"Visiting Cake" and a Pantry Visit

I'm sure I have mentioned that I am a huge fan of the supremely reliable and creative Dorie Greenspan, who has a new(ish) book out. It is also not a secret that I have a bit of a problem involving my collection of cookbooks, which is maybe too large to be in a private home-particularly the private home of an Apartment Dweller of Moderate Means. (The reason it is not a secret, is that it is Too Big to Hide.* It is not that I am not suitably embarrassed-I'd hide it if I could. Many a casual visitor- for example, the plumber- has been moved to ask me why I have so many cookbooks.) I'll bet you can guess what I just did.

Yup. After a perfunctory internal debate, I bought Ms. Greenspan's Baking, From My Home To Yours. This looks to be a pretty thorough survey of her approach to home baking, which is my kind of baking, for sure. Although there is a wide range of recipes, for all kinds of great looking stuff, I was drawn first to her selection of simple cakes and small baked goods, which can be turned out easily. I love sweets which are not too sweet, go well with tea and coffee, and have some nuance, flavor-wise. It looks like this book is just full of that sort of thing. Plus, it has a number of my personal favorites, including World Peace Cookies (a/k/a Korovas-best chocolate cookie ever) and her lovely sables.

I thought I'd try this simple cake first. It appeals because of its ease (Ms. Greenspan's Swedish friend said her mother claimed you could start making it when you saw your friends coming down the road, and it would be ready by the time they settled in for coffee), its ingredients, and the fact that I am a sucker for any thing made in a well-seasoned 9" cast iron pan. ( I just like to show mine off, and it's fun to use.)

This is what you need for my only infinitesimally adapted version:

granulated sugar, 1 cup
grated zest of one lemon
2 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almong extract
1 cup all purpose flour
8 tbsps melted butter-1/4 lb.
1/4 cup sliced almonds
demarar sugar or sanding sugar

Preheat your oven to 350F and butter a 9" seasoned cast iron skillet, or similarly sized cake pan. In a bowl, mix the lemon zest and sugar with your fingers, distributing well. Mix the eggs in one at a time, preferably with a whisk, until well blended. Add salt and the extracts and the flour, and switch to a rubber spatula or spoon to mix. Fold in the melted butter.

Scrape the batter into your skillet, smooth and sprinkle with the almonds, then some of the demarara or sanding sugar. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until it is golden and looking a bit crispy on the edge. Cool 5 minutes, then loosen the edges and bottom with a knife, or a thin spatula. Serve from the pan. It is moist in the middle-a bit marzipan-ish.

The non-cake pictues that you see are of the pantry of my Not So Tidy Kitchen* , because I told Karen I would. For reasons unclear to me, the walls look white. Actually, they are elephant gray. Maybe you will show your pantry too, for her collection?

*What is it that occasionally compels me to capitalize words in this apparently random fashion, ala Winnie the Pooh's Very Big Surprise? I suspect it has something to do with being embarrassed.

Comments

[Mimi]

Everywhere I go online these days, I am hearing about this cookbook. Clearly I need to get in the loop. This cake reminds me of a German think I once tasted called Hills and Valleys, in flavor if not in appearance. Nice pantry photos.

[Baking Soda]

Well hello, Apartment Dweller etc. etc. what a gorgeous collection of crockery you have! Have you seen Tanna's collection? I'm drooling (and that scrumptious cake might have something to do with it as well!) And the cast iron pan....sigh.
I promised myself not to buy another US baking book, but praises of Dorie keep popping up. What to do?
Thanks for letting us visit yr pantry and eh...am I allowed to lift a picture for my round-up, you know, asking politely, giving credits and so on, please don't rattle my cage? ;)

[Tanna]

...sweets which are not too sweet, go well with tea and coffee, and have some nuance, flavor-wise. Exactly!! I am enjoying her book.
Yes, I do like your pantry crockery! Is that a metal canister on the middle shelf? The pitcher with the flowers reminds me of one my grandmother had.
I sent Baking Soda an official permission to use a photo for her round up! It was a good laugh.

[lindy]

Mimi, Karen-This book is so worth it, D.G. has beautiful taste, and she obviously tests her recipes very carefully.
Tanna-I'm not sure which thing you mean?-There is an old metal coffee pot on the middle one.
Karen-They are all yours, should you want 'em! I'm looking forward to the roundup.

[Patricia Scarpin]

Hi, Lindy,

I've heard so many wonderful things about this book - almost all my favorite bloggers have it or intend to buy it.
It's on my Amazon wish list. :D

Those World Peace Cookies are delicious - I got the recipe from many blogs and decided to bake them. Perfect, superb.

This cake is beautiful - I want a cast iron, too! :D

[Julie]

I too was unsuccesful in resisting the Dorie Greenspan book, and am glad that I didn't. It's great. I'll have to go back and check this recipe out.

I love your pantry. One of the things I like seeing best in kitchens are pots and pans and various other tools of the kitchen. The more of a "workshop" a kitchen seems to be, the more I like it.

[sandi @ the whistlestop cafe]

I shared my pantry too~ something a little personal about peeking in spaces!
Your dishes are beautiful!

[Kimberly]

I picked up a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book at the end of the year, and then got so busy that I haven't had time to do more than glance through it of an evening. I will bake something from it soon. Maybe even today...