buzzville

the search for the perfect pumpkin sweet...

It's no secret to people who know us that our family is pretty fond of pumpkin foods - bread, curry, soup, stew, cookies, etc. Since the air is getting a bit crisp, I figured it was time to start in with the pumpkin baking. One of the other mom's from our co-op was raving about a recipe for pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting (*gulp*!). I came home, lickety-split, to see if I could find the recipe online. I found this and decided to give them a shot, with a few small changes: I used golden raisins, added chopped, toasted pecans, and used Splenda in lieu of sugar.

They baked up just perfectly in my jelly roll pan. I think the frosting recipe is a bit scant (it was tough to get even coverage over the whole cake, and definitely not enough for a crumb layer), but it was also quite simple. The bars are nice and cakey, and the golden raisins and pecans add a bit of interest. I think the only thing I might change is to use some brown sugar in place of the white sugar. So, these were really good.

BUT, I think I'm looking for something more chewy, gooey, and cookie-like. Seems as if most pumpkin baked goods are bread- or cake-like - anyone have a recipe for something like a chewy pumpkin cookie?

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin-Raisin Bars

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar (try using 1 cup brown sugar?)
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 15 oz can pumpkin (or equivalent in drained, fresh pumpkin)
• 4 large eggs
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup toasted, chopped pecans (I added these)

• 6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ⅓ cup butter, room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease 15 1/2" by 10 1/2" jelly roll pan. Sift first 8 ingredients into a large bowl and mix. Add pumpkin, eggs and oil, and beat until blended. Mix in raisins and pecans. Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan on rack.

Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and butter in medium bowl to blend. Spread frosting over cake in think layer. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Refrigerate until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated.) Cut cake into bars and serve.

farmer's market, how do I love thee...

I'm trying to get more into a regular habit of visiting our local Ventura Farmer's Market - we're lucky to have 2 each week (Wednesdays and Saturdays). I used to go occasionally, but I've really come to love going, and it's becoming as much a social gathering place as a shopping trip!

Today's bounty included Fuji Apple Butter, local canteloupe and strawberries, tamales (these are *so* incredible!), and some seedless green grapes that were devoured before they could be photographed!

Speaking of delicious, we recently mixed up a batch of sorbet that was incredible. It was a hot day, and I suggested some grapefruit sorbet might be just the thing. Then, I found a recipe for Grapefruit Tarragon Sorbet, and I was intrigued. I made the recipe as below, except I used Splenda instead of sugar and fresh tarragon in lieu of dried. The subtle licorice flavor of the tarragon was wonderful against the sweet-tart of the pink grapfruit. The consistency of ours ended up a bit more like a granita than a sorbet, but that might be related more to our ice cream maker than the recipe. Three thumbs up (Kelly, Jerry and Brynne) from this house!

Grapefruit Tarragon Sorbet

• 4 large red or pink grapefruits
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon, crumbled

Squeeze enough juice from grapefruits to measure 2‚ cups and pour through a sieve into a large bowl. In a small saucepan bring water, sugar, and tarragon to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved, and simmer 5 minutes. Whisk syrup into grapefruit juice.

Freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker. Transfer sorbet to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Sorbet keeps 1 week.

Makes about 1 quart, serving 6.

preschool madness

It's the end of the year at Brynne's preschool (2.5 weeks to go), and the year is ending with non-stop activity. We've enrolled her in the co-op program, which means that parents are required to work in the classroom for a certain number of hours per week, and we're also pretty involved in all sorts of fun activities. Each semester, the co-op has a 2-day, end-of-term bake sale to raise money for field trips and new classroom supplies. I baked up a storm on Sunday to prepare for the madness on Monday and Tuesday. Martha was in full effect as I mixed up batches of Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies (from Everyday Food Collectible Cookie Edition - Holiday 2006), Snickerdoodles, and Chocolate Crackles (both from the 2005 Holiday Cookies special issue of Martha Stewart Living). I forgot to snap pics before they were all packaged up, but here's a mediocre shot of the 3:

The classroom is currently in a temporary building with large windows, just the right height for walk-up and drive-up windows:

 

And of course, everyone is treated to service with a smile!

