Category Archives: Cakes and Pies

CRANBERRY ORANGE POUND CAKE

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I found this Italian porcelain Capidomonte hibiscus at a neighbor’s estate sale.  Fran, herself a delicate flower, had moved to an assisted living facility.  I assume she took her nicer things with her, because there wasn’t much at the sale.  But standing out among the yellowed books, aluminum cookware, and midcentury furniture, was this fragile hibiscus.  It was a pretty thing among all the junk.

According to my interwebs research, in Hawaii, where the yellow hibiscus is the state flower, a hibiscus tucked behind a woman’s right ear indicates the woman is spoken for, and a hibiscus behind the left ear indicates the woman is available.  I hibiscus behind both ears probably means the woman is trouble.

Muumuus — those loose, usually floral-print dresses, that hang from the shoulder are also popular in Hawaiian culture.

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Lilo in her muumuu

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Three’s Company’s Mrs. Roper in her trademark muumuu

If you are young and slim and tan, you can probably pull off wearing a muumuu and flip flops (those cheap rubber thongs that slap against your heel as you walk making a “flip flop” sound) with a hibiscus tucked behind your ear.  But let’s face it — after a certain age, and definitely after a certain weight, a muumuu becomes a moo moo, and flip flops are more like waddle daddles, and wearing them in public is a definite fashion don’t.

Not long ago, I was waiting in line at the grocery store behind a woman over a certain age and certain weight who was wearing a moo moo and waddle daddles.  I am regularly guilted into donating a dollar to whatever cause the store is collecting for — like this one at Petco, for example:

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How can you say no?  Well, I’ve observed that most of us manage to do so, but we do it politely, as in “Not today, thank you.”  On this particular occasion, the shy young cashier looked at the moo moo woman and said, ” Would you like to donate a dollar to breast cancer?”  I suppose technically she should have asked if she would like to donate a dollar to the fight against breast cancer or breast cancer research or something like that.  But we all know what she meant.  Except moo moo woman.  She replied very loudly and very very obnoxiously, “NO, I DON’T WANT TO DONATE A DOLLAR TO BREAST CANCER.  WHY WOULD I WANT TO DO THAT?  BREAST CANCER IS A TERRIBLE DISEASE.  OH NO, I DON’T WANT TO DONATE TO BREAST CANCER, BLAH BLAH BLAH.”  The poor cashier just bowed her head and tried to avoid eye contact with her.  Moo moo woman paid the cashier and waddle daddled out of the store, much to the cashier’s relief.  Needless to say, I donated a dollar to breast cancer that day.

At the grocery store the other day, I found something else to do with a dollar — buy cranberries.  Left behind after the holidays — much like Fran’s porcelain hibiscus — they were on sale for a dollar a bag, less than half the price they were just a few weeks ago.  They were big, firm Wisconsin cranberries, perfect for baking with.

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Inspired by the delicate hibiscus and the memory of the mean old moo moo woman who embarrassed the cashier over a request to donate a dollar, I bought a dollar bag of cranberries and made Cranberry Orange Pound Cake.  This is a happy, sunny cake to chase away the winter blues.

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CRANBERRY ORANGE POUND CAKE
 
Ingredients
  • 3 cups flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar, divided use
  • 6 large eggs, separated
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • ¼ cup orange juice (or combination of lemon and orange juice, if desired)
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 tablespoon grated orange rind (can use lemon or combination of lemon and orange, if desired)
  • 1-1/4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, coarsely chopped
  • For glaze:
  • ⅓ cup sugar
  • ⅓ cup orange juice (can use lemon juice, or combination of orange and lemon juice, if desired)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 8-1/2" x 4-1/2" loaf pans (alternatively, you can use a 10" bundt pan, or 5 mini loaf pans).
  2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Place butter in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1-3/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks 2 at a time. Beat in sour cream, orange juice, vanilla, and orange rind. Fold in flour mixture, just until combined.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Slowly add remaining ¼ cup sugar, and continue beating until soft peaks form. Fold half of whites into batter, then fold in remaining whites. Gently fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake approximately 1 hour, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 15 minutes.
  4. Meanwhile, make glaze by combining sugar and orange juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar dissolves. Unmold cake onto a plate and spoon glaze over warm cake.

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MOM’S JEWISH POUND CAKE

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I found this pressed glass cake stand at a local charity thrift shop.  I believe it was made by the Fostoria Company, although the shop had a tag on it that said Heisey.  Isn’t it classy?

What’s really cool about it, is that it has a well in the center of the plate.

I had no idea what this hole in the plate was for — flowers, maybe?  My interwebs research revealed that this was known as a “rum well.”  Now we’re talking!  What cake wouldn’t benefit from a liberal bath in liquor?

Every time I look at this cake stand I want to start singing “If I Knew You Were Comin’ I’d’ve Baked a Cake” — a popular song from the ’50s, which went like this:

If I knew you were comin’ I’d’ve baked a cake

Baked a cake, baked a cake

If I knew you were comin’ I’d’ve baked a cake

Howd-ya-do, howd-ya-do, howd-ya-do

My version, however, is slightly different, and doesn’t involve the questionable use of double contractions.  (I mean, really — I’d’ve?):

 If I knew you were comin’ I’d have locked the door

Turned off the lights, shut the blinds

If I knew you were comin’ I’d have locked the door

Please call before you come next time

The thing is, I hate when people drop by unexpectedly.  It’s never good.  All hell breaks loose — things boil over on the stove or char in the oven, the dogs go bonkers or get out and run halfway down the block, and I have to make up some excuse why I’m still in my pajamas at 3:00 p.m. — you get the picture.  Sometimes folks come by unexpectedly to drop off something in connection with my son’s scout troop — a CD with 800 photos on it, broken camping equipment — which I receive with the same delight as when my dogs drop a dead lizard at my feet.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not antisocial — I just appreciate a heads up when someone is coming by.

My mom, on the other hand, was always ready for company.  She loved to entertain, or, as she called it, En-Ter-Tain, enunciating every syllable.  She and my dad, who were both accomplished cooks, could put together a tray of hors d’oeuvres in no time flat.  And my mom always had a home-baked cake or pie in the freezer.  Her signature cake was Jewish Pound Cake.  She found the recipe in a newspaper decades ago, and must have made 500 of them over her lifetime.  It was once her secret recipe, but now, of course, you can find it on the interwebs.

Inspired by the elegant cake stand and the memories of my entertaining mom,  I baked a Jewish Pound Cake — just in time for Rosh Hashanah.  I believe its name comes from the fact that it’s made with oil, not butter, and therefore, can be served with both a meat and a dairy meal.  It’s a simple, not-too-sweet, homey cake, best baked a day in advance, and perfect for noshing.  Or serving to unexpected company.

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JEWISH POUND CAKE
Author: 
 
This cake is best made at least one day in advance.
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup raisins
  • 1-1/2 cups water
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • ¾ cup oil
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
  • ¾ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt or tube pan.
  2. Place raisins and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat, stir in baking soda, and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together oil, eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla, and nuts. Add in raisin mixture, and mix until thoroughly combined.
  4. Pour batter into prepared pan.. Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from pan.

Hot from the oven 

I knew you were coming so I baked a cake!

 Please enjoy your cake while I put on some clothes

and go chase my dogs down the block.