on projects

On Sunday Cub invited me to help bottle some of the wine that had been fermenting in their basement since the end of last summer, basically since they got the house. I had already poached some chickens that morning for dinner that night and destickered a decent amount of glassware for an upcoming project. I was on a roll and ready to figure this out. We got through a few cases, troubleshooting a little and laughing a lot. And spilling wine. Even though it was really my first afternoon with Cub’s wines, pushing the cork into the bottle felt like a small pat on the back. I had forgotten about “projects” and I wanted another one right away.

cork station

Waking up the next day I remember an abandoned project, started in October(?) of last year inspired by apple season. It was to become “someone that offers you cake”. Which is a little bit because I am “someone that offers you wine”, another type of person I chose to become a few years ago. Making the conscious move from asking for a bottle of wine that I wouldn’t mind drinking in a hot room or sharing with someone I don’t necessarily like to buying three bottles at a time for no apparent reason at all. Just to have on hand, in case someone came over, in case I wanted a glass while in the studio working on another kind of project, in case I couldn’t imagine the future. Wine and cake can be gentle mood enhancers, can be taken together, and an excess gives me a stomach ache.

So here I am trying to offer you cake now. I’ve never been a baker, if anything that’s my sister’s job in our family. But I do have a strong idea about the type of cake I want to know how to make. It is a simple cake you could have for breakfast (if you are European, I am not), after lunch, or after dinner. It can be dressed up a bit for a fancy dessert but is also delicious on its own. Ideally I’d like to make 5 or 6 of these cakes, appropriate for different seasons. Something that might inspire a comment like, “Oh Emily’s bringing that cake of hers”. Like you would already know what it was and were excited to have it again. Right now I have two and a half and they are all basically a secret. This is the half, an almond cake from Dorie Greenspan’s book Baking Chez Moi. It is the half because I’ve already counted torta caprese in my repertoire, a similar cake but with chocolate and butter or milk as well. You need fourish ingredients to make Dorie’s. It doesn’t need anything more but one reason I chose it and not the torta caprese is because this would be nice with some cooked fruit. Raspberries, apricots, and peaches come to mind immediately. I didn’t have any at home but I did have some preserved strawberries with lemon.

embracing the wip

Dorie Greenspan’s “Plain and Simple” Almond Cake

5 large eggs, separated, at room temperature

200 grams (1 cup) sugar

Salt

200 grams (2 cups) almond flour

something to grease the pan, I used butter

*Dorie also uses vanilla extract but I don’t think you have to

1. Preheat oven to 325, spread your almond flour out onto a baking sheet covered with parchment and toast for 5 minutes. You can skip this but I did it.
2. After the flour comes out of the oven raise the temperature to 350.
3. Grease a 9” round pan and put parchment paper on the bottom then grease that too.
4. Whisk the egg yolks and all but 2 tablespoons of the sugar together until the mixture becomes light in color and thickens.
5. In a stand mixer or with an electric hand mixer in a separate bowl whip the egg whites with a good pinch of salt until they turn opaque. Then add the reserved sugar and whip until the whites hold medium peaks (not too stiff).
6. Scrape on quarter of the whites into the yolk mixture and mix together to lighten.
7. Add the rest of the egg whites, one half of the almond flour, and fold together, this does not need to be thoroughly mixed at this point.
8. Add the rest of the almond flour and mix until homogeneous.
9. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and tap gently so it settles across.
10. Put in the oven for 33-38 minutes, turning after 20. It should be golden and springy to the touch when finished.
11. Let rest for 5 minutes then remove gently from the pan. Serve with fresh or cooked fruit or a sprinkling of powdered sugar.

with yogurt and strawberry lemon preserves for a friend (the point of cake)

I wanted to say that it was easier to become a person that always had wine but I don’t know. That one is an issue of simply spending money vs. learning a skill but it’s not really the case. Sharing wine, wine time, takes practice too. To feel the way that I wanted to feel doing it and I wanted people to feel partaking in my house. I think I’m still working on that, shifting your person is always time consuming. I did pick some wines from the shop that I would be happy to open any time and would be perfect to have stashed away in a closet because yes, I value always having wine on hand.

pantry wines, in the spirit of any time cake:

Complemen’ Terre NoLem $29

Domaine Bobinet Poil de Lièvre $27

Gazzetta Bianco Misticanza $33

Les Petites Mises Ping Pong $32

wine from Simon Busser $20-22 (we have one in store and some others too, happy to bring you some just ask @rainbow_wines)

ONE LAST NOTE: We are closed Saturday 9/11 because Cub is getting married that day.