Last week we experienced our first really hot days of the year. The temperature soared to 104 degrees from this summer’s norm of about 68, enough to make me sit up and take notice that summer was about to pass us by. For two days, I dropped everything, grabbed my 10-year-old son, threw him in the car with snacks, towels, and sunscreen, and drove the 20 minutes out to Half Moon Bay mid-week to relish the sparkling, cold sea.

We saw dolphins and seals (or sea lions, I’m never really sure). We shared a giant stretch of beach with maybe 10 other people and a congregation of birds.

We laughed, played, and splashed until we fell on our blanket, exhausted, munching on juicy green grapes. He’s growing up so fast that it hurts. I wanted time to stop, even as tides marked the minutes. By next summer, giggling and running on the beach with mom will be too embarrassing, but for now, it was just what he needed.

He begins 5th grade in 10 days, and he’s angry that he’s rusty on his 9-times. Never mind that decimals and geometry are crisp, it’s just those stinking 9s that have him needing to practice a bit. I don’t remember ten being so hard. Mostly I remember summer lasting forever, which reminds me the view is different from there. Maybe, if I’m really lucky, he’ll remember the summer that scorching heat came out of nowhere and I took time to laugh and play with him on the beach before I blinked and he became a man.

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Until a few years ago, I had never heard of Italian Cream Cake. Clearly I had been living under a rock. But not a rock in Texas. Because people in Texas know their Italian Cream Cakes.

I first heard about this ultra-rich cake when we were going to have a friend (native Texan) over for her birthday dinner in our Austin home. Being the baker that I am, I asked her what her favorite cake was. Italian Cream Cake was the answer, and it baffled me. I finally told her husband that I was afraid to make one for her, because I had never eaten one, and therefore couldn’t discern which recipe might produce a “good” cake. Or even what a “good” Italian Cream Cake meant. He immediately said that he would take care of bringing the cake, from a local bakery. Neither of us wanted to disappoint the birthday girl.

It turns out that Italian Cream Cake requires a lot of butter and shortening. And a whole lot of sweetened coconut and pecans. There’s a very sweet cream cheese frosting, less cream-cheesy and more sugary than, say, carrot cake frosting. Which gets covered in more coconut and pecans. No one would ever, ever mistake it for an angel food cake, or for anything from Cooking Light. I’m pretty sure that Weight Watchers prints posters, “just say no to Italian Cream Cake.” There aren’t enough points in a week to earn one slice. Yeah. That kind of 3-layer cake.

Fast forward of couple of years, and the Austin house is long gone (we live in California again), but the friend isn’t. We stay close, as many people do, through technology and occasional visits. Which might be why my spouse asked for Italian Cream Cake on a recent birthday. It’s good to think of friends on special occasions, and all the things they taught you. Even when it means wearing your fat pants until you can run off the crazy-delicious calories.

Italian Cream Cake
Adapted from Gourmet, April 1996

Ingredients
Cake layers
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ cups vegetable shortening, softened (I use Spectrum Organic)
½ cup butter, softened
5 large eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk (low-fat, full-fat, doesn’t matter)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Frosting
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter, softened
1½ teaspoons vanilla
5½ cups powdered sugar

Topping and decoration
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
½ cup finely chopped pecans

Make cake layers:
Preheat oven to 375°F. and lightly butter and flour three 9- by 2-inch round cake pans, knocking out any excess flour.

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together sugar, shortening, and butter until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat flour mixture into egg mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, until combined. Beat in vanilla, coconut, and chopped pecans.

Beat egg whites in another bowl (with clean beater blades, or the whites won’t hold a peak) until they just hold stiff peaks. Fold into batter gently but thoroughly.

Divide batter among the three pans, smoothing the tops, and bake until a tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool cake layers in pans on racks 10 minutes and then invert onto racks to cool completely. (Don’t be alarmed at how fast the cake browns. That’s just the nature of this cake.)

Make frosting:
In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in the powdered sugar, beating until creamy.

Stack the completely cooled cake layers on a cake plate, spreading about 1/2 cup frosting between each layer. Spread remaining frosting on top and side of cake. Press coconut into sides of cake and sprinkle the finely chopped pecans on the top. (This cake keeps extremely well because of the high fat content. Just be sure to store it in the refrigerator and then bring to room temperature before eating.)

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These Asiatic Lilies are just some of the flowers that arrive with our CSA subscription each week. I have to keep them outside, because I have a strong reaction to their perfume. Luckily, they stay fresh for a very long time out on the deck, and they look totally stunning in our outdoor “room.” So stunning, in fact, that I just had to share them with you. Happy Wednesday!

