Come With Me

A cake recipe, a farmer's market and the woman who changed my life

Today’s the day I promised you. A cake recipe, and some nostalgia to go with it.

I recall when I first considered baking as a profession. At that point, I was obsessed with baking cakes from scratch. I binged recipes and Food Network, living for cake and buttercream. While I spent a lot of time researching recipes, I had not created my own yet.

This was years ago so at that time Pinterest didn’t exist. I printed everything out, or cut them out of magazines, and organized them neatly into folders. The old-fashioned way to “pin”. I then spent considerable time comparing the components of the recipes to determine the similarities and differences. (I still have all my research by the way).

Finally, I decided to force myself to create a recipe from scratch. What could go wrong?

Little did I know my life was about to change dramatically.

I entered a cupcake contest sponsored by Scharffen Berger, the chocolate maker. The rules required entry of unique creations using “adventure ingredients” from a curated list, along with Scharffen Berger chocolate. The ingredients were not unique on their own, but as cake ingredients they were definitely different. They included black beans, lavender, bee pollen, Sumatra coffee, coconut, and such.

I tested five wildly different cupcakes, each more unhinged than the last. A chocolate orange cupcake with coconut cream filling and orange buttercream; a Mexican chocolate cupcake made with black beans and topped with a coconut lime frosting; another Mexican chocolate cupcake but this one topped with a cinnamon mocha buttercream using Sumatra coffee; a chocolate lavender cupcake filled with caramel, dipped in ganache and topped with fleur de sel (my favorite); and finally, a honey lime spice cupcake topped with chocolate cream cheese and bee pollen.

I took inspiration from everywhere: cereals, candies, even cocktails.

I ultimately entered the chocolate lavender cupcake. While it didn’t win, it did later become a menu item at my bakery.

The contest sparked my creativity and my love affair with cupcakes. That little contest transformed me from recipe follower to recipe creator. I had no idea how easy, and fun, it was to be so creative.

My formal career at the time relied on facts, not creativity. Of course, a small amount of creativity was required to sway one’s arguments about how to interpret the facts. That’s about it. I believe that many lawyers burn out because too much emphasis is on the left side of our brains. Artistic creativity was foreign to me, but it seems it was what I needed all along.

That contest also opened my world up to the richness of gourmet chocolate and the beauty of adding unique ingredients to it. It’s not difficult to follow trends, like chocolate and peanut butter. That’s an easy one to love. In fact, there have been plenty of nights when I ate a scoop of peanut butter dotted with chocolate chips at midnight.

But I am referring to non-ordinary combinations: like lavender and chocolate, apple butter and caramel, beets and wheatberries.

Speaking of which, beets remind me of my farmer’s market days.

Some time after the contest, I was attending yoga class, when I met Connie. I often brought cupcakes to class, because in those days I gave cupcakes to everyone. My yoga class was in the basement of Connie’s restaurant, and my yoga instructor insisted that I should meet her.

Talk about serendipity. Meeting Connie changed the course of my life.

At first, I was simply in awe of her. Afterall, her restaurant made the dessert I was eating at a festival when I went into labor with my middle child. After my water broke, I sat down on the curb and refused to go to the hospital until after I finished my apple cobbler with maple cream.

Also, her restaurant was the one my boss took me to on my first day of work.

As it happened, Connie was the most down to earth, welcoming person I had ever met. She also ran the local farmer’s market.

When Connie encouraged me to sell my cupcakes at the farmer’s market, I was hesitant. I had never been to the local market, nor did I consider myself professional enough to sell anything. It was simply a passionate hobby.

Connie basically took my hand and led me through everything I needed to know to exist in the world of food. I learned about farmer’s markets, selling food professionally and navigating local rules. She introduced me to chefs and customers alike.

Thus began my professional baking journey.

I have so many stories about my farmer’s markets days that I could fill a book. Being surrounded by fresh, local food helped to stir creativity further, and instilled in me the truth that quality matters.

Most people who shop at the markets never get the stories behind the food. Those stories are gold.

The farmer’s market is where I met my friends, Eric and Krista, who were just starting their entrepreneurial journey themselves as coffee roasters. I learned so much about coffee that I never knew, and it became a key ingredient in creating a moist devil’s food cake.

It’s where I met Bob the egg man. A gym teacher during the week, he spent his weekends selling his free range duck and chicken eggs. I’ve cracked enough eggs in my day to understand the difference between a good egg and a bad one.

It’s where I met my friend Sue, who designs jewelry. This past summer she made necklaces with crystals from her mother’s wedding veil, and I am happy to own one.

The markets are where I learned about fresh bread, organic vegetables and homemade soap. And yes, there were locally grown beets that resulted in a WheatBeet cupcake that became a staple on the menu by customer demand.

If none of that happened, I would not be me today. I believe that. The experience was an unexpected detour that added layered richness to my life in so many ways.

So the world needs more Connies. It needs people who are going to take your hand, pull you forward and say “come with me”.

In a world filled with people who don’t want to leave their homes, talk to each other or even offer a smile, I try to be more like Connie.

The first holiday after I closed the shop, it was Connie’s kitchen I used to bake Thanksgiving pie orders. She had been ill, so I gave her daughter a pie to take home to her. She text me, “oh my gosh, my favorite pie in the world. . .thank you so much. . .love you”.

I didn’t know then that would be the last time I talked to my friend. She died ten days later.

I haven’t been the same since Connie died. Nor has the world, quite honestly. I miss her words of encouragement. She was such a bright light in an often dark place. Connie was so unserious. She didn’t worry or stress about things, the way I tend to. She simply commiserated with me, as my friend. She laughed more than she cried. I suppose it’s also why I didn’t know she was as sick as she was.

After she died I learned that she had a prominent engineering career that she left to join her husband in the restaurant business. Funny, we had never talked about that, but now I understand our deep and immediate connection, and Connie’s support of the career changers at the farmer’s market.

I approach farmer’s markets differently now. I try to get to know the people behind the product. The food, and their makers, hold very rich stories that are worthy to learn. The passionate and ambitious entrepreneurs remind me so much of myself.

The cake recipe below carries all of that with it—creativity, generosity, and the people who pulled me forward before I knew I was ready. I hope you enjoy it.

When I started to create my own cake recipes, I set out to develop my own best recipe for every flavor that I would feature on a menu, along with unique flavors you don’t find elsewhere. This happened to include the creation of what we called, The Sugar Tap, a menu of alcohol infused cupcakes.

We had over a dozen wonderful flavors on the Sugar Tap menu. Rum and Coke, Tall Black Russian, White Russian, Champagne, Strawberry Chardonnay, Beer and Pretzels. We even had a Chambord cupcake. But my favorite was the very first one—the Chocolate Blackberry Syrah.

It was a flavor that became incredibly popular, and quite honestly, helped us immediately stand out. We were doing wedding shows before we had a shop, and this flavor was the one we always featured, and the one that had everyone fawning over our cupcakes. Of course, it was back when cupcakes were still a thing.

However, this wine infused cupcake was tedious to make for a busy and growing bakery kitchen. It has many components, and wine can be very expensive. So eventually it left the menu as time went on, much to everyone’s dismay.

I want to stress how good this cupcake is, despite the fact it has many steps. Like, really good. If you get the chance to make it, you should. I would serve these cupcakes at a special dinner or cocktail party. They pair well with wine and small bites.

Also, don’t forget that cupcakes are simply little cakes. You can turn this recipe into a larger cake if you’d like by doubling the recipe. My favorite way to make these is as mini cupcakes, which are the perfect size to hold a juicy blackberry.

Chocolate Blackberry Syrah Cupcakes

Ingredients:

CAKE

• 1/2 C unsalted butter, softened (1 stick)

• 1 C granulated sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 1/4 C all purpose flour

• 1/4 t baking powder

• 1/2 t baking soda

• 1/2 t salt

• 1/2 C good quality cocoa powder*

• 1 t vanilla

• 2 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate*, melted

• 1/2 C syrah wine

• 1/2 C sour cream

Instructions:

1. Cream butter and sugar together.

2. While butter and sugar are creaming, sift together all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder).

3. Crack eggs into a small bowl, add vanilla. Add egg mixture to creamed butter and sugar.

4. Slowly add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with wine.

5. Stop mixer. Gently stir in melted chocolate and sour cream until the last traces of sour cream are gone, scraping bottom of mixing bowl.

6. Scoop with a cupcake scoop into paper liners in a cupcake pan.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15 to 20 minutes for full size cupcakes, slightly less for mini cupcakes.

8. This recipe renders approximately a dozen cupcakes. If you are baking a cake instead, double the recipe to have enough batter.

FILLING

• 5 oz good quality bittersweet chocolate

• 1/2 C heavy whipping cream

• 1 t vanilla

Instructions:

1. Place chocolate in small bowl. I like to use a stainless steel or ceramic bowl.

2. Heat cream to near boiling. Pour over top of chocolate chips.

3. Don’t stir yet. Wait a full five minutes to begin stirring with a whisk.

4. When all the chocolate is melted, stirred and glossy, add in the vanilla.

5. The longer ganache sits, the harder it gets. Heat gently to loosen as needed.

6. Use the ganache to fill the middle of the cupcake after they have been baked. To do this, core the cupcake after it has cooled and scoop a little bit of the ganache into the center.

FROSTING

• 8 oz unsalted butter (two sticks), softened

• 3 -4 C sifted powdered sugar

• 1/2 T vanilla

• Blackberry/Wine reduction

Instructions:

1. Place butter in mixer and allow to mix with the paddle attachment for at least five minutes. The butter should be very whipped.

2. Add in powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating several minutes after each addition.

3. Add in vanilla.

4. The key to good buttercream is not more ingredients, but how well you whip the butter and sugar together.

5. Stop mixer. Stir in desired amount of the blackberry/wine reduction with a spatula.

6. Use the frosting to top the cupcakes after they have been filled.

BLACKBERRY/WINE REDUCTION

• a handful of blackberries to cover the bottom of a small saucepan

• 1 C syrah wine

Instructions:

1. Place ingredients in pan. Bring to a gentle simmer.

2. Simmer to reduce the wine down by half. Gently press the berries with a fork to release their juices.

3. Turn off the heat and allow to come to room temperature.

4. Strain the mixture to remove the berries and seeds.

BLACKBERRY TOPPERS

• Fresh blackberries

• granulated sugar

Instructions:

1. Wash and dry berries.

2. Roll berries in sugar to coat with sugar.

3. Place on top of frosted cupcakes.

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