Wasabi White Chocolate Meringues

Posted on October 17, 2013 by ButterSugarFlowers

Wasabi meringues (90)Whenever I have Japanese food, I look forward to the rush wasabi offers.  First there’s its burst of tangy flavor, followed by an intense but ephemeral heat.  Eating sushi recently, I was struck by the idea of creating a dessert using this otherwise savory condiment.  I knew it would have to be something light and little, perhaps paired with a mild and creamy counterpart. While it might first sound odd or even unappetizing, wasabi white chocolate meringues proved to be a perfect concoction. In fact, a few of my adventurous taste testers guessed they were eating a caramel meringue, and many commented that they could finally appreciate the pleasant flavor of wasabi without its usual overpowering spice.

Wasabi meringues (63)While I bought both wasabi powder and prepared wasabi paste, I chose the powder after tasting both kinds and closely reading the packages. The powder had a cleaner taste and its list of ingredients was only three words long (horseradish, spirulina, turmeric) — a stark contrast to the paste’s more mysterious and lengthy list.  For the white chocolate, I always choose a kind that contains a generous amount of vanilla, cocoa butter rather than oil, and as few other ingredients as possible.* Now, onto the meringues!

Wasabi White Chocolate Meringues
(makes 40-50 little sandwiches, each about 1.25″ diameter)

  • 3 egg whites at room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, sifted*
  • 1.5 teaspoons powdered wasabi, sifted
  • 6 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
  • 1/4 teaspoon finely ground white pepper, sifted
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract**
  • 1 teaspoon strained lemon juice
  • 1 drop green food coloring (optional)**
  • 3.5 – 4 ounces chopped white chocolate, or about 1/2 – 2/3 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 200 F.  Wasabi meringues (86)Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Using an electric mixer (preferably free-standing) beat the egg whites on high until bubbly and frothy.  Sprinkle the cream of tartar over the whites as you keep beating.  Working quickly, add the wasabi powder to the bowl; be sure to do this while whites are still quite wet, as powdered wasabi’s flavor is activated by liquid.  Keep beating on high speed.  When whites are just becoming opaque, gradually add the powdered sugar one tablespoon at a time, followed by the white pepper, with mixer going.  Continue beating until whites are voluminous and stiff.  Mix in the vanilla, lemon juice, and foodWasabi meringues (48) coloring (if using), beating until just incorporated.  Transfer batter to a pastry bag and pipe small meringues (about 1.25″ diameter each) onto lined cookie sheets.  They won’t spread much; feel free to place them near each other.  You should have about 80-100 little meringues.  Bake for one hour, then turn off oven; leave meringues inside oven with door closed for another hour or two at most. Transfer meringues to an airtight container and store for up to 24 hours.  If you live in a humid area, consider adding a desiccant packet (perhaps borrowed from a vitamin bottle) to the container of meringues, lest they become sticky.

When ready to sandwich the meringues, place white chocolate in a heatproof bowl, and either place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, whisking constantly until smooth; or microwave the bowl in 30 second intervals, stirring well after each time (2 or 3 intervals is usually plenty).  Stop heating just when all lumps have disappeared as you mix it.  Do not overheat.  Place 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon melted white chocolate on the bottom of a meringue, and gently top it with another.  Repeat until all meringues are sandwiched, and let them cool until white chocolate has hardened to at least room temperature.  Store in an airtight container as described above, or devour immediately (they’re addictive!).

Wasabi meringues (37)Wasabi white chocolate meringues offer a unique, subtle flavor in a delicate, delectable format.  Sweet and light, they carry just a trace of familiar warmth, complemented by a whisper of soft white pepper.  While the vanilla and lemon counter- balance the bit of spice, the milky white chocolate imparts a gentle filling between airy, crisp cookies.  In the form of a fantastic new dessert, wasabi has shown off its terrific taste once again. It’s well known for its notorious heat, but who knew it could be so sweet?

