A Childhood Chocolate Favorite - An Editorial Photo Shoot and Foodstyling Project

When it comes to your own personal history with food, how far back can you remember? Most chefs and passionate home cooks that I know can easily recollect the first dishes they made or the person that taught or inspired them to cook.

I started cooking and baking as soon as I could stand on a chair and reach the stove. One of my very first cakes was an easy recipe that was on the back of a Hershey's Cocoa can. There's a reason why this recipe is 40-plus years old and garners so many five-star ratings on their website's comments section. Using this as inspiration, I recently collaborated with photographer Rachelle Bendixen on an editorial photo project that tells a story about making this simple and delicious rustic cake. As a commercial food stylist, I don't always get the opportunity to share my work here on my blog – it usually goes straight to my business site's portfolio section. With this project, however, the personal connection that I have with this cake lends itself perfectly to my blog as well. I'm excited to share the results of our work here...

I wanted to style this shoot with the simplest props to help tell a story about the history of this cake from my perspective. She gave me full creative reign and captured beautiful images (as well as a soon-to-be-released podcast that she has been laboring over).

My prop choices were rustic old baking tools with a lovely patina and dark, distressed wood. Some of the utensils have actually been in the family for several generations. For the backdrop, Rachelle chose a beautiful piece of steel that she buffed to bring out the swirls of patina. Her lighting was perfect and the mood was dark and rustic.

I brought my son in to be our hand model for this shoot and to me, it just adds to the story telling by adding another generation.

Keeping with the simplistic theme, I went with an easy ganache for both the filling (chilled and whipped) and the topping (warm).

If you are looking for an absolutely easy and decadent cake, I highly recommend this recipe.  Give it a try and let me know how you like it. Do you have a favorite recipe, cake of otherwise, that has stayed in your repertoire since your childhood?


A huge thank you to Rachelle for her open heart on this project. I am so grateful that she was able to capture my vision and the rustic charm and love I have for this cake, not to mention her countless hours in creating and editing the podcast. I would also be remiss if I did not thank my son and occasional assistant for generously stepping in as our model - I adore you and I love that you have the same passion for food as your Mama - may you continue to pursue food with passion and creativity. And also to my husband and partner in life for all of the graphic design and text editing. 

12 Days of Meyers - Gluten Free Meyer Buttermilk Cake

This wonderful blogger and dear friend is also one that is very dear to my heart. I first met her several years ago at the first Austin Food Swap. Back then, I was not sure what a "food swap" was all about. Kate explained it with such ease and her sense of hospitality was warm and open. The swaps have gotten bigger and better over the years, but my fondest memories are of those first small swaps. Since that first meeting, I have picked loquats with this lady and enjoyed tea on her lovely patio. Her hospitality is no secret to locals as she is the author behind 'The Hip Girls Guide To Homemaking", a spin-off from her hugely popular blog. Along with her wife  JoAnn and their sweet little pup Isobel, she lives in a super cool house in East Austin where you will most likely find her canning, writing, repurposing or getting ready for a class to teach.  She is as lovely as the ideas in her book and I'm so excited that she took time out of her busy schedule (finishing the second edition of Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking) to whip up a Meyer creation for this series. She bakes gluten-free so no surprise that she made this tasty cake for this post. Enjoy!

This is a variation on the buttermilk cake I make often, both as a last minute dessert and as a brunch party special touch. I've also doubled the recipe and made cream cheese frosting to end up with a birthday layer cake. I adore this cake and have Julia to thank for turning me onto it. You can use the flour combination in my original post or use a gluten-free flour blend like Pamela's [Artisan] or basic I have a few temporary dietary restrictions so I've substituted out the dairy buttermilk and the sugar (indicated in the recipe in parenthesis). I dare say you can't mess up this forgiving not-too-sweet cake.

Meyer Lemon Buttermilk Cake (gluten-free)

by Kate Payne

of Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking 

1. Grease an 8- or 9-inch baking pan of any shape. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Combine your dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl:

1 cup gluten-free flour mix (that doesn’t contain leaveners, baking soda/powder)

1/2 cup sugar (I used coconut palm sugar)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3. Combine your wet ingredients in a separate bowl:

1/2 cup buttermilk  (I whisked together 125ml almond milk, 25 ml coconut milk, 2 tsp strained Meyer lemon juice)

1 egg

1/2 stick (or 1/4 cup) butter, melted

1/4 tsp vanilla extract (or Meyer limoncello if you have it!)

  finely grated zest of 1 large Meyer lemon

4. Add wet to dry, and mix to combine so there are no more dry flour-y patches. Pour into prepared pan.

5. Bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for about another 10-12 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when a toothpick poked in the very center comes out without dough-y goo. Serve warm or at room temperature with lemon curd, Meyer lemon marmalade or strawberry jam!

Store at room temp, sealed in a parchment bag for up to 3 days or freeze.

Spring!

“Is the spring coming?" he said. "What is it like?"... "It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine...” ~Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

We have had a very busy month over here, so I apologize to my readers for taking such a long time to get back in the groove of things. Today is the second day of April and we have showers, but we also have flowers. The highways are starting to brighten up with their annual blanket of Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush. One of the many things I love about Austin is the Spring, as it reminds me of a Monet painting. Out in the backyard we have buds bursting on the Meyer lemon tree again and the bees are busy dancing around the blossoms. Little radishes are popping their heads from the soil to say hello. Bunches of baby lettuces are making there way to salad bowls along with plenty of fresh herbs from the garden.

Whether you have a garden in the back or one in your heart, why not consider sewing some seeds of good health. It will do your soul a world of good, I'm jus’ sayin’!

Gifts of Love

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu

Desmond was certainly on to something when he made that quote. Today is Valentines Day, the day that will either guilt you into buying stock in Hallmark or make your way through a bottle of red on your own. Or perhaps it will just be another day that goes on unnoticed.

