Our community is under a lot of distress right now. Hurricane Harvey may be gone but what is left behind is beyond description. I’m sure all of you have seen on the news images of houses and entire neighborhoods completely flooded. But now that the waters have receded and people started working on their homes, what you see is even worse: row after row of front lawns filled with debris from drywalls, insulation, floors, bathtubs, furniture, cabinets…. everything is out on the front yards, all damaged and unrepairable. It will take months for these people to have a home again, for the local stores to open, even our high school will be closed this entire school year. I read this blog post this morning that best describes ~in a few words and with many pictures ~ the situation in Houston before, during and after Hurricane Harvey.
Thank you to all who reached out, concerned about us, thank you for your thoughts and prayers. Our house had only minor damage, but it is difficult to go on when you know that so many people are less fortunate.
To cheer things up a bit, I’m baking a cake this morning. A very easy and very different one. Heavy cream is used, here, in lieu of regular shortening or butter. I found the recipe on a Greek food blog this summer, but it actually comes from this renown baker, author of many cookbooks and award winner – you will enjoy browsing through her blog posts. I followed the recipe to the letter, but I omitted the salt, as I always do when I bake sweets. I’m transferring the recipe with less details, but it is worth taking a look at the original recipe as you will find many more useful tips.
The cake is delicious and moist with such a refined and delicate taste that makes you want to serve it with your most elegant china and silverware. It turns to be a little petite in size, but a thin slice is all you need.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour, sifted into the cup and leveled
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups cold heavy cream
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons superfine sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Lightly coat a fluted metal tube pan with baking spray and flour – I used a10-inch Bundt pan.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, the baking powder and the salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, lightly whisk the eggs and the vanilla until combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks are formed.
- On medium-high speed, add gradually the egg mixture into the heavy/whipped cream – the mixture will have a mayonnaise-like consistency.
- Gradually add the the sugar.
- Add half the flour mixture and stir. Detach the bowl and the whisk beater from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to fold the remaining flour mixture, little by little at a time, until well incorporated into the batter.
- Transfer the batter into the pan and bake for 25-35 minutes. It is best to set the timer at 25 minutes and check with a toothpick every 3-4 minutes to avoid over baking.
- Transfer onto a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Loosen the edges and invert. Let cool completely before serving.
