Wishing for Summer

Well okay, my NordicWare shortcake pan isn't new, I got it for Christmas. I used it for the first time last week when a friend came over for dinner. I apologized because I used a boxed cake mix as a base for dessert. I do keep boxed cake mix in the house for emergencies like this and for cake decorating practice. It's not even the kind of mix that uses butter! (If I had time to soften butter for cake mix, I could make a cake from scratch.)

Anyway, now it's time to give my shortcake pan it's due. I decided to use the recipe that came with the pan. I have also purchased a second shortcake pan because I want to be able to use a regular cake recipe for this (one pan holds about three cups of batter.) You can freeze the extra cakes and your dining emergencies won't really be emergencies.

Let's knock out the batter. The directions suggested that I dump everything into a bowl and mix. I decided to take a more traditional approach. I creamed the butter and sugar first. Since I was working with a small amount of batter, I used my hand mixer, Sparkle.

I added the egg and alternately added the flour and milk (I used buttermilk.)

Fill the cups 3/4 full and bake. Here's the deal. I followed the recipe (with the exception of substituting buttermilk for milk) and I portioned the batter out properly (or so I thought). Why then do I have these misshapen cakes?

I pulled the excess from the cakes while they were in the pan. I tried to slice the bottoms off some. Pulling the extra off worked much better.

The scraps made an excellent snack!

My last complaint is that I can't get good browning in this pan. This is my second attempt, and the cakes are very light, yet done according to the toothpick test. When you look at the cakes on the packaging, they are perfectly browned and you can see the decoration from the pan. I promise I will cook until they are brown the next time. I think a pound cake batter might work better too.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Pop the cakes out and cool on a wire rack.

Here's the fun part: fill and eat! I scored some blueberries, blackberries and Trader Joe's lemon curd. I already had the whipped cream. To assemble, add a couple of tablespoons of lemon curd to each cake and nestle the berries in the curd. Top with whipped cream.

Isn't it cute? And yes, it tastes as good as it looks. It's 37 degrees right now. This is as close as I can get to sitting out on the balcony in the warm sun with a good book and a big glass of sweet tea! June needs to get here quickly.

Tools of the trade:

• KitchenAid Hand Mixer
• NordicWare Shortcake Baskets Pan

Christmas Morning

It's 3:47 Christmas morning. My pound cake has been in the oven for a little over 30 minutes and I think I'm sleep walking or sleep blogging. The cake is a do-over. When the efficient, energetic me got in yesterday after two rounds at Target, a trip to the bank and Home Depot after a 5 a.m. rise to make dressing and sweet potato pie after having stood on my feet for four hours welcoming Christmas shoppers the night before -- I set the oven to 200 degrees. ( How's that for Faulkneresque?) Two hours later, I wondered why I didn't smell cake throughout the house. After adjusting the temp, it still didn't come out right. Since it was for someone else's Christmas dinner, I had to make it again.

This is the most requested thing I make. It's not baked crack like Cakeman Raven's red velvet cake in Brooklyn, but it is the best damn pound cake I've ever had. It is unbelievably moist with this crust that just gets better the next day. I thought about getting the new Nordic Ware Anniversary Bundt pan for it, but it would ruin the crust to serve it upside down. I might get the pan anyway. Who am I kidding? Of course I'm getting the pan. I haven't made a Bundt cake since high school.

I digress. People have tried to recreate my pound cake because I won't give out the recipe. The funny thing is, I'm not even a big pound cake fan. Give me a cake with some icing. I only bake this cake for others.

I sit here now half dazed, not quite sleepy enough to go back to bed and not awake enough to really cook anything else. The last time I tried to cook in this state, I got a little too careless with my knife skills. I know the next items on the docket should be the red velvet cupcakes and dinner rolls, but they will have to wait. I think I'll watch A Christmas Story.

I haven't completely figured out my own Christmas menu. I have a Cornish hen and lots of fresh veggies: Brussels sprouts, potatoes, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, beets and butternut squash. I'm not quite sure about what I want to eat or how to prepare it.

Back to the cake:

I cream the butter and sugar forever. I use the time to gather the other ingredients and prep the pan.



Each egg is fully incorporated before adding the next one.



This is a no-holds-barred pound cake. Look at how thick the batter is! I've seen recipes that have called for cake flour instead of AP. If you want a lighter cake, make a different type. This is one tradition I will not break.



The batter is four pounds! It won't move unless you move it.



Look at the top.


Heaven in your mouth!
Tools of the trade:

• KitchenAid Stand Mixer
• NordicWare Angel Food Pan