Wasabi meringues (7)*Maybe next time… Cream of tartar is not required for making meringues, but it helps stabilize the egg whites, acting as a sort of baking insurance policy. (As my dad likes to say of such things, “Can’t hurt, might help!”)  I tried a version of this recipe using more wasabi and no white pepper, but I found that the above formula had a preferable balance of flavors.  If you want to surprise your tasters with more heat than the trace of wasabi here, try hiding a smidgen of wasabi paste (prepared using the instructions on the powder’s package) beneath the white chocolate. In line with my preferences noted above, my favorite brands are Green & Black’s and Guittard wafers; or for value, Whole Foods 365 White Chocolate Chunks or Trader Joe’s White Chocolate Chips.

**Avoid coloring and extract containing oil (meringue’s structural enemy).

Wasabi meringues (54)

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Fresh Figs and Mascarpone: A Cardamom Custard Pie

Posted on September 29, 2013 by ButterSugarFlowers

Mascarpone fig pie (11)This recipe is inspired by my fellow blogger-friend, Diane.  A few weeks ago she wrote about the delectable food and festivities on the north end of Boston (a place I’ve never been but now would love to visit).  As usual, her post was a joy to read, and this time she further engaged readers by asking for help recreating an Italian pasta dish.  It involved sausage, black mission figs, and mascarpone; she’d gotten too small a taste of it from her daughter’s plate on their recent day uptown.  Naturally, the meat dropped from my mind right away, but the remaining ingredients became my next dessert obsession.

Mascarpone fig pie (1)I chose fresh, ripe figs since they are very much in season, and decided to pair them with a modified version of the crisp oatmeal crust I introduced here. Together with a bit of tangy orange zest and a stovetop custard made with silky mascarpone, the pie’s creamy sweetness invited a rich and mellow spice: none other than exquisite cardamom. While I failed to recreate her dinner, I’m indebted to Diane for this perfect fall dessert.

Cardamom Mascarpone Fig Pie (makes a 9″ pie; serves 10)

For the crust**:

  • 1 medium/large orange
  • 1/2 cup butter at room temperatureMascarpone fig pie (8)
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt (decrease a bit if butter is salted)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1.25 cups old fashioned rolled oats

Generously grease a 9″ pie pan; set aside.  Rinse, dry, and finely zest the orange; set zest aside. Juice the orange, removing any seeds; set juice aside. Mix the butter and sugar until even in consistency.  Sift salt, cardamom and flour over the butter mixture.  Stir, adding 1 tablespoon of the orange juice (reserve remaining juice for pie glaze if desired).  Fold in the oats and 1 packed teaspoon of the orange zest (reserve remaining zest for pie filling); mix by hand until dough sticks together and texture is even.  Push dough into prepared pie pan, using knuckles to pack it evenly in the bottom and sides (1/4 to 1/3 inch thick). Freeze crust for 30 minutes or up to overnight. Bake frozen crust at 375 F for about 20 minutes, until fragrant and edges are toasty brown, with center looking dry and not soft.  Let crust cool completely; place in fridge if desired. (Cover crust tightly if not using the same day.)

Mascarpone fig pieFor the filling:

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • remaining orange zest from crust recipe
  • 1 cup half-and-half or milk
  • 1.25 teaspoons ground cardamom
  • 1.25 cup mascarpone cheese
  • About 20 small fresh, ripe figs (I used Black Mission), weighing about 13.5 ounces total with stems intact