All three recipes were delicious - and I really mean that! Those of you who remember my cake-of-the-month experiment from last year will know that I can be critical of Martha's recipes, but these 3 were all extremely successful, and it's hard for me to pick a favorite.

The chocolate crackles are extremely rich, with a crunchy outer layer that separates a bit from a chewy, brownie-like interior. They are rolled in granulated sugar and then confectioner's sugar prior to baking - that is what gives them the gorgeous white crackles as they bake.

The peanut butter surprise cookies are also outstanding, and these were the first to sell out at the bake sale. The peanut butter cookie dough is really good - good enough to stand alone without the peanut butter cup smashed into the top. This dough is rolled in granulated sugar before baking, and this gives the exterior a nice caramelized, sugary exterior. And, of course, adding a peanut butter cup certainly doesn't hurt!

The snickerdoodles are simple, but I figured they were a bake sale must-have. The finished product was chewy, buttery (but not too buttery!), with just the right crunch from the cinnamon and sugar on the outside.

All of these recipes are online, but the peanut butter surprise recipe is the only one that is identical to the one I used. So, I'm including the recipes below in case someone wants to give them a try. Enjoy!

Snickerdoodles (makes about 20)

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

2. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into 20 (1 3/4 - inch) balls; roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature up to 3 days.

Chocolate Crackles (makes 5 dozen)

• 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring. Set aside, and let cool. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Mix butter and brown sugar on medium speed until pale and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in eggs and vanilla, and then the melted chocolate. Reduce speed to low; mix in flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the milk. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Wrap each in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.

3. Divide each piece into 16 (1-inch) balls. *Hint: don't use your hands to do this! Use a knife or spoon or other utensil - this dough melts instantly when handled!* Roll in granulated sugar to coat, then in confectioner's sugar to coat. Space 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

4. Bake until surfaces crack, about 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers up to 3 days.

Martha's Cake of the Month - November

You know, I'm having trouble calling these the "cake" (singular) of the month any more... it seems as if Martha couldn't really limit herself to just 12, so she found ways to squeeze in extra recipes here and there! Like the September Bake Sale cupcakes, November also has a theme: turning traditional, fall pie recipes into cakes. For November, the recipes were the Apple Pie Cake and the Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake. Neither recipe looked terribly intimidating, and I was especially looking forward to the Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake - we are lovers of cheesecake, all things pumpkin, and especially the 2 together! I already have a favorite Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe, so I was interested in comparing it to Martha's recipe.

The Apple Pie Cake was very simple to put together. The recipe called for a 12" diameter deep dish pizza pan, but I didn't want to buy yet another baking pan. So, I did the math and found that the area of a 9"x13" rectangular pan is very close to the 12" diameter - a rectangular cake would surely taste as good, right?!? The apple brandy was a bit tough to find, and terribly expensive once we did. Luckily, our fancy liquor store also had apple brandy in the tiny, airplane-size bottles, so we went with one of those (for a whopping $6!!!).

The cake is baked with a bottom brown sugar/brandy/butter layer and the apple slices are pressed into this layer. Then, the cake batter is spread on top. Once the whole thing is baked, it's turned out with the pretty apples on top. I'm lucky to have a mandoline (Christmas gift from several years back!), which helped to make perfectly even slices (Jerry did all the mandoline work - thanks!). I found the cake batter to be a bit gooey (I may have over-mixed...), and I had some trouble spreading it over the apples. But, it the end it got in the oven and baked nicely, with a bit of caramelizing to the apples and brown sugar.