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While the rest of the nation is celebrating that fantastical thing called summer, wearing shorts and flip flops and lots of sunscreen, those of us in the Bay Area are sporting winter sweats and wool sweaters.  I kid you not, I wore a thick cashmere v-neck to a party the other night and I was freezing.  And though we are known for cold summers, this one has been worse than usual.  I have one tomato approaching the color pink and it’s almost August.

There was an exception to the cold weather, precisely during the three days it took me to paint our uninsulated cathedral bedroom ceiling, while perched atop a ladder, with four – count ‘em, four – coats of white paint to cover the faux-painted Tuscan orange that made me feel like I was waking up on the inside of a pumpkin every day.  The heat was unbearable, made the paint dry on the roller as I lifted it from the paint bucket, and lasted until the moment I finished the ceiling portion of the project.  But I’m not bitter at all.  And I’m almost re-hydrated.

The good news is this: strawberry season is stretching on indefinitely.  Our backyard blackberries may not ripen until October, but we pick shiny red strawberries from the garden daily, and they arrive in our CSA box every week without fail.  So this recipe is for our strawberries, and for those of you who actually have a reason to eat a popsicle without needing a hot chocolate chaser.

The thing I love most about these popsicles is the way the tart buttermilk complements the sweet berries.  I’ve made it clear how I feel about overly-sweet fruit desserts, especially where strawberries and sugar are concerned.  This frozen treat finds a balance, even if our weather rarely does.

On another note, today celebrates Round The Table’s second year!  Last year on this date: No-cook Strawberry Ice Cream.  (Which was too sweet for me, by the way, but everyone else loved it!)

Strawberry Buttermilk Popsicles
adapted from Southern Cooking

Ingredients
2  cups  fresh strawberries
2  cups  buttermilk
1  cup, minus 2 tablespoons sugar (or 7/8 cup sugar)*
1  teaspoon  vanilla extract

Process strawberries in a food processor or blender until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides. Pour the resulting strawberry puree through a mesh strainer into a large bowl, pressing with back of a spoon. Discard solids. Add buttermilk, sugar (*use a full cup of sugar if your strawberries are not sweet or if you simply prefer your treats sweeter!), and vanilla to puree; stir until well blended.  Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for about 4 hours or overnight.

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Sometimes I think I need to have my head examined.  The only reason this recipe is being posted today is because a tweep asked me to post it.  Why it never occurred to me to post a recipe for this is totally a mystery.  Duh!  I’m a food blogger.  I’m supposed to share this stuff with you, right?

Why wouldn’t you want a recipe for a summery pastry with crust that crisply crackles at pressure from the fork, flakes likes nobody’s business, and then melts into buttery delight around the sweet-tart fruit filling as you take your first bite?  I mean, really.

If you follow me at all, you know that I like my fruit desserts to stay clearly this side of sickly-sweet.  For me, the point is to taste the love the farmer has for the crop, not the sugar.  Give me the pure essence of sunshine.  Let the interplay of crisp brown crust, buttery softness, sharp fruit tang, and thickened sweet juices cascade over my lips and into my mouth.  And if it’s in the guise of a looker, like this one is?  It’s all mine, baby.  I’m only sharing ‘cuz you asked nicely.

Apricot-Raspberry Rustic Tartlets
(makes 8 tartlets)

Ingredients
1 recipe tart dough (recipe follows below)
3/8 cup almond meal or almond flour*
3/8 cup sugar
4 ripe apricots, roughly 10 ounces
8 ounces washed and well-drained raspberries, roughly 1 1/3 cups
8 teaspoons coarse sugar (I use raw or Demerara)
2 teaspoons milk, half and half, or cream

*If you don’t have almond meal, you can throw some raw or blanched almonds into your food processor and pulse until they are finely diced, but stop before they have turned into almond butter!  Measure out 3 tablespoons and mix with 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour.  Use this mixture in place of the almond meal.

Line a baking sheet with parchment or non-stick pad.  Place an oven rack in the middle position of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a small bowl, stir together the 3/8 cup almond meal or almond flour and the 3/8 cup sugar.  Set aside.

Divide tart dough into 8 equal pieces.  On lightly floured surface, roll each piece out to an approximate 6 inch circle and transfer to prepared baking sheet.

Spoon 1½ tablespoons of the almond meal/sugar mixture into the middle of each circle of dough, leaving a 1½ inch border.  Cut each apricot into 8 slices and place four slices on each dough circle, on top of the almond meal mixture.  Sprinkle an equal amount of raspberries over the apricots on each tart.

