The summer season at Lake Tahoe lasted 13 weekends this year, and we managed to soak up an impressive 11 of them.  We’d sneak out of work a little early on Friday and shoot up the mountain ahead of the evening crush.  We stayed in cheap motels, a few decent condos and occasionally at a swanky cabin owned by one of my coworkers.  But it never much mattered where we were staying because our days were spent on that breathtaking, sparkling expanse of blue water.  Every morning, we’d pack our boat with a picnic and a little wine, smear ourselves with sunscreen and set out for a long relaxing day of sunshine and total, decadent inactivity.

At the beginning of the summer, we’d often get out there and I’d wonder, in a moment of panic, what in the world will we do all day?  I’m so used to juggling tasks and busying myself with work and errands that the idea of sitting on a boat with only a book and a stack of magazines to distract me seemed a little daunting.

But it’s amazing how quickly you slow down when you have nowhere to go and nothing to do.  By the end of the season, I was so accustomed to the whole routine of nothingness that the day would sometimes seem to pass in the blink of an eye.  As the season wore on, the sun would start to sink toward the west shore just a little earlier each evening.  And we knew it all had to come to an end.

Indeed, the weather turns quickly at 6,500 feet elevation.  Last weekend, with a tear in our eyes, we pulled the boat out of the water and towed it down the hill for winter storage Reno.

We’ll always have pictures to remember the summer by, and surely next summer will be here before we know it.  In the meantime, I’ll have more time for baking and cooking now that we’re spending more time at home.

Just this week I made almond butter cookies one evening while Moe watched football in the living room.  Shorter days… football… cookies in the oven.  A new season begins.

Chewy Almond Butter Cookies

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy almond butter
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Preheat the oven to 375.  Grease two cookie sheets.

Cream the butter, almond butter and sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and vanilla until fully incorporated.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl.  Add to the butter mixture and beat just until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Drop batter by the tablespoonful and flatten slightly with the back of a fork.  Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of turbinado sugar and bake 7-9 minutes for soft, chewy cookies, 9-11 minutes for denser cookies.

Serve warm.  Cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to four days.

We ended up with a large bag of cherries after we hit the farm stands on our way back from Yosemite a few weeks ago which frankly weren’t so great after about the third day.  The weather turned warm here in San Francisco all of a sudden and the cherries got a little  soft and squishy sitting out on the countertop… I’m one of those people who loves cherries but only when they’re super firm and sweet.  What to do with not-so-great fresh cherries?  Bake a pie!  But instead of one large pie, I went for these petite pies.  They have a higher proportion of crust to fruit (and who doesn’t love a little more crust?) and they pack well for a picnic or hike.  Cherry season won’t last long, but you can substitute sliced plums or apricots (and the corresponding dried fruit) later in the summer.  Enjoy!

Cherry petite pies

1 ½ tablespoon corn starch
2 cups fresh cherries, rinsed, stemmed and pitted*
2/3 cup dried cherries
1 tablespoon cherry liqueur
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 14-oz package frozen all-butter puff pastry
Flour, for dusting
1 large egg white
1 ½ teaspoon raw (turbinado) sugar

Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.  Stir cornstarch into 1 ½ tablespoons cold water in a small bowl and stir with a fork until cornstarch is fully absorbed.  Combine fresh cherries, dried cherries, liqueur, sugar and vanilla in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the cherries release their juices.  (You can gently mash the cherries with the back of a wooden spoon as they cook to encourage this process.)  Stir in cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, stir in lemon zest, and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to an 18×15 inch rectangle.  Using a sharp knife, cut dough into nine 6×5 inch rectangles.  Whisk egg white with 1 tbsp cold water in a small bowl to make an egg wash.  Set egg wash aside.

Working with one pastry rectangle at a time, place on a work surface and brush edges with egg wash using a small pastry brush.  Scoop three tablespoons cooled cherry filling onto one side.  Fold dough over the filling so the short ends meet.  Press edges together with fingertips then crimp and seal with the tines of a fork.  Using a paring knife, cut a few slits into the top of the pie to create vents, then transfer to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pastry rectangles and filling.  Brush each pie with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Chill assembled pies for 30 minutes. While they are chilling, preheat oven to 375F  and bake pastries until tops are flaky and golden brown, 30-40 minutes.  Let cool for 10 minutes on baking sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Note: I don’t generally push kitchen gadgets, but a cherry pitter is an especially helpful tool for this recipe and any recipe calling for fresh cherries.  You can pick one up for less than $10.

Is there any part of the title of this post that sounds in any way unappealing?  Chocolate?  Honey?  Caramel?  Cookies?  If there is anyone on this planet who does not like any one of those four words, please make yourself known immediately.

