Category Archives: Fruit

Uncomplicated Fruit-Topped Yellow Cake

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May Day, May Day, come in…

Blueberries in trouble…

Need life-raft to keep them afloat…

Do you copy?

Indeed, this simple cake bears the name of “Uncomplicated Fruit-Topped Yellow Cake.” But I had a slight, uh, complication.

Oh, nothing major. Just a case of sinking blueberries. Not as dire as what happened to the Titanic, that’s for sure. But still, a little annoying.

After all, when the cake is described as “fruit-topped,” you figure the fruit will stay, well, on top.

Not in the case of these berries. But next time, I’ll just be sure to toss them in a little flour before adding them to the batter, even if the original recipe didn’t call for that step. And there will be a next time. Aside for the berries’ losing struggle to stay afloat, this cake was perfect. Tender, moist, like a giant blueberry muffin, actually.

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Time for Cake, Cheese & Sorbet

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The cakes:

As in cupcakes, whoopie cakes and other classic cakes you’ll find at the new SusieCakes bakery, which has opened its first San Francisco location in the Marina district, a short hop from the Hilton at Fisherman’s Wharf.

This marks the second branch of the Los Angeles bakery, which has opened up North. The first one debuted in January in Greenbrae in Marin County.

The new Marina bakery will celebrate its grand opening on June 26, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., with an old-fashioned sock hop, featuring ’50s tunes, kids activities, a costume contest, tasty treats, and prizes, including a raffle for a one-year membership in the SusieCakes “Cake of the Month” club.

The cheese:

Have you spotted these adorable truncated 1966 VW buses done up to resemble baby loaves of Tillamook cheddar?

My hubby actually saw one recently and had to do a double-take. See for yourself as Tillamook’s “Love Tour” continues through June 25 in the Bay Area.

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Three Cheers for Cherries

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At this time of year, who can’t get enough of those glorious little sweet orbs that crunch and squirt fuchsia-hued juice everywhere when you bite into them?

Luckily for me, I have CJ Olson Cherries in my hood. The charming fruit stand in Sunnyvale is a testament to times past, when the shopping center now surrounding it was instead lush cherry orchards. Those trees may be gone now, but the stand, which has been family-run there since 1899, remains the place to buy cherries.

When I stopped by a week ago, there were close to half a dozen varieties to choose from, including those lovely rosy-yellow Rainiers. But which to bake with? That was the question on my mind. The helpful clerk suggested the classic Bing, because it’s what Olson’s uses in its famous cherry pies that are so flaky, buttery and bursting with fruit that you simply can’t say “no” to a slice or two or three.

The Bing, he advised, has a quite crisp exterior, which helps it keep its shape better when baked. It also has a more complex flavor with almost a wine-y quality, which will give any baked good a lot more depth and nuance.

I toted home my bag of deep burgundy-colored cherries and set to work with my handy-dandy pitter.

They were destined for a special treat — “Cherry Focaccia with Rosemary.”

I took an original recipe for “Red Grape Focaccia”  from the October 2006 issue of Cuisine at Home magazine, only I swapped out the grapes for cherries instead.

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My May-December Romance

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Don’t start blushing and getting worked up into a state of shock.

This is no confession about any affair with a much younger or older man.

Instead, it’s my declaration of my unabashed May-December relationship with fresh cranberries.

The winter holidays come and go in a flash, and with them, those lovely, jewel-like sweet-tart berries that we gorge on in sauce, chutney, breads, scones and cakes only at that time of year.

But months later, even as the days grew sunnier and warmer, I end up missing them, even longing desperately for them.

So I do what the food editors of Sunset magazine do. Because of their crazy far-in-advance deadlines, they often find themselves having to test cranberry recipes in the summer. So, they got to stashing bags of fresh cranberries in the freezer for months on end. I decided to do the same and haven’t looked back since.

The beauty of this is that my lode of cranberries I put in the freezer in December can be pulled out later in May to enjoy in such treats as this “Cranberry Coffee Cake” from the December 2009 issue of Cuisine at Home magazine.

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