Everyday Bread

There is an undeniable mystique around bread baking. So many unfamiliar terms, so many techniques, starters, proportions, secrets that have been passed down through generations. It's intimidating, to say the least, and it kept me from baking bread until about a year ago.

Thankfully, there are lots of places to start for a yeast noob like me. Kind of like this bread, which is pretty much full proof (or fool proof). My friend Gabe, who is Italian, brought this over to a BBQ recently and we couldn't get enough, and when I got the recipe, I was floored by how easy it was to make. I couldn't help making one little change, though - I brushed the bread with a mix of olive oil, garlic and herbs, which gave it a crispy, garlicky crust that's impossible to resist. This is truly a bread you can make every day - and should make every day because it's dang good.

Gabe's Everyday Bread

400 g all purpose flour***
1 tsp salt
240 g water at 115F
1 tsp active yeast
1 tablespoon honey

For topping:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon dried Italian herb mix

***Flour: using the right flour for bread-making really does matter. I know, because I started off using cheaper flour and when I switched to a better brand, I could really taste the difference. So, even though I generally avoid giving brand recommendations, I'm going to break my own rule here and tell you that for bread, I almost always use the King Arthur brand of flour.

Whisk flour and salt in a mixer bowl. Heat water to 115F and add yeast and honey.

Pour the water mixture into the flour and knead with the dough hook for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. It shouldn't be very sticky - if it is, knead in a bit more flour until the dough is still soft and only very slightly sticky.

Rub or spray a large bowl with olive oil and put the dough inside, turning it to coat with oil. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft free place until doubles in size (about an hour).

Preheat the oven to 450F.

Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and shape into a loaf (I made mine round).

Combine olive oil, crushed garlic and herbs, and brush the bread with about 3/4 of the mixture.

Place the loaf in a cast iron, a dutch oven or a baking sheet (I also put a layer of wax paper sprayed with olive oil under the bread) and bake for about 30 minutes. The crust should be a deep golden color and the bread should sound hollow when tapped from the side.

Immediately upon taking the bread out of the oven, brush again with the olive oil/garlic mixture and let cool to room temperature. Enjoy!

Continued after the jump...

Tomato Goat Cheese Tarts in an Herb Parmesan Crust

I have to give myself a budget at the farmer's market because I tend to go a little crazy there in the summer. It's all the smells, you see, and the colors that make me lose my head - the tiny red strawberries and the golden blush of peaches and apricots, side by side with boxes of fragrant basil, shiny yellow squash and sweet peppers. Everything calls out to me, the asparagus and the big white leeks, home-made hummus, local goat cheese and honeys, and humble cucumbers, not nearly as straight or perfect as at the supermarkets and therefore more beautiful. But the one thing that I can never pass by are tomatoes. Summer tomatoes, to be specific. They are a story onto themselves.

As soon as I saw these, I knew that they must be made into mini tarts for our lunch today. I could almost taste them, sweet and juicy and warm from the oven, encased in a buttery Parmesan and herb crust.

The crust is not difficult to make at all, do not be afraid of it. The whole wheat flour and the Parmesan take it to another level, and the smell of it as you are making it, and as it's coming out of the oven is kind of insane. I mean, you want to stop right there and just break off the crunchy, herby pieces that give off that unmistakable and irresistible scent of toasted cheese. But then you top them off with the goat cheese and the tomatoes, and add a bit of really good salt, and you'll be just so, so happy that you waited for the whole thing to come together. A nice glass of cold, crisp wine finishes these off perfectly, and though I was not able to enjoy them in exactly that way, it did not for one second detract from their deliciousness.

Tomato Goat Cheese Tarts in an Herb Parmesan Crust
Makes one 9-10" tart or four 4" mini tarts

Pate Brisee
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, chilled or frozen
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
1 tbsp dried Italian herbs (mine were a mix of oregano, basil and thyme)
2-4 tbsp ice water

Filling
4 oz goat cheese, softened
1/8-1/4 cup milk
1 lb (or thereabouts) of assorted tomatoes
1 tbsp chopped basil
salt and pepper

To make the crust:

Whisk flours, salt, Parmesan and herbs together in a large bowl. Cut butter into small squares and scatter on top of the dry ingredients. With a pastry cutter, quickly cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the biggest pieces are no larger than a small pea. Dribble in water, one tablespoon at a time, until the dough holds together when pinched. Refrigerate for ten minutes.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured counter and press together into a ball. [At this point, you can wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for an hour to let the flour absorb the water, but I didn't do this because I wanted a press in crust. If you like rolling out your crusts, refrigerate for an hour and then roll it out.]

