Banana Sauce Cake

This is another one of those cakes that you make when you're staring at a couple of bananas in your kitchen that are about to blow. It's also one of those really easy self-saucing comfort food cakes that remind us that baking is sometimes like a crazy science experiment. These recipes have two basic components: a cake batter and then a liquid topping that sits on top of the batter. As the cake bakes, the liquid gets absorbed into the cake but also somehow produces a sauce on the bottom. Weird, I know.

Along with our very ripe bananas, this cake has all the usual elements as well as quite a lot of leavening to help make all the magic work. I browned the butter for added flavor, which I think goes nicely with the whole mixture. My liquid concoction includes ingredients that love to hang out with bananas - brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, nutmeg, a pat of butter for richness and just a few grains of salt to coax out every inch of flavor.

The cake smells great as it's baking. I served it with some caramel ice cream. Vanilla, of course, is always welcome.

Bench notes:

- Bananas should be very ripe. You know the ones!

- Browning butter takes just a couple of minutes with this small quantity. Here are some tips: 1) Use a stainless steel pan so you can best gauge the color of the butter as it starts to brown. 2) Cut the butter into small uniform pieces so it melts consistently without spot scorching. 3) I use medium heat. As the butter starts to melt and heat up, you'll notice small bubbles on the surface that get larger. At this point, lift the pan off the heat and swirl the butter. Put it back on the heat and lift the pan repeatedly to control the cooking. You'll notice the milk solids starting to brown on the bottom of the pan very quickly. Keep your eyes on this and keep swirling because it will be done very quickly after you notice the first brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Stop when you think it's almost there and it just begins to smoke a bit. It will continue to brown. 4) Have a small heatproof bowl near the stove so you can immediately pour off the butter when it's done. I use a clear Pyrex custard cup so I can see the color. Set aside to cool. 5) When adding the browned butter to the rest of the ingredients, use a rubber spatula to scrape in all the brown bits.

- If you've gone too far with the butter, it will look very dark and taste bitter, so you'll have to start over again. You're looking for a medium brown butter.

- I meant to add a tablespoon of brandy or rum to the liquid topping but I forgot. It might be something you want to try to deepen the flavor.

Banana Sauce Cake

Serves 10 - 12

2 oz (4 T) butter, browned

2 ripe bananas

1 C flour

1/2 C granulated sugar

2 T dark brown sugar, packed

1 3/4 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1 egg

1/2 C milk

1 t vanilla

Liquid Topping

1 C water

1/3 C dark brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 T molasses

1 T butter

1/4 t cinnamon

pinch of freshly ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter an 8" square glass baking dish. Slice one of the bananas and distribute on the bottom of the pan.

Brown the butter and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, granulated and brown sugars, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl, whisk the egg. Whisk in the milk and vanilla. Add the browned butter and combine thoroughly. Mash the banana into the liquid mixture using a fork and stir to combine. Add the dry ingredients and use the fork to mix until you don't see any streaks of flour. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and over the sliced bananas. Gently spread the batter to the edges.

For the topping, place the water, brown sugar, molasses and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Whisk in the spices and boil for a minute until the mixture is fully blended. Take off the heat and carefully pour over the cake batter. Do not stir or mix in the liquid in any way. The liquid should just sit on top of the cake batter.

Bake the cake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and springs back when touched. Serve warm.

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

It's strawberry season and time for some ice cream!

This is another very easy recipe from David Lebovitz that can be put together in just a few minutes. If you can locate some beautifully ripe and sweet strawberries, the only thing left to do is to slice them, toss them with sugar and let them sit for an hour to create some delicious juices. Then puree them and whisk in equal parts sour cream and heavy cream and a splash of lemon juice. Chill thoroughly, run the mixture through your ice cream machine and you're set to enjoy some creamy and refreshing strawberry ice cream. It doesn't get much easier!

Bench notes:

- Avoid strawberries that have green or white tips. They are unripe and will not have any flavor. Ripe strawberries are uniformly red and have a high sugar content.

- Taste the strawberry puree to see if the sugar level is right. It should be slightly sweet to accommodate the sour cream.

- Strawberries are high in water content. The vodka or kirsch in this recipe helps to keep the strawberries from being too icy or slushy.

- When you pour the finished ice cream into an airtight container, pack it down gently to eliminate air pockets and press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface to help prevent ice crystal formation.

