I’ve made a lot of special cakes to celebrate birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, births, and even cakes simply for cake’s sake, but this cake was particularly exciting because it was for Neil Gaiman. What kind of cake to make for a world renowned writer with a delightfully dark, mind-bogglingly creative style? Just as I began to ponder this, the message that it needed to be a gluten-free was delivered. My excitement crumbled into a pile of dread, fear and bewilderment.

Chocolate Cake with Rum Chestnut Cream for Neil Gaiman

I have no experience with gluten-free baking and don’t even know the fundamentals behind this niche specialty. Though I was acutely aware of the real possibility of turning out a terrible cake, I wasn’t about to let this happen. I have an extensive tribe of food-obsessed friends and social media acquaintances and a handful of them are gluten-free specialists, so I started clicking around on their blogs to see what I could learn.

It was a post by Jeanne Sauvage, author of the blog Art of Gluten-Free Baking, about how she developed her Gluten-Free Flour Mix that made me think I could in fact pull this off. She is someone who loves baking as much as I do and shares the philosophy that baked goods are treats that should taste good rather than be healthy. I knew I was on the right track. Working with a fabulous chocolate cupcake recipe I’d just developed, I gave Jeanne’s gluten-free flour mix a try. What do you know? The gluten-free cake tasted great. Though the flavor was spot-on, I thought I could improve the texture by swapping out the brown rice flour for potato flour which has a smoother texture. Bingo! A little fiddling with the butter and oil ratios, which had more to do with converting a cupcake recipe into a layer cake than anything to do with the gluten-freeness of it, and I had Neil’s gluten-free birthday cake recipe. Drawing flavor inspiration from Dorie Greenspan’s Chocolate Caramel Chestnut Cake and Francois Payard’s Ardéchois with Chestnut Cream cake, the remaining elements fell in place.

Chocolate Cake with Rum Chestnut Cream and Chocolate Ganache

Each layer of rich chocolate cake, three in total, got a splash of rum simple syrup and sandwiched a blanket of chestnut cream gently spiked with more rum for good measure. Stacked one upon the next, the three layers of cake and two cushions of cream were cloaked in dark chocolate ganache. Resting on a cake stand, the cloaked layers of cake and cream appear to be nothing more than a large puck of chocolate. Uniform in color and texture the appearance is unassuming as if to convey there is nothing of interest to see here, so please move along.

Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer

A few years ago we got into the habit of feeding Amanda Palmer and her accompanying musicians and performers whenever she happened to be performing in Seattle. In January of this year she married Neil Gaiman and the two of them put together a show and set off on a six-show West coast tour ending in Seattle. It was essentially a mashup of music and readings from the two of them that delighted all who were lucky enough to catch it. A few weeks prior we learned that Neil’s birthday was the day after the Seattle show and that Amanda wanted to present him with a cake on stage. So, one birthday cake was added to the catering menu and I started to ponder various design options. One glance at their tour poster, however, and I had my décor plan for the cake.

The show poster on my backstage pass

As life seems to go, this big project fell in a week packed with other activities and responsibilities. Though I managed to get started on the gum paste work early in the week, I didn’t have the luxury of being able to re-do things once I crested the gum paste learning curve. My infrequent gum paste encounters require me to revisit the entire learning curve each time. Of course if I remade the décor again this week, it would be 100% easier and better. I might even avoid dumping an entire container of gold luster dust on my left shoe and the floor. Imperfections be damned. I contend that intention counts for a great deal and the cake was tasty, which counts for even more.

Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer in gum paste

When I was learning to quilt my sister-in-law gave me some sage advice about fretting over mistakes, “If you can’t see it from a moving train, don’t worry about it.” When it comes to making cakes to be presented on stage, I say if you can’t see it from the second balcony, don’t worry about it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbO-yDmhZsE

In addition to the cake appearing on stage, our living room sofa was part of the set and enjoyed center stage for the entire show. Yes, our living room sofa has cushioned the derrieres of Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman and we have the photos to prove it. Being newlyweds, they’re always smooching. We on the other hand have been married for 23 years, but can still smooch like newlyweds.

Just making out next to Neil & Amanda

Happy birthday Neil Gaiman. It was such a pleasure to meet you and bake you a cake.

David, Carol, Neil, Amanda

Recipe link

• Neil Gaiman’s Birthday Cake

Some days I scratch my head bewildered by Twitter as I wonder just how exactly this “next big thing” is adding value to my life and business. Then a tweet will catch my attention and lead me to an interesting news story, a genuine business connection, or inspire me to plan a dinner party.

Pan Roasted Endive, Apple and Grapes

It was a tweet by Pim about the new look of her website, Chez Pim,  that had me clicking on the link to see what she’d been up to. Her world renowned blog had bloomed into a beautiful website.  I began poking around checking out all the nooks and crannies and was immediately drawn to her Dinner @ 8 feature. It’s a step-by-step guide to cooking an entire meal and having it on the table in 3 hours. She’s done all the work, selected a menu, created a grocery list, and most importantly created a timeline for all the prep and cooking tasks to ensure dinner is on the table @ 8. She invites everyone to step up to the challenge and make the meal in 3 hours, and post the results. How could I resist? There are even prizes!

Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan

The first Dinner @ 8 menu comes from Dorie Greenspan’s beautiful new book, Around My French Table: More Than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours. It’s a terrific coincidence that I’ve had this lovely book sitting on my kitchen counter for a couple of months. I’ve made a few recipes from it so far, but hadn’t really dug into it fully. I like to get to know a new book by having a new cookbook dinner party. Guests are invited with the clear understanding that I am trying recipes from a new book, so there is the possibility that we will end up ordering a pizza. So far I’ve not needed the pizza lifeline, but I have had random dishes flat-out fail on occasion. After making 4 or 5 recipes from a book in one shot, a bond of sorts forms and I’ve noticed I tend to reach for these books most often. Pim’s Dinner @ 8 was my chance to get to know Around My French Table.

Béatrix’s Red Kuri Soup

Pim selected a delectable menu of Red Kuri Squash Soup, Chard Stuffed Pork Roast, Pan Roasted Endive Apples and Grapes, and an Apple Cake for dessert. Dinner @ 8 is billed as a step-by-step guide to getting dinner on the table on-time, and it delivers. She provides a grocery list along with a detailed guide of what exactly what needs to be done at what time. The recipes are posted on her site, so you don’t even need to own the book to participate.

Chard stuffed roast pork with roasted endive, apples and grapes

Having people over and even cooking an entire meal from a new cookbook are both familiar activities. The real monkey wrench in this whole Dinner @ 8 thing was doing it in 3 hours. I have friends who will head to the store at 4:00 in the afternoon to get groceries for a dinner they are hosting that night. This nearly causes my brain to short circuit. I’m a planner, I make lists, notes, timelines, flag pages, and I prep. Grocery shop a few days ahead, prewash the veggies, make any sauces, marinades, doughs, or dressings that can be made a day early. I wasn’t worried about actually executing all the tasks in the allotted time because I’m pretty fast in the kitchen and quite accustom to chopping one thing while at the same time sautéing another. I was just very uncomfortable leaving everything to the last minute. I patiently waited until 3 hours before serving time to even unpack my groceries. Though I did spend the morning checking and double checking Pim’s shopping list and time-line instructions – they were perfect.

…and go! I was really chopping at the bit to get cooking.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP2HtkVs54U

The Apple Cake was up first on the to-do list. It’s as simple as it gets as far as cakes go, only requiring a bit of hand mixing.  The original recipe called for rum which I didn’t use. To compensate for leaving out the flavor punch of rum I increased the vanilla by ½ teaspoon, added 2 tablespoons of orange juice to replace some of the liquid, and tossed in ½ teaspoon of freshly ground coriander seeds, ¼ teaspoon of ginger powder, and ¼ teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg. The flavor was fantastic with the spices remaining very subtle so the apples could steal the show. If you are nervous about baking, this is as non-fussy as a cake can be, so fear not.

Marie-Hélène's Apple Cake

One of the things I appreciate most about Dorie’s books are the stories and tips that go along with each recipe. As I was reading about Béatrix’s Red Kuri Soup I learned that the skin of a Red Kuri squash softens enough during cooking to be completely edible. I love to stuff and bake whole Red Kuri squash and never knew this. Not having to peel the squash instantly bumped the red kuri from “favorite” status to “BFF” status.

I had a slight panic when I went to the store the day of my dinner party. It hadn’t occurred to me that they might not have Red Kuri squash. Panic struck when I scanned the squash bin outside the store and saw it was brimming with all kinds of squash, except Red Kuri. Yes, another squash would have been a fine substitute, but I really wanted to see with my own eyes that the skin, once cooked, was soft enough to eat. I headed inside and from the door I spotted one beautiful Red Kuri squash sitting alone below the produce display. I raced for it like it was the last iPad available on some crazy-low loss-leader Black Friday discount. With my hands on the squash of my desires, a surge of happy relief followed the split second dump of adrenaline that occurred the instant I’d spotted it. I looked around and chuckled at my own private drama; no one else in the store was even interested in squash.

What do you know? That squash skin softened up just like Dorie said it would and I blended it right into the soup; another simple and delicious dish complete. The pork loin prep came together quickly and Pim’s plan was working like a charm.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWAg1hwfkLk

This was the moment I was waiting for. Pan roasted grapes. Pan roasted grapes? I couldn’t even make a guess as to what to expect from this dish and had I not read an interview where Dorie was singing the praises of this dish, and had Pim not selected this dish for the menu, I may never have tried it. All I can say is why have I been eating raw grapes all my life?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQIGZnUzyRg

Dinner @ 8 was a stunning success. I learned I don’t need to spend the entire day in the kitchen when I want to invite friends to dinner. The key lies in keeping it simple, not my strong suit, by creating a menu of dishes that will come together quickly and working out the timeline to be sure the longer cooking items are started first. Pim nailed both of these and I’m looking forward to future Dinner @ 8 menus to get more practice with whipping up last-minute dinner parties. I hope you will check out the next Dinner @ 8 and have your own dinner party next month.  I’ll have a full review of Around My French Table posted soon, but the short version is this is a book worth buying. If you want to give it a test drive visit Chez Pim for all of the recipes featured in this Dinner @ 8 menu.

