re CAP: a 90th BIRTHDAY celebration

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Note: This post is photo heavy!

 

This weekend we celebrated my grandfather’s 90^th birthday. Grandmommie planned a fabulous surprise party for her husband of 61 years in a pretty hotel far from the Strip in Vegas. A party room in the JW Marriott was set in black and gold for over 30 guests, paying homage to my Papa’s fraternity affiliation. My mother got memento menus printed with a photo of my grandfather in his youth and each setting circled around the sepia print.

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After surprising the birthday boy, tiny canapés like mini beef wellingtons and salmon topped crackers were passed, wines were poured and beers were cracked open. Seated at four polished tables, we ate four delicate courses— a salty crab cake resting on a creamy sweet slaw chunky with mangoes; a fresh wedge of crisp iceberg drizzled with dressing, blue cheese, diced red onions and tomatoes and crunchy bacon; a choice of salmon with parsnip puree and tomato jam or tender pork loin with Sambuca chutney, apples and braised pork belly; followed by a dessert trio including a vanilla mousse with berry compote, a tangy lemon tart, and decadent chocolate topped with peanut brittle.

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Friends and family shared stories and laughs and tears about Papa, celebrating his many decades of service to his community as an urologist and a father figure to his relatives. And of course, there was birthday cake. As Julia Child said: “A party without cake is just a meeting.”

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Happy 90^th Birthday, Papa! We wish you many more!

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re.CAP: HALLOWEEKEND

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Just because Halloween is over, doesn’t mean it’s really over. Sure, the parties have come to a halt, the treats have been collected, and the costumes are already in the dress-up drawers. But Halloween is one of those delicious holidays that lingers. The kids at school are still talking about how much candy they got trick-or-treating and bowls, jars, bags and boxes are heavy with their loot. The taste of freaky cupcakes and ghoulish goodies remains on the tongue, and the candy everywhere teases. Let’s face it; Halloween isn’t over until the candy is gone (hidden, eaten, or given away). Take a peek at my foodie ventures this Halloweekend!

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Mine involved a party with meaty treats, cupcakes and pies, and even more sweets. There was pumpkin carving and a birthday cake made by my mom for my sister. This Halloweekend was delicious. How was yours?

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MangiaMore: APPLESAUCE cake

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And it happened again. Sometimes I can't help it. I find myself scrolling endlessly through pretty baking blogs and the Martha Stewart website drooling after the delicious baked goods and beautiful layer cakes. A variety of flavors and shapes, sizes and textures, levels of difficulty and technique. There are fluffy cakes with egg whites folded in, or dense bread like cakes studded with nuts. That's nothing. There's buttercreams in a rainbow of colors; cooked frostings, boiling on the stovetop; and glazes, sweet and dripping.

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And then it happens. I haaaave to make something. This time I desperately needed to make a layer cake. Despite searching the World Wide Web, I found the cake recipe in our tattered Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook (1996). The Applesauce Cake was easy enough to be fun and it wasn't laden with butter like some of my favorite bookmarked cakes (I will come to those more buttery, more difficult cakes later...Cupcake Wars). But as usual, we had to adjust, just a tad, subbing pumpkin pie spice for our own measured mix of spices.

This cake is practically a one-bowl wonder. It gets texture from applesauce and its fall feeling from the warm mix of spices. In our book, Betty recommends either a cream cheese frosting or a maple buttercream. Embracing the cooler weather and the crisper air we opted for the delicious maple frosting.

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Applesauce Cake

adapted from Betty Crocker's New Cookbook

2 ½ C all purpose flour

1 ½ C unsweetened applesauce

1 ¼ C sugar

½ C water

1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon baking powder

2 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bottom and sides of pan.

Beat all ingredients in a large bowl with mixture on low scraping constantly. Then beat on high for three minutes and scrape occasionally.

Bake in rectangle pan for 45-50 minutes or two 8 inch round pans for 40-45 minutes.

Cool and frost with Maple Buttercream or your favorite frosting!

Maple Buttercream

3 cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup of butter

½ cup maple syrup

Mix powdered sugar and butter in a medium bowl.

Stir in maple syrup.

Beat until smooth and to preferred consistency. Add more syrup or powdered sugar if necessary to achieve spreadable texture.

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The cake was spicy sweet dense and redolent of fall evenings and cozy moments. Each note of subtle heat brought comfort and struck a strong chord with the sweet earthiness of the maple in the buttercream. It was moist and spongy, and kinda great. Can’t wait for my next slice.

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