If making mini tartlets, divide the dough into four pieces. If not, keep it in one piece. Spray or butter the tart pans and, working quickly so that the pieces of butter don't melt, press the crumbly dough into the pans. Refrigerate.

Heat the oven to 375F. Press parchment paper into the tart pans and fill with beans/rice/baking weights. Pierce the bottom of each crust several times with a fork. Bake for about 20-30 minutes, until the crusts are beginning to turn golden. Cool for 10 minutes.

While the crusts are baking, make the filling:

Put the goat cheese into a small bowl and add milk gradually until the mixture is roughly the consistency of sour cream. Slice the tomatoes and basil.

When the tart crusts are done, divide the goat cheese mixture between them and top with tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped basil. Bake for another 30 minutes.

I like these warm!

Continued after the jump...

Small Batch Peach Jam

Sometimes, it only takes half an hour for magic to happen in the kitchen. It took only half an hour for these gorgeous, but sadly hum-drum tasting peaches to be transformed into the multi-layered, golden deliciousness of peach jam. If I hadn't prepared it myself, I would not have believed that such a transformation was possible, aided only by some lemon juice, sugar and a few drops of vanilla and almond extracts - but indeed, it happened, and I'm here to tell you that I've found the answer to all that sad, tasteless fruit that all of us come across but feel too guilty to throw away.

I have to admit that real jam-making isn't (yet) for me. The thought of buying up large quantities of fruit, simmering it in a large pot (which must feel a bit like a Macbeth witch, I'm imagining) and then *shudder* sterilizing the cans properly just really freaks me out. This, however - this is easy peasy. Let's say that, like me, the peaches you bought aren't all that you thought they would be. Or you found some strawberries in the back of the refrigerator that look like they've seen better days. You just take this neglected fruit, add some lemon juice, sugar and some extracts, simmer a bit on the stove and watch the magic happen. I promise you, it's a darn good show.

Small Batch Peach Jam
Adapted from David Leite

4-5 cups of thinly sliced peaches or other fruit
1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar, depending on how sweet the fruit is
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

Slice peaches thinly and, in a large bowl, combine with lemon juice, sugar and extracts. Stir to dissolve sugar and leave in the refrigerator to macerate overnight [I left mine in there for an hour].

Drain out all the juices into a heavy-bottomed sauce pan. Add half the fruit, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the juices are just thickened.

Cool it down for 10 minutes, then transfer to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.

Transfer back to the pan and add the rest of the fruit. Bring back to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for another 15-20 minutes. To test if the jam is ready, drop a heaping teaspoonful onto a plate and slightly tilt the plate. The jam should not run off, but cling and slowly glide down. If the jam isn’t ready, put it back on the heat for a while.

Spoon the jam into small jars and refrigerate or spoon into resealable plastic containers and freeze. You need to keep it in the fridge and use it up fairly quickly [but I guarantee that this will not be a problem - it's DELICIOUS].

Continued after the jump...

Quick Chocolate Buttercream

I totally had birthday cake for breakfast this morning. You see, when you are the birthday girl, you are practically forced into doing that by the last errant slice of birthday cake that your mom tucked away in the fridge, knowing that you'd want it later on. I know, my mom is the best. Surprisingly, though, I'm not here to talk about cake. If you want a really fabulous dark chocolate cake, this one is my favorite, but you probably knew that already. What I'm going to tell you about is the buttercream.

Silky, smooth, luscious, lovely chocolate buttercream. Holy cow, this one is for the books! And it's the quick kind, meaning no heating up egg whites, no worrying whether they will whip up or not, no curdling and ensuing tears, and if you've ever made Swiss Meringue buttercream, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Forget all other quick buttercreams you've ever known, guys. Break up with them and never look back. This one is Mr. Right.

