ludja

I’ve also had this variant of Caramel Cake bookmarked for awhile. Do yourself a favor and check out the photo in the link!

And here is an earlier post from Mayhaw Man on Southern caramel cake. This cake was his inspiration to launch the infamous Cake or Pie? thread. I couldn't find a photo, but Caramel Cake was also one of the stars at the Varmint's Occasional Pig Pickin Egullet Event held in September 2005... click

I made a Southern Caramel Cake for a friend's birthday this weekend. This version is from Bill Neal's Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie and has ground pecans in the cake layers which are also soaked with a bourbon syrup. It was very good, but even with the soaking the layers were a bit dry. Maybe the dryness would have been alleviated if I had soaked the layers while they were still warm and/or maybe I overbaked the layers. Well for this situation, a healthy spoonful of whipped cream helped ease any dryness and was also nice with the cake. I've made another Bill Neal Pecan Caramel Cake several times from his first book. I can only compare this with faded memories since this was before I recorded more detailed notes, but I think I liked the cake layers better in the version from Bill Neal's Southern Cooking. I like Bill Neal's versions with ground pecans in the cake layers. I like nut cakes and the astringency of the pecans adds a nice counterpioont to the sweet caramel frosting. As far as I can tell though, the classic Southern caramel cake is usually a plain white cake. (see Mayhaw Man's example below). I'd like to try that sometime as well. Caramel cakes are so wonderful I thought we should dedicate a thread to them. Please share your stories, reminiscences, recipes or tips, experiences!

Thanks Ling! I tihnk I'm going to start a Caramel Cake thread in the P&B forum as there doesn't appear to be one yet. I also have had the Thankful Butterscotch cake bookmarked for awhile... A Stout cake thread would be great too. It certainly seems like a theme worth exploring!

No, but I have to admit that while I get tidbits here and there I'm not as consistently plugged into this type of information in the wine scene. From your writing, I guess Sanford has also been bought by a large conglomerate. As an aside, I went to Acacia's website and didn't find any information there in the published "history" of the winery to know about the acquisition... I guess it isn't something they are advertising. Looking at Bouchaine's website it looks like Mike Richmond has been there since 2002. I look forward to checking out Bouchaine again the next time I'm up in Carneros. Thanks again for the information!

Yum, that looks great, Franci. I've made this once before with some generic supermarket grapes but I must try this soon with some of the more flavorful varietals I've seen at the farmer's market recently. The version I've made was flavored with fennel and sugar along with the grapes. It's a nice, not too sweet bread that is perfect in the fall. Lots of other nice desserts offered here in the transition between summer and fall--the wild blueberry crumble and chocolate stout cake. I recently had some teriffic stout ice cream so I'm also intrigued by this cake. The final cake looks spectacular, chefpeon; thanks for sharing the photo with us! I made a Southern Caramel Cake for a friend's birthday this weekend. This version is from Bill Neal's Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie and has ground pecans in the cake layers which are also soaked with a bourbon syrup. It was good, but even with the soaking the layers were a bit dry. Maybe the dryness would have been alleviated if I had soaked the layers while they were still warm and/or maybe I overbaked the layers. I've made another Bill Neal Pecan Caramel Cake several times from his first book. I can only compare this with faded memories since this was before I recorded more detailed notes, but I think I liked the cake layers better in the version from Bill Neal's Southern Cooking.

Wow, thanks for the updated information re: Acacia and Bouchaine... I guess it's been about ~ 3 years since I've been to Acacia. I think we have been to Bouchaine back then but did not have an extremely memorable experience. I hope Acacia doesn't continue down the road you described b/c it seems like thay have some nice grapes... (quote from Craig's blog linked above)

Thank you for a spectacular blog of good food, scenery and life in Moab, Bill. Having been to some other small Southwestern towns in New Mexico and Arizona it is interesting to get a feel for Moab which seems to have its own distinctive style. I'm surprised by all the trees and greenery in the town; it looks like an oasis amidst all the other amazing desert scenery. Have a great time in San Francisco!

