Blueberry Pudding Cake

Comforts tend to be simple things, like basking in a sunbeam or bundling up in a cozy blanket.  Better yet, snuggling up next to your loved one.  Or there is the undeniable appeal of a home-cooked meal.  Probably dripping melted cheese over it's edges or slathered in rich dark chocolate, if you are remotely like me.  I also find great comfort in most foods with the descriptor "pudding" in their title.  Hence my deeply rooted love for bread puddings and my more recent desire to devour an enormous bowl of butterscotch pudding (a desire yet unfulfilled...though not for long!).

Fall seems to demand a dramatic increase in the number of comforts I need each day.  It's something to do with the chilly, rainy weather and the shorter days.  Thankfully, most of the simple comforts I crave are food - hot apple cider, pumpkin spice lattes (homemade, with even more pumpkin and spice), baked pastas, Brussels sprout sautes with bacon and candied pecans, chili, apple pies, and all baked goods containing even a hint of pumpkin.  I'm also quite content with my fleece blanket and my shearling-lined slippers.

This blueberry pudding cake is a newly discovered simple comfort.  It's beyond simple to make and yields a light, luscious golden cake carelessly strewn with juicy blueberries.  It's versatile too.  Serve it warm with ice cream for dessert or with a dollop of yogurt or whipped cream for breakfast and snacks.  And you can make it year round, using fresh blueberries when they are in season or pressing frozen blueberries into service during the winter months.

Blueberry Pudding Cake
from Gourmet
Makes one 9-inch square pan

Ingredients:
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tsp. cornstarch
2 cups blueberries (10 oz.), fresh or frozen
1 cup all purpose flour
1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup whole milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Preparation:

Position a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit.  Butter a 9-inch square baking pan.

In a small saucepan, stir together 1/3 cup of the sugar, water, and cornstarch until the cornstarch is dissolved.  Stir in the blueberries and bring the mixture to a brisk simmer.  Adjust the heat to keep the mixture at a simmer and stir occasionally for about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar.  In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk, butter, and vanilla.  Add the two mixtures together (wet and dry ingredients), stirring until just combined.

Pour the batter into the baking dish.

Pour the blueberry mixture evenly over the batter.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. 

Something magic happens in the oven. The blueberries sink, mixing with the batter to create a beautiful swirl of blueberries and buttery cake. Equally appropriate for breakfast (with Greek yogurt and a handful of nuts) and dessert (with vanilla ice cream only).

This cake is best served warm with ice cream, but is also delicious at room temperature.  Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for less than a week.

A Cake for Celebration and Nerds

The last few weeks have felt rather hectic. Lots of dashing around and frantically trying to get-everything-done, whatever that means.  In the midst of all my self-imposed hustle, though, I was able to help someone celebrate.  And though she said it made her day (probably not as much as receiving her doctoral degree), it made my crazy week better too.

Plus I was able to have some fun in the kitchen.  So it wasn't entirely selfless on my part...but I did enjoy contributing to her festivities.

Our dining room table serves as storage space and cooling counter,
complete with expandable surface.

My roommate and I went on a baking frenzy, making yellow buttermilk cupcakes from scratch (recipe from Martha Stewart Cupcakes) as well as a three layer dark chocolate fudge cake (recipe from Sugar Baby by Gesine Bullock-Prado).  She masterfully produced two icings - whipped vanilla frosting for the cupcakes (recipe also from Martha Stewart Cupcakes) and The Best Chocolate Buttercream frosting (recipe from Joy the Baker Cookbook) - while I played with various candies that would adorn the top of the cake. Have I mentioned my roommate is awesome?

The cake, you see, needed to have a reproduction of the protein structure my friend (the one who was defending her thesis and receiving her doctoral degree) had worked on for many years.  Her lab had a tradition of decorating the cake of the newly-doctor-ified person with their familiar protein structure.  I was following in the tracks of some serious cake decorators, and I feared failure.  Knowing I couldn't pipe frosting with sure skill, I chose candy as my medium.  And even after an hour of cutting and arranging and recutting and rearranging, I still wasn't sure how the structure would emerge.

The next morning, my roommate and I rose early to ice everything.  Then we split transport duties - she the cupcakes, I the cake - and journeyed off to work.  Shortly before the celebration, I arranged my carefully cut candies to form an IgA molecule bound to its receptor at the cell surface.  Yup, I got my nerd on.