How did it taste? The apples and brown sugar were really yummy - juicy, crunchy, and nicely sweet. But, I wasn't really all that impressed with the cake portion. The texture and consistency were fine, but it didn't really have much flavor. I think it might need more cinnamon, and maybe some other spices as well: nutmeg, ginger, cloves? I would prefer more of a spice cake to better complement the baked apples. Here is the finished cake (in rectangular format!):

Although I've heard some folks talk about how challenging a cheesecake is, I've never had any trouble. In fact, it's our dessert of choice. I don't make them as often as I'd like to eat them, but we've tried all sorts of varieties: New York, ricotta, no-bake, key lime, egg nog, pumpkin, etc. This Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake recipe involved making a plain cheesecake, and then swirling a smaller amount of pumpkin cheesecake batter into it.

With all the madness of our Thanksgiving plans swirling about, I opted to use regular pumpkin rather than the suggested butternut squash. The crust went together very easily, and it was the first time I've used a pastry-type crust for a cheesecake, rather than a cookie crumb or nut crust. The cheesecake mixture was also quite simple (thanks Kitchen Aid!), and I was ready to assemble and bake. I poured the "plain" cheesecake batter into my spring-form, and found it to be pretty full. I still had 3 cups of the pumpkin cheesecake batter to "swirl"! I carefully dropped spoons of the pumpkin batter and started to swirl. I quickly saw that the pumpkin batter would completely cover the top of the cake - with no swirling effect - if I continued this way. So, I started to drop spoons of pumpkin batter in and push them under. "Burying" most of the pumpkin batter like this was the only was I was able to achieve the swirling effect.

I put the cheesecake in the oven and worried a bit about overflowing. Luckily it baked up just fine, and after the allotted bake time, I followed Martha's directions: turned the oven off and left the cheesecake in the oven with the door ajar for 1 hour. I think I'll add this step to my regular cheesecake baking, because the slow cooling of the cake seems to have kept it from cracking! The cheesecake came out perfectly smooth and firm. I'm going to post a picture below, but keep in mind that this cheesecake took a 6 hour car ride in a cooler and covered in plastic wrap - it's not as pretty in the picture as it was when I pulled it from the oven!

The pumpkin cheesecake was wonderful! I definitely liked it better than the Apple Pie Cake. This was not a particularly sweet cheesecake, so those who like them sweet should probably add more sugar to the recipe. These 2 cakes, together with my mom's famous pecan pie, gave us quite the dessert selection at our Thanksgiving dinner. I was thrilled to finally have some other people around to help us eat the cakes! 

Thanksgiving accomplished!

And that's saying a lot! Initially, the plans were for my small extended family (8 of us all together) to join us in Ventura for the Thanksgiving celebration, but everyone's health seemed to indicate otherwise. My grandmother had a cold, and my uncle had just done heroic battle with kidney stones and was not yet fully recovered. They were obviously not thrilled about the prospect of a long car ride! I had already done all the shopping, so we quickly formulated plan B. We decided to have the actual MEAL up north on Friday so that we wouldn't have to do our driving on the worst possible day. I cooked as much as I could on Wednesday, and we hit the rode about mid-day on Thursday - right about when we figured others were getting ready to sit down and stuff their faces.

My aunt and uncle graciously agreed to let me, Jerry, and the terror stay with them at their home in San Jose. I was the cooking project manager on Friday, and I received incredible help in the kitchen from Jerry (the best cooking co-pilot ever!), my aunt, and my mom. I planned a basically traditional meal with a slight southwest twist:

• Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Crema and Pepitas (super yummy! how did we get away with no leftovers of this?!?)
• Roast Turkey with Apples, Onions, Fried Sage Leaves, and Apple Cider Gravy (this is my all-time favorite turkey recipe - the turkey gets roasted with pearl onions and lady apples, and the presentation on the platter is incredible!)
• Apricot Pecan Cornbread Stuffing (I get picky about this and make my own cornbread, and I use chorizo for the sausage. My favorite!)
• Cranberry Orange Relish (I just buy the perfect pre-made version from Trader Joes)
• Sweet Potato and Yam Galette (we used just sweet potatoes and baked it in the cast iron skillet. It didn't invert perfectly like I had hoped, but it was super delicious nonetheless. I should have doubled the recipe - we had no leftovers!)
• Green Bean Salad with Tamari Almonds (Thanks to Martha - a lovely side dish. I bought my tamari almonds at Trader Joes rather than making my own!)
• Sparkling Pomegranate Juice (another must have from Trader Joes!)
• Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake (yes! the Martha cake - review to come in separate post!)
• Apple Pie Cake (yes! the *other* Martha recipe for November - look for review tomorrow!)