- Since homemade ice cream doesn't contain any commercial emulsifiers, let it sit out for a few minutes to soften before serving.

- For another incredibly easy and super wonderful strawberry indulgence, try Strawberry Balsamic Sherbet or Strawberries and Cream Ice Cream.

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Makes about 1 1/4 quarts

1 lb fresh strawberries

3/4 C sugar

1 T vodka or kirsch

1 C sour cream

1 C heavy cream

1/2 t lemon juice

Hull and slice the strawberries and toss them in a bowl with the sugar and vodka or kirsch. Stir a few times to help the sugar dissolve and coat the fruit. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Place the strawberries and their juices in the bowl of a food processor or blender and puree the mixture. Add the sour cream, heavy cream and lemon juice and blend until almost smooth. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Freeze in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Pour into a container, press a piece of plastic onto the surface, cover and freeze to firm up.

Olive Oil Sponge Cake with Apricots

Sponge cake is a basic pastry tool to add to your repertoire, a light cake to soak up all those delicious juices from our luscious fresh fruit of the spring and summer season. It's also used to create trifles, charlottes, simple jam cakes or tiramisu. So it's a good versatile cake to master.  Yet a lot of bakers aren't very comfortable working with genoise or sponge cake recipes because they can sometimes be fussy to produce. However, this recipe is one of the easiest cakes I've ever made. With just a few ingredients and the substitution of olive oil for butter, it assembles in no time and bakes off beautifully with no collapsing or excessive dryness.

The key to success with sponge cakes, or foam cakes as they are also called, is beating the eggs. Because there's no leavening in the cake, a lot of air must be beaten into the eggs and sugar until the mixture reaches a ribbon stage, which is a thickening of the batter and a tripling in volume. You test for the ribbon stage by stopping and lifting the whisk up and if the batter streams down from the whisk and forms a cascading ribbon on the surface that holds for a few seconds, you're there. This method ensures a maximum of air is beaten into the egg and sugar mixture so the structure of the cake will be stable.

This recipe has a bit of a different approach to both ingredients and method. Most sponge cakes call for cake flour for a very delicate crumb. This cake uses all-purpose flour, which I think may help to keep it sturdy. Once the ribbon stage is reached, the olive oil is slowly drizzled into the mixer rather than the classic method of folding in the fat at the very end. The cake bakes in the standard 25 - 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Once it's placed on a cooling rack after 10 minutes, the ring of the springform pan is removed and the cake is cooled completely. If you haven't had success with foam cakes before, I suggest you try this one.

Since we're now luxuriating in apricot season, I thought it would be fun to pair this cake with a simple honey and vanilla apricot compote and cream. Fresh strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, peaches or any fresh fruit would also be perfect. Just macerate the fruit in sugar to produce some delicious juices.

This pastry is called a "sponge" cake because it's usually imbibed with a liquid. For the purpose of my photographs, I left the cake as is so you could see the beautiful crumb, but be sure to serve the cake with plenty of compote syrup and cream.

Bench notes:

- For best success with cake, eggs should always be at room temperature.

- When baked, this cake rises to the top of the pan, so be sure you're using a pan that is at least 9" x 2 1/2".

- The original recipe is presented by weight, which I've included here.

- The instructions are for a stand mixer. If you're using a hand mixer, it will take a bit longer to get the eggs and sugar to the ribbon stage. Just keep checking once you think you're there. I lift the beater about 6" and scrawl out my initials. If they hold for a moment by the time I've finished, it's ready.

- I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1/8 teaspoon of salt to the recipe as written, which are necessary to add flavor to the cake. Or you can also add 1 tablespoon of brandy or rum or the zest of one lemon or orange or a dash of good almond extract.

- Folding the batter means running your rubber spatula around the sides and the bottom of the bowl and gently making a cutting motion through the center of the batter, while rotating the bowl with your free hand. The goal is to incorporate dry ingredients without sacrificing the airy loft of the batter.

- Simmer the apricots on very low heat to preserve their flavor and texture. They made need next to no cooking if they are very ripe.

- You can prepare the apricots ahead of time. Store the fruit and the syrup separately in the refrigerator.