A celebration cake for a doctoral degree

My friend loved it.  And so did everyone else.

I thought the cake itself was the star, not it's decoration.  Moist, intensely rich, capable of inducing adult-onset diabetes in less than a slice.  It was the chocoholic's dream my coworkers had requested.

But after my struggles with candy as decorations, I'm definitely enrolling in some cake decorating classes.

By the Book: Chocolate Coffee Bundt Cake

It's a sign that you're a kitchen junkie when you long for a bundt pan.  And not just any bundt pan, but one that is heavy and solidly constructed, like a Nordic Ware Pro Cast Original 10-cup capacity bundt pan.

It's also a sign that you spend way too much time flipping through cookbooks when you yearn for a bundt pan so you can make all the different bundt cake recipes.

I speak from personal experience here.  I am a kitchen junkie and I do spend an awful lot of time flipping through cookbooks.  I am also the proud owner of a new and fantastic bundt pan.  We will have a long and happy relationship, baking every permutation of bundt cake you could possibly imagine.

Here is the first recipe to be tested in my lovely new pan. It was a fan favorite.  The cake is wonderfully moist and springy, with a coffee enhancing the chocolate flavor.  Coffee and chocolate--they're a dream team.  And this bundt cake seems to be perfect for any time of the day - breakfast, mid-morning snack, mid-afternoon snack, dessert, meal supplement (I swear chocolate enhances any meal), or late-night fridge raid.


Chocolate Bundt Cake with Chocolate Sour Cream Glaze
From The Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes by (you guessed it) Joy (the Baker) Wilson

Ingredients:
For the bundt cake:
1 1/4 cups hot prepared coffee
1 cup unseetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. vegetable oil

For the glaze:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate
4 tbsp. hot prepared coffee
1/3 cup sour cream, room temperature

Preparation:
Put a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the coffee and cocoa powder until smooth and no lumps remain. In a separate large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda. In yet another separate bowl, whisk together sugar and eggs until thick and pale. Add the sour cream/Greek yogurt and oil and carefully whisk until well incorporated. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and whisk to incorporate. Once no flour remains, add the coffee mixture and stir until combined. The batter will be loose and smooth.

Pour batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for 45-60 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Wait until completely cooled before icing.

Please excuse my excessive flouring of the bundt pan.
It seems to have stuck on the outside of the cake. Thankfully,
it didn't affect the decadent taste of the cake...and I was able
to cover most of it with icing. Tricky, huh?

Hmm... Maybe I should work on my icing skills.
Really, it's remarkable that there was ANY icing at all
for the bundt. One bite from a spoon and you'll be
compulsively downing bite after bite...

Notes:
--When I made this cake, I used up some icing I had leftover from another Joy the Baker recipe. That icing is The Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. And it really is. You can find the recipe for it here. But I bet the glaze is awfully good too. Can you every go wrong with frosting? (Yes, you can, but only when it's a terrible recipe, which is not something you'll find from Joy the Baker, not at all).

By the Book: Red Velvet Marble Cake

For the past 8 or so years, I've made myself a birthday confection.  It's strictly to share with my family, friends, and coworkers.  You see, my mom presents me with an ice cream cake every year as my personal birthday cake (don't fear, I share that too, though I hoard as much as possible).  Since I love baking and sharing my food with others, my birthday is a perfect occasion to bust out a something special and share it.

I admit this tactic is a bit in my own interest.  I firmly believe birthdays ought to be a day where you feel special.  That doesn't have to mean oodles of presents or a huge party or running around wearing a tiara or "Birthday Girl" badge.  It can be as simple and innocuous as someone wishing you a happy birthday.  When I bring my slightly-more-effort-than-usual baked good in to work, people can wish me a happy birthday when they might not have known otherwise. That's only a little selfish, right?  I'm still sharing delicious treats...

Okay, there's another selfish aspect too.  I love the challenge of a new recipe.  While this particular cake didn't call for me to learn any new skills or use any unusual equipment, I still relished tackling an unfamiliar recipe.

This cake is fantastic.  It screams special occasion, with the red velvet and chocolate cake batters swirled together and layered.  The icing is absolutely decadent, and when it's your birthday (or you're alone in the kitchen), it's entirely okay to scoop a spoonful (or three) directly into your mouth.


