i promised a cake and well, this would be the one. it’s a total hybrid, born of two disjointed thoughts. i’d been thinking about the orangette post featuring edna lewis’s ’busy day’ cake. because i truly love and appreciate cake. it’s is one of my favorite things. and i like a really good plain cake with something interesting going on around it. and since it’s the tail end of winter, instead of the ‘creme fraiche with warm crushed berries’ option, i thought the underlying nutmegy flavor of this cake would go well with a spiced wine sauce of dried fruit, similar to what i’d had last month at ‘otto‘ in nyc, a batali joint.
so i baked up this simple cake and then proceeded to empty a half bottle of red wine into a small pan with some sugar, cloves, cinnamon stick and orange rind - along with dried cherries, black mission figs and raisins. i added salt and black pepper and reduced the liquid until it was a syrup. and then it was plated with the creme fraiche… perfect.
i substituted 1% milk because it’s what i had in the house. don’t. get in the car and go. buy. whole. milk. i think it was a detriment to the end result. not dramatic, but a subtle ’something’ that perhaps took the cake down a small notch.
so thanks again to both molly at orangette and of course to my mario for the wonderful elements that inspired my mollie-batali cake.
it’s very much my kind of dessert…
16 responses so far ↓
1 amy @ minimally insvasive // Mar 12, 2008 at 3:13 am
This looks entirely delicious, Claudia. I’ll get right on baking that cake this weekend!
2 mari // Mar 12, 2008 at 4:08 am
Oh Claudia, this looks de-lish! I so needed a busy-day cake recipe for this weekend, so thank you for reminding me about Molly’s post!
3 Donald // Mar 12, 2008 at 4:33 am
mmmmmmmm! Nice creation.
Time to fret, huh? Cream, and wine, and sugar, oh my!
4 The Italian Dish // Mar 12, 2008 at 8:16 am
Claudia: My hat is off to you for trying to recreate a sauce you had at Otto! This sounds so interesting - I have to try it!
5 lucy // Mar 12, 2008 at 8:52 am
oh Claudia
oh *sigh*
oh yum
i wish i had more reasons to make cake. whenever i make one, i always end up eating half of it myself and then not ever wanting to eat cake again.
6 Bailey Barash // Mar 12, 2008 at 10:10 am
Hello -
I am a filmmaker in Atlanta. I read your latest blog with the mention of Edna Lewis and her ‘busy day’ cake.
I just wanted to let you know I produced a 21 minute documentary about Miss Edna Lewis and its viewable in its entirety on Internet at a Gourmet Magazine website:
http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/video/2008/01/Edna
and at a Georgia Public Broadcasting website:
http://www.cforty7.com/film/theater?film_test=16
My documentary is called Fried Chicken and Sweet Potato Pie.
My website, http://bbarash.com/index.htm has more information about the film and the story of Miss Lewis.
Sincerely,
Bailey Barash
7 Jennifer Hess // Mar 12, 2008 at 11:53 am
Now, you know I’m not big on sweets or dessert, but this looks just great. I love the texture of the cake, and the berries - mmmm.
8 Mary Coleman // Mar 12, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Well, looky here at ms thang!
Cake, red wine, figs…goodness.
Too. damn. good!!!
9 cookiecrumb // Mar 12, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Orange rind! Swoon. You made a simple confection quite dazzling. Nice photos, too.
10 democommie // Mar 12, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Claudia:
That looks simple and, yet, decadent, at the same time!
I’ll have to send you my torte recipes (if I can find them!).
Have you ever seen the recipe for the “Inside Out German Chocolate Cake”? I think it came from “Saveur”.
11 Diana // Mar 12, 2008 at 4:55 pm
wine, dried fruit, cinnamon, orange… thanks for showing me that dessert should always be a treat, or else it’s not even worth bothering with.
12 john hutcheson // Mar 12, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Hey Claudia - It was great seeing you tonight at City House. You not only have the most mouth-watering blog I’ve ever read, but your pictures are all incredible.
I cracked up at your word-war with K. West over at Bites. Thanks for the word up to check out the comments. Such a delicate flower you are. LOL.
Always a pleasure to see/read you.
hutch
13 michelle @ TNS // Mar 13, 2008 at 8:26 am
that? is a damn good looking cake. that you should put in a box, and send to me.
but why, why, would you use 1% milk? is a dessert, no less!
14 claudia // Mar 13, 2008 at 11:29 am
michelle - it’s all i had in the house… i learned my lesson. maybe.
john - back atcha. as for kay? i wish her well and hope she gets laid very soon.
diana - well, i try. and rarely make anything unless it’s from scratcharooni and that makes all the diff in the world if you choose good ingredients.
demo - sounds great that german chocolate cake thing…
cookie - i used the orange for YOU. how could i have left it out…
mary - it was pretty damn good - i tell ya…
jennifer - you mighta gone for this one! i know you can be persuaded.
bailey - thank you!
lucy - but then you wait a week or so and - CAKE!
italian dish - i think i got close. i’d love to know exactly what they do though…
donald - i am freaked out about this right now…
mari and amy - report back! please!
15 Simplicity in a Pound Cake « Caviar and Codfish // Mar 13, 2008 at 2:55 pm
[…] popping up around the blog-(and magazine)o-sphere recently. Molly made a Busy-Day cake. Claudia jazzed it up a bit. I was already drooling over the prospect of a simple, buttery, plain cake when […]
16 Molly // Mar 15, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Claudia, I love where you’ve gone with this cake! It sounds unbelievably good. I love the thought of those winey cherries and figs - and the orange rind too. Gorgeous!
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