I sat at the car dealership for 2+ hours on Saturday morning and besides the blaring CNN, I could have stayed for another hour or 2 and gotten more work done.
It's been eventful:
I just got back from Florida.
According to my sister-in-law, Em had to calm down Kevin. He was upset because I ignored him all week.
We had a fabulous week:
Walking around the living room
Playing (and teething)
Hanging out
45 minutes on Siesta Key: I enjoyed the "scenery", but Em wasn't a fan of the sand.
and Pool time.
Missy did a fantastic job of lavishing us with home cooking and cocktails and showing us the sites.
Looking forward to our next trip down.
I hadn't even unpacked yet, when my first round of company came in- visiting little cousins.
And then, Friday night, I had more unexpected company: bats. Two flying varmint(s?) at two different times. Luckily Cupcake is better at killing animals with a tennis racket than the average dad, so, I called him, locked myself in the living room and tried to stop screaming. He got them both, singing the Indiana Jones theme song once they were safely in bags. Eww.
Needless to say, we aren't sure how they got in yet, but I'm leaving the wash in the basement until I've got someone over who can kill anything I might run into down there.
The rainy Saturday was perfect for the aforementioned errand amid others and catching up on paperwork. One thing I did was look for some recipes from that lovely "A World of Cake" book that my brother and sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. I found a neat one from Japan that reminded me of something that my Spanish mom always makes: Kasutera cakes (in Japanese)- biscocho (in Spanish) and Castella cakes in English. These cakes were brought by the Portuguese to Japan and are named for the Castile region in Spain (Castilla), which dominated in the Middle ages. I won't go on a tirade about El Cid Campeador, who is hands down my favorite real person turned legend (besides Chuck Norris and maybe Giant's closer Brian Wilson, who is the perfect mixture of brain, jock and sideshow and may possibly love the 80s more than I do).
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| What El Cid's grave looks up at in Burgos |
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| Brian Wilson at the ESPYs: It's like Mr. Peanut riding a luge after racking one of my ninth grader's brains for the perfect accoutrement... quality man crush material. (I obviously don't own this image: http://www.nydailynews.com/topics/Polo+Grounds/photos) |
Now, onto the cake:
Recipe from Castella, Krystina. (2010). A World of Cake: 150 Recipes for Sweet Traditions from Cultures Near and Far. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing, p.280
I wanted to do it up Asian style, so I hunted down matcha (green tea powder) in a hippie store (not judging, love them). It was part of yesterday's errand extravaganza during the downpour. This afternoon's baking session was planned well--round two of downpour was well on its way and the streets look better for canoeing than driving.
My gladiolas are not happy.
My gladiolas are not happy.
For the cake, I started with milk and honey- heated over low until it was near boiling. I love the smell of heating milk and honey. It makes me think of all of the delicious scents the end of summer and fall bring: homemade sauce, cucumber, melon and mint, mulling spices, baking apples and pumpkin.
I set aside the creamy mixture and preheat the oven to 350.
Besides the pot for the honey and milk this really was a one bowl job, and you know how I love the easy clean up.
I beat eight eggs and then added two cups of sugar, beating them until they were pale yellow.
I mixed in the honey mixture, and then sifted in the flour. I don't keep cake flour at home, so I followed joyofbaking.com's substitution strategy: 3/4 c all purpose and 2 Tbs cornstarch for every cup required.
I added two tablespoons of matcha with the last addition of flour. Matcha smells like a good morning to me. It's clean and bright with some earthy tones. Its hanging out in the garden with a cup of tea on a sunny day. I enjoy.
Buttered, parchment(ed), buttered and sugared an 8" cake pan, per instructions.
It looked nowhere near big enough, so I wisely put a baking sheet underneath.
Good thing, because it was trying to make a mess in my oven.
The pan was definitely way too small. Next round will be in an 8x13.
Took an extra 15 minutes to bake and then looked overdone on the outside, but just right on the inside.
I absolutely loved the flavor and the crumb. The outside has this chewy honey almost crunch and the inside is the consistency of a good zucchini bread. A definite easy remake.
I dropped off most to Nan and mom, knowing that I won't be able to keep this in the house without grazing on it. Mom's reactions were interesting: she wasn't sure what it was supposed to taste like, so she doctored it up with caramel sauce and whipped cream. She thought it was good, both before and after her improvements.
It's not supposed to be a knock your socks off kind of cake. It's more of a sweet staple: a tea or coffee time snack and I dig that. I had mine with a glass of milk.
For next week, we have cheesecake to perfect and will be hopefully getting Ana's biscocho recipe to test out.
I've got a big piece I'm working on for one of my benchmarks on gracephul as well, so check it out this week if you haven't!
Enjoy!
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