Red Velvet Marble Cake 
with The Best Chocolate Buttercream Icing
from Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes
Makes a two layer 8- or 9-inch cake
*A word of warning: You will use several dishes to make this cake.  It will happen. It is also worth it, especially if you can enlist the help of a dishwasher with the promise of a large piece of the finished cake.

Ingredients for the cake:
for the chocolate cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup prepared coffee (liquid)
1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

for the red velvet cake:
1 cup plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp. red food coloring (or about 1/4 tsp. red gel dye)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar

Preparation:
Position oven racks in the center and upper third of the oven. Preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans and set aside.

For the chocolate cake:
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. Whisk together the coffee and cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, use a mixer to beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat until fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the coffee mixture and vanilla, then beat on medium-high speed for 1 minute, until thoroughly combined.

Add the flour mixture and buttermilk, then beat until almost entirely combined. Set aside the chocolate cake batter.

For the red velvet cake:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder and red food coloring.  If using gel food coloring, add up 1-2 tsp. of water to help dissolve the cocoa powder. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, use a mixer to beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add the egg and beat at medium speed for 1 minute. Add the cocoa mixture along with the vanilla, and beat until completely blended. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add half of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk to the bowl and mix until almost completely incorporated.  Add the remaining halves of flour mixture and buttermilk.  Beat on low speed until almost entirely incorporated.  Add the vinegar and finish combining the batter with a spatula.

Assembly:
Divide the red velvet batter between the two cake pans.  Top each with the chocolate cake batter, dividing it between the two cake pans as well. Use a butter knife to gently swirl the batters together.  This won't take more than a few strokes in each pan; you want the batters to remain fairly distinct and not get too muddled.

Bake cakes on the center and upper oven racks for 15 minutes.  Switch the cake pans from the bottom to the top and vice versa. Bake for another 15-20 minutes, until a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and let cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto wire racks to cool completely.

Once cool, frost with The Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (recipe follows). Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to let the frosting set slightly.  Store the cake, well wrapped in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.  Bring to room temperature by setting on the counter for 20-30 minutes before serving.


The Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Makes a lot of frosting. But make it all, store leftover frosting in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and use within 3 weeks.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Scant 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup chocolate Ovaltine powder

Preparation:
In a medium bowl, use a mixer to cream together the butter, cocoa powder, and salt. The mixture will be very thick, but cream for about 3 minutes on medium speed.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar. Mix on low to incorporate the sugar while adding the milk and vanilla.  As the sugar incorporates, gradually increase the mixer speed to medium-high. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat until smooth.

Stir together the cream and Ovaltine in a small bowl. While mixing on medium speed, pour the cream in a slow and steady stream until the frosting reaches your desired consistency--smooth, creamy, and spreadable.  Add more powdered sugar if necessary to adjust consistency.  Spread onto cooled cakes.  If the frosting is too easily spread and won't retain any shape, put it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to harden it just enough.

Good Things - July 2012 Edition

It's time to acknowledge the good things in life...


The Cherry Chomper emerged for the super brief but always delicious cherry season. I may have gone overboard on the cherries.  But he worked fantastically, and I now have a nice bag of pitted frozen cherries awaiting their fate in a cake or a clafoutis.

I can't help but love the Cherry Chomper. It's adorable and actually functional, which never seems to happen with kitchen gadgets. Hooray, Chomper!!!

He just looks so darn happy to pit those cherries!

My best friend married an incredible guy. I'm thrilled for them. And their wedding, which I was lucky enough to be in, was gorgeous.

Any time I attempt an updo, my hair decides to
do its own thing. Thankfully, a professional
sylist can coax my hair into exactly what I
longed for.  She had to use a ton of hair pins
and even more hairspray to do it.

Purple high heels.
This gorgeous bouquet.
Loved it. 

I may not harbor a passionate love of oatmeal like so many people out there, but I enjoy a good bowl or two every week.  I admit I use packets of microwaveable oats (Nature's Path brand has some delicious and nutritious ones I swear by!).  And I admit to adding in many other ingredients to make the oatmeal more appealing. I've had some successes recently (chocolate-raspberry-almond oatmeal), and some semi-successes, like this one below.

Here, I went crazy and cooked oatmeal on the stove in a blend of coconut milk and regular milk.  Since the oats turned to grainy mush in my mouth, I'm guessing I overcooked them.  But the fresh peach and blueberries....those were still very delicious.

