Strawberry ShortCake

On the morning of my fortieth birthday Julian, my five year old, ran in to the room and asked, "When are the Gathers getting here?" Children are so funny about secrets and surprises. Up until that moment both boys had been doing an okay job of keeping our friends visit a surprise, only allowing comments to leak out that I could ignore, or pretend did not mean anything more then how much we all missed our friends. But that comment was so blatant, spoken by a child who was having trouble keeping what he knew bottled inside, and needed an answer.

Turns out the answer was lunch time, our friends would be here at lunch time. The Gathers are friends who were forced to move away last summer for an Ear Nose and Throat Residency 3.5 hours away. They are a family with a close friend for each of us plus a bonus 2 year old. Malcolm, the 2 year old, is strong willed in a remarkably similar way to Julian. A lesson every day to his mother, Katherine, for ever marveling at Julian and my ability to cope. She made the mistake of commenting on it when she was still planning on having one more child.

I have always been hard to surprise, even before I had children to tell me out right. Lewis is often amazed and horrified at how little information I need to make accurate conclusions.

I have had 2 attempted surprise parties before in my life and I figured out both of them. There is often too much maneuvering to the time and destination. Both previous attempts involved outright arguing, one about when I would return from going out with another friend. My surprise 12th birthday party my friends asked if I could have a birthday party (my mother was very ill and I could not have one) who would I invite. When they argued with me about the guests for my fantasy party, I knew something was up.

As my friend Katherine tried to guide us to my husband's office to meet him for lunch my suspicions were aroused. So I quietly changed my shirt, grabbed my camera and stopped arguing about where we should eat. Then in case I doubted my own instincts, Sebastian turned to Julian as we left and said, "Don't worry, the party is at Daddy's office and there will be food there."

And there was food, wonderful food that Lewis had chosen with local caterers, all simple but delicious and fresh. There was also a room with some of my favorite people. At one point there was a row of children, whose families do not eat processed foods, happily drinking florescent orange gatorade. The only thing missing was cake, Lewis could not decide on a cake that would be right so he decided on none. So a few days later, I made my own. A strawberry shortcake made with a spongecake base instead of biscuits.

Strawberry shortcake was a specialty of my mom's, and in honor of my mother I used one of her spongecake recipes. I used the one where she rewrote the steps, whited out what she wrote and then rewrote the steps again. I am not sure this is the best sponge cake recipe ever, but I just love the audacity of the white out in my mother's cookbook, something I can not bring myself to do.

I did receive a true surprise in the end as Katherine and her children stayed in my tiny house with Sebastian and Julian while Lewis and I went to stay at their condo at Sugarbush. I have been pining for weeks for a chance to eat without anybody whining and sleep as late as I want without having to worry about anybody. So this gift was perfect, especially as I really missed my children as I tried to go to sleep in a building they were not in. I guess I am not one of those mothers who is destined to take a long vacation from her children.

Strawberry Shortcake

Sponge Cake

Adapted from James Beard and my mother

4 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp all purpose flour

4 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups of sugar (divided use)

3/4 cups hot water

grated rind of 2 lemons

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

4 egg whites beaten until stiff, but not dry

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

Melt the butter slowly in a small saucepan over low heat. When the butter is melted whisk in the 2 Tbsp flour. Brush the flour/butter mixture on the insides of two 8 inch cake pans and set aside, not next to the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°.

Beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon colored (this is much easier with the best quality eggs, which I happily gather from my own chickens). While beating the eggs slowly add 1 cup of sugar. Mix in the hot water, lemon rind, lemon juice, salt and baking powder and the rest of the sugar.

James Beard says to fold in the beaten egg whites. Once the egg whites are thoroughly incorporated sift the flours over the batter and fold it in. My mom said to fold in the flour first and the egg whites second. I will leave the choice up to you.

Pour the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake in the center of the oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool completely in the pans on a cooling rack.

