eG Foodblog: Lindacakes - EIK PREWAR

[Lindacakes]

That sandwich looked seriously good, Katie. It would be a service to humanity if you went to S & E on a fact-finding mission.

Ernie does talk. He says, "Hi, puppy!" when you come home, because that's what I call him. He says "Gimme kiss!" quite easily and makes several kissing sounds. From the little pt pt pt of a peck to the long puckering sound of a smacker. He makes that errrrr noise you make when you stretch, he'll stretch with you. Birds actually stretch and yawn. He laughs when we're laughing together. He'll call out his name when he wants attention.

But the really interesting and astounding thing that he says is "I love you." He never parrots that phrase (meaning he'll repeat it after you say it). I've never heard him parrot it once. And when he does say it, he says it completely appropriately. Which means that he's understanding an abstract concept and using language to express it appropriately.

Like when you cover his cage, turn out the light and say good night to him. And there's a few minutes of silence and then you hear, "I love you."

[CaliPoutine]

Like when you cover his cage, turn out the light and say good night to him. And there's a few minutes of silence and then you hear, "I love you."

Omg, that is so freaking sweet!! I swear, my eyes are tearing up. I wish my dachshunds could speak.

[Lindacakes]

The Black Cake Recipe.

What follows is my recipe for West Indian Black Cake. My version very closely follows Laurie Colwin's version from Home Cooking.

Home Cooking on Amazon

There's also a sequel called More Home Cooking. These are essays with recipes and a very good read.

Marinating the Fruit

Begin as early as possible – spring is good.

Start by ordering the fruit from Vine Tree Orchards/Market Hall Foods and buying the alcohol.

1 pound raisins

1 pound currants

1 pound pitted prunes

3/4 pound glace cherries

1/2 pound lemon peel

1/2 pound orange peel

1/2 pound citron

750 ml bottle port

750 ml bottle of Meyer’s dark rum

Finely chop all fruit in a food processor.

You can add a dab of two or the port to help the food processor handle the fruit.

The ideal texture is a paste with very small chunks of peel or fruit.

Combine fruit with the rum and port.

Place in crock or plastic storage container.

Cover and leave at room temperature.

Stir now and again.

Mixing the Cake

When you are planning to bake the cake, assemble the ingredients. Buy the burnt sugar essence from Kalyustyan’s.

The day you are going to bake the cake, begin by mixing cake spice and processing the pecans.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease the pans and line the bottoms with parchment.

NOTE: You may want to try baking the cakes at a slower temperature –

250 degrees for 3 to 4 hours.

Cake Spice

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice or ginger

1/2 teaspoon cloves

a few gratings of nutmeg

Prepare Mis en Place

1 pound butter

1 pound brown sugar (light or dark)

1 dozen eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons cake spice

3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup orange marmalade (sweet, not Seville – use Smucker’s)

2 cups finely ground almonds or pecans (I used pecan meal)

2 cups plain dry bread crumbs

5 cups all purpose flour

4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 ounces burnt sugar essence

marinated fruit

Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.

Gradually beat in eggs 2 at a time.

Mix in extracts and spices, including the burnt sugar essence.

Add marinated fruit to the butter/sugar/egg mixture, and mix well.

(At this point, transfer from large mixing bowl to plastic basin. Basin won’t stain.)

Add nut meal and bread crumbs to batter.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt and stir to distribute evenly.

Fold in orange marmalade, then fold in flour mixture.

Baking the Cake

Pour batter into three 7 inch by 3 inch cake pans and two small loaf pans.

Batter will nearly fill pans, cakes will not rise much.

Bake cake at 350 degrees until done – about one hour.

Remove cake(s) from oven and cool on a rack for 10 - 15 minutes.

Invert cake onto cooling rack and carefully remove parchment paper.

Cool completely.

Wrap once with plastic wrap and once with foil.

Set in cool dark place to age, for at least four months.

[Lindacakes]

Variations on Black Cake.

There are endless variations on Black Cake. I change something about my recipe every year, trying to tweak an improvement into it. I screwed up last year because I tried to make my own burnt sugar. This is not recommended. Commercial burnt sugar is burned-er and better. You'll end up with a brown black cake that doesn't taste quite right if you make your own.

Upthread, Hummingbirdkiss mentioned ginger -- question, what kind of ginger?