Knowing my determination not to be defeated by any recipe, I'll be revisiting this sometime soon. Wish me luck!

 



It apparently is quite bonkers to make a birthday cake for yourself...but I did just that.  And I shared it. Though I kept the extra frosting for myself...it's that good.  I challenge you not to do the same.

Joy the Baker's Red Velvet Marble Cake
with The Best Chocolate Buttercream Icing.
Check back soon for my By the Book post on it.

Eric also took me out for a birthday dinner at my favorite restaurant, Meadowlark.  They recently moved into a larger building and added a bar area that turns out original and classic cocktails.  I initially ordered their Bubbling Shrub, a raspberry shrub drink, but they were out of the shrub syrup.  So I went for this gem instead:  strawberries and mint muddled with locally produced gin and -- wait for it! -- black pepper syrup.  Unconventional, but delicious.

Though I still prefer the rosemarry gin fizz as my main source of gin consumption...

The black pepper syrup gives a sharp, peppery
(duh) bite that works well against the sweetness
of the strawberries.

I've also been slightly obsessed with my new cookbooks, including Maria Speck's Ancient Grains for Modern Meals.  My whole grain and whole grain flour collections have increased dramatically in just a short time.  Anxious to test them out, I made a salad inspired by both a recipe from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals and a recipe a favorite blog, Running to the Kitchen.  It's wheat berries with oven-roasted grapes, crumbled feta cheese, and toasted pumpkin seeds.  I learned wheat berries have a nice chew to them that I really enjoy.

In fact, this little number has been my default method of using grapes that have turned a bit too soft for me to enjoy eating. Just roast the grapes with a bit of honey and salt, then mix with your favorite grain. Omit the feta and add a squeeze of orange juice to make it a sweeter salad. Or serve with feta over a bed of leafy greens. Versatile, easy, and smart. Bam.

 

How I Came to Love Parsnips

Confession:  I didn't really like vegetables until a few years ago.

Sure, I'd forced down peas, green beans, and broccoli in every possible iteration throughout childhood. But I didn't really like it. And I didn't try other veggies. I hated anything raw. Healthy food just didn't taste good.

At the end of college, with my athletic career wrapping up and my metabolism slowing (dang!), I wanted to establish healthy living habits for my entire life -- exercise, eat right, keep my mind sharp, give back to others.  Lofty goals, I know, but it took this complete change in my mindset to make me want to give vegetables (and lots of other healthy foods) a chance.

My mainstay was steamed broccoli or green beans tossed with butter or lemon juice.  More recently, I've begun to explore new produce.  Kale--made into crispy, light-as-air chips.  Carrots--roasted in pomegranate molasses (a la Melissa Clark).  Broccolini--tossed with butter (some things shouldn't be messed with). Steamed snap peas--with an Asian dipping sauce I could drink out of the bowl. And parsnips--roasted to bring out their inherent sweetness.

This is the recipe I tried that made me love parsnips, that humble and often overlooked root vegetable that deserves some love.


Roasted Parsnips with Orange, Cumin, and Honey
From Sassy Radish (get the original recipe here)

Parsnips look like white carrots without the green top.
I typically find them in a bin in the refrigerated produce section,
next to the loose carrots and rutabagas.

Peeled and cut into roughly the same size pieces.

After roasting, the parsnips luxuriate in their sauce,
tender, juicy, sweet, and spicy.

And if sweetly golden roasted parsnips weren't enough, this delectable parsnip cake from A Plum By Any Other Name will get you started. The cake itself is a bit unusual -- olive oil takes the place of canola or vegetable oil, giving a lovely mildly grassy flavor to the cake.  And please don't omit the cointreau-soaked figs. They're juicy pockets of deliciousness scattered throughout the moist spice cake.

Parsnip Cake with Rum-Cream Cheese Frosting

From A Plum by Any Other Name (get the original recipe here)

Two layers of parsnip cake, fresh out of the oven.

Adding dark rum to the cream cheese frosting offered
a subtle spicy note that made the frosting
different from the usual incarnation.

A healthy slice of parsnip cake, studded with
walnuts, orange zest, and Cointreau-soaked figs.

Good Things: A Mini Garden and A Cake

We've finally planted our "garden" at our apartment.  For three years, we've attempted to grow a variety of herbs and veggies.  While my mint comes back like crazy (it took over the pot it currently calls home, surviving the winter and crowding out cilantro and thyme), I always seem to kill any poor basil plant I bring home.  So no basil (yet).  