While the custard doesn’t take long, it’s best to get all equipment ready (bowls, whisks, saucepan, electric hand mixer) and work rapidly throughout the process.  First, place mascarpone in a large heatproof bowl; set it nearby.  In a medium heatproof bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar and honey; beat well, until smooth, creamy, and light yellow.  Sift over yolk mixture: cornstarch, flour and salt.  Whisk well, until no traces of dry ingredients remain; set aside.  In a small/medium saucepan, whisk together the orange zest, half-and-half or milk, and cardamom.  Over medium heat, cook mixture until it just boils, whisking occasionally.  Turn off burner, remove pan from heat, and pan let sit for just 30 – 60 seconds.  Give the egg mixture another good stir, then slowly pour about half of the hot milk into the egg mixture, constantly and vigorously stirring.  Keep whisking while you add remaining hot milk. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, whisking continuously, and set over burner Mascarpone fig pie (2)at medium heat. Whisk continuously. Watch carefully: Mixture can come to a thick paste rather suddenly, or it can take a few minutes of bubbling, depending on ingredients and exact temperature.  As soon as mixture becomes a thick paste, remove from heat and immediately add it into the bowl of mascarpone.  Promptly beat with an electric mixer for a few minutes, until creamy, smooth and even (this custard will never be perfectly smooth because of the zest and cardamom, but the bits of texture are quite nice).  Spread evenly into cooled  crust.

Rinse and dry the figs.  Remove stems and slice lengthwise into quarters.  Starting at the outside ring of the pie, arrange fig slices in concentric circles, sliced sides up, until you reach the center.  [Optional: To give the figs a nice shine and to slow their discoloration, you may opt to glaze them before chilling the pie. To do so, combine 3 tablespoons of remaining orange juice from crust recipe and 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan.  Heat, mixing constantly, until no sugar granules remain and the syrup has boiled for at least 30 seconds.  Bush gently onto the fig slices.  Alternatively, you can use apricot (or similar) preserves whisked well with a splash of boiling water to glaze the fruit.]  Refrigerate pie at least 3 hours or overnight.  Serve chilled, and eat within 24 hours.

Mascarpone fig pie (6)This fig pie is sweet and rich — creamy with decadence and just the right amount of soft spice.  Its crisp oatmeal crust offers a hearty, whole crumb that contrasts deliciously with a velvety custard center, carrying a perfect hint of citrus.  Fig lovers will delight in the generous, succulent fruit on each slice, just as cardamom enthusiasts will savor the gentle seasoning of every luscious bite… 

Mascarpone fig pie (9)**Maybe next time… If you don’t feel like fussing with such a complicated crust recipe, a gingersnap crust like this one is much simpler and just as delicious.  If you aren’t a fig fan, feel free to swap them with any fruit that you’d enjoy uncooked.  (I’m already daydreaming of this pie covered with seedless mandarin orange segments this winter, or pear slices or fresh berries!)  Same with the cardamom: while I LOVED it in this pie (and these cookies), it can be replaced with ground cinnamon or ginger or the like, or with nothing at all.  (Note: If you replace the cardamom with another spice, be sure start with a small amount; some are much stronger than others).  Likewise, I imagine almost any citrus would be wondrous for this pie, such as the zest and juice of a lemon or grapefruit, in place of the orange.

Mascarpone fig pie (7) Mascarpone fig pie (5) Mascarpone fig pie (10)

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Lemony Fennel Cupcakes

Posted on September 6, 2013 by ButterSugarFlowers

Lemony Fennel Cupcakes (78)

Before she left town for a new job in a new state, my kind friend had me over for dinner earlier this summer.  It was a dreamy evening filled with playing with her little son, picking figs from her neighbor’s tree, and visiting over a homemade meal.  As I munched on the salad she’d made, I noticed some little slices of a crunchy white bulb that was aromatic and mildly sweet with a hint of licorice flavor: fresh fennel.

Lemony Fennel Cupcakes (130)There’s no doubt I enjoyed the fennel greatly in the salad, and before I knew it, I was recalling all the ways I’ve seen fennel: its bulbs thinly sliced on gourmet pizza, its stalks served like celery on a veggie tray, its seeds served to cleanse the palate after dinner at an Indian restaurant.  But there was a gaping hole in the dessert department, and I couldn’t understand why.  Delicately herbal and pleasantly mild, fresh fennel was an excellent candidate for something sweet.  In a matter of days, I paired it with lots of lemon and made some of the most airy, tender cupcakes I’ve ever eaten. With its bulb in the batter and its wispy leaves in icing, fresh fennel had found its sweet spot.