I'm thinking I might add candied ginger to the chopped fruit, which would be different for me this year. I changed my peel, so that's different. I'm marinating the fruit longer, that's different. Every year another tweak. I have discovered that I don't like the cake before four months and I don't feed it with alcohol while it's aging -- I like a cake that tastes less of alcohol. That's a personal preference. Everyone does these things a little differently. Unfortunately, they are expensive and time-consuming to make, so your improvement progress takes years. But it's so much fun.

I'm already planning next year's cake -- I've found some sources for dried peaches and plums that I want to try. I'm always on the lookout for new sources of dried and candied fruit.

If you decide to make on and have any questions, you can PM me.

Edited March 23, 2008 by Lindacakes (log)

[Lindacakes]

Tea is Taken.

Well, I’m tired. It’s time for a nice cup of tea. Today we’re going to have some Taylor’s of Harrogate Earl Gray. This is my favorite regular black tea. I’ve been drinking a lot of tea lately, and my new favorite source is:

Tea Source

Take a look at this wonderful cake of aged puerh. I just ordered one of these.

Click for cake of tea.

That’s some witchy tea, yeah?

I still have some traditional fruitcake from Christmas, so I’ve sliced some of that. I think one of the reasons why so many people are turned off by fruitcake is that they slice it too thickly. I’m holding a slice up to the window so that you can see through it. The fruit glows like jewels. As it should be.

Here’s the table set for tea and some handsome shots of nice fruitcake slices.

Of course, Ernie wants fruitcake, too. Notice that he is stepping over a slice of apple to get to it.

Edited March 24, 2008 by Lindacakes (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Like when you cover his cage, turn out the light and say good night to him. And there's a few minutes of silence and then you hear, "I love you."

Wow. Color me stunned. I confess I never thought birds were that smart, but perhaps that's because my only experience with them was my friend's former Cockatoo named Stardust. Stardust was not the brightest critter. And he only loved my friend. Loathed his fiancee to the point where he'd shreik at her and flap his wings and make his head feathers stand up. He was quite jealous. He also ate the windowsill right off the wall. Mean, destructive and not too smart isn't what I usually seek in a pet. Ernie is sweet and smart. Now I want a bird, but I want a guarantee that it'll be just like Ernie.

I'll see what I can find out and report back on the Shank's sandwich.

[tsquare]

I guess this year some of the cookies got different names, due to different bakers is what I was able to find out.  Here's what I ended up with:

Samoa's were called Caramel Delights

All Abouts were called Thank Yous

Do Si dos were called Peanut Butter Sandwiches or something like that.

Tagalongs also had a new name, it's escaping my mind right now. 

Luckily, thin mints stayed thin mints.

←

The naming split is essentially an Eastern US v. Western US think. The left names are the eastern and the right is the west.

←

I didn't notice the name change, except for the Tagalongs. Actually, each council can choose their baker, so the split may not be east/west coast.

Thin Mints

Samoas®/Caramel deLites™

Peanut Butter Patties®/Tagalongs®

Peanut Butter Sandwich/Do-si-dos™ - our first choice

Shortbread/Trefoils

Cinna-spins was a new one we passed on

Lemon Chalet Cemes/Lemonades were also purchased

All abouts/Thanks a lot (fudge dipped shortbread - missed these!)

They told us they sold out of the sugar free chocolate chip cookies. Who buys sugar free girl scout cookies?

Back to Lindacakes!

[Lindacakes]

The End.

Katie, actually, there are cockatoo fans out there but they are known for being the brats of the bird world. They chew like mad and they are very babyish. Which is how many people fall in love with them, when they are actual babies they coo and are very physically affectionate.

Ernie is a black-capped conure -- the conures are known for being clownish and a little on the loud and bitey side. Ernie is the smallest of the conures, and therefore has a little less noise and a little less bite in him.

If you are thinking about getting a bird, you'll need to do some research into which bird is right for you and definitely make sure you get a hand-fed baby. It makes all the difference in their sweetness. You can PM me if you have any questions.

T-Square, word. Sugar free Girl Scout cookies don't count. Who knew that Girl Scout cookies were so territorial and so political?

This is the end of my blog. I can answer questions in the morning.

Thank you to everyone who posted and shared a kind word. I truly appreciate it. I had fun sharing some food and some laughs with you and I hope to meet you in person some day.

I leave you with this.

[helenjp]

Wonderful fruit cake! That really is a great recipe, and is going straight to my files, thank you. Crystalized ginger, yes, yes, try it! It's wonderful in fruit cakes.