Last year, my tomato plant only produced 5 tomatoes, all of which were partially rotted before picking.  We're optimistic that this year's tomato plant, started from seed by my roommate's boss, will fare better.  

We switched to bell peppers this year because last year's jalapenos were insanely hot.  Since I'm a spicy food fanatic, that's saying something.  The bacon-apple jalapeno poppers were just too hot to eat...so sad.

Our tiny garden at our tiny apartment.
We're growing thyme, oregano, bell peppers, mint, and tomatoes.

I discovered an amazing powder to add to my smoothies a few months ago, thanks to a few other blogs who were on a smoothie kick.  The company Amazing Grass uses a special process to harvest nutrients from grasses, veggies, and fruits that retains a high amount of nutrients and good-for-you things.  I'll admit I've never ordered a smoothie with grasses or veggies, but I wanted to up the nutritional ante of my smoothies.  So I tried packets of Amazing Grass's Green SuperFood line.  They blended easily, they tasted wonderful, and I actually felt like my smoothie made me feel better -- more energized, more healthy.  Who knew a smoothie could do that?  Now I'm addicted, and, thanks to the incredible local health food store, I was able to purchase two containers for the price of one! 

So far, I've enjoyed a smoothie with a scoop of the Green SuperFood in it 2-3 times a week for the past two weeks and I've noticed an improvement in how I feel and even look.  I'm getting my fruits and veggies and then some from this powder.  I'm definitely addicted.

My absolute favorite smoothie addition.
The chocolate flavor is incredible too!

This week, I tried a recipe from Sassy Radish's blog from Rhubarb Buttermilk Pudding Cake.  With a name like that, how could I not?  I used frozen sliced rhubarb, cooked for a few minutes in lemon juice and sugar and cornstarch.  Layered around a tender buttermilk cake, the rhubarb was the star.  

Best of all?  This cake was so simple to put together.  It took only a few minutes and produced the most delicious snacking cake. I've had it for breakfast, for a pre-dinner snack, and for dessert...and there's still half a cake left. 

I may not have been able to wait long enough to
take a picture before tasting...

Rhubarb and a tender buttermilk cake, all mixed up.

Hot damn, where's the Greek yogurt or ice cream?

Friday Cheer! The Doppelrock and Plum Biercake

Maybe it is just me, but this week has felt excessively long. In Ohio, the weather switched from end-of-winter rain and grey skies to what constitutes a heat wave for March:  70-80 degrees, sunny, blue skies, and even humid!  To me, it's gorgeous. It's perfection. It begs me to go outside and play!  Or drink a margarita on the porch, but I can consider that part of my definition of playing. So it may not come as a surprise that I've been eagerly anticipating the weekend, when I can relax and enjoy the sunshine.  I strongly suspect my anticipation added to the slow crawl of this week... I'm equally sure that my eagerness for time in sunshine magically made today arrive overcast and rainy. Drats. Sorry, everyone in Ohio. My bad.

Looking out the window, though, I can't help but remain optimistic the sun will return shortly. The grass is brilliantly green and the trees are budding or displaying a full complement of delicate white flowers. And--this may just be me again--I think I can see a hint of warmth and light in the cracks between the grey storm clouds.

Great Lakes Brewing Company's The Doppelrock may be the perfect beer for today, when it's not yet summer but I know it's just hiding around the corner.  I even tried a recipe that fits that category too -- Plum Biercake (made with The Doppelrock).  It's a spice cake topped with plums that mentally call summer out of it's hiding place.

The beer:
Great Lakes Brewing Company is another incredible Ohio brewery, based out of Cleveland.  Fun fact:  they were the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio, opening in 1988.  They produce a variety of brews, from amber lager (Elliot Ness) to pale ale (Burning River) to white ale (Holy Moses) to their fiercely coveted seasonal Christmas ale (shockingly, it's called Christmas Ale).  I love the historical or clever names they assign to each brew!  Many of the historical names tie in to Ohio history, so that I like them even more.  I can't think of a single beer style from Great Lakes Brewing Co. that I haven't enjoyed, and many of their brews are among my favorites, such as Holy Moses white ale, Conway's Irish Ale, Christmas Ale, and Elliot Ness amber lager.  Even Eric's cat, the Fonz, enjoys Great Lakes Brewing Co.; she actually licks the lip of the Edmund Fitzgerald porter bottle!  She doesn't do that with any other beer, and, trust me, we've tested plenty of beers around her!