Lemony Fennel Cupcakes (makes one dozen standard size cupcakes)

For the cupcake batter:

  • ¾ cup sugarLemony Fennel Cupcakes (120)
  • 2 medium/large eggs
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted but not scalding hot
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1-2 lemons, preferably Meyer
  • 1 medium bulb fresh fennel with stalks and leaves (weighing about 10 – 12 ounces)

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line muffin pan with cupcake liners.  Finely zest one lemon; set zest aside.  Juice the lemon; strain and measure out 1/4 cup juice; you may need a second lemon to get this amount of strained juice.  Cut the stalks and leaves off the fennel bulb; set the feathery leaves aside for frosting.  (Use any thicker leafless stalks as you wish; they won’t be part of this recipe.)  Rinse and dry the fennel bulb, then thinly slice off the hard, dark ring from its bottom; discard the slice.  Applying firm pressure, grate the bulb with a sturdy standard sized (large hole) grater.  Measure out 1 cup moderately packed grated fennel bulb, weighing about 4.5 ounces.  Quickly place grated bulb in a small bowl and pour the measured lemon juice over it.  This will prevent the fennel from turning brown while you make the batter.

Lemony Fennel Cupcakes (16)In a large bowl, beat the sugar, eggs, and melted butter well, until pale and smooth.  Mix in the vanilla.  Sift the flour and baking soda over the butter mixture.  Mix, scraping sides of bowl often, until batter is even in consistency.  Finally, add the fennel and lemon juice to the batter, and fold in the lemon zest.  Mix until evenly incorporated.  Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin, filling cups 1/2 to 2/3 full.  Bake for 15 minutes; begin checking at the 12 minute mark. Cakes are ready when their tops are toasty and golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out batter-free.

Lemony Fennel Cupcakes (97)Remove pan from oven and let cupcakes cool for just a few minutes in pan, then carefully transfer them to a cooling rack or a towel on your counter top.  They will still be quite warm; I suggest using a large spoon to help move them.  This step will help prevent oily condensation on the bottom of the cooled cupcakes.  Let cupcakes cool completely, until they are not at all warm to the touch, before frosting.

For the frosting:Lemony Fennel Cupcakes (4)

  • 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup butter at room temperature
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or the seeds scraped from half of a medium sized vanilla bean pod
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if butter is salted)
  • 1.25 cups powdered sugar
  • 1.5 teaspoons finely minced fennel leaves

Rinse, dry, and very finely mince the ends of the wispy fennel leaves until you have 1.5 teaspoons, loosely packed.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth and even.  Mix in the vanilla bean until evenly incorporated.  Sift the powdered sugar and salt over the mixture, then beat, stopping to scrape bowl often.  Keep whipping for several minutes to allow frosting to get fluffy.  Finally, fold in in the minced fennel leaves with a spoon or spatula, stirring gently until evenly distributed.  Refrigerate until ready to use.  Pipe or spread frosting onto the cooled cupcakes, and devour.

Lemony Fennel Cupcakes (7)These fennel cupcakes offer a burst of lemon and a whisper of the fragrant herb within.  Aromatic, light and airy, their citrusy sweetness is as refreshing as it is satisfying.  While the delicate flavor of fennel is subtle in the finished dessert, its texture proves to create a deliciously spongy and tender cake.  Longtime fennel lovers may now celebrate with cupcakes, while opponents of fennel may well be transformed upon first bite.