There is a reason it works, of course. First, you do a bit of whipping, and then you add unsweetened cocoa powder and powdered sugar very very slowly, so that the butter has a chance to incorporate all that goodness. Then, you whip some more. Ta-daa! Lick-the-bowl good. Oh, yes, yes it is.

Quick Chocolate Buttercream
Frosts 24 cupcakes or a 2 layer 9" round/8" square cake
(I found the proportions online somewhere, but I don't remember where, sorry...)

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature [I use very lightly salted butter; if you use unsalted, you can add a pinch of salt to bring out the chocolate flavor]
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder [My favorite is Valhrona dutch processed for a little bitterness]
1/2 cup whole milk
3-4 cups of powdered sugar (more or less to achieve desired consistency)

Whip the room-temperature butter on medium speed with the paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes. Shift to low and add cocoa powder slowly, one teaspoon at a time, until fully incorporated. Still on low, add in the powdered sugar (also one teaspoon at a time), alternating with the milk, to achieve desired consistency and taste. Then, beat on medium speed until very light and fluffy, another 3-5 minutes. Add in more sugar if consistency is too thin.

[tip: to make a clean cut in a cake, put it in the refrigerator for an hour to let the cake and frosting harden a little. Then slice with a very sharp cake or bread knife, wiping the knife with a damp paper towel after each cut.]

Continued after the jump...

The Perfect Breakfast Muffin

For some time now, I've been on a quest to discover the perfect breakfast muffin. Though I love the rich, buttery taste of a good cafe muffin as much as the next girl, and much more so with a good sprinkling of streusel and sparkly sugar on top, I don't want to eat this every day. Maybe I've grown up (oh, these dreaded words) and maybe I've just become more picky about what I put in my body and when, but for breakfast, I want something that's not only good, but also that's good for me.

People, oh, people. These are the proverbial IT. When I took the first hot muffin out of the oven, soft and sweet-smelling, deeply golden and flecked with dark, jewel-like nuggets of cranberries, and when I took that first bite, chasing it with a cool gulp of fresh milk, I had to sit down for a moment because I was a little overwhelmed by how much I loved these.

It's the whole package, the earthiness of whole-wheat flour, the complex not-too-sweet sweetness of brown sugar, and that smell - the homey, vanilla-y, spicy smell of a freshly baked muffin. It got to me. I'm sold. Bring it on. (In the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell you that I immediately ate three. These are addictive, especially when warm.)



The Perfect Breakfast Muffin
Hacked quite a bit from Gourmet, May 1998
Makes 18 muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups sugar (1/3 brown, 1/3 white)
1/4 pound carrots (about 2/2.5 cups, coarsely shredded)
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1/2 cup raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries or chopped dried apricots
3 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup plain yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large apple (coarsely shredded) [I used Gala]

Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter or line eighteen muffin cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, and then whisk in the sugars.

Coarsely shred the carrots and chop the pecans. Add the carrots, pecans and dried fruit to the flour mixture and toss well.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, yogurt and vanilla extract. Peel and core the apple and coarsely shred. Stir the shredded apple into the egg mixture and then add to the flour mixture, stirring until batter is just combined well and there aren't any large dry spots.

Divide batter among muffin cups and bake until puffed and golden and the tester comes out clean, 15-20 minutes (I had to bake for 25).

Cool muffins in cups on racks 5 minutes before turning out onto racks to cool completely. Muffins keep in an airtight container at room temperature 5 days [I also flash freeze mine in a tray and then drop into a large freezer bag so I can take one out for breakfast every day].

Continued after the jump...

Baked Frittata

I feel guilty that I haven't told you about this frittata yet, not just because I make it all the time, but because it's so easy, so delicious and so infinitely adaptable, that everyone should have something like it in their bag of tricks. I pull this particular one out when I have eight ten twelve guests for brunch (even if one of them is a small itty bitty person) and I don't want to spend the whole day in the kitchen in preparation for the event. Don't get me wrong, I love my guests... but this weather - this warm, lovely, springy weather that brings hints of honeysuckle and strawberries in the air - is tempting me to spend time outside, and so something has to give. Fortunately, in the case of this frittata, it's definitely not taste.