Tuesdays roll around every week like clockwork and I’ve been doing my Tuesday’s with Dorie baking like clockwork, but failing miserably at getting my posts up to share the results. I declare this to be the post that gets me back on track.

First fresh cranberries of the season

The Not-Just-for-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake recipe was selected by Jessica of Singleton in the Kitchen, and features the most glamorous of seasonal ingredients – glistening ruby-red cranberries. Purchasing fresh cranberries when they hit the market each year always evokes feelings of celebration, excitement and the shocking realization that there’s only two months left in the year. At least it’s two months filled with fresh cranberries.

Why I was surprised that this cake actually tasted like shortbread, I’m not sure. The name of the recipe kind of gives it away. It’s just that the dough was more like a cookie dough rather than cake or biscuit so I braced for the unknown. Then, surprise, it tasted just like a little shortcake but with a sweet-tart cranberry twist.

Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake

I baked my cake square to make it easier to cut into bite-sized party pieces. Referencing my high school geometry, I knew an 8″ square pan is roughly the same area as the recommended 9″ round pan. One of the reasons David is great is when I ask him what pi is, he responds 3.1415926. I can never remember past 3.14.

SpiceCare Spice Containers

My spices found their way into this cake even though the recipe didn’t have them on the party list. I added ½ tsp. of ginger powder to the cake portion and added ½ tsp. cinnamon, ¼ tsp. ginger powder, and a handful of chopped pecans to the sugar dusting over the top of the cake. The cranberries didn’t escape untouched because they just take spice so well. I present my Spiced Cranberry Sauce as evidence. In addition to a couple of tablespoons of chopped crystallized ginger I tossed in ½ tsp. of cinnamon and ½ tsp. of overgrind. Overgrind? Ah, my clever catch-all mix of whatever is left over after grinding whole spices. I keep a SpiceCare container labeled as such and anytime I end up with an extra pinch of clove, smidgen of cardamom, dash of allspice, pepper, coriander, or nutmeg, it gets tossed in my Overgrind Mix. I limit the mix to spices that get along well together, which is most of the sweet spices and a few select savories. Often I’ll keep a separate savory overgrind container going as well. I dip into it for an instant flavor kick for pancakes, quick breads, cookies, or whatever seems like it could use a little something extra. It’s fun because the mix is never the same, but it’s always good.

Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake Bites

The thick cranberry center took a long time to cool, but finally I was able to cut them into little bite-sized portions perfect for sharing at a pot luck, or not. After getting my first taste I changed my plans and kept them home. I didn’t want to share, they were too good!  Nothing like starting out the holiday season with a stingy self-centered move. I did share some of my precious little cakes with a few friends the next day, but just couldn’t give them up for the pot luck table.  These make a great holiday cookie, but if you’re planning to take them to a party I would advise having a box of Oreos or something on hand as a back-up plan in case you realize it would be best to leave the Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake at home.

Recipe Link

• Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake

Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours. 151 recipes completed 70 to go!

The coincidence of this week’s recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie corresponding to Dorie Greenspan’s Spice Inspiration feature on TableFare is quite remarkable. Dorie shares her thoughts on her favorite spice, cinnamon, along with the recipe for Cinnamon Squares that showcases the spice perfectly.

Cinnamon Squares is about as easy as a cake recipe can be. You just need a couple of bowls and a good spoon for stirring. This cake is all about the cinnamon, almost 2 tablespoons worth of cinnamon!  Even with such an aggressive quantity of the spice, it doesn’t overwhelm the cake.  Playing along with the cinnamon are some great flavor companions – chocolate and coffee. The frosting is as simple as melting chocolate and butter together and I added a heaping ½ teaspoon of ancho chile powder just to give it a little surprise ending.

The ribbon of filling running through the middle of the cake adds another layer of chocolate flavor and the hint of coffee from the addition of espresso powder. The best part about the filling is it’s just baked right in. No cake layers to work with, just pour half of the batter in the pan, sprinkle on the filling, and top with the rest of the batter. Simple. The cake is tender and moist and the accents of chocolate in the filling and icing make it rich and satisfying.

 I made the cake exactly as written in the recipe, with a “pinch of salt” equating to a scant ½ teaspoon in my world. I used a beautiful Vietnamese cassia (cinnamon), which is known for having a very bold flavor due to the high volatile oil content of this particular variety of cassia.  I was delighted with the end result and expect Cinnamon Squares will be showing up frequently at our house. If you would like to read about the different varieties of cinnamon and how cassia and cinnamon are different visit our Spice Library.

Tracey of Tracey’s Culinary Adventures selected Cinnamon Squares for us to make this week and I applaud her perfectly timely selection that corresponds to cinnamon month here at TableFare.  You can visit her blog for the recipe or find it in our featured recipes section.

Over 350 baking bloggers are baking our way thorough Dorie Greenspan’s book, Baking: From My Home to Yours . 76 recipes completed 145 to go!