Lemony Fennel Cupcakes (117)

Maybe next time… Fennel pairs well with citrus, and I’m certain a grapefruit or orange version of these cupcakes would be scrumptious.  Here, lemon is the dominant flavor.  I made a second version with the lemon toned down, so as to let the fennel flavor be more pronounced, but the result was not any more fennely and I felt it lacked overall flavor.  I’ve accepted that raw fennel mellows when it’s baked, and I’m ever impressed with what it does have to offer to baking: subtle, pleasant traces of herbal goodness and a fantastic texture.  Plus, this means you can serve the cupcakes to skeptics without mentioning the main ingredient.  Having said this, if you want a stronger fennel flavor, you could add more fennel leaves to the frosting and batter alike, or add 1/2 teaspoon anise extract in the batter to echo the fennel’s licorice-like flavor. The lack of salt in the batter is intentional; it goes unmissed and lets the fennel shine in a sweet format, and there’s plenty of salt in the frosting — but if you want to add salt to the batter, feel free — a quarter teaspoon should be plenty.

Lemony Fennel Cupcakes (59)

Posted in Baking with Herbs, Baking with Veggies, Cakes & Cupcakes, Sweets | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

When Walnuts are Wonderful: Fresh Pear Walnut Torte

Posted on August 21, 2013 by ButterSugarFlowers

Pear Walnut Torte (9)I don’t consider myself a very picky eater, but there are a few foods that make me cringe.  Miracle Whip.  Sweet baked beans.  Greasy salami.  Thousand Island Dressing.  Walnuts.  It’s true: walnuts are the least tempting of any nut, in my book.  They were always the disappointment at the bottom of my Christmas stocking, the annoying chunk of sour crunch in my otherwise gooey brownie, the waxy and bitter thing that looked more like an insect than an edible.  So why on earth would I make a dessert out of walnuts?

Pear Walnut TorteWell, someone I work with brought me a whole pound of shelled walnuts recently. “I know you like to bake,” she said, “and I was near an orchard in Northern California.”  I was so touched that I forgot my feelings for walnuts as I gratefully accepted the sweet gift.  I wasn’t sure what I’d do with them, but I trusted I could turn them into something tasty.  By toasting them until they smelled like baking bread, grinding them into a flour-like meal, and pairing them with orange zest and sweet pears, I became transformed just as the nuts did.  Walnuts can be delicious.  I can hardly believe my words, but they’re true.

Pear Walnut Torte (makes a 9″ torte; serves 8-10)

  • 12 ounces shelled walnuts
  • 5 small Bartlett pears – ripe and softening but not mushy
  • 1/4 cup flour (whole wheat, all purpose, or a gluten-free blend)
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs, separated and at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • seeds scraped from 1 medium vanilla bean or 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste or powder
  • finely grated zest of one orange
  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon Grand Marnier or similar liqueur
  • 9″ springform pan

Pear Walnut Torte (4)Preheat oven to 350 F.  Spread walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in oven 15 minutes, until very fragrant.  While walnuts toast, lightly grease the inside walls of the springform pan. Cut a circle of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of the pan (tracing it first can be easiest).  Place parchment in bottom of pan, then whisk together 1 tablespoon sugar, the oil and the liqueur in a bowl, spreading it onto the parchment.

Peel pears and slice in half, removing stems, seeds and veins.  After nuts are toasted, place one walnut half in each of the pear’s cut-out centers.  Place the nut-stuffed pears sliced-side-down into the pan, narrow ends toward the center.  (Depending on the size of the pears, it’s possible that not all halves will fit into pan.) Leave the oven on at 350 F, or turn off and re-preheat before beating egg whites.

Pear Walnut Torte (5)Once the walnuts are completely cool, if they have a lot of peels (which can make them taste bitter), rub them between your hands with a clean dishcloth to loosen and remove most of the peels. (This can make a mess; I like to do it outside when possible.) Discard the loosened peels; some will have stayed stuck to walnuts’ crevices, which is fine.

Transfer nuts to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times, just until a meal is formed, being careful not to blend it too long or create nut butter. Measure out 1.5 cups walnut meal, firmly packed, and place in a separate bowl. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt over the walnut meal, and whisk it all together. Set aside. (Use the remaining nut meal as you wish. It’s great on yogurt or salad.)