The Doppelrock is a seasonal offering from Great Lakes Brewing Co., whose name pays homage to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame located in Cleveland. It's a doppelbock beer, with a dark amber color with a creamy and highly flavorful mouth feel, with notes of burnt caramel, toffee, and dark fruits.  Doppelbocks--literally "double bocks" in German--are higher alcohol versions of German bock beers (bocks are strong German lagers).  The Great Lakes Brewing Co. Doppelrock has 8.7% alcohol by volume, so it's a stronger than your average brew but there is not a strong taste of alcohol from it.  Doppelbocks also have a full-bodied flavor and enough maltiness to be considered a meal in a glass (like stouts).  While I would say this version had a rich and complex flavor, I wouldn't consider it a meal replacement.  Then again, I like to eat, so there are very few beers that actually sit heavily enough in my stomach to make me feel full.

Rock and Roll and Dopplebock

The gorgeous deep amber color of The Doppelrock promises a rich flavor...and it did not disappoint. The toasty warm richness of the malted barley was the most prominent flavor, followed by a caramel/toffee flavor and a very slight coffee or chocolate taste.  Personally, I didn't notice any dark fruit notes, but I've never claimed to have the best palate.  In terms of drinkability, The Doppelrock was very smooth and balanced (neither too sweet nor too hoppy) with medium body, so it had some heft but wasn't heavy in the stomach. Overall, an excellent choice for this time of year when you're transitioning away from heavy winter beers and into lighter spring and summer ales.  It's got body and flavor and an awesome name. What more could you ask for?

My purchase of The Doppelrock was designed to hit two birds with one stone.  First, I would finally try this seasonal beer I'd fallen in love with last year.  Second, I could use it in a fantastic Plum Biercake recipe from  The Boozy Baker by Lucy Baker.  You know I'm a sucker for a well-written description and her words for the plum biercake evoked images of wintery gingerbread and summery roasted plums.   As it was baking, a spicy and malty smell emanated from my oven and made me even more eager to taste the biercake.  I waited barely 15 minutes before I sliced into the cake and topped it with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Ohhhh, perfection!  A tender and moist spice cake, sweet and soft plum slices, and melting cream.

Plum Biercake made with The Doppelrock

Plum Biercake
From The Boozy Baker (by Lucy Baker)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
3 tbsp. molasses
1 cup doppelbock beer
4 small plums, washed and pitted and cut into wedges

Preparation:
1)  Preheat the oven to 350 degress Farenheit.  Butter a 9-inch round (or square) cake pan. Line bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

2)  In a medium bowl, mix the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

3)  In a separate large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about two minutes.  Beat in the egg and molasses.

4)  Add a third of the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and blend until just combined.  Add half of the beer and, again, stir until just combined.  Repeat this process, so that you add in this order:  a third of the flour mixture, the rest of the beer, and the last third of the flour mixture.  After the last flour mixture addition, stir until the batter is smooth and just combined; do not overmix.

5)  Pour batter into the prepared pan.  Arrange the plum slices on the top of the cake.  Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  Store up to three days in an airtight container.*

Notes:
--You can substitute other malty beers here if you can't find a doppelbock.  Try a stout or porter.

--I love the darkest molasses I can find at the store.  To me, the darker the molasses, the better.  But any molasses should work here.

--I used a total of 6 plums on my cake (minus a few slices that were tested for taste purposes), and I had a hard time finding room for all of them. But I enjoyed having plenty of plum in each slice.  So feel free to add or subtract plus to meet your desires.  You could also try this recipe with other stone fruits, like peaches or nectarines.

*--I found this cake did not store well for me at room temperature, because the moist plums on top of the cake became mushy with time.  I was also worried the moisture and sugar in the plums would promote faster-than-usual mold growth.  Next time, I'll either serve this cake immediately or try keeping it in the refrigerator (probably in an airtight container).

--I recommend eating this cake when warm, whether from the oven or a brief stint in the microwave.  A scoop of vanilla ice cream or Greek yogurt would be a welcome addition too.

Roasting plums works the usual magic - a crunchy,
tart, underripe plum transforms into a tender, sweet slice of perfection

Plum Biercake with vanilla ice cream and plum slices

Happy Friday!