There's really nothing to it - you break 12 eggs into a big bowl, add in some whole milk and a pinch of salt, pepper and whatever herbs you have lying around, and pour the whole thing over fresh-from-the-market vegetables (or not, I won't tell), sprinkle a handful of cheese on top, stick the whole thing in the oven and forget about it for an hour or so until the guests arrive. It bakes up tender and golden, warm and a little crusty on top and around the edges. It's also especially irresistible during a Sunday brunch, when the sun is pouring into the windows and Louis Armstrong is playing on the radio. Mimosas help too, but don't tell my mom I'm advising it.

Baked Frittata (with spinach, cheddar and cherry tomatoes)
serves 10-12

Needless to say, you can throw whatever herbs, vegetables and cheeses into the mix. Sundried tomatoes, asparagus and goat cheese might be nice, as would sauteed leeks and gruyere. A handful of chopped green onions would be really great too. I like to throw in a bit of chopped parseley and dill or sprinkle in some herbes de Provence for an added fragrance and freshness, but the whole point of this dish is that you should follow your own imagination and make it any way you want.

12 eggs
1 1/2 - 2 cups whole milk
1 lb spinach, stems removed (or use organic frozen chopped spinach, defrosted)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
a large handful of grated cheese (cheddar, gruyere, mozarella, etc)
handful of chopped parseley and dill
1 teaspoon salt
pepper

Turn the oven to 400F. Butter a 9"x13" pan.

If using fresh spinach: melt a tablespoon of butter in a skillet, chop the spinach and sautee it with garlic for several minutes until wilted and soft. Squeeze out excess liquid. If using frozen: defrost and squeeze out excess liquid, then mix in the garlic.

Spread spinach in the bottom of the 9x13 pan. Halve the cherry tomatoes and scatter them on top of the spinach. Scatter the parseley and dill on top as well.

Break 12 eggs into a large bowl and whisk with the milk, the salt and the pepper until fully combined.

Pour over the vegetables. Some will float - that's ok - in fact, it's good. Grab a large handful of grated cheddar (or other cheese of your preference) and scatter on top of the eggs.

Set into the oven and bake until golden and completely set in the middle, about 60-70 minutes (jiggle to make sure - an extra 5-10 minutes in the oven won't kill it).

Continued after the jump...

Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake

There is a reason I come back to Dorie Greenspan's "Baking" again and again. It's not only because the recipes are simple, easy to understand, charming and delicious. On a basic level, I love this book because the recipes always work. After a disaster with [unnamed magazine]'s recipe for cookies which looked and tasted like cardboard, and chocolate ganache which was so sweet that I had to throw away the whole batch (throw away a batch of cookies! nooo!), I felt in need of some therapy, so I sidled up to "Baking," stroked the cover lovingly and opened it to the bundt cake page.

Now, there was no photo of this bund cake in the book. I think it was a deliberate ploy to give your imagination room to run free, because when I saw the name, "Nutty, chocolaty, swirly sour cream bundt cake," my mind kind of exploded into bliss and I had to take a moment to calm myself down before running to the kitchen to take the butter out of the refrigerator.

Holy bundt cake, GOOD LORD YES. This cake was everything I had dreamt of and more. I used to think that bundt cakes were dry and boring, in need of coffee or tea to choke them down. The error of my ways is clear to me now. Dry? Boring??? This cake is anything but. The smell alone is enough to drive anyone crazy, and the taste, with the orange and the sour cream and the chocolate and the pecans/raisins/cinnamon trifecta, and mmmmm..... so much happiness.

Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Dorie Greenspan's Baking

The Swirl
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (or 1/3 c. mini chocolate chips)
1/3 cup plump moist raisins (dark or golden, or may use dried currants)
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
freshly grated nutmeg, a pinch
salt, a pinch

The Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 orange, zest of
8 ounces butter, at room temperature (2 sticks)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
powdered sugar, for dusting

Position oven rack in center; preheat oven to 350°; butter a 9- to 10-inch Bundt pan, dust the interior with flour and tap out the excess; do not place the Bundt pan on a baking sheet.

