As the seasons shift: Maple Sugar Plum Cake

Hello and hello! The weather seems to have officially turned, we'll turn our clocks backwards tonight, and I'm finally, officially, enthusiastically ready to turn on my oven.



I am not sure if plums are still available this year. I saw them at the market in Toronto, where I got to enjoy a minibreak last weekend, but at our go-to grocery stores in Minneapolis, they've been replaced with pears and pumpkins in the last few weeks. But this is such a great recipe! I want to share it, and if I wait until next August when plums are back in season, I'll forget. So... if plums are no longer purpling your shop's produce department, bookmark this post for next year. I made it twice in two weeks in August because once wasn't enough.




And, yes, maple sugar is pricey. I think it's worth the splurge if you can swing it. It adds depth and a malty-fallness to this recipe, and perfectly compliments the tart plums as they slow-cook into jammy puddles that punctuate each bite. I bought maple sugar in bulk at the Wedge Co-op on Franklin and Lyndale in Minneapolis. I think you could find it in most big grocery stores or even medium specialty stores; and of course it's readily available online.

Wishing you just enough comfort to keep you grateful, as the days shorten and we trend indoors.




Maple Sugar Plum Cake
Adapted from Once Upon a Chef (omitted egg, added maple sugar, adjusted spices a bit - I think this would be a delicious vegan cake if you used oil in place of butter and a nondairy milk)

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cardamom
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (½ cup) butter, softened (or 1/2 cup neutral oil, if you want this vegan)
3/4 cup maple sugar (note: if you are using an egg instead of applesauce, use 1 cup maple sugar)
1/4 cup applesauce (or 1 egg - see maple sugar note)
½ cup milk of choice
2 tablespoons regular sugar (or demerara or turbinado)
About a pound of plums: either 6 small plums, pitted and halved; or 3 large plums, pitted and quartered

Grease an 8-inch square pan with butter or shortening. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the butter and maple sugar on low speed at first, then on medium speed until the mixture is pale and fluffy (about 2 minutes).

Add half the flour mixture and mix on low until streaks are gone. Add half the milk. Repeat with remaining flour and mix are incorporated with no floury streaks or milk puddles.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Place each of your twelve plum segments on top of the batter, skin-side up. Press them into the cake gently, then sprinkle the whole top of the cake with the sugar. (I used cinnamon sugar one of the two times - it did not appreciably enhance the cake, but worked just fine if you happen to have it).

Bake for about an hour. Check for doneness with the tip of a knife - you don't want uncooked batter, but you do want sticky plum jam. Cook 5-10 more minutes, if needed. Once baked, allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before diving in.

Easy Brunch Idea: Spicy Chorizo Black Bean Scramble (with vegetarian option)

Well, hello December and hello you. How are you? Are you staying warm? Getting enough affection? Found a reliable go-to for chapped lips and hands yet? Read a great book recently? I welcome any and all recommendations.

In my circle, which I think of as relatively small, many people I care about are dealing with some blows of late. Lots of layoffs and general job insecurity; surgeries, scares, mobility restrictions; unwanted change / unwanted sameness; the epic sine-wave of grief whose peaks feel pointier this time of year. Both short-term and long-game worries about politics and climate, the economy and individual rights. So much! Plus the usual holiday angst, which we feel terrible about because it's supposed to be all joy and generosity and candy canes and promise, and when it's not shame shines through - maybe to remind us of our inevitable need for grace?

All that to say, I'm glad you're here and I'm glad - years overdue - that I'm finally sharing this recipe! I hope you're managing okay - maybe even thriving? And I hope you like this recipe. If you're having guests over the holidays, or were thinking about hosting a brunch but found yourself stumped by what to make, this one's good to have up your sleeve. My mom and I first tried it about a decade ago for Christmas morning brunch - a risky day to try something new but I'm so grateful we did. I've made it many times since, because it's simple, quick, and presents like a restaurant brunch entree. Because we are mostly vegetarian, I make it 100% of the time with Trader Joe's Soy Chorizo and it does not disappoint. This scramble is lovely with a side of roasted sweet potatoes and a citrus-punched, make-ahead salad or slaw. xoxo E-N

Spicy Chorizo and Black Bean Scramble
Adapted from Sunset Magazine
Yield: 6 servings

12 ounces fresh Mexican chorizo (or TJ's Soy Chorizo for excellent vegetarian option), casings removed
Avocado or other neutral olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 red or yelllow (or both!) bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
2 small or 1 medium tomatillo, chopped (optional, but very nice)
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
Two big handfuls of baby spinach
8 large eggs
Cilantro leaves and tender stems, torn (however much you'd like; I use about a cup)
1/2 cup (or more) crumbled queso fresco or cotija

To serve: Tortillas, guacamole, salsa, hot sauce, limes for squeezing

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add chorizo and break up chunks with a spoon. Keep cooking, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about 5-8 minutes. Lower heat if the chorizo burns at all, and add a tablespoon of water if it sticks. (All chorizo is different!) Once it's cooked, spoon chorizo into a bowl and set aside.

Return pan to burner, lower heat to medium. There should be some oil left in the pan from the chorizo; add onion, pepper, and tomatillo, along with 1/2 teaspoon salt. (If the pan's dry, add a bit more oil first, then the veggies and salt.) Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Add baby spinach, the chorizo, and black beans, and stir until spinach is wilted. Crack eggs so that they are evenly spaced throughout the pan. Sprinkle with another 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Let them set for a few seconds, then use a spatula to softly scramble, folding the eggs gently into the chorizo-bean mixture. Remove from heat.

Top with cilantro and cheese and serve with tortillas, guacamole, salsa, hot sauce, and lime wedges for squeezing.

