately or tightly cover with plastic wrap (pressing the wrap on the guacamole) and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.
Don’t forget the tortilla chips!

* When is an avocado ripe? Good question. A ripe avocado should be firm but give easily to light pressure from your finger tips. To hasten ripening, try placing your avocados in a brown paper bag with an apple or a banana for a day or two. Do not store avocados in the fridge or in a plastic bag.

Angel Hair Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes

One of my favorite recipes!

Found this recipe in a New York Times Magazine article (“Kitchen Voyeur”, Jonathan Reynolds, 9-5-05), and then in Barefoot Contessa at Home (Ina Garten, 2006) as “Summer Garden Pasta.”

This is best prepared in summer when local, organic tomatoes and basil are fresh and abundant. During the summer I make it once a week – no kidding! Because the tomatoes marinate for at least four hours, you can prepare it well ahead of time. It’s perfect for a mid-week family dinner, or dress it up with a salad and light dessert and you have a dinner party menu.

I use less garlic than both recipes mentioned above. In summer, when I can purchase an enormous, fragrant bunch of basil from a local farm stand, I use more basil and garnish with a big, beautiful sprig of it. The original recipes add cheese to the dish right before serving. I prefer to pass a bowl of freshly grated Parmesan cheese at the table.

For this recipe it helps to have the best quality ingredients. As a special treat, I like to have on hand a really good olive oil and a favorite sea salt for this dish. For fun, click here for a fantastic foodie resource for olive oils, sea salts and many other wonderful items.

Serves 6-8

4 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic (3 cloves)
A handful +/- of julienned basil leaves (reserve some for serving)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/4 lbs angel hair pasta
1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese for the table

Combine the cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Cover with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for about 4 hours.

Before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Cook the pasta according to the package directions being careful not to overcook it.

Drain but do not rinse the pasta, add it to the bowl with cherry tomatoes and toss.

Garnish each bowl of pasta with some of the reserved basil and serve immediately.

Pass a bowl of freshly grated Parmesan cheese at the table.

Summer Part I and a “Recipe” for Boiled Corn

As much as I look forward to vacation - who doesn't? - Connecticut summers are a joy. I’m sharing some pictures of 3 places I especially love to visit during the summer months: Greenfield Farms, and 2 neighborhood gardens that always make me feel content – both designed and planted by their current owners.

Greenfield Farms, the best local place to buy tomatoes, corn and zinnias is a short bike ride from our house. I’ve been a customer for years. Before we had children, one of my favorite summer meals was boiled corn with sea salt and a glass of wine (or two). Ahem! I still love a lazy Sunday dinner of boiled sweet corn, but I add crispy grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches now - they're pretty darn good!


Greenfield Farms
Open 7 Days a Week (July – October)
M-F 10 - 6, Sat & Sun 9 - 6
3763 Congress Street, Fairfield, CT 06824
203-259-3577

Then there’s my neighbor Laila’s beautiful vegetable and perennial gardens. Below, swiss chard, and an herb bouquet - sage, basil, parsley.

A broccoli and the always lovely 'Becky' shasta daisy (rumbrum lily in background).


And my neighbor Jenn’s gorgeous perennial gardens that she seems always to attribute to benign neglect, though I see love and care – and definitely humor! – at every turn. This sea monster looks like a big silly! ...Maybe he came from the Long Island Sound??

Jenn's petite and perfect hydrangea garden, and some ruffly, sweet and girly daylilies.

Zinnias, an annual native to Mexico, are the first flowers I remember planting from seed with my mom. Really, could anything be easier to grow or more rewarding with that insane carnival of colors? And they’re flourishing at Greenfield Farms in the July heat.

At left, corn and zinnias from Greenfield Farms.

[Please note, you're going to be seeing this window quite a bit until I get my food photography lighting down - it is a 3-exposure window in my kitchen with beautiful light. I think of it as my food photography lighting blankie. *sigh]

Below, zinnias in a field at Greenfield Farms:

September corn is my favorite – those warm days and cool nights have a sweetening effect on the corn. I didn’t make that up. Click the link! But I’ve never turned down July corn. Or August corn for that matter! And this is how I like to prepare it...

Sweet & Simple “Recipe” for Boiled Corn
If you like it boiled like I do, just give it a quick dip in salted, boiling water. And I mean a rolling boil. Two minutes is enough. Serve it immediately, it doesn’t like to sit and get cold. Trust me. And I need a favorite sea salt for sprinkling on the-almost-too-hot-too-handle-corn. If you like to give your corn a gentle rub-down with sweet butter, knock yourself out! Why not?

Happy Summer!