Pear Walnut Torte (1)In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks well with 1/3 cup of the sugar, mixing until pale and smooth, then add both vanillas and blend.  Fold in the nut/flour mixture and the orange zest. Mixture will be very thick.

In a separate bowl (preferably the bowl of a standing mixer), beat the egg whites on high until they begin to become foamy and white.Keep mixer going and slowly add the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Stop mixing once the whites are thick, shiny and stiff.

Scoop out about 1 cup egg whites, and mix it into the nut batter to loosen and moisten its texture. Then very gently fold in the remaining egg whites, slowly folding until the ingredients are equally distributed and a fluffy batter has formed — this can take a few minutes. Finally, spread the batter evenly over the pears.

Pear Walnut Torte (6)[Tip: If there’s any chance your springform pan might leak like mine does, place a layer of tin foil on the oven rack below it before baking, or wrap the bottom of the pan securely with foil.]

Bake for about 45-50 minutes, until top of torte is toasted and does not deflate when pushed, and a toothpick inserted in its center comes out batter-free.  Let torte cool completely before unlocking sides of pan and inverting it onto a plate. The torte is best served just after it’s cooled and been inverted. Eat within a day, storing in fridge if not serving within a few hours.

Pear Walnut Torte (8)Speckled with vanilla beans and orange zest, this dessert sings with buttery nuttiness (without any actual butter).  Its generous wedges of juicy, soft pear add a sweet and delicate flavor, while the high ratio of walnut meal offers a richness I never knew I loved until now.  Surprisingly light for being nut-based, here is a treat that’s wondrously fragrant and bright-tasting.  I can assure you that this moist, flavorful torte will make walnut lovers swoon, while walnut loathers just might be transformed.  I know I am.

Pear Walnut Torte (7)Maybe next time… This torte would be even more delicious served with ice cream or a drizzle of Grand Marnier custard like the one I made here.  I’m glad I tried it with walnuts, but I do think it would work well with almost any nut in their place (almonds or hazelnuts come to mind first).  Finally, this wholesome pear walnut torte makes as wonderful a breakfast with coffee as it does a delicious dessert.

Pear Walnut Torte (13)If you’re wondering what makes a torte a torte, this is a debatable issue. In a reliable baking reference book recently, I found that the index’s entry for “torte” simply stated the following: “See cake.”  Indeed, torte is the word for cake in some languages. From my own research, torte recipes are much less reliant on traditional flour than cakes are, and they are rarely frosted. In my opinion, the dessert I made here was simply not enough like a cake or a pie to call it one.

Posted in Pies, Tarts, Tortes & Cheesecakes, Sweets, Traditional with a Twist | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Lavender and Blue(berry) Cake

Posted on August 10, 2013 by ButterSugarFlowers

Blueberry Lavender cake (12)I’ve always been rather skeptical about treating lavender as an edible.  Sure, it’s a relaxing and wonderful scent in bath products, perfumes and sachets, and it’s just lovely when growing outside.  But it’s taken me awhile to enjoy it in the kitchen.  I’ve learned to use it in recipes where the flavors dilute through evaporation, such as biscotti — and most of all, I’ve learned to only use a small amount at a time.  (The first time I used it, I heaped a big spoonful into shortbread dough; I renamed the result “soapbread” and tossed the whole batch.)  The thing is, I still love the idea of using it in baking.  Its delicate herbal taste and breathtaking color are truly inviting and seem to fit well into many desserts.

Blueberry Lavender cake (22)When I ended up with leftover blueberry juice recently, I started daydreaming about the blueish-purple batter I could create, and about all the ingredients of related colors that would complement the tangy blueberry base.  A bit of beautiful lavender was the first to come to mind, followed by indigo poppy seeds with their tiny bits of crunch and unique flavor.  Naturally, fresh blueberries would have to be included — and with the moist, tender cake that resulted, fluffy meringue frosting would be a perfect match. Despite its fabulous, fancy flavors, this recipe is quite quick and easy; the batter can be made in one bowl without using an electric mixer.  Here are the details.