I know that I'm no photographer, and certainly not a food stylist, but here are some photos of the spread nonetheless:

basting the turkey!

soup, turkey, sweet potatoes... yummy!

We planned on driving home on Saturday, but I was itching to get to San Francisco to see the new De Young and catch the Gees Bend exhibit before it leaves at the end of December. We made the drive up and caught the museum just as it was opening. The museum re-opened just about a year ago following the incredible Herzog & de Meuron design - wow! The building is incredible - clad in irregularly perforated copper sheets - and will change its appearance as the copper ages. The highlight for us was the observation tower, which appears to balance precariously over the narrow base. The tower features an incredible 360 degree view of the city and the bay - I could have stayed up there for hours! Some great pictures of the building here.

With Brynne along, I was not able to dawdle through the Gees Bend exhibit as much as I would have liked, but I can echo what I have read by others: the quilts are incredible and inspiring, and the stories behind them even more so. I haven't done any research on the after-effects of the recent attention paid to the Gees Bend quilters, but I can only hope that money is finally pouring in to this long neglected, but culturally invaluable community.

After the museum, we wandered through the Botanical Gardens hunting for lions (!) and ate lunch at the museum cafe. Then we drove out to the Golden Gate so that Brynne could get a closer look. We tried to take a self-portrait of the 3 of us in front of the bridge, but it wasn't quite pointed in the right direction, and then my batteries ran out! So, imagine the gorgeous bridge added to the top right side of the photo and you'll have a better idea. It was the perfect SF day - clear skies, brisk, and slightly windy.

Happy Halloween!

Loads of treats around here, including Whoppers - possibly the best candy around, no?!? Last night I quickly improvised some baking for a potluck that Jerry had at work today. I had all the ingredients to make some yummy pumpkin bread, and I happen to have a fantastic 2-part bundt pan that makes each half of a pumpkin. Put the two halves together and it makes a gorgeous 3D pumpkin cake - stem and all! Luckily, I had to do some leveling to the halves before stacking them, so we actually got to taste those discards before it was taken to work. So yummy! Here's the finished cake, surrounded by some candy corn and candy pumpkins:

and here's the recipe (adapted from a recipe that appeared in Bon Appetit in 1995):

Spiced Pumpkin Bread

• 1.5 cups sugar
• 1.5 cups brown sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin (or fresh pumpkin, if available)
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 6 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup toasted, chopped pecans (optional)
• 1 cup golden raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and flour two 9x5x3" loaf pans. Beat sugars and oil in large bowl to blend. Mix in eggs and pumpkin. Sift flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, salt and baking powder into another large bowl. Stir into pumpkin mixture in 2 additions. Mix in pecans and raisins, if desired.

Divide batter equally between prepared pans. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes, or until tested inserted into center comes out clean. Transfer to racks and cool for 10 minutes. Turn loaves out on racks and cool completely. Makes 2 loaves.

Martha's Cake of the Month - September, Part 3

I'm sure you must be at least as tired of this baking marathon as I am, so I'll try to make this short and sweet. Today we made the third cupcake for the September marathon: Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes. I was optimistic about this recipe since I'm a huge fan of peanut butter cookies, so I set out with some enthusiasm.

The recipe was very simple, with no unusual ingredients, and before I knew it I was measuring the batter into the cupcake liners. This was another exercise in scooping and measuring - each liner was to get 3 tablespoons of batter. (I guess I'm supposed to purchase those little handled scoops in every possible size, but I just don't feel the need to do so.) I thought that the batter looked pretty tiny in the liners, but I anticipated that they would rise as the other cupcakes had. However, after about 15 minutes in the oven, they had hardly risen at all. I'm guessing that the peanut butter makes it difficult for the batter to rise... The baked cupcakes looked dwarfed in their liners, but I knew there was still frosting to come.