Make the swirl: add all the ingredients to a bowl; stir to mix.

Make the cake: whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl. Working in the bowl of a stand mixer, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add in the butter; with the paddle or whisk attachment beat on medium speed for 4 minutes.

Add in eggs one at a time, beat for 1 minute after each egg goes inches. Beat in the vanilla; decrease mixer speed to low and mix in the sour cream. Still on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix only until they disappear into the batter.

Give the batter a last stir or two with a rubber spatula, then scoop about 1/3 of the batter into the Bundt pan. Evenly sprinkle on half of the swirl mixture, then spoon in the rest of the batter. Make a shallow indentation with the back of a spoon in the center of the ring of batter and fill it with the remaining swirl mixture, then cover the mixture lightly with the batter on the sides of the indentation—the batter probably won’t cover the mixture completely and that is fine.

Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a pick comes out clean.

Transfer pan to a rack and let the cake rest for 10 minutes before unmolding it onto the rack to cool to room temperature. Just before serving, dust the cake with powdered sugar.

Continued after the jump...

Cornbread

I have a small confession to make. *Deep breath* I don't really like traditional Texan cornbread. You know, the kind that's made entirely with cornmeal and has like one teaspoon of sugar, if that? The kind made in a cast iron pan with a healthy slather of bacon grease? Yeah, that kind. It turns out that I'm a California girl to the tips of my toes and I need the sweet cushioning of flour and sugar, and the thought of bacon grease scares me more than just a little. Look, we all have our faults, ok? Count this as one of mine. You still love me, right?

If you're like me, this cornbread is the recipe for you. It's soft, moist and yet sturdy enough to cut into squares - though I do advise you to make those squares larger rather than smaller; it's just "corny" enough, especially with the addition of sweet corn kernels; and its sweetness is there, but just hanging out in the background, making this cornbread a perfect vehicle to sweep up some tangy sauce at a summer BBQ.

Last but not least, this recipe's beguiling simplicity (a five minute mixing effort with a wooden spoon) creates a platform for ideas to run free. If you're a real Texan, you might want to turn away now, because I know this will hurt you. I dreamed of adding roasted and chopped poblano peppers to the batter, of spicing it up with jalapenos or throwing in little delicious salty nuggets of pancetta, and maybe, just maybe swirling in some softened goat cheese. I don't know what ideas I will come up with for a second rendition of this cornbread - all I know is that I'm making a double batch and not looking back.

Cathy Justice's Best of Show Blue Ribbon Cornbread
via Dorie Greenspan

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/16 teaspoon salt (I used 1/2 tsp.)
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup sweet corn kernels

Heat oven to 425F and prepare an 8x8 baking pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl (I used a measuring cup), whisk together all the wet ingredients until smooth. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or a spatula only until the dry ingredients are moistened. Batter will be lumpy, but that's ok. Gently stir in corn kernels.

Pour out into the baking pan and bake for 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Continued after the jump...

Strawberry Cream Cake, version 2

Let me tell it to you straight. I wasn't going to show you this cake because I didn't think the pictures turned out well. Stupid reason, right? For a whole month, my vanity held me back, but then I realized that every time I thought about this cake, my mouth watered and I gave a little contented sigh, which means that I have a DUTY to tell you about it. Simply put, this cake is an Oh-My-God-Where-Have-You-Been-All-My-Life kind of a cake. Three gorgeous layers of the fluffiest, the sweetest, the most delicious vanilla butter cake I've ever had, and it's soaked with a rum simple syrup and then filled with like two pounds of tart, juicy strawberries and lots and lots of pillowy, sweet whipped cream. You must, one day, make it. In fact, I think that day should be tomorrow.