P.S. So overpowered by the fruit cake I forgot to say thanks for the blog, I enjoyed every crumb of it .

[snowangel]

Tea is Taken.

Well, I’m tired.  It’s time for a nice cup of tea.  Today we’re going to have some Taylor’s of Harrogate Earl Gray.  This is my favorite regular black tea.  I’ve been drinking a lot of tea lately, and my new favorite source is:

Tea Source

←

Linda, I shop at TeaSource regularly, since they have a retail outlet just 5 minutes from my folks house (20 minutes from my house). What's your favorite tea from them? I'm more of a coffee person, but their TeaSource Gold is my winter go-to, and during the summer, a pitcher of iced Lemon Solstice can't be beat...I probably have at least five of their teas in my cupboard at any given time.

[K8memphis]

Thank you, Linda. Very cool.

[SuzySushi]

Wonderful blog, Linda! Thank you so much! Love your wry humor and your photos of the neighborhood, which remind me of my old Jewish-Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn growing up (glad to see these stores still exist and haven't been taken over by McDonald's and Payless Shoes).

And Ernie, of course, is adorable. My only experience with a parrot was a friend's bad-tempered African grey who would imitate the metallic trill of a ringing telephone to get her to come running into the room.

Edited March 24, 2008 by SuzySushi (log)

[petite tête de chou]

That paneer dish seriously sounds like it's right up my alley. Creamy, spice-laden and mysterious. Plus, I love all things curd. Thanks for the link.

Knowing that you love Ernie so much your parting shot of the fork buried in the neck of a peep is too funny!

[mizducky]

←

I hesitate to offer my dorky little recipe after that magestic black cake procedure, but your Peep feast here made me think of this silly thing I like to make with Peeps.

Thanks for a most entertaining blog!

[hummingbirdkiss]

Thank you so much for sharing your life in

this warm and wonderful blog

(fresh ginger is finely grated and added during the process or making the black cake )

take care and give Ernie a kiss on the head from me

thank you again

Heidi

[Lior]

I have been so busy this week preparing for the upcoming (now...) wine festival here that I only quickly looked at your pictures. After tomorrow I will go through it all. Just wanted to say thanks and wanted you to know I loved what I read and saw so far.

[MarketStEl]

Fantastic blog, Linda! Love your form-follows-function style and approach to life.

Of course, Ernie wants fruitcake, too.  Notice that he is stepping over a slice of apple to get to it. 

←

Now I know where to send the next fruitcake someone gives me at Christmastime.

Your tale of how Ernie says goodnight to you is touching. It won't make me run out and sign up for PETA, but it does demonstrate yet again that we underestimate the animals we share this planet with.

I'll see what I can find out and report back on the Shank's sandwich.

←

Do it on a Saturday afternoon and I may join you, with a granny cart or perhaps another PGMC member in tow.

Shank's and Evelyn's is another Philadelphia Sandwich Legend in a legendary sandwich town.

[racheld]

Home and family and books (book making no less!)---and meals together and recipes and a peep-shot, a beauty shop and a laundry, as well as a captivating little companion---what's better?

Thank you for this week---it's been lovely.

If Ernie's the smallest conure, then our GrandBird Elvis must be next in line, and his beautiful little pinky-gold beak gives the sweetest little gentle nibbles. No biting for him. That's reserved for our immense macaw, who would be right on the other side of that plate of fruitcake, companionably munching his slice, murmuring little food-words as he strewed the crumbs. (Of course, THEN he'd go for Ernie's slice, and then maybe Ernie himself, if not chastened or sung to).

So good bye to you three, there in your pretty double-kitchen, book-producing home---and Reggie says BYE BYEEEEE!! to Ernie. Winding down to a wistful little "cookie?"

[Lindacakes]

I feel like Dorothy going up in the balloon.

Food people rock.

Snowangel, I will try your recommendations from Tea Source, thank you! I don't have a favorite yet, I'm jumping all over the place trying new ones. Any nice hot cup of tea is like a yoga session for me.

MizDucky, wow, thanks for the peep treats recipe. I've got to try that sometime. I'm a real peep fan, it's a childhood scar -- my mother didn't put peeps in my basket, I had to mooch off the next door neighbor. So I grew up thinking peeps were only good enough for other people. I confess that I like the classic yellow best but the new white ones (albino peeps) taste better somehow, cleaner. If a ball of corn syrup and sugar can be clean.