- Sponge cakes are often imbibed with simple syrup combined with a flavoring. Bring 3/4 C water and 1/2 C sugar to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Add liquor, liqueur, lemon juice, coffee or other flavoring, to taste. When the cake has cooled, use a pastry brush to apply the syrup to the surface. Repeat until the cake is moist. When you press your finger into the surface of the cake, there should be a little bit of liquid that comes to the surface.

Olive Oil Sponge Cake with Apricots

adapted from delicious. Magazine

Serves 8 - 10

1 C + 1 T (150 grams) all-purpose flour

1/8 t salt [my addition]

5 eggs @ room temperature

3/4 C + 1 T (150 grams) sugar

3 T + 1 t olive oil

1 t vanilla [my addition]

powdered sugar, for dusting

Apricot Compote

2 C water

1/2 C sugar, to taste

1/4 C honey

1/2 vanilla bean

12 apricots

2 t lemon juice, to taste

1 C heavy cream

1 T sugar

1/2 t vanilla or other flavoring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9" x 2 1/2" springform pan and line the bottom with parchment.

Whisk the flour and salt together.

Using a stand mixer, whisk the eggs for about 3 minutes until pale and thickened. Add the sugar slowly and continue whisking on medium high speed until the mixture triples in size. This will take 5 - 6 minutes. It should be thick, pale and foamy and leave a ribbon trail that holds for a few seconds when you lift out the beater.

Continue to whisk while you add the olive oil a few drops at a time. Add the vanilla. Take off the mixer and sift 1/4 of the flour onto the batter and fold in gently with a rubber spatula. Continue sifting with 1/3 of the flour into the batter and folding, then half until it's all been added. Be sure to thoroughly scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and fold only until you no longer see any streaks of flour.

Pour into the prepared springform pan and bake for 25 - 30 minutes until the cake is golden and springs back when lightly touched with your finger. Remove from the oven. The cake should immediately begin shrinking away from the sides of the pan. Run a thin knife around the edges to free any areas that may be sticking. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Carefully remove the parchment and cool completely.

For the compote, cut the apricots into 1/2" slices and discard the apricot pits. Combine water, sugar and honey in a saucepan. Split and seed the vanilla bean and add both. Bring to a slow simmer and add apricots. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes or until the apricots just begin to become tender. Using a slotted spoon, remove the apricots to a bowl. Turn up the heat and reduce the syrup by half. Stir in lemon juice and cool.

Whip the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla to very soft peak.

To serve, dust the cake with powdered sugar and garnish each plate with fruit, a generous portion of syrup and a dollop of whipped cream.

Saucepan Fudge Drops

Sometimes you find yourself in the mood to make a grand pastry or dessert, even if it takes a lot of work. It's so beautiful and so delicious that you don't mind organizing your time and washing a lot of dishes and pans. The payoff is one you can share with family and friends and it's so satisfying that the challenge is welcome.

Then there are times when you just want a quick treat, when you simply want something you can assemble and bake in no time at all without the fuss of unusual ingredient lists or belabored instructions. You still want that buzz of deliciousness but don't have a lot of time or the focus to spend in the kitchen. If that describes your inclination at the moment and it's cookies you have in mind and chocolate you fancy, this is your recipe. It comes from rightfully acclaimed cookie expert Alice Medrich, so let there be no doubt about it.

These cookies have a deep cocoa richness without being too rich. They have a fudgy texture and they're balanced in terms of sweetness and great flavor. The ingredients are basic and handy and the method couldn't be easier. You start with melting butter in a saucepan and the rest of the ingredients get mixed right into the same pan. The cookie dough is beautifully easy to work with and the cookies are baked in 10 minutes flat.

This is for chocolate fans. If you have a desire for a great chocolate sensation and can spare a few minutes, crank up the oven. This is the real deal. It's certainly a recipe you'll want to add to your cookie repertoire for just the right moment.

Bench notes:

- Medrich advises that bleached all-purpose flour (rather than unbleached) makes more tender cookies.

- You can use natural or Dutch-process cocoa powder. I used natural.

- Though the dusting of powdered sugar would add more drama, I omitted that step and thought they were the right amount of sweetness.

- I'd use a heaping 1/8 teaspoon of salt.

- When baked for 10 minutes, the cookies are fudgy and soft in the center. Add another minute or two and you'll get a cookie that is chewier.

- When you test for doneness, the cookies are going to feel very soft to the touch. They firm up as they cool.

- The recipe says it makes about 32 cookies. I made mine a tad bigger and got 25.

