If you think that the name I gave this cake is long, let me assure you that it could have been longer. It almost makes me wish I was the sort of person who could come up with short, cutesy names for my creations, like “Mary Sunshine Cake” or something. Alas, I am not and so we are all stuck with a long name.
Names aside, this is a really good cake. I’ve been thinking about incorporating cornmeal into a cake for some time now but I really wanted to avoid the dense texture that so many cornmeal-heavy cakes have. I wanted to keep a hint of the crumbly, rustic texture that cornmeal offers, though.
This recipe seems to have come out just as I imagined. It has a noticeably different texture from an entirely flour-based cake, but is still very cake-like. The best way I could describe it is to say that there is the tiniest hint of crunch in the crumb. It is moist and very tender, yet isn’t heavy at all. The only thing more that you could want is flavor, and this cake has plenty of that, too.
I used buttermilk to add a bit of richness and a generous amount of lemon zest to get the lemon flavor into the cake. I happened to have some Meyer lemons, but ordinary lemon zest will work perfectly well, too. The only thing is that you really must let it sit, well-wrapped, overnight. If you don’t, the cake will be good, but it will be a bit cornbread-like because the texture will be slightly more coarse on the first day. After sitting overnight, however, it is perfect.
I highly recommend this cake. Try it with blueberries instead of raspberries if you prefer, or for something with a bit more fall flavor (or if you like slightly tart desserts), try using chopped up cranberries.
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One of the first recipes I made on this site was for buttermilk pancakes. The recipe was one I used frequently, probably for years, with only tiny variations as I never really looked at a written recipe when I went to make them. Those pancakes are slightly thicker a puffier, although still tender and not too heavy.
This new recipe is why it sometimes pays to experiment a bit and no just stick with the same old thing, no matter how good the original was.
When I started on this recipe I thought that I wanted to make pancakes that would be slightly thinner and lighter than my standard, without going all the way to the crepe end of the spectrum. I used more liquid and omitted the baking powder, which gave the first cakes an extra lift during cooking. These turned out to be a bit thinner, but it was the texture that was the real difference. They are lighter and more tender than the original and where you can eat only a few of those cakes, you can have a whole pile of these (if you’re so inclined). They have a lot of buttermilk flavor, so there is no real need to add a lot of butter to the batter, though a bit on top of the cakes as you’re eating them wouldn’t hurt!
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If you have ever even considered applying the word “chocoholic” to yourself, you simply must make these cookies. They are the ultimate in chocolate sandwich cookie-ness.
They start with fairly thin chocolate cookies that come out of the oven slightly crisp at the edges, due to their thickness (or lack thereof), and have a chewy, chocolaty center. The cookies are rather like thin brownies and have an intense taste that doesn’t get overwhelming because they are thin. And they are loaded up with chocolate chunks of varying sizes, too.
The filling is basically the topping I used the other day to finish off a cinnamon cake. I added a bit of vanilla to it to round the flavor out ever so slightly. As it cools and solidifies, it melds with the outside cookies, producing an incredibly chocolaty treat that just cries out for a big glass of milk.
The cookies themselves are very easy to make and the only thing to keep in mind is that they will spread a lot. Use a teaspoon or a rounded teaspoon (yes, the actual measuring utensil) to divide up the dough. Try to chop the chocolate chunks relatively finely or use mini chocolate chips to get an even distribution of them.
Again, I can’t really overstate the necessity of having a glass of milk nearby when you try one. You’ll need it.
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