I find it difficult to believe such a person exists.

Indeed these cookies are little gems of deliciousness.  They’re more like little pieces of candy than cookie — sweet buttery caramel sandwiched between tender rounds of chocolate shortbread.

Oh yes.

You’ll need a few pieces of special equipment for this one, and a little bravery in the sugar-boiling and candy-making departments.  Gather up your candy thermometer (that’s a cooking thermometer that reads temperatures up to 400F, like this one), some parchment paper (available near the tin foil and plastic wrap in your local grocery store) and some small round cookie cutters (1 inch and 1.5-inch rounds, to be exact.)

This is going to be fun!  Make a batch and package them up in little boxes or colorful baggies for the holidays.  Your friends will love you.

(I mean I’m sure they already love you.  But they will love you more.)

Chocolate Honey Caramel Cookies

Make the caramel:

2 tablespoons melted butter, for greasing
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature, cut into cubes

Use a pastry brush to coat an 8x8x2-inch baking dish with the melted butter.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, and grease that with butter as well.  Set baking dish aside.

Combine the sugar, cream, honey, and corn syrup in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan.  Stir gently over medium heat just until the sugar melts.  Stop stirring immediately and increase the heat to high.  Boil on high for 8-12 minutes until a candy thermometer reaches exactly 250F.  Remove from heat and stir in the butter cubes and vanilla extract.  Pour the caramel into the prepared baking dish and set aside to cool.  Once cool, transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 20 minutes.

Make the cookies:

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Combine the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.  Beat the sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or with a handheld mixer) until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice.  Beat in the dry ingredients just until combined.  Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap or parchment paper.  Chill in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Remove dough from the refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Use the 1.5-inch cookie cutters to cut disks out of the dough.  Transfer to the prepared sheets, spacing 1 inch apart.  Press the scraps together and reroll until all the dough is used.

Bake cookies just until set, about 9-11 minutes.  Carefully slide the entire parchment sheet (cookies and all) onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Assemble the cookies:

Use the 1-inch round cookie cutter to cut small disks from the chilled caramel, twisting the cutter gently to loosen each disk from the parchment as you work.  (Beware, the caramel is sticky and becomes stickier as it warms, so you’ll need to work quickly.  Greasing your hands and the cookie cutter works wonders.)  Sandwich the caramel rounds between the cooled cookies, placing a caramel on the flat side of one cookie and then placing another cookie on top, flat side down.  Press gently to adhere.

Transfer the finished cookies to an airtight container, then to the refrigerator, as you work.  Note that if the room is warm, the caramel will get too soft and “spill” out from the sides of the cookies.  So find a cool space and work in small batches. Once assembled, the cookies can be placed in paper candy cups (think See’s candies, check your kitchen supply store or here), stacked in threes, and then wrapped in tissue and ribbon.

No, I didn’t just sneeze.  Pflaumenkuchen is German for plum cake (pflaumen = plum, kuchen = cake) and this may be my new favorite dessert.  I discovered it via my friend Marc, who is indeed German.  I asked him one day,

“What is the German food you miss most?”

I fully expected him to say something about beer or bratwurst.

No.

He said “Pflaumenkuchen.”

And I said…

“Wha?”

He translated.   We looked it up.  I studied a handful of recipes and came up with this one, which is really not much more than a tender coffee cake with sliced plums arranged on top.  But it’s better than that.  It’s divine!  The cake is moist and the plums make it just a tiny bit gooey on top.  But in a totally good way.

I say it’s fair game for breakfast or dessert.  For dessert, serve it with whipped cream.

Oh, what the heck.  Serve it with whipped cream for breakfast, too.  Why not?

Pflaumenkuchen
(German Plum Cake)

Here it is, the pie I made earlier this week with apples picked at Heidi and Jason’s Wondrous, Magical Wedding in Santa Cruz.  I ended up taking this pie to my office after I photographed it, and you can see what happened to it by scrolling all the way to the bottom of this post.

Make the Flaky Cream Cheese Pie Crust:

12 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 3/4 inch cubes
2 cup bleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
4.5 ounces cold cream cheese, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons ice water
1 tablespoon cider vinegar

Chill the butter cubes and dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder) in the freezer for 20 minutes before you begin.

Place the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade.  Pulse a few times until mixed. Add the cold cream cheese cubes and process until the mixture resembles meal.  Add the frozen butter and pulse until the butter is the size of small peas.  Add the water and vinegar, pulse again until incorporated.

Transfer the mixture to a large freezer bag and press it together with your hands until it forms a dough.  Leave the dough in the bag and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for at least 45 minutes.