- To gild the lily, I can imagine adding a pinch of spice or small bits of chopped nuts or an extract.

Saucepan Fudge Drops

adapted from Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate by Alice Medrich

Makes about 32 cookies

1 C flour

1/4 t baking soda

1/8 t salt

2 1/2 oz (5 T) butter

1/2 C + 1 T cocoa powder

2/3 C granulated sugar

1/3 C brown sugar, packed

1/3 C plain low-fat or nonfat yogurt

1 t vanilla extract

2 - 3 t powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silpats.

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together and set aside.

Cut butter into small pieces and melt in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the butter begins to sizzle, remove from heat and stir in the cocoa powder. Blend until smooth. Add the sugars and blend. The mixture will be sandy. Mix in the yogurt and vanilla. Add flour and stir just until the whole mixture is moistened and there are no streaks of flour.

Drop rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheets, 1 1/2" apart. Use a fine strainer to dust powdered sugar on the tops.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until the tops look dry and cracked but they are still soft to the touch, rotating sheets from top to bottom and front to back about halfway through baking. Remove the pans and cool on a wire rack until firm.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pudding Cakes

Whenever you work in a professional pastry kitchen, especially one that emphasizes seasonal ingredients, it's always an incredible pleasure to greet each new delivery of fresh fruit. The shocking palette of deep reds, sunset pinks and oranges, and deep purples of spring brings an especially huge rush of excitement about the rotation of menu and the pure joy of working with and presenting such gorgeous specimens.

We are at that precise blissful moment of the year to celebrate the unique sweet tart combination of fresh strawberries and rhubarb, the two bright red harbingers of spring. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, prepared in New England and the South since the mid-1800s, is one of my favorite pastries. I hope everyone takes the opportunity to bake at least one this season. Mmmmmm, pie.

This time out, I'm doing a simple pudding cake that isn't terribly complicated but makes a nice and fairly light warm dessert. For those who fear the pie crust (and you know who you are!), this one doesn't involve a rolling pin. Since this dessert is baked a far shorter time than pie, the rhubarb gets cooked a bit on the stovetop with sugar, orange zest and a splash of vanilla to tenderize a bit and release its juices. As it cools, toss in a good haul of sliced strawberries. Blend the dry and liquid ingredients together and lighten the whole mix by folding in whipped egg whites. Then bake the cakes in a bain marie, which is the French pastry term for "water bath." This method ensures slow, even cooking, an important measure when baking custards and puddings that contain eggs.

The cake is very light and spongy and the fruit is tender and luscious, best served warm on a cool spring evening.

Bench notes:

- The cooked rhubarb may taste sweet but the added strawberries don't have any additional sugar.

- When beating egg whites, whip them until they look foamy and opaque, then add sugar slowly. Continue beating until they form stiff peaks when the whisk is lifted. They should be shiny and smooth. If they start to lose their shine and look grainy and a bit craggy, you've gone too far.

- Because the cake batter is very thin, stir or gently whisk in 1/3 of the egg whites to create a thicker base to fold in the remaining egg whites.

-I find it easier to handle the water bath and the ramekins if I use two smaller pans instead of one large one, which can sometimes be too heavy or awkward to maneuver. This reduces the risk of spills or splashes.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pudding Cakes

Makes 6 servings

4 stalks (about 12 oz) fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2" pieces

1/4 C + 2 T sugar

zest of 1/2 orange

1/4 t vanilla

16 oz fresh strawberries

3/4 C sugar, divided

1/2 C flour

1/4 t salt

1 C milk @ room temperature

1 T lemon juice

zest of 1/2 orange

1/2 t vanilla

3 eggs @ room temperature

2 oz (4 T) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter six 6-ounce ramekins. Put on a large pot of water and bring to a light simmer to use for the water bath.

Place the sliced rhubarb in a saucepan with the sugar, orange zest and vanilla. Cook over medium low heat for about 10 minutes or until the fruit softens. Slice the strawberries into bite-sized pieces and combine with the rhubarb. Distribute the fruit equally among the six ramekins.

Set aside 2 tablespoons of sugar and whisk the remaining sugar with the flour and the salt. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, lemon juice, orange zest, vanilla and egg yolks. Whisk in the melted butter until thoroughly blended. Combine the liquid with the sugar and flour mixture and whisk until smooth. The mixture will be very thin.

