The waiting game

All that is left of the daffodils are its slender flat leaves. Pink, red, purple and white azaleas are just past their peak. The lettuce and radishes are still a week or two from harvest. Nascent green specks are uniformly taking root in the garden. But my cupboard is bare.

These weeks from last frost to first harvest are emotionally trying. I long for the profusion of summer’s largess and the variety I crave and the ease in obtaining it. Yes, ramps, fiddleheads and asparagus excite me to dizziness; their flirtation in the kitchen is short lived (and, in part that is why I love them so, they never overstay their welcome). The jar of pickled ramp stems will garnish Blood Mary’s and pulled pork sandwiches latter this summer in all probability. I am by no means ungrateful for their return, but their presence just heightens my desire to move it along.

 

I am ready now, to be overwhelmed by the day’s haul of zucchini and cucumber, and babysit a maturing watermelon in order not to grab it too soon. I get like this every year at this time – chomping at the bit for the full expression of summer.  

While I seem to display very little patience with Mother Nature it is my childlike enthusiasm for foods coated in dirt from the yard and farmer’s markets buzzing, just hours after the sun has risen, cures me of any culinary block/rut I might be experiencing; waiting is the only option. In the meantime, my freezer needs to be fully depleted of the vacuum-sealed bags that got put into suspension late-last summer into the autumn. There are enough tomatoes, sun-dried zucchinis, black-eyed peas and husk tomatoes to keep me busy until the red, purple and white shoulders of the radishes displace the soil out in the yard.

Husk Tomato Tea Cake – yields 10-inch cake

1-pound husk tomatoes (fresh or frozen)

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1-cup sugar

4 eggs

½-cup sweetened condensed milk

1-tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1¼-teaspoon baking powder

⅛-teaspoon salt

Buttered and flour a 10-inch cake pan.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a standing mixer mix together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

In another bowl beat the eggs, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla together to combine.

In a separate bowl sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Then on a low speed add the flour to the butter mixture. Once the flour has been added to the butter pour in the egg mixture, and mix well.

Place the husk tomatoes on the bottom of the cake pan, and pour over the batter. Bake in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely before un-molding.

Nightly fun

As I have mentioned before, I am married to a man with a very dominant sweet tooth and I love him dearly so I indulge it. Not that I would ever allow a cake from the frozen aisle of the grocery store or put out a nibble bowl of M&M’s on the coffee table. I have always viewed myself as a savory chef not thinking I had the patience or desire to bake. However, since the passing of my mom, who was a terrific home baker, though was a void. I found myself recreating her much loved carrot, cheese and  I know I could add nuts and spices to any formula without the risk of compromising its success. I started playing with different batters – denser and light cakes depending on what I was fancying. Given my love of white chocolate, I have used it to replace the butter in some concoctions. Then the garden and farmers markets gives me inspiration as I make scented sugars, infused oils and tinctures as well as candied flowers that can end up in a dessert. My husband is the most willing tester I have met, though there are times I am dubious for he is more critical of a sauce than he is of a slice of pie.

sour cream apple cakes to stroke my memories and those of my family members, much to my husband’s delight. I actually enjoyed the act of baking and came to realize I was not bound as tightly to the recipe as I once thought. A pastry chef friend of mine helped release me from the shackles of rigidity when she said, baking is not as precious as one might think.

Guava Coated Cake – one 9-inch cake

5-ounces guava paste – sliced

1-cup husk tomatoes - fresh or frozen

8 ounces unsalted butter

1-cup sugar

2-eggs

½-cup milk

½-teaspoon rose water

½-teaspoon vanilla extract

1½-cups all-purpose flour

1½-teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven to 350-dgrees.

Grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan.

Lay the sliced guava paste on the bottom of the cake pan, and then disperse husk tomatoes the over the guava.

Beat the butter and sugar together until very light and fluffy.

Mix to together the eggs, milk, rose water and vanilla.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together.

Once the butter is beaten mix in half the flour, and then half the egg mixture. Incorporate the remaining flour and then in the egg mixture -- making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times. 

Pour over the cake batter over the husk tomatoes. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Remove the cake to a cooling rack. Cool the cake slightly and then carefully turn the cake out on to a plate.