Spoon 1 teaspoon coarse sugar over the fruit mixture on each tart.  Fold the tart edges up to partially cover the filling, leaving only a small amount of fruit showing – the dough will relax out and down while baking.

Brush the exposed portion of the pastry with the milk or cream.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown.  Cool on a rack.  The fruit juices will thicken as the tarts cool.

Tart Dough Recipe
(adapted from a million sources that said to use the ratio of 1 cup flour to 1 stick of butter for great crust, and they were right!)

Ingredients
1½ cups all-purpose flour (spooned into the measuring cup and then leveled)
Pinch of salt
1½ sticks of cold unsalted butter (6 oz. or 12 tablespoons), cut into ½-inch pieces
1/3 cup ice water

Place flour and salt in food processor* and pulse.  Add the cold butter, and pulse until butter is the size of small peas.  Sprinkle ice water over the mixture and process for about 5 seconds, or until the mixture is moistened and starts to clump.  Dump the mixture onto a lightly floured surface (or onto parchment or plastic wrap) and squish with the heel of your hand two or three times, until it can be gathered into one large clump and it sticks together.

If your dough has warmed a bit, stick it (covered) in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes before using it in the tart above.  If it does not feel warm and sticky, proceed right away.  I always cool it before rolling it, because then I don’t have to use as much extra flour to keep it from sticking – this results in a more tender crust.

*Tart dough can also be made without a food processor, by using a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour.  And lately, truthfully, I have been doing it all by hand, as I have learned so much that way.  I use my (admittedly always cold) fingertips to squish the butter cubes into the flour.  Then I roll the dough/butter mixture back and forth between the fingertips of both hands, while “fluffing” the mixture occasionally.  I stop when some butter particles are the size of coarse cornmeal, and others are the size of small pebbles.  I’ve been getting exceptionally tender crust this way!

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I wish you all (at least my American readers) a happy 4th of July!  You still have time to whip up these incredibly simple bite-size, melt-in-your-mouth brownie buttons and dress them up for that party you’re surely going to tonight.  Use your microwave to melt the chocolate (bittersweet for the brownie and white for the glaze) and you’ll have these in the oven in minutes.

Brownie Buttons
Adapted from Baking, From my home to yours, by Dorie Greenspan
Makes 16 Cookies (I suggest you double the recipe if you are bringing these to a party!)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
2 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg

For the Glaze (optional)
2 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and center a rack in the middle of the oven. Lightly butter a miniature muffin pan and place on a baking sheet.

Whisk together the flour and salt.

Melt the butter, chocolate and brown sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over very low heat, stirring frequently with a heatproof spatula and keeping an eye on the pan so nothing overheats or burns. When the mixture is smooth, remove from the heat and cool for a minute or two.  (I did this step in the microwave, stirring at 20-second intervals until the mixture was smooth.  How many intervals you will need depends upon the power of your microwave.)

Stir in the vanilla and egg into the chocolate mixture. When the mixture is well blended, add the flour and stir only until it is incorporated. You should have a smooth, glossy batter.

Spoon the batter into 16 of the muffin cups, using about a teaspoon of batter to fill each cup three-quarters full. Put 1 teaspoon of water in each empty cup.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the tops of the buttons spring back when touched. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 3 minutes before carefully releasing the buttons. Cool to room temperature on the racks.

To Make the Optional Glaze:
Melt the white chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir constantly and don’t leave the chocolate for even a minute- white chocolate scorches easily. As soon as the chocolate is smooth, remove from the heat.  (Again, I used the microwave, but stirred after every 15-second interval.)

One by one, dip the tops of the buttons into the chocolate, twirling the buttons so that you get a little swirl at the center of each one and the excess chocolate drips back into the bowl. Refrigerate the buttons for 15 minutes to set the glaze.

Decorate as desired and place in mini-muffin cups.  (Or just glaze them and pray you don’t get trampled as the crowd rushes to grab them up.)

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The first time I attempted to make this bread for the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, I was terribly disappointed.  Which might actually be an understatement, considering that the loaf below was the sad result of that first try.

I did everything I could to avoid making a flat, dense, dry brick.  But it didn’t work.  That first time, I followed the recipe as printed in the book, making sure to use the optional vegetable oil and egg to tenderize the bread.  I even used milk instead of water to make the poolish (flour, milk or water, and yeast).  Furthermore, since I couldn’t find the “high-protein whole-wheat flour” called for in the recipe, I added vital wheat gluten to each cup of flour.  And it was still one of the worst breads I’ve ever made; I dreamt about constructing a rammed earthbread house out of a bunch of loaves like that.