Lavender and Blueberry Cake (makes a two-layer 6” round cake*)

For the cake:Blueberry Lavender cake (13)

  • 3/4 teaspoon culinary lavender
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 large/extra large egg
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1.5 cups all purpose flour
  • 1.25 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1.25 cups pure blueberry juice*
  • 2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line the bottoms of two 6” cake pans with parchment; grease the parchment and inner sides of the pans. Use a mortar and pestle to gently crush the lavender; this will soften its texture and bring out its flavor. Measure out 3/4 teaspoon after crushing, and set it aside. In a large bowl, beat the oil and sugar, then mix in the egg until smooth.  Add the vanilla and blend it evenly into the batter.

Blueberry Lavender cake (23)Sift over the bowl: flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Begin mixing while gradually adding the juice.  Beat well, until smooth, scraping bowl well and often.  Fold in the lavender and the poppy seeds until evenly distributed.  Pour matching amounts of batter into each cake pan, and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  (Don’t be alarmed if the center oozes blue juices just before the end of baking time; it will stop before it’s done.)  Let cake cool completely in pans before removing.  Store covered at room temperature until ready to frost and/or serve.

Blueberry Lavender cake (20)For the meringue frosting:

  • 3.5 tablespoons blueberry juice
  • 2 teaspoons clear corn syrup
  • 2-3 dashes of salt
  • ½ cup plus 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 egg whites
  • candy thermometer
  • at least 1 pint fresh blueberries
  • sprinkle of lavender (optional)

Whisk the first three ingredients plus ½ cup of the sugar in a saucepan. Fit pan with a candy thermometer. Meanwhile, beat egg whites on high, preferably with a standing mixer. Once they are frothy and becoming white, add the 2 teaspoons of sugar. Keep beating until thick and opaque. While egg whites are beating, heat saucepan over a medium/high flame, whisking a few times at first. Let boil until thermometer reaches 230 F.  With mixer on, quickly pour the hot syrup into the egg whites, and let beat for 6 – 8 minutes, or until the sides of the bowl are at warm room temperature and frosting looks stiff.  Cover and chill frosting for up to a few hours, or ice cake immediately.  (Note: This icing takes well to a kitchen torch if you like a toasty look and taste.)  Generously frost the cake layers, layering them with fresh blueberries and a sprinkle of lavender on top, if you wish.

Blueberry Lavender cake (15)Rich with deep color and flavor, lavender blueberry cake is moist, tangy, and a little bit floral with its hint of flowers in every bite.  While the outcome of the cake layers is more brown than blue, the stunning batter makes for a beautiful baking process as well as a delicious result. Hidden within the tender crumbs, the poppy seeds add a delectable texture and a crisp, nutty character that really shines (please don’t omit them).  Navy, indigo, purple, blue — whatever you call them, these shades belong together on the color wheel and on the tongue, if you ask me.  At the least, they are delightful in this dessert.

*Maybe next time…  I love the look of this Blueberry Lavender cake (1)little-but-tall cake size, but if you don’t have 6” cake pans, I’m certain the recipe will work in one 8” or 9” pan with baking time extended, or split into two 8” pans with baking time shortened.  I found my blueberry juice at Trader Joe’s, but tart cherry juice or pomegranate juice will work equally well. In fact, while no juice’s flavor will come through strongly in the cake, you could match one of the other juices with corresponding fresh fruit in place of the blueberries (cherry lavender cake, for instance?).   Instead of meringue frosting, this cake is also delicious dusted with powdered sugar or slathered with cream cheese icing.  Also, I imagine that finely grated lemon or orange zest would add a welcome citrus flavor to the batter.  Finally, it goes without saying that a heap of ice cream, like vanilla or blueberry, makes a wondrous accompaniment.  (When doesn’t it, really?)

Blueberry Lavender cake (4)Blueberry Lavender cake (9)Blueberry Lavender cake (11)

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