Topping

Heavy/whipping cream

Organic strawberries (in season I will happily use local non organic strawberries that I know are not sprayed at all once the fruit is set).

Put the whipping cream in a bowl and whip using an electric beater, stand mixer or immersion blender to until soft peaks form. Remove the cakes from the pan by inverting on to a plate or cake stand. Spread the bottom layer heavily with whipped cream and cover with sliced strawberries. Spread the strawberries with more whipped cream and then place the top layer on the cake. Spread the top with more whipped cream and place sliced strawberries on top. Serve at once

Refrigerate any leftovers (Ha)

A Birthday Celebration and Chocolate Cake

Sunday we had a small party for Julian's birthday. For those of you paying attention, you might have noticed it is over a month since his actual birthday. I try not to let details like that get in my way. I like to have a special family day on my children's actual birthdays, soon after Julian's actual birthday was mine and then Passover. So we just waited to celebrate with his friends till later.

On his actual birthday the whole family had such a great time at Shelburne Farms that we decided to have his party there as well. This also seemed like a brilliant plan as our house is tiny and I may be an excellent cook but I am a lousy cleaner, tidy is not my thing. My house had that world war three bomb went off in it look. Although nothing that requires the board of health, just clutter.

Shelburne Farms is not open for the season yet and when we went there the previous month we could drive all the way in and park. Imagine our surprise and horror when we were stopped at the gate and asked if we were members. Oy! I thought I told everyone it was free. However oddly enough the weather cooperated with our plans and we were allowed to drive up because it was not a beautiful day.

I borrowed a bunny cake pan from a friend to make the cake. It seemed like such a great shape for the farm party. However this pan requires a really thick batter and I decided just to go with our favorite chocolate cake. Usually I make this cake in a bundt pan and serve it without adornment, however this was a party and over a month since the actual birthday. So I made it in 2 9-inch cake pans, layered them with chocolate ganache between and then more ganache on top. I don't usually like frosting, but rich chocolate is another story. For Julian's birthday I made a chocolate ganache but I made the same cake for people I work with that was a peppermint ganache. Kind of a thin mint cake. Both were wonderful.

This is another recipe where I use half whole wheat pastry flour. With that much chocolate the wheat taste is unnoticeable and I see nothing wrong with more fiber and whole grains. One of my friends apparently really enjoyed the cake but was wondering the whole time if there was something healthy in it. I am not sure why she thinks I only cook healthy food. I don't think this recipe is health food, but it is moist, chocolatey and smooth. If you happen by some miracle to have some leftover it also stores really well without drying out. Just keep it in a sealed container on the counter.

Chocolate Cake

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk (you can substitute 1 cup milk mixed wit 1 Tbsp white vinegar, soy milk is fine here)

1 cup oil (the original recipe calls for canola, I have used extra virgin olive oil, grapeseed oil, canola oil)

2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs

2 cups flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup all purpose unbleached white flour, feel free to use all white or use white whole wheat)

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 300 ° Oil the pans or pan, I used pam spray, and then dust them with cocoa powder. Combine the wet ingredients in the bowl of a mixer, or in a large bowl with a whisk and mix to combine. Add the other ingredients except the chips and combine on low until smooth. When the batter is mixed add the chips and fold them in.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the cake. It takes approximately an hour to cook in a bundt pan, 45 to 50 minutes in 2 9-inch cake pans. Allow to cool in the pans before turning out. Use a serrated knife to even the top of the cakes. Use an off set spatula if you have one to spread a thick layer of ganache (half the recipe) on 1 cake before laying the second cake on top. Pour the remaining ganache on the top and spread smoothly across the top. Decorate as you wish with sprinkles, dragees etc

Chocolate Ganache

7 oz's high quality bittersweet chocolate broken up

6 Tbsp heavy cream

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract (for peppermint ganache use 3/4 tsp peppermint extract instead of vanilla)

1/4 tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients in a heavy medium saucepan and heat until smooth over medium low heat.