Those of you who know me won’t be surprised at all to find out that it didn’t stop there.  Nope.  No way.  I detest giving up.  Which turned out to be a very good thing, in the case of whole-wheat bread.  I remembered I had a bag of this sitting in my cupboard, from a time (a long, long time ago, ha!) when I had never even heard of The Bread Baker’s Apprentice.  King Arthur’s Whole-Grain Bread Improver promised to “turn those dense, dry, flat loaves into picture-perfect, moist loaves with great texture.”  The ingredient list is short, including only vital wheat gluten, low-fat soy flour, inactive yeast, and ascorbic acid.  It sounded like a miracle, so I was skeptical, but it worked.  I’ve made the bread several times now, using the improver each time, and, wow.  100% whole-grain bread I can eat!

Sandwich loaves, hamburger buns, tiny dinner rolls, they all make me so happy!  I vary the soaker with whatever coarsely ground whole grains I have sitting around, which is usually polenta-grind corn, steel-cut oats, and cracked-wheat or barley.  (The soaker is super simple – yes, I did that on purpose: coarse whole grains soaked in water on the countertop overnight.)  The bread makes perfectly crunchy toast, with just the right balance of sweet, nutty, and earthy flavors.

I’m enamored, it’s true.  I really do love whole grains done well.  The rest of my family still prefers Light Wheat Bread, but even they admitted that the “improved” loaves were one thousand percent better.  Someday, when I’ve forgotten the pain of the original disaster loaves, I’ll try again without the additive.  I’ll search out some freshly ground hard spring wheat flour and make sure my kitchen is warm and the bread gods are smiling.  I’ll cross my fingers and wear polka-dots, if I think it will help.  And if it works, you’ll be the first to hear about it.  Until then, that bread improver is my new best friend.

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Around here, there have been a few hints that summer is on its merry way.  But the corn guys are not at the Farmer’s Market yet, and my snow and sugar snap peas are still producing as fast as they can.  Other than a few days of blissful warmth, we’ve had a wet and cool spring.  Which is a good thing, because when I pulled out my summer clothes, I discovered that some of them seemed to have shrunk while they sat folded in the plastic tub in the basement.  Yes, I realize that’s odd, but truly, that’s the only explanation I’m comfortable with right now, so I’m going with it.

The point is, I’ve been trying to eat a littlelot lighter.  This middle-age thing that happens to women really sucks.  (Yes, I’m admitting it: at 49.5 years old, I am most definitely middle-aged.  And that’s if I live to be 100; otherwise, I’m just old already.)  That half-serving of PopChips, with its 60 whole calories, can make the difference between losing a pound this week or not.  Seriously.  No matter how much I run and climb hills.

So where am I going with this?  I still expect my food to taste fantastic.  There is no reason to sacrifice flavor, when at this time of year vegetables are so fresh.  This stir-fry dresses the vegetables and chicken or tofu in a light miso sauce that adds a savory note, without obscuring the natural goodness of the vegetables.  It also comes together so quickly that you’ll still have time for that walk after dinner.  Summer will arrive eventually; it will be too hot for sugar snap peas to grow, and for clothes that cover me from head to toe.  I’m determined to be ready, and with recipes like this one, it’s not even a sacrifice.

Miso Chicken (or Tofu) Stir-Fry
Adapted from Eating Well

Ingredients
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken or vegetable broth (homemade is best, if you have it)
5 tablespoons white miso (I used reduced-sodium)
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin (sherry or white wine vinegar and a pinch of sugar can be substituted)
4 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed of fat and thinly sliced*
or 12 ounces tofu, sliced and pressed as I describe here
1 clove of garlic, minced
½ of a yellow or white onion, cut into approximately1 inch pieces
2 cups summer squash, cut into 3/4 inch pieces (I used small zucchini and yellow squash)
2 cups thinly sliced carrots
1/3 cup water
2 cups sugar snap peas, ends trimmed and strings pulled
3 ounces agretti, cleaned, root ends removed, cut into 2 inch pieces (totally optional, but it adds a nice tangy crunch)

*I place my chicken breasts (flat, and not touching each other) in the freezer for about 20 to 30 minutes before slicing them.  This makes it much easier to cut thin slices.

If using tofu, prepare as described here.