Election Day Billies: Poetry, Potatoes, and Spotlighting the Public Servant

You've got a lot on your plate today! Here are some Billies to meet you where you're at:

1. Holding Vigil by Alison Luterman. A tender reminder of why we need artists and metaphors and love, especially during times of uncertainty.

2. In 2012, on the night Barack Obama was re-elected President - a night which seemed so stressful then but now, ha! - an OG food blogger contemporary - one far more prolific and wide-reaching than myself, with impressive photography skills, a bit more bravery in the kitchen, and a lacerating wit - shared a recipe for what is essentially a Mutant Ninja Potato Pancake, which he calls a Rostï in his post: What to Eat on Election Night. I think I might eat it on Election Night twelve years on. It's about as comforting as comfort food gets. And who couldn't do with a heaping pile of salty comfort tonight?

3. I have spent the majority of my working life in public service. On occasion, I wish all citizens were required to spend a year or five invested in the endeavor of making public institutions run smoothly and equitably. It can be grueling and sad and thankless. It can be rewarding and exciting and mind-opening. No matter what, it's complicated, because humans and societies and progress and growth and diversity and equity and food production and justice and healthcare and education and urban planning and water management and space exploration... are complicated. Author Michael Lewis collaborated with a bunch of other writers to interview federal government employees and elucidate the essential services they provide. Find out more about these stories at Who is Government? Start with this 20-min video version about an antitrust Rookie with the DOJ... I think the youth are going to save us.

This Week's Billies: Vote Like Democracy Depends On It!; Better than Peloton; and Birthday Brownies

Well, welcome back and welcome fall! True to a trend that's developed here at CakeandEdith.com, we'll start with the weather: Minneapolis continues to be weird. After an arid winter and torrential summer, we've been hot, windy, and entirely devoid of precipitation for the last six weeks. And by hot I mean highs in the 70s half the month, culminating in an-unheard-of 85 degrees on Oct. 22. To put that in perspective for you non-Minnesotans: usually we've had our first dusting of snow by now and our sandals have been packed into boxes and stored in the basement for a good three weeks. It's hard to complain (even though it of course feels ominous) because those of us who live here all know that the subzero lows will, eventually, come. Plus - we literally don't have anything to complain about compared to the rest of the country's recent experience of changing climate. There's something disconcerting though, wearing a sundress and flip-flops while the ground is littered with red and yellow leaves.

And now about those Billies. In college, I used to get obsessed. Correction: as a child, teenager, twenty-something, and thirty-something, I used to get obsessed. Typically, the object of my obsession was a boy of the not-into-me variety. But sometimes it was something else, like a play or a song or a Betsey Johnson dress. My roommate Jenn once told me that she could tell by the tone of my voice which obsession I was about to lament. During a particularly obsessive era, I had a ________ voice, a ________ voice, and a Billie voice. "Billie" was a Betsey Johnson dress that I desperately wanted. It was one of my rare requited loves, in fact. We are still together, twenty-four years on. 

Lately, I've wanted to do that thing a lot of longtime bloggers and inspiring Substackers are doing: regularly posting a curated list of good things they've encountered and consider worth sharing. I love these lists! I'd call my own good things This Week's Billies, in honor of one of my oldest and most steadfast delights. (Caveat: let's be real. We all know "regularly" has never been my forte, so these will appear sporadically.)

In the future, these will be shorter! But this time...

Drum roll please... here are This Week's Billies.

1. Vote! 

Our world is moving so fast. Both the scope and limits of information thrown at us on a daily basis preclude the profound work of solving complex problems and finding compromise even where values are in conflict. As a lawyer (true story), I fear the high-level casualties of our overwhelm and division might include pragmatism, prioritization of the greater good, and - at the risk of undue catastrophizing, which frankly I don't think is undue right now - democracy. 

Photo from Lincoln County Clerk website

This year, I am going to be recovering from surgery on Election Day. I am going to vote early because I believe this really is the most important election of my life, maybe of all time, all lives, in the history of our country. Everything seems at stake. Fortunately, there are many ways to vote early. If you are in Minnesota, you can find thorough and user-friendly information on how and where to vote early on the Secretary of State's website. PLEASE VOTE!

Fun fact: I learned at a recent Election Law CLE that absentee voting has existed since the Civil War!

2. Nourish, Move, Love

I've long been a fan of at-home workout videos. Like, I attribute my impeccable dumbbell bent-over row form to Cindy Crawford, circa 1992. Currently, there are about four sites I use in rotation, but I wanted to kick off my Billies with a shout-out to Lindsay Bomgren of Nourish, Move, Love. She is Minnesotan! And while I don't know her, I feel like I do because she brings her whole self into her workouts. She's funny and encouraging, self-deprecating and really flipping strong.

Her website has a ton of resources and videos for all levels of fitness. Usually you just need dumbbells and as little as 20 minutes of time. She's constantly trying new things and she shares a charming rapport with her workout partner, Rachel. My therapist tipped me onto NML a few months ago and now I get an email every week with a 5-day workout plan. This sounds like some kind of paid promo but in fact, it's just a Billie! Lindsay motivates me the way I'd hoped the Peloton videos would, only something about the Peloton videos annoyed me, whereas Lindsay and Rachel never do!

3. Cookies and Cream Brownies

My littlest turned 8 this week. We celebrated his birthday three times in three days and got bored of cake. On his actual birthday, we celebrated with Chipotle bowls for dinner, followed by a batch of Joy the Baker's  cookies-and-cream brownies, which did NOT disappoint.

Image from Joy the Baker

 

This recipe is not a revelation or the sum of something greater than its parts. Better yet: it's exactly what you hope to make when you look at the recipe and decide to go for it. Fudgy, super-sweet, evoking of one's delicious childhood. Warning: these brownies go down a little too easily. Best followed by a workout.

Thanks for reading! xoE-NC