Lebkuchen might be one good candidate for honey-based cookies. They are supposed to be aged before eating. I don't have my own tried and true recipe yet but this one might be nice: Lebkuchen

Three of my favorite Carneros wineries: Schug Winery in the Sonoma Carneros. A small to medium sized winery with a nice selection of crisp, less oaked whites to my memory. I've always been impressed with many of the wines there but can't recall more about their reds. Acacia Vineyards is about halfway between Napa and Sonoma; not sure of it's official designation. You have to make an appointment for tasting here but it is well worth it. Very nice Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. The landscape around the winery is stunning with endless hills of grapes and a view of the bay. Artesa Winery is located in the Napa Carneros. This is a large winery in a stunning modern building with artwork set up on a hill with beautiful views of the surrounding countryside. They have a lot of nice wines. Merlot sticks in my head as being above average but we have a tasted many of their wines and been impressed. I haven't been to Cline Cellars in awhile. They are in Sonoma Carneros just down the street from Schug. They have a large panel of different Zinfandels and some interesting Rhone varietals as well. The tasting room is in a lovely old wooden buliding and there are nice grounds around as well. Events may be listed on their individual sites if there is something in particular going on. I think there is also a Carneros AVA website that one could look at for event info.

Thanks all, for this interesting thread rescuing this historical dish and the linked recipe! I have never heard of this cake but want to try it now. After having my interest piqued, I googled around a bit and also found out that a very similar cake was and is also apparently traditional in the St Louis area from the beginning of the century. It's roots there are also attributed to German immigrants and/or German bakeries but there it is call "Gooey Butter Cake". Some articles mention that they think the cake came from Philly, others maintain that it originated in St. Louis. Fascinating history. I think it might be fun to start a thread involving the St. Louis crowd to also see what they come up with in terms of memories. As far as I can tell, originally the St. Louis cake started out like this recipe--i.e. a yeast cake base and butter-sugar topping. There are some more modern ersatz recipes made 'easier' for the home cook that use a yellow cake mix layer on the bottom and a similar or even pudding like topping... And here is yet another angle. Apparently Paula Deen has popularized various flavored 'gooey butter cake" like pumpkin or chocolate. I've heard Paula Deen mentioned on eGullet but don't know anything about her. I didn't look at any of those recipes but they are online.

When you have a kitchen camera... Not as wild as the butcher asking, but when family and friends who are not on eGullet prompt you to take a photo at gatherings before eating the food.

Sorry to lose you from the Bay Area but happy you are spreading good baking to another place, especially with your own venture. Have you decided on the 'flavor' or style of your bakery? After your European travels do you plan on offering any pastry from Germany, Austria, France or Italy? Did your trip to Europe expand your views of pastry in some ways or what you might want to do in the US in your own shop? Good luck on your search for a building; sounds like a challenging and important step! Thank you for sharing your adventure with us. edited to add: Hope your kitty approves of the move as well!

So happy you had the "re-do" on the fish tacos! Carnitas are indeed usually wonderful; sorry you got a poor example. I'm also glad you drove up the Big Sur Coast; it is indeed one of the most wonderful places to visit.

This is from a website I stumbled across called Hometown Favorites Here is one I suspected was no longer around but am sad to see confirmed: Pepperidge Farms Chocolate Lace Pirouette Cookies (First the plain pirouettes disappeared and now they are followed by the Chocolate Lace ones... Back in the day, these used to be a standard off the shelf add on to a dish of ice cream with whipped cream. RIP) There is other stuff that I had no idea I was missing... Willie Wonka Dinosaur Eggs Yoder's Scrapple and Necco Tart Flavor Wafers