The icing was also quite simple - cream cheese, peanut butter, a bit of butter, and confectioner's sugar. I spread a generous amount of the frosting on each cupcake and placed them in the refrigerator to chill. Despite the generous dollop on each cupcake, I still had quite a bit of frosting left over. Once the cupcakes had chilled for a bit, I pulled them out for the final step: using a fork to make the trademark hatches typical of peanut butter cookies. I thought this was a nice touch. The cupcakes definitely looked cute and were extremely peanut butter-y (the recipe called for more than a jar of peanut butter!), but the cake part was seriously tiny and dwarfed by the frosting. For those who are true frosting-aholics, this is probably a positive, but I didn't think the cupcakes were terribly presentable. Take them out of the liners and the cake looked funny and mishapen, and the frosting about as thick as the cake itself. I would probably make these for a bunch of kids, but I don't think I would want to bake them as an example of my skills in the kitchen.

To sum up the 3-day extravaganza, I'd have to give the highest overall rating to the Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Cupcakes. They were relatively straightforward to make, and they had the best flavor and appearance. I would probably make them again.

Martha's Cake of the Month - September, Part 2

Here we are for the second installment of the September Cake of the Month, the Oatmeal-Raisin Cookie Cupcake. This recipe also looked pretty simple to execute, and the only unusual ingredient was oat bran, which I happened to already have in the pantry. The main batter came together nicely, and then the batter is divided to create a second, more chunky version that incoporates coconut and more oats. This second batter is used to top the cupcakes - almost like a crumb topping. I prepared everything according to the recipe, except that I used unsweetened coconut instead of sweetened coconut.

I set out to measure the batter into the muffin liners, and this is where my major complaint comes in. The recipe calls for 2.5 tablespoons of the main batter and 1.5 tablespoons of the coconut batter per cupcake. Unless you're lucky enough to have both a 2.5 and 1.5 tablespoon measuring device, this means a whole lot of scooping and measuring! I set about it in assembly line fashion, measuring first 1.5 tablespoons of the main batter, then another 1 tablespoon of this batter, then 1.5 tablespoons of the topping. It seemed like it took forever, and then I had to do it all over again for the second batch!

The cupcakes went into the oven for 20 minutes, and they came out nice and golden on the top. The flavor and texture of these was excellent, and there was no butter swimming pool waiting to surprise me. They did taste a lot like a "cakey" oatmeal raisin cookie. The coconut in the topping batter had toasted and browned while baking, and this was especially yummy - mmmmm, toasted coconut! All in all, I'd say this is an excellent recipe, although the measuring was definitely a bit more tedious than I would have liked. Also, like yesterday's chocolate chunk cookie cupcakes, I have to say that I would call these "muffins" more than "cupcakes", especially since they don't have any frosting. We took these to Brynne's preschool for their snack today, and I hear they went over very well. Stay tuned tomorrow for the final installment of this baking marathon: Peanut Butter Cookie Cupcakes.

Martha's Cake of the Month - September, Part 1

Well, here we are and September is almost gone. I've got lots to tell you about why I can't seem to get anything done, but that's the subject of another post... But, the end of September must also mean that I'm running out of time for Martha's cake of the month - and I can't fail you again, can I? Since the "cake" for September is actually 3 different cupcake recipes, I've decided to split the post into 3 in order to give each recipe it's proper attention.The concept for the September cakes is to make cupcakes from the standard favorite bake sale cookie recipes: chocolate chip, peanut butter, and oatmeal raisin. Today's post will focus on the Chocolate Chunk Cookie Cupcake recipe, with the others coming in the next 2 days.

I've been looking forward to this month's recipes, because although I really didn't want to cook 3 batches of cupcakes, I was anticipating that these would be pretty simple, and simple usually means tasty! I didn't need to buy any fancy ingredients, and Brynne was on-hand to help with mixing and licking. I could see early on that the recipe for these cupcakes was in fact very similar to a chocolate chip cookie recipe - just a bit thicker. The assembly and mixing went quite quickly, and I measured out the recommended 1/4 cup of batter per cupcake and put them in the oven. The only modification I made to the recipe was to add chopped walnuts - I love them in my cookies, so why not in these?!? Twenty minutes later the buzzer went off, and I pulled them out - looking nice and golden brown, with some of the "crackling" on top - just like a cookie!