Beat the egg whites with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar until stiff peaks form. Portion a third of the egg whites and stir into the cake batter until it thickens a bit. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the remaining egg whites one-third at a time. Pour equal portions of the batter over the fruit in the prepared ramekins and place them in a large roasting pan or two smaller pans. Place the pan(s) in the oven and pour in enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake the pudding cakes for about 25 - 30 minutes or until they are puffy, golden and spring back when touched. Carefully transfer the ramekins to a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Blueberry Lemon Cornmeal Cake

Spring has arrived! There's more variety of fruit available at the markets this week. I’m patiently waiting just a bit to let the season unfold with more ripened specimens. But I’ve got blueberries on my table once again and they are really juicy and delicious. This time they found their way into a great little brunch or dessert cake from Abigail Johnson Dodge. It’s an easy recipe that delivers a very tender cake with a topping of beautiful fresh fruit. There’s a slight texture of cornmeal and a tang of lemon, buttermilk and fresh blueberries, which is definitely a winning combo in my book.

The recipe is very good as is, but I wanted the fruit to be jammy. So rather than follow the instructions for the blueberries, I cooked them just until juicy, gave them a spritz of lemon and set them aside to cool. I placed dollops of them into the cake batter and baked the cake. Then I spooned the remainder of the compote over the top of each slice as it's served.

If you desire a really wonderful burst of blueberries, this is a great way to play it out - a bright yellow cake with the deep ink stain of blueberries to dazzle your table. Super simple and truly satisfying.

Bench notes:
- I use a 9” square pan and bake the cake for 26 minutes. Line it with an overhang of parchment to make it easy to remove.
- I wanted a little bit more texture and corn flavor so I changed the ratio of flour and cornmeal just a little bit. I used 1 1/4 C flour and 1/3 C cornmeal.
- If you’d like to replicate my changes for the blueberries, prepare the filling as follows: 1 1/2 C fresh blueberries; 2 T – 2 1/2 T sugar, to taste; 1 1/2 T water; 1/2 star anise; 3/4 t cornstarch + 3/4 t cold water; 3/4 t lemon juice. Place the blueberries in a saucepan and add sugar, water and star anise. Simmer on low heat for 2 – 3 minutes. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir into blueberries. Add the lemon juice. Cook for another 2 – 3 minutes, stirring to keep from scorching. Remove the star anise and set aside to cool and thicken. When you’ve poured the cake batter into the prepared pan and smoothed it out evenly, dollop a tablespoon of the filling into the cake batter in 8 – 9 places. Reserve the remaining blueberries to garnish the cake slices.
- Finely ground cornmeal works best in this cake. The result is a really tender crumb.
- When you add the lemon juice to the cake batter it may appear curdled. Don’t worry; it will all come together when you add the dry ingredients.

Blueberry Lemon Cornmeal Cake
adapted from Abigail Johnson Dodge at Fine Cooking
Served 8 - 10

1 1/3 C flour

1/4 C finely ground yellow cornmeal

1 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3 oz (6 T) butter @ room temperature
1 C sugar
1 t lemon zest
2 eggs @ room temperature
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 C buttermilk @ room temperature

For the topping

1 C (about 5 oz) fresh blueberries
1 T granulated sugar
1 T flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9" x 2 1/2" cake pan and line the bottom with parchment.

Whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed until thoroughly blended and scraping the bowl after each addition. Add the lemon juice and combine. Scrape down the bowl.

Lower the speed and add half the dry ingredients. Mix just until it starts to blend together. Add the buttermilk and combine. Add the remaining dry ingredients, mixing just until there are a few flour streaks remaining. Finish the mixing by hand using a rubber spatula, making sure you've thoroughly scraped the bottom of the bowl. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the topping.

Combine the blueberries, sugar and flour in a small bowl. Mix together, lightly crushing the blueberries and evenly coating them with the flour and sugar. After the cake has baked for 15 minutes, slide the oven rack out and quickly scatter the blueberries evenly over the top of the cake. Discard any flour and sugar that doesn't adhere to the berries. Continue baking until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 23- 25 minutes.

Let the cake cool on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and invert the cake. Lift the pan off and peel away the parchment. Lay a flat serving plate on the bottom of the cake and invert again. Serve warm or at room temperature.