MarketStEl, if you send me your fruitcake, I'll have to donate it to that group that has a fruitcake toss every Christmas -- I have way too much fruitcake of my own! I am seriously fixated with the concept of PHILADELPHIA SANDWICHES. I will need to come back and eat more. Especially that eggplant hero thingy.

SuzySushi, I know it. There's nothing like it, is there? It's gritty, it's shabby, it's not refined, but it's so . . . Brooklyn. My heart kind of broke when they put a Dunkin' Donuts on the block but it ended up okay because the old neighborhood people like it and I like the neighborhood people.

[johnnyd]

Loved your blog, LC. The neighborhood news was especially interesting - your restaurants; local provisions or the delivery thereof; the mysterious disappearance of the knife sharpener; the UPS guy reading the POST while landlord cooks up some eggs. All this I miss about New York. Keep us posted!

Surely there’s a thread here about dumping your unloved calories on your bored and under-stimulated co-workers.

I can't find one...

[Megan Blocker]

Good question.

Answer:  I don't know.  I realize you don't have to, for both.  I don't even think my mom did.  I was conscious of putting the molasses in the fridge and I usually don't and I'm not sure why I did, except that I use it very infrequently.

←

I have heard that you should keep vinegar (particularly vinegar you use sparingly or that you anticipate lasting a long time) in the fridge. I wonder where I heard that? I do it, too, specifically because I read it somewhere credible - though, apparently, not terribly memorable.

Great blog, Linda! Love the two kitchens...since I don't keep kosher, if I had two kitchens, I'd totally turn one into a study. Pull the cabinet doors off, make them into bookshelves...

[Shelby]

The End.

Katie, actually, there are cockatoo fans out there but they are known for being the brats of the bird world.  They chew like mad and they are very babyish.  Which is how many people fall in love with them, when they are actual babies they coo and are very physically affectionate. 

Ernie is a black-capped conure -- the conures are known for being clownish and a little on the loud and bitey side.  Ernie is the smallest of the conures, and therefore has a little less noise and a little less bite in him. 

If you are thinking about getting a bird, you'll need to do some research into which bird is right for you and definitely make sure you get a hand-fed baby.  It makes all the difference in their sweetness.  You can PM me if you have any questions.

T-Square, word.  Sugar free Girl Scout cookies don't count.  Who knew that Girl Scout cookies were so territorial and so political?

This is the end of my blog.  I can answer questions in the morning.

Thank you to everyone who posted and shared a kind word.  I truly appreciate it.  I had fun sharing some food and some laughs with you and I hope to meet you in person some day.

I leave you with this.

←

I hope Ernie didn't witness this!

[Katie Meadow]

Like when you cover his cage, turn out the light and say good night to him. And there's a few minutes of silence and then you hear, "I love you."

Wow. Color me stunned. I confess I never thought birds were that smart, but perhaps that's because my only experience with them was my friend's former Cockatoo named Stardust. Stardust was not the brightest critter. And he only loved my friend. Loathed his fiancee to the point where he'd shreik at her and flap his wings and make his head feathers stand up. He was quite jealous. He also ate the windowsill right off the wall. Mean, destructive and not too smart isn't what I usually seek in a pet. Ernie is sweet and smart. Now I want a bird, but I want a guarantee that it'll be just like Ernie.

I'll see what I can find out and report back on the Shank's sandwich.

←

We had a Sunday Conure, which is a cross between a Sun Conure and something else I think; we got him as a hand-fed baby. He was very beautiful, but he was loud loud loud. The neighbors at the other end of the block could hear him scream. And he screamed all the time unless he was on your body somewhere or the center of attention. Affectionate? Yes. But he loved us to death and we couldn't take it anymore. You had to spend every waking minute with that bird just to keep him quiet. Perhaps some conures are quieter or more mellow? Lotta research is advised before getting a bird! And if you like to wear earrings your life--or at least your lobes--are at serious risk. That bird did have a very sophisticated palate, however.

[Kouign Aman]

Thank you!

[ludja]

Thank you for the wonderful blog, lindacakes, with your particularly great writing. I too was intrigued by your two kitchen setup, interesting meals and sweet bird. During a busy week for me, I read your blog in a few visits but did not get a chance to comment before. Thanks again!

Edited March 24, 2008 by ludja (log)