The scary part came when I pulled them out of my muffin pan - there was a pool of melted butter in each muffin cup that had either leached it's way through the paper cups, or had overflowed the tops of the cups while they were baking. Now, I know we've had lessons about Martha and butter in previous month's cakes, but I really didn't expect it this time around! I double-checked the recipe to make sure I hadn't messed up in measuring the flour, but everything seemed right. I removed all of the cupcakes and placed them on a triple layer of paper towels to help soak up some of the excess butter. I also had to soak up the pools of butter in my pan before I could bake the next batch - greasy business!

It was just about lunch time, so we put the second batch in the oven to cook and ate lunch. I promised Brynne that we'd share a cupcake for dessert, so I cut one of the cooling cupcakes in half. The cupcake did not come away from the paper liner nicely, and I hate when half of my cupcake is left sticking to the paper! However, they did taste good - much like a chocolate chip cookie - if a bit greasier than I like. My yield on these was much smaller than the recipe stated - I got 16 cupcakes, where the recipe stated 2 dozen. I can't help but wonder if there is a typo on the quantities for the dry ingredients - one that would explain the excess butter and the smaller yield? Or, maybe I just need to get my oven calibrated? I'll have to see if anyone else has the same buttery problem...

Martha's Cake o' the Month - August

Well, here it is Labor Day, which must mean it's September, and that means I'm behind in telling all of you about Martha's Cake of the Month for August: Peaches and Cream Ice Cream Cake. I must admit that I procrastinated quite a bit on this one... I was so busy earlier in the month, that I put it off until the last week of August. I read through the recipe, and it seemed fairly straightforward: make the cake, mix ripe peaches into vanilla ice cream, and make layers with the cake, vanilla ice cream, and peach sorbet. It also sounded really delicious - I *love* peaches, and I'm always a bit sad that their season is so short-lived.

 

So, last week I went out to gather the ingredients to get baking - what I needed from the list was pretty simple: buttermilk, ripe peaches, and 2 types of peach sorbet (2 kinds so that the layers look different). I had no luck finding any peach sorbet at my usual stops: Trader Joe's and Vons. I went to Ralph's to look with still no luck. I went to Lassen's (a local health/natural food chain) and still could not find a single variety of peach sorbet, let alone 2! I began to get frustrated, because I had exhausted all of my local grocery stores. I called Lazy Acres (a gourmet/natural food store) in Santa Barbara, thinking I could bribe Jerry into stopping there on his way home from work if they had it... but, they didn't. I did a web search for peach sorbet and found loads of recipes, and also found that Haagen Dazs makes one that sounds wonderful. Unfortunately, no one seems to carry it! My last and final attempt was to call Whole Foods in Thousand Oaks. I wasn't crazy about the idea, but I figured I could make the drive if it meant I could get the sorbet to make this silly cake. Whole Foods came up empty handed as well.

At this point, I was thoroughly frustrated. I knew I had procrastinated, but I still intended on coming through and making this silly cake! None of the local ice cream shops were any help either... Coldstone Creamery, Marble Slab, Ben & Jerry's, Baskin Robbins - no peach sorbet! At the back of my mind was the thought that I could always make the sorbet myself, but the thought of making 2 types of sorbet, mixing the ice cream, and baking the cake was a bit insane - especially with a budding new online shop to keep up! So, to make this terribly long story come to an end, I had to forfeit on the August cake. I can't tell you how it tasted or what it was like to bake and layer, but I can tell you that I think it's pretty insane that I couldn't find one of the main ingredients - especially when I live in a region where specialty and gourmet ingredients are readily available.

Happily, I can send you to 2 other folks who did conquer the cake, and you can read what they have to say about the August debacle: sweet little treat and lattistar.