I've only looked through this book quickly so far but there seemed to be some interesting recipes. I've not been to the eponymous restaurant yet either that has been in Oakland since 1999. "Dona Tomas: Discovering Authentic Mexican Cooking" by chef-owners Thomas Schnetz and Dona Savitsky Amazon link Here is an enthuiastic LA Times review that terms the food California-Mexican: click While the article is available you can also access some sample recipes given in the article for: Queso de chiva fundido con pipián verde (Broiled goat cheese with pumpkin seed sauce) Budín de elote (Corn pudding with zucchini) Atún del diablo (Seared albacore tuna with pumpkin seed-sesame sauce and pickled red onions) Some other recipes from the book: Pumpkin seeds toasted in a skillet with whole cloves of garlic and chile de árbol. Cucumber daiquiri and a lime colada Melon salad seasoned with chile powder and fresh mint and drizzled with crema Sopa Tortilla Crab, Chile, and Lime Taquitos with Avocado Salsa Long-Cooked Green Beans with Chorizo Halibut Cheeks Veracruzano Slow-Roasted Lamb in Banana Leaves with Ancho-Guajillo Chile Sauce Crème Fraîche Cake with Blackberries, Cinnamon, and Pecans Sweet Tamale with Fresh Corn and Pineapple Has anyone checked this out in more detail yet?

Sounds very nice. I've been a fan of her desserts in various SF restaurants and of her cookbooks for a long time. I am going to get her latest release on ice cream desserts after looking through it. What desserts did you make in the class?

The St. Francis Fountain died and came back to life. It is now owned and run by a bunch of tatooed hipsters. Oddly my wife and I went on labor day. We were actually hoping for the Roosevelt Tamale Parlor; but, they were closed. While I did have a very good Chocolate Malt at the fountain, the service was just dreadful. And not in a sassy 50 year old diner waitress kind of a way. It was dreadful in a, "I don't have time to bother serving you unless you are my friend or a celebrity," kind of way. Ooops, I forgot to say, I think before it was re-incarnated the Fountain made its own ice cream. They now serve Mitchell's ice cream. I really like Mitchell's Ice Cream. It is American style ice cream, though, and has stabilizers and some other stuff I usually try to avoid when I buy ice cream. Really like their Dulce de Leche, though. ← Thanks for the update and info, eje. Maybe I'l check out St. Francis Fountain sometime for a malt or sundae now that they're serving Mitchell's ice cream. Since they've undertaken a nice thing in keeping this traditional place alive, I hope they get their act together regarding service. It's strange and rather inexplicable when one encounters that type of service in a small, privately-owned place.

Thank you for telling us about the counters. I was also wondering about the floors. They're the color of saltillo tiles but are not tiles... Is it a tamped down earthen floor or something else? I've seen many adobes in New Mexico and your's is particularly unique and special as well as the setting near the cottonwoods. A wonderful kitchen too. Thank you for sharing it with us. The petroglyphs were very special as well; the birthing one was amazing! I really liked elk the few times I've had it (in New Mexico). I guess I'd be hard pressed in trying to describe the taste other than a more complex beefy flavor. It would be interesting to taste it directly alongside venison for comparision. Your dinner last night looks great!

Frankly, I haven't understood the point of this thread either... Please *do* consider contributing to existing topics that tickle your fancy or else start some new cooking topics along those lines as cdh suggests. I look forward to it. Also, I think you'll find the variety of people's interests on eGullet is quite diverse!

Sorry to hear about the last minute additional dining restricitions! Maybe you could keep most of the ideas for your steak course but substitute a braised duck leg dish...

Sorry for the not very clear post directly above. The link is for a discussion of Sally Schneider's new book, "The Improvisational Cook".

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but have had it marked on my list to make ever since Redsugar posted it. It seems like a great old-fashioned German apple cake. Maybe this fall is the right time for me to try it... Here's the link to Redsugar's post: click

Chimayo Cocktail from Rancho de Chimayo, just north of Santa Fe: 1/4 oz lemon juice 1 1/4 oz premium tequila 1 1/2 oz apple cider 1/4 oz Creme de Cassis apple wedges, thinly sliced, for garnish Add tequila, creme de cassis, cider and lemon juice to a shaker. Stir or shake with ice and strain. Garnish w/apple wedge. Sangrita is traditionally served as a chaser for tequila but you can make a tequila cocktail with it as well. I"ve had this drink but not made it myself yet. The sangrita can have orange and lime juice, serrano chile, tomato juice, onion. Other versions have orange and lime juice, grenadine syrup, ground chile, s&p... Just cross posted with Dave the Cook; interesting to see the cassis/tequila combo in another cocktail. I also love unaged, 100% agave tequila for margaritas.

Hope you have a good time and let us know your impressions as well! edited to reflect merging of topics...