When the whole thing comes together, it's pretty much the most awesome thing ever. It's tall and beautiful, it has sweetness from the cake and tartness from the strawberries, with the whipped cream cushioning all that lovely, fragrant, cakey goodness. And then there's the rum - it's kind of subtle, but with enough time for the flavors to meld, it gets into everything, strawberries, whipped cream and all, and it's just boozy enough to make it feel like dessert is the most important course of the entire meal (IT IS). I made this for my parent's 32nd anniversary (go Mom and Dad!!!) and my mom actually hid a giant slice in the refrigerator from her guests so she could have a piece all to herself. Sneaky, mom! But necessary, as it turned out, because all those guests who were all, "oh, no dessert for me, thank you, I'm on a diet," apparently decided to give their diets the night off. There was not a crumb or a smudge of whipped cream left.

Strawberry Cream Cake

Vanilla Buttermilk Cake from Sky High Cakes
Makes three 8", 9" or 10" round layers or two 9x13" layers (I made mine 10" round, so I could build in a springform pan)
4 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
3 cups cake flour
2 cups sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 lb strawberries
2 cups of heavy cream + 2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup water + 1/4 cup rum

Make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350C and butter the cake pans well.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and 1 cup of buttermilk and with the mixer on low, blend together to moisten the batter. Then, on medium speed, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Whisk the eggs and the egg yolks, the vanilla and 1/4 cup of buttermilk in a bowl and add to the batter in 3 additions, mixing only until thoroughly incorporated. Divide the batter between your pans. NOTE: The recipe anticipates that you will have the requisite number of cake pans (i.e., three round 8", 9" or 10" pans or two 9x13" pans). Having a 90 sq. ft. kitchen, I only own one cake pan of each size, so I had to bake each layer separately. The cake batter hung out on the counter while I did this and seemed to do just fine.

Bake the layers for 28-32 minutes, until the top is golden and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely. If the cake layers have domed, trim them with a sharp bread knife.

Prepare the strawberries:
Reserve 18 whole strawberries out of the 2 lbs. Chop the rest into small pieces. Out of the 18, take six and cut them in half with the green part still on. Hull and halve the other 12.

Whip the heavy cream with the sugar until it holds stiff peaks (but do not overbeat because it will be hard to spread). Combine water and rum together.

Assemble the cake:
Line the sides of a cake ring or a springform pan with plastic, so there is some overhang. Put one cake layer inside and, with a spoon or a pastry brush, soak the cake layer with one third of the rum/water mixture. Set the halved strawberries around the sides of the cake, placing them cut side down and wide end pressed against the sides of the pan. Spread half the chopped strawberries inside. Spread a little less than half of the whipped cream on top of the strawberries.

Place the second layer on top and press gently to distribute the whipped cream evenly. Repeat the soaking/strawberries/whipped cream steps. Place the third layer on top of the second one and again press gently to distribute the filling. Soak with the remaining rum, frost the top with the remaining whipped cream and decorate with the halved strawberries that still have the tails on. This cake needs at least 4-5 hours for the flavors to meld.

Continued after the jump...

Strawberries!

I didn't make anything new for you today. I know that all you nice people will forgive me. It's been an interesting month to say the least, what with our never-ending roof leak, caved in ceiling, a mold problem that necessitated a week of removal and haz-mat like conditions in the house, and other things cooking that I would love to tell you about now (but can't... you'll have to wait and see!). I hope that my mom is not reading this, because these days, our dinners have consisted of roasted chicken, mac and cheese or "whatever is left in the fridge." Like I said, it's been an interesting month.

But yesterday (when I had two oranges and a yogurt for dinner), I decided that life was too beautiful to worry about roof leaks and all the other stuff. I mean, look outside, people, it's SPRING! It's March! And you know what this means in California? It means blue skies, tank tops and STRAWBERRIES. Oh good lord, California strawberries, they just take my breath away. Especially the ones sold at the Farmer's Market by this guy in the picture above. I think he's pretty dreamy when he talks about growing strawberries. So, in celebration of spring (I like to think of it as "spring!"), I dug into the archives for my favorite strawberry recipes. Trust me when I tell you that these are the bee's knees, the cat's meow and the like. These make me happy. And spring, it's here, and that makes me happy too.

Strawberry scones
Chocolate-dipped strawberries
Strawberry Bavarian cake (yum, btw)
Strawberry cream cake
Strawberry Frangelico tart
Fresh strawberry tart

Continued after the jump...