Birthdays and Cake

It's that time of year - the celebrating and remembering of a birthday, which always merits some reflection, some ridiculousness, and a good dash of hopeful planning for the future. As I took a day off from work to celebrate by myself, I was reminded how good it is to spend quality alone time with oneself, to recall exactly what it is one likes to do on one's own, reading a book, strolling through markets and galleries, enjoying the sights and sounds and smell of life (an in particular a fresh coconut donut and americano), and cycling in the summer sunshine by the ocean. All good things to be thankful for.

Turning 31 in many ways is so much better than turning 30; there's a lot of hype and hoopla around 30 to live up to, an expectation of extravagant celebration, whereas 31- there are no preconceived notions of what a celebration might look like. Celebrating alone is not out of the question (though who is truly alone these days with Facebook...)  I think 31 will be a very good year. And really, this is the year I take that sword fighting class I've been thinking about for so long.

Cake! What's a birthday without a dessert? To keep going with the changing it up theme for 31 I actually baked myself a birthday dessert WITHOUT chocolate. Shocking, I know. I had peaches on my mind though (could be my impending trip to Georgia)  - something not too heavy, sweet, delicate, and requiring fairly minimal effort (it was my birthday after all). Bill Granger's peach, almond, and yogurt cake was the perfect match (found on a defunct but excellent blog called Almost Bourdain) and I would happily bake it again. Maybe next time I will try to ensure there are more people around so I don't end up eating 60% of my own cake? Maybe... :)  Warning: this cake takes an hour and a half to bake once it's assembled and then you have to let it cool, so make sure you don't start baking it at 9pm unless you're a night owl!

Peach, Almond, Yogurt Cake

220 g (7 3/4 oz) salted butter, softened  (almost 2 sticks)
250 g (9 oz) sugar
1 tsp natural vanilla extract (I would try replacing this with almond extract or use 1/2 tsp almond & 1/2 tsp vanilla)
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
5 tsp baking powder
50 ml (1 3/4 fl oz) milk
1 cup yoghurt

450 g (1 lb) small peaches, chopped [USE FRESH OR FROZEN, NOT CANNED]
50 g (1 3/4 oz) flaked almonds
Alternate topping: handful of whole almonds (1/2 cup?) and citrus zest (1/2- 1 tsp) pulsed in the food processor to a fine crumb. Sprinkle over cake and bake. I loved this version, though it is messier.

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9" spring form pan all over and then line the bottom with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer on  high speed for ~5 minutes until light and fluffy. While the mixer is going, sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside. Add vanilla (or almond extract) and eggs one at a time to the butter-sugar mixture, beating well after each.
3. Add half of the flour, half of the yogurt, and all the milk to the batter. Mix at low speed 30 sec - 1 min, scraping the sides. Then add remaining flour and yogurt and mix at low speed until combined (30 sec - 1 min).
4. Gently fold through the chopped peaches and pour the batter into the the springform pan. Sprinkle with almonds (or almond crumb). Bake for 1.5 hours.
5. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before removing the ring of the springform pan.

*photo to come.

Ginger Ale Bread

What's that? Ginger ale bread??  You can put soda in bread?!?!?!! Indeed, that was the very same reaction I had, but as you know (or may not know) when you have 12 oz of stale ginger ale sitting in your refrigerator for more than 2 weeks, desperate times call for desperate measures. I did honestly consider just pouring it down the drain for about 5 minutes, but then the spendthrift in me won out and onto the internet I went, googling "ginger ale bread". Lo and behold, I am not the only crazy person to believe in this combination. As luck would have it, a recipe very similar to my favorite beer bread recipe appeared on Window on the Prairie's blog.

With a few modifications, the loaf emerged, shockingly risen despite the flatness of the soda, and so white when it came out of the oven that wife remarked, "what's wrong with it?" (maybe this was the warning sign of under-baking!) The subtle smell of ginger ale wafting up from the still steaming loaf was appealingly intoxicating. Upon slicing into the loaf, it was sadly revealed that it was under-baked. So I can't really speak to how good the texture would be if it were correctly baked. Taste-wise, it's not the most exciting of flavors and I would definitely add something else like more ginger or nutmeg or citrus zest. But I can see why it would be a nice pairing with fruit jams or berry compotes. Oh well, it was an experiment and it got the ginger ale out of my fridge.

Ginger Ale Bread

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2-3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt
• 1- 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
•  12 oz can of ginger ale, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and spices together.
3. Pour ginger ale into dry ingredients and mix through with as few strokes as possible.
4. Transfer batter to greased 9x5" loaf pan and bake for ~40 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
5. Let cool on wire rack for 10-15 minutes before removing from pan. 

The Ugliest/Yummiest Thing We've Cooked

Despite my fervid reading of a fantastic blog post on how to make ugly food look good for blog photos, I was unsuccessful with this item, but I swear it tastes DELICIOUS. If you like Indian food, kale, and/or crispy potatoes, please make this dish and your tastebuds will be thanking you for weeks. Another added benefit to this dish - it only gets better as leftovers and that curry flavor permeates everything in a beautiful rounded medley of spice. Wife also suggests that a wonderful variation on this dish would be to replace the potatoes with sweet potatoes. I am already signed up for that version. Also consider crumbling some paneer into the kale mixture.

Curried Potato Kale Galette (adapted from Canadian Living Magazine, March 2008)

1 Tbs canola oil
1 onion, finely diced (medium or large)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1- 1.5 Tbs minced ginger (fresh)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
8 c. chopped kale, stems removed (give or take, I used 2 bunches organic)
4 potatoes, thin slices - use a mandoline (what kind did the original recipe intend? no idea, but we used about 7-8 small red potatoes from our garden, or roughly 3-4 cups once they are sliced)
1/4 c. butter melted
*optional, small cubes of paneer stirred into the kale/onion mixture

1. This requires a cast iron skillet or casserole dish.
2. Saute the onion in the oil over medium high heat for about 6 minutes until starting to soften. Add garlic, ginger, and spices. Continue cooking until onion is soft.
3. Add kale into the pan, about 2 c. at a time until wilted enough to fit more kale. If it seems the vegetables are starting to burn, add about 1/8 c. water a bit at a time to keep them moist. Continue until all the kale is in and wilted.
4. Remove kale/onion mixture from pan. Wipe cast iron skillet out if using, and then lightly grease again with oil.
5. Peel potatoes if using russet potatoes. For yukon gold or red, peel can stay on. Use a mandoline or sharp knife to cut the potatoes into paper thin slices.
6. Layer 1/3 of the potatoes into the bottom of the pan (or casserole), then 1/2 of the kale mixture, 1/3 of the potatoes, 1/2 of the kale mixture, and finishing with potatoes. Pour the melted butter evenly over the top of the casserole.
7. Place in 425 degree F oven and bake for 40-50 minutes until cooked through.
8. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting.