Blackberry Chocolate Upside Down Cake

In his book “Still Life With Woodpecker,” Tom Robbins describes the rampant growth of blackberry canes in the Pacific Northwest.  In fact, the book’s hero and heroine retire to a house that becomes completely engulfed in them.   They cut tunnels through the canes in order to come and go.

Blackberries have the same rampant growth habit here on Vancouver Island.  Every vacant lot, un-mown field, or untraveled pathway rapidly yields to them.  They seem to spring up from nowhere.

In fact, Himilayan blackberries – the kind that grow with such vigour here – are not a native plant.  They are classed as an invasive species. 

Invasive they are: propagating from seeds dropped by the birds and animals that feed on them, and also by sprouting roots wherever their runners touch the ground.  A single blackberry bush can become huge; a vast sprawling mass of tangled brambles.  

Every year at this time, the blackberries yield up their fruit.  Literally tons of purple-black berries grow here; enough to feed the wildlife and still provide a bountiful harvest for those who care to take the time to pick them.  This time of year finds roadsides, fence lines, and fields busy with pickers, all hard at work harvesting this seasonal bonanza.

The fruit is not easily obtained:  Both the blackberry’s canes and its leaves are defended by strong, recurved thorns that, once hooked on to something, can be very difficult to pull free. 

The berries on the outside of a blackberry bush – those receiving the most sun and the least moisture – are apt to be smaller and drier than those in the center of the bush.  Successful berry picking usually requires working at least some distance into the bush by cutting away or breaking the outer canes.  Even when armed with pruning shears, gloves, long sleeves, sturdy trousers, and protective footwear, a berry picker is likely to return home with at least a few gashes and scrapes to show for their effort.  

Perhaps because it’s so hard won, the fruit from these brambles tastes wonderful. 

We went berry picking last weekend.  In past years, we’ve harvested pounds and pounds of blackberries for the freezer, but we eat fewer of them now.  I have diverticulitis and can’t digest the seeds. Now most of our harvest is made into jellies, vinegars, coulis, and agua fresca.  My husband loves the berries fresh, with cream, though and will also happily eat any baked good made with them.

Last weekend, we went out armed with buckets and pruners and came home with quite a good quantity of berries.  Gentleman that he is, my fella did the preliminary cutting and hacking into the canes, making way for me to follow and pick the lower branches while he picked the berries that were beyond my reach.  

As thanks for his gentlemanly conduct my poor husband came home with several deep scratches and gashes.  Since he had made such a valiant effort on my behalf, I wanted to bake him something special by way of thanks. 

While casting around for ideas, I came across a recipe for Upside Down Pear Chocolate Cake from Epicurious.  I’d printed it out a couple of summers ago and have had great success with it.  Blackberries and chocolate pair well together, I thought.  Why not try making this cake using some of the berries we’d picked?

Sometimes an idea works out even better than you expect it to:  The cake smelled so good that I risked a small piece for myself and I’ve got to tell you, this combination is pure genius.  (No one said I was humble! ;)  Seriously though:  If you have blackberries in your area, you need to try this.  It’s so good!

Begin by generously buttering an 8-inch square pan.

Next you’ll need to make a caramel.  In a heavy bottomed saucepan that has lots of room for it to boil, combine:

• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup water

Bring the water and sugar to a full boil.

Put the lid on the pot and let the mixture continue boiling for about two minutes.  The condensation from the boiling water will wash down the sides of the pan, helping to prevent your caramel from crystallizing.

Remove the lid from the pot and continue boiling the sugar mixture hard, until the water evaporates and you’re left with just the melted sugar. 

Continue cooking the sugar until it begins to turn amber. 

Don’t stir the pot.  If you need to move the liquid about to distribute the heat more evenly, pick the pan up by the handle and swirl the contents carefully.  This stuff is kitchen napalm.  You don’t want to get it on your skin.

Once the sugar begins to darken, don’t take your eyes off it.  The line between beautiful amber caramel and burnt sugar is a very fine one; just a matter of a few seconds.

When the caramel is the colour you want it to be, pour it carefully into the bottom of the buttered cake pan.  Let it rest until it cools and hardens.

When the caramel has hardened, you're ready to make the cake batter.  You’ll need:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk

Melt the butter and chocolate together.  I do this in the microwave heating and stirring in 20 second intervals until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

Mix in the sugar. 

The Epicurious recipe says to do this with a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, and to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.  I prefer to mix my cakes by hand – it helps to prevent over-mixing – and have yet to achieve anything resembling light and fluffy when combining butter, chocolate and sugar.  My cakes turn out fine, regardless.

Once the sugar has been incorporated, mix in the eggs – one at a time – and the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add about a third of the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture and stir until the flour mixture has been incorporated.  

Add about half the milk and mix again.  

Continue alternating and mixing in the flour mixture and milk, finishing with the last third of the flour mixture.  Try not to over-mix the batter.

Once the batter has been prepared, arrange a single layer of berries on top of the hardened caramel in the cake pan.

Pour the batter over the berries, spreading it gently into an even layer.

Bake the cake on the middle rack of a pre-heated 350F oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until the cake bounces back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into the cake at an angle comes out almost dry, with just a few crumbs clinging to it.

Cool the cake in the pan, on a wire rack, for 15 minutes, then invert it onto a cake plate, leaving the pan in place for an additional 5 minutes.

Either my cake cooled more quickly than expected or I accidentally left it for a few minutes too long.  Whatever the reason, some of the caramel didn’t release from the pan.  I didn’t want to waste it so, while it was still malleable, I scooped it from the pan with a fork, bent it into a few twists, and transferred it to a piece of parchment to cool and harden.

When the cake had rested on the plate for 5 minutes, I removed the pan.  It wasn’t as pretty as an upside down cake made with pear slices but it looked pretty good to me.

I served the cake warm, topped with vanilla ice cream and garnished with pieces of the hardened caramel.

The leftovers were stored in an airtight container.  I can’t really tell you how long this recipe will keep because my husband polished off the whole cake (less my small piece) in two days. 

Yes.  It was that good.
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This post is linked to Gallery of Favorites hosted by Premeditated Leftovers and The 21st Century Housewife, to The Pity Party hosted by Thirty Handmade Days, to Foodie Friday hosted by Rattlebridge Farm, to Strut Your Stuff Saturday hosted by Six Sisters' Stuff, to Weekend Potluck hosted by Sunflower Supper Club, to Think Pink Sunday hosted by Flamingo Toes, to Scrumptious Sunday hosted by Addicted to Recipes, to Must Try Mondays hosted by My Favorite Finds, to Makin' You Crave Monday hosted by Mrs. Happy Homemaker, to Craft-O-Maniac Monday hosted by Craft-O-Maniac, to Busy Monday hosted by A Pinch of Joy, to Manic Monday hosted by Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen, to Mix It Up Monday hosted by Flour Me With Love, to the Tuesday To Do Party hosted by The Blackberry Vine, to Delicious Dish Tuesday hosted by Mama Chocolate, Full Time Mama, and Coping with Frugality, to Whatcha Whipped Up Wednesday hosted by DJ's Sugar Shack, to Cast Party Wednesday hosted by Lady Behind the Curtain, to Look What I Made! hosted by Creations by Kara, to Wonderful Wednesdays hosted by Printabelle, to Thursday's Treasures hosted by Recipes for My Boys and Chocolate, Chocolate and More, to Tastetastic Thursdays hosted by A Little Nosh, to Recipe Round Up hosted by Goosberry Patch, and to Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miss Helen's Country Cottage.

 

 

 

 

 






      

 


 

  

Salmon Stuffed Cucumber Slices

One of the very best things about social media is the ease with which we can share creative ideas.  I particularly enjoy Facebook and Pinterest for this.  They’re a constant source of information and inspiration to me.  Sometimes, though, things don’t turn out exactly as I hope they will. 

Like everyone who tries lots of new projects, I have my share of failures.  When they happen, I look back at the process and make an assessment.  Is it worth trying again?  Or is it simply an idea that’s not right for me and should be set aside? 

I don’t often share my failed attempts with my readers but, when a failure can be turned into a success it seems worthwhile to share the process.  I figure folks already know I’m human and therefore bound to mess up from time to time, and it’s important to realize the value in learning from my mistakes.  Maybe if someone sees that I can occasionally pull success from failure, they’ll be inspired to try again too.

A couple of weeks ago, one of my Facebook friends, Celeine Sandlin, shared a good idea on Aunt B’s Kitchen:   She hollows out cucumber, stuffs it with salmon, and then slices the cucumber into individual portions.  

Her dish sounded both simple to make and very tasty so I decided to give it a try.

Here are the ingredients I started with:

• An English cucumber
• 1 tin of sockeye salmon
• A tub of herb and garlic flavoured spreadable cream cheese
• Red onion
• Red bell pepper

Since I was in the mood to try something new, I decided to try a garnishing idea too:  

Somewhere on Pinterest (I can’t recollect exactly where) I’d seen some very pretty cucumber rounds that had little notches carved through the skin.  The notches were, apparently, made by drawing a fork down the length of the cucumber so that the fork’s tines cut through the peel.

Simple enough, right?

Um...Not so much.

I drew a fork down the length of the cucumber but, although the tines did pierce the skin, there were no pretty little notches left behind.  Instead, I ended up with some crooked gashes down the length of the cucumber, edged with ragged bits of peel.

Since the fork didn’t work and the cucumber was already fairly messy I decided to see if the pointed tip of my vegetable peeler would do a better job.  I drew it down some of the grooves already made by the fork.  It was more visible but also even more messy and ragged. 

Clearly those Pinterest folk knew something I didn’t!

I had only one cucumber and suppertime was drawing near.  There was no time to go to the store for another cucumber and clearly I couldn’t glue in the pieces I’d scraped away.  I got out my paring knife and cut around the damage.  The resulting groove was tidier, but V-shaped and quite deep.

(Click on the image for a larger view.  You'll see my knife cut at the top, 

fork grooves in the middle, 

and the mess my peeler made at the bottom.)

Oh well. 

I forged on.

It seemed to me that it would be easier to cut thick slices of cucumber and then hollow out each slice individually so that’s what I did.  The grooves I cut to repair my garnishing experiment were so deep that when I removed the seeds from the centers of the cucumber slices they barely held together.

They were useable though so I continued on.

I cut both the onion and the pepper into a find dice then I put the salmon and vegetables in a bowl, and mixed them together.  

I mixed in about a third of my container of cream cheese, adjusted the seasoning with a little salt and pepper, then spooned the filling into the prepared slices.  They looked like this:

In the fairy tale land of pretty hors d’oeuvres my salmon stuffed cucumber slices might have been the ugly step sisters, but they were edible so we had them for dinner.

The flavour of the finished slices was acceptable but a little bland, and the moisture from the cucumber watered down the filling.  In this first incarnation they weren't a dish I would make again, but I had some of the salmon mixture left over and I liked the idea well enough to think it worth a second attempt.

I picked up a cucumber on my way home from work the next day and tried my project again.

This time, I cut my slices and hollowed them out, then used a sharp knife with a long thin blade to cut away thin strips of peel from the each slice, leaving alternating strips of light cucumber flesh and dark cucumber peel.

Still not perfect, but far better than my previous attempt.

I salted the cucumber slices fairly liberally and then placed them on a kitchen towel to drain for about an hour. 

While the cucumber slices were draining, I amended the salmon mixture.  I added in some additional onion, some chopped fresh dill, and a dash of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce.  That pepped things up a bit!

When the cucumbers had drained, I patted them dry with the kitchen towel and then spooned the stuffing into them.  I garnished each slice with a sprig of dill.

The second attempt was worth the effort.  These salmon stuffed cucumber slices were far prettier than the first ones.  The cucumbers still had good texture, and their flavour benefitted from the extra salt.  The filling was less watery and had a more appealing taste.

They disappeared from the plate in no time. 

I’m sure my third attempt will be even better.  

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This post is linked to the Hearth and Soul Blog Hop hosted by The 21st Century Housewife, Premeditated Leftovers, Zesty South Indian Kitchen, Penniless Parenting, Elsa Cooks, and Savoring Today, to Keep it Real Thursday hosted by Beyond the Peel, to Foodie Friends Friday hosted by Not Your Ordinary Recipes, to Foodie Friends Linky Party hosted by Walking on Sunshine, Busy Vegetarian Mom, Robyn’s View,  A lil Country Sugar, Everything in the Kitchen Sink, From Calculus to Cupcakes, This and That,  Family Food Finds, Cindys Recipes and Writings, Luscious Delights, Spatulas on Parade, Chef Picky Kid, to Gallery of Favourites hosted by The 21st Century Housewife and Premeditated Leftovers, to The Pity Party hosted by Thirty Handmade Days, to Foodie Friday hosted by Rattlebridge Farm, 

 

 

What We Ate August 6 - 12

The local farm markets are full to bursting with beautiful produce.  My friends are giving me gifts from their orchards and gardens.  Wild fruit is growing in abundance.  The salmon are running and my fisherman friends are sharing their catch. 

You’d think that we’d eat more healthily at this time of year than any other, but often that’s not the case.  With my canner going for hours and the weather being so warm, I’m often ill inclined to turn my hand to meal preparation.  Take out is never so appealing to me as it is during the hot days of August, and making a meal of potato chips straight from the bag – never considered in the wintertime – can seem a perfectly reasonable alternative.

This year we’re trying hard to avoid buying take out and striving to eat proper meals, even on days when our scheduling’s crazy or it’s too darned hot to cook.  Quick and easy is often still the order of the day but, all in all, I think we’ve done pretty well this past week.

Here’s what we ate:

Monday, August 6:

• Breakfast – Homemade yogurt and fresh cherries
• Supper – Farmstead waffles topped with eggs scrambled with onions, bell peppers, and onion, roasted cherry tomatoes

Tuesday, August 7:

• Breakfast – Cheddar corn muffins, apple jelly, oranges
• Supper – A salad of red leaf lettuce, shredded carrot, shredded beet, red onion, and chick peas, served with homemade ranch dressing.  Peanut butter cookies for dessert

Wednesday, August 8:

• Breakfast – Five Little Chefs' egg in a hole grilled cheese sandwiches, oranges
• Supper – Ground beef and onions in beer gravy over brown rice, steamed broccoli and carrots, applesauce and vanilla ice cream

Thursday, August 9:

• Breakfast – Yogurt, granola, and peach parfaits
• Supper – Fish sticks, potato salad, carrot sticks, bell pepper spears, radishes, cantaloupe

Friday, August 10:

• Breakfast – Poached eggs on toast
• Supper – Brats on the barbecue, foil wrapped yams cooked on the barbecue, slaw of red cabbage, red onion, and carrot in an herb vinaigrette, apple crisp

Saturday, August 11:

• Breakfast – Leftover apple crisp and yogurt
• Supper – Homemade flat bread, feta tzatziki, grilled asparagus, tomatoes and bell peppers tossed together in a red wine vinaigrette

Sunday, August 12:

• Breakfast – Peanut butter and banana sandwiches on wholewheat bread
• Supper – Twice baked potatoes stuffed with chili style beans (from a tin) and topped with grated mozzarella, a slaw of shredded carrot, shredded yellow zucchini, and finely juilienned radish, tossed in homemade ranch dressing

Cherry Oatmeal Muffins

When I canned my sweet cherry pie filling, one of the jars didn’t seal.  I used the contents of the unsealed jar to make these muffins.

This recipe actually originates with my husband, who came up with it a few months ago while treating me to breakfast in bed.  I liked them so much that I asked him to teach me how to make them.

Cherry Oatmeal Muffins aren’t the prettiest muffins you'll ever make, but they have lovely flavour and they bake up with a pleasant crisp outer crust.  We like to eat them with cream cheese, brie or camembert, or with a creamy chevre. 

To make Cherry Oatmeal Muffins, you’ll need:

• 1 pint jar (just over 1-1/2 cups) of sweet cherry pie filling.  (If you don’t have this, commercially canned pie filling can be substituted.)
• 1 cup canola or other neutrally flavoured oil
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• almond extract (I measure this into the cap of the extract bottle and use 1 capful.  It’s probably about 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon.)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups all purpose flour (You can substitute up to 1 cup of whole wheat flour here if you want to)
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine the pie filling, oil, sugar, and almond extract in a large bowl.  Beat the eggs and add them in too.  Stir until well combined.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the pie filling mixture and stir just until the ingredients are combined.

Portion the muffin batter into oiled muffin pans.  (I got 18 muffins out of this batch.)

Bake the muffins at 350F for about 25 minutes, until they’re browned and spring back lightly to the touch. 

Because the sugar in these muffins caramelizes and can have a tendency to over-brown, you may want to turn the oven off at 20 minutes and let the muffins finish baking in the residual heat.

Cherry Oatmeal Muffins can be served either warm or at room temperature.  They will keep two or three days if stored in an airtight container.  They freeze well.

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This post is linked to Gallery of Favorites hosted by Premeditated Leftovers and The 21st Century Housewife, the Pity Party hosted by Thirty Handmade Days, to Foodie Friday hosted by Rattlebridge Farm, to Strut Your Stuff Saturdays at Six Sisters' Stuff, to Weekend Potluck hosted by Sunflower Supper Club, to Scrumptious Sunday hosted by Addicted to Recipes, to Makin' You Crave Monday hosted by Mrs. Happy Homemaker, to Busy Monday hosted by A Pinch of Joy,