Combine broth, miso, vinegar, mirin and ginger in a bowl.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken (or pressed tofu) and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add garlic, onions, and summer squash to the pan, and cook for about 2 to 4 minutes, or until slightly softened, but not yet browned.

Add carrots and water to the pan. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender-crisp, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in the miso mixture, the sugar snap peas, the agretti, if using, and the chicken. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the peas are heated through and the sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.  Serve over cooked rice or rice noodles.  (I used basmati rice.)

Other Ways to Eat Sugar Snap Peas
Sugar Snap Pea Salad with Spicy Dressing
Pickled Sugar Snap Peas

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Can you tell that I am dragging out the end of the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge?  As you plainly see, I baked these rolls for Easter, and I am just now writing about them.  Shame on me!

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice gives three variations for white bread, and each one can make sandwich bread, rolls, or burger/hot dog buns.  I made variation 1 into these cloverleaf rolls (some sprinkled with sea salt flakes, and some with sesame seeds), version 2 into burger buns, and I’ve yet to make version 3.  The difference is mainly in the type of milk and shortening used in each one.  These rolls were made with powdered milk and butter.

Unlike most of the breads in the challenge, this bread can be started and finished all in the same day.  It’s easy, and versatile, and definitely one of the best white breads I’ve ever made.  The burger buns, made with buttermilk, disappeared so fast that I couldn’t even get a picture of them.  Soft, but with more texture and flavor than store-bought, the dough is perfectly good.

The only trouble is this: I now have awfully ridiculously high expectations for bread.  Baking through the book in a year has given me an enhanced appreciation of complexity where yeast and flour are concerned.  I crave the depth of flavor that a pre-ferment gives dough.  Never a big plain-old-white-bread lover in the first place, I’m even less so now.  Bring on the multi-grain breads, the chewy Kaiser rolls, the egg-laden Challah bread.  Give me Ciabatta, French, Pain à l’Ancienne, Pugliese, and I’m happy.  However, friends and family truly love this bread.  And like that outfit you can throw on in a flash and always look good, everyone should have a great white bread recipe at hand.  I just happen to have three, so if I’m out of buttermilk, I can use the powdered milk variation.  I know I’ll make them again and again.  Besides, I still haven’t tried version 3, which uses a 1 hour sponge.  I’m curious to find out if that little bit of extra fermentation extracts more flavor from the flour.

If you’d like to try your hand at the rolls or loaves, you can find the recipe here.  To make 18 cloverleaf rolls: after the first rise, divide the dough into 18 equal pieces (it helps if you have a scale).  Mist the dough lightly with spray oil and cover with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.

Grease standard muffin tins.  Divide each of the 18 pieces into 3 tiny balls of dough, and place 3 of the dough-balls into each muffin cup.  Mist the tops again with spray oil, and cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Proof for 60 to 90 minutes, or until nearly doubled in size.  Brush with an egg wash ( 1 egg whisked with 1 teaspoon water until frothy), and garnish, if desired with sesame or poppy seeds.  Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven until  golden brown – approximately 15 minutes.  Remove from the muffin tins and cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes.

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Never my favorite, nor my least favorite, I’ve consumed a Dutch Crunch roll as the outer packaging for a sandwich maybe three times in my entire life.  So why I decided to make this Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge Vienna bread with the optional Dutch Crunch topping, I’ll never fully know.  I think I was heavily influenced by the bag of rice flour I had sitting around, leftover from some gluten-free baking I’ve done.

Rice flour is the main ingredient in Dutch Crunch topping, though you can use Cream of Rice cereal, fine cornmeal, cornstarch, potato starch, semolina flour, or even cake flour as a substitute.  It’s combined with bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt, oil, and water, and then the resulting mixture is spread on top of the dough before the final proof.  Perhaps my ambivalence about Dutch Crunch affected my loaf.  As you can see, it didn’t brown properly, and the weight of it seemed to make my loaf sag in the middle.

As a credit to the Vienna Bread itself, every bite was eaten with delight by my family.  I made some hot dog buns with half the dough, and those were a huge hit, too.  The buns rose well, and browned evenly, without the added weight of the topping.

Vienna bread is a fairly standard dough, with some enrichment coming from the added bits of sugar, malt powder, egg, and butter.  Peter Reinhart’s version uses pâte fermentée (a pre-ferment) to give the dough extra complexity.  The simple, white-bread nature of the dough means it’s a versatile crowd-pleaser, making great toast, croutons, buns, rolls, and sandwich bread.  And because I’m stubborn, I’ll be trying the topping again.  At least I know my family will eat my experiments!

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