As far back as I can remember, my Mom has celebrated Valentines Day. It was particularly important to her to make sure that we always had a special day to honor the gifts that God gave us, to her we were those gifts. Over the years my brothers and I would find ourselves with or without a special valentine in our lives, however, one thing we could always count on was a place-setting at Mom's table. Of course on Valentines day, there would be some little sweet treat wrapped in red tissue paper, a sweet card and a little paper cup filled with conversation hearts. It seems kind of cheesy but it's those sweet gestures we remember from our childhood that form the traditions we have now for our own families. I still do this same tradition with my family dinner even now, but with a little twist.
My husband and I never made it a tradition or habit to go out to eat on Valentine's Day (too expensive in the early years and far to stressful to get reservations). Instead, we started a tradition early on in our marriage where one of us would cook the dinner and the other would make dessert. Each year we would switch and that just became our "thing". My husband is an amazing cook and when he does jump into the kitchen you can bet you will be sitting down to a four star meal. For me, it’s just about the best gift of love there is., when someone pours their love and efforts into a meal. I truly appreciate that my Mom instilled in us at an early age that love comes in the little things that we do daily for one another. Cards and chocolates are sweet but being able to share a meal with the people you love or telling them daily how important they are far exceeds a Hallmark card... I’m jus' sayin'!

Little gifts of candy wrapped in red tissue

You guessed it - I got to make dessert this year. A simple dark chocolate bundt cake with fresh berries.
You can find the recipe here.

12 Days of Meyer - Day 8: Meyer Sponge Pudding

Light as a feather on top with a sweet tart sauce underneath.

This is an old standby that gets the Meyer twist.

Meyer Lemon Sponge Pudding Cake

4 Eggs Separated

1/3 Cup Fresh Squeezed Meyer Lemon Juice
2 Tsp. of Meyer Lemon Zest
1 Tbs. of Butter
1 1/2 Cups of Sugar
1/2 Cup of Sifted Flour
1/2 Tsp. of Salt
1 1/2 Cups of Milk

Preheat oven to 350. 

With a wire whisk attachment on your mixer,  beat the egg whites to a stiff peak, then set aside.  In a bowl, mix the egg yolks, lemon juice, zest, butter and sugar, then add the flour, salt and milk slowly to the mixture. After it is mixed, fold in the egg whites until incorporated. Pour batter into a deep dish or 8x8 pan. Place a pan of hot water in the oven and place the pan with the cake batter in that pan to create a water bath. Bake for 45 minutes. The cake will separate while baking creating a sponge cake on top and a lemon sauce on the bottom. 

Chocolate Pudding Cups

Ahhhh, Summer.  That time of year when you stay up a little later, the dinner hour is rolled back to a more suitable time of the day, and you can sleep in a little longer because your not forced to catch that 8am school bell. You are invited to picnics and swim parties and things just somehow miraculously slow down.  

I tend to slow down in the kitchen as well - oh don't get me wrong, I'm still creating, just not with a hot oven. Instead, I tend to switch gears to quick and easy. Deserts tend to be cool, refrigerated treats or freezer ready cool and tasty.  Dinners are either cooked on the grill or joined up with plenty of fresh local produce. Summer is about taking it easy so I tend to do the same in the kitchen as well... I'm jus' sayin'!

Chocolate Pudding Cake Cups
A couple days ago I was asked to swing on over to a friend's house to go swimming. Thinking on my toes to find a quick portable treat, I went back in my recipe memory to one of the very first fancy cake cooking classes I took over 20 years ago.  The class was taught by a former pastry chef and some of the best things I learned from her were the secret things they did in the bakery to use up scraps.  That's where this recipe came from. 

 I first used this recipe in a bakery years ago. When you are leveling your cakes you tend to have that "crumb lid" that gets shaved off. You could eat it, but after a while you may find yourself with your own "lid" around your hips. Instead, we froze those scraps and later created desserts very similar to this one. I had a flop recently in cupcake testing, leaving me with a batch of cupcakes that tasted fine but looked pretty bad.  Instead of throwing them out, I placed them in a freezer bag and tucked them away in the back of my freezer, waiting for an opportunity to use them.

This is all approximate...

In 12 6oz plastic cups layer the following ingredients. (This can also be made in an 8 X 13 inch casserole dish and cut into squares)

Crumble baked cake of your choice (I used chocolate) into the bottom of cups so that each cup is half full of cake. Make your favorite "cooked" pudding (using the large box size that call for 3 cups of milk).  This is the secret - it has to be cooked as cold instant pudding will not meld into the cake as well. 

Pour the cooled, cooked pudding over the cake.  Note that if you are using the little plastic cups, it's important that your pudding is cool so that it won't do this...

If you are using a glass 13x9 inch casserole it does not matter if your pudding is hot. Just pour it all over and spread into the cracks.

At this point you can use freshly whipped cream or if you are in a hurry you can even grab some frozen whipped topping from the freezer section of the grocer. I used a french vanilla flavored topping as I wanted the stability of non-dairy in my delivery. Sprinkle with some chocolate on top and put back into the fridge for an hour or so until you are ready to leave. This is also great for potlucks. You can change up the pudding and cake flavors too. I have used lemon cake and lemon curd with crushed lemon drops on top Mmmmm! Kind of like a trifle but a bit simpler.

“Summer, after all, is a time when wonderful things can happen to quiet people. For those few months, you’re not required to be who everyone thinks you are, and that cut-grass smell in the air and the chance to dive into the deep end of a pool give you a courage you don’t have the rest of the year.  You can be grateful and easy, with no eyes on you, and no past. Summer just opens the door and lets you out.” 
                          ― Deb Caletti, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart