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Posts Tagged ‘cake’

I love to make cakes for people. Not just random, anyone next in line people, but my friends and family. My usual rule is the higher the better. I’m madly, madly in love with 3 layer cakes. They make me beyond happy. There is something about the all those layers stacked up, filling gently oozing out and swirls and swirls of icing. Never mind the decorating part, ooohhh! When I get one of those cakes done, the sense of accomplishment is so very sweet. Turning it around for a last look, nodding, yep, they’re gonna like this. I just know that with each bite they’re going to feel the love. Mercy! Feel the love! CAKE = LOVE. Okay, before you start looking up the closest Mental Health facility (do they have spas?) I am aware that cake is not love (sob) and there won’t be a tent revival in anyone’s mouth when eating a piece of cake.  I was just letting you in on the giddy delirium that happens at 2am when you finally finish one of those suckers. But I digress.

Sour Cream Lemon Cake will not make you giddy, it’s not a 3 mile high show stopper, and I’ve never put icing on it.  An abundance of powdered sugar sometimes (I can get carried away with that), a fruit sauce might get dribbled over now and then, but never icing.  This cake is very simple to put together, there are no scary ingredients, or stacks of cake pans, and lists of a plan of attack need not be attached to your fridge.  One bowl, one pan, one cake.  Embellish or not.  It’s good, tender and delicately tangy, and appropriate for almost any occasion.  The LBD of cakes.  So you know, I will only make this cake in twos from now on.  There will be one in the freezer, ready to be unwrapped, put on a plate and served so that anyone who drops by for tea will think that there must be a bit of magic in my home.  I might suggest that you do the same.  Oh, and pssssssttt? Cake does equal love.

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Another day of rain here in Denver.  Fall has arrived, and not a gloriously colorful, graceful entrance.  Cold, wet, and dreary just plopped down in your lap. What you want to eat and cook changed dramatically in the past few days.  Baking, braising, and generally having the oven on and filling the house with warmth and things that smell good is where most of us want to be.  Apples will be the fruit we’ll be picking up and eating out of hand, filling cakes and pastries with, and slipping in next to onions and roasting.  This cake a great transition piece, easy to make and even easier to eat.  What makes it rustic? Well, there’s nothing pretentious about this cake.  It’s craggy and crumbly, studded with nuts, packed with apple pieces, and warmly fragrant with spices. There’s no frosting, or filling, and nothing dainty and petite about it.  It’s pretty great no matter when you eat it.  Warm and fresh out of the oven or the next day for breakfast (you know I’m the president of the Cake for Breakfast club).  It’s wonderful with tea in the afternoon, or even dolloped with rummy whipped cream.  It would be a wonderful gift for a neighbor or friend although I’m pretty sure you’re not going to want to part with it.  Make two!

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