Prepare the Apple Filling:

2 1/2 pounds crisp, flavorful apples (Jonathon, Fuji, or Granny Smith are good ones)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon corn starch

Peel and core the apples, then slice them 1/8 inch thick. Toss them in a large bowl with the lemon juice, sugars, nutmeg and salt.  Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to three hours.  Strain the macerated apples using a collandar suspended over a bowl; you should collect at least 1/2 cup of juices.  Transfer the drained apples back to the large bowl and toss with the corn starch until all traces of the starch have disappeared.  Set the apples aside.

Transfer the juices to a small saucepan and cook on the stovetop over medium heat with the butter.  Bring to a boil and reduce by half.  The juices will be concentrated and syrupy.  Pour the concentrated juices over the apples.  If the syrup hardens on contact with the apples, do not worry.  It will soften again during baking.

Assemble the pie:

Prepared pie dough
Prepared apples
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/4 cup apricot preserves, melted and strained

Preheat the oven to 425F.

Remove the chilled pie dough from the refrigerator.  Roll two thirds of it into a 12-inch disc on a lightly floured nonstick surface.  Trim the edges so it’s a (near) perfect circle, reserving any scraps.  Carefully transfer the disc to a 9-inch pie plate, tuck the edges under, and crimp the edge gently with your fingertips.  The edge should exceed the rim of pie plate by about 1/2 inch.  Refrigerate while you make the decorative leaves.

Roll the remaining dough (scraps and remaining 1/3 of the original recipe) into another, smaller disc.  Use a cookie cutter to cut leaves that will decorate the rim of the pie.  (Alternatively, you can cut them out by hand.) Use a paring knife to gently press “veins” into the leaves. Place them on a platter lined with parchment or waxed paper and transfer them to the refrigerator.

Remove the chilled bottom crust from the refrigerator and line with parchment paper, then fill with pie weights, dried beans, or rice.  (Pie weights help to ensure that an empty crust does not shrink or slide down the sides of the pie plate during baking.)  Bake for 20 minutes, then carefully remove the pie weights and parchment.  Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork three or four times, then continue to bake 3-5 minutes more, until the crust is a light golden brown.  Remove the crust from the oven and allow to cool.  Brush with 1/2 egg white, lightly beaten.

Arrange the apple slices in the bottom crust in overlapping, concentric circles, working from the outside in until all slices have been used.  Pour any remaining juices over the apples.  Dot the apples with the unsalted butter.  Arrange the chilled “leaves” around the perimeter of the pie, adhering them to the bottom crust with drops of water.  Place the assembled pie in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes to allow the pastry to rest.  (This will maintain flakiness.) Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425F.

Remove the pie from the refrigerator and use a pastry brush to brush the pastry leaves and any exposed crust with the lightly beaten egg.  Bake the pie for 15 minutes uncovered, then cover it loosely with tinfoil.  Cut 2-3 vents in the tin foil to allow steam to escape.  Bake for another 45-50 minutes, or until the apples are tender but not too soft and the crust is golden brown.  Cool slightly, then brush the apples with the melted preserves.

Serve warm or at room temperature.  (With vanilla ice cream of course!)  Put it on the kitchen table at your office, and this is what it should look like in about 15 minutes flat:

Well I’ve finally gotten my head out of the show-biz clouds and I’m back to the ol’ bump and grind.  My TV pilot is in editing now and there’s nothing for me to do except sit and wait.  It’s killing me to be idle, but I know the editing team is working their magic on the more than 24 hours of film we shot for a 23 minute episode.  Isn’t that crazy?!  That’s a helluva lot of footage. I know it’s going to be great.

So I’m back at work (oh yeah, still have that day job) and making time for all the fun things I enjoy: hitting the farmers markets a few days a week, taking care of my vegetable garden, and doing some road biking in the early mornings.  I suffered a running injury over Fourth of July weekend, so I made the plunge on a spiffy new Specialized.  I love the wind on my face and being able to cover such great distances in a short amount of time.  I’m seeing more of my neighborhood (the whole city, actually) than I could ever see before on foot.

And I’m spending more time with friends than ever.  With school behind me and the pilot wrapped up, I’m loving leisurely dinners at some of my favorite spots in the Bay Area.  I had a fabulous dinner with two of my closest girlfriends earlier this week at Farina in the Mission.  It was a farewell meal for my friend Richa, who is off to trek in Nepal for a month.  She is a brave, adventurous girl with a big heart and a strong spirit; We were missing her before the meal even ended.  We had tender house-made pasta and a bottle of spectacular red wine, Occhipinti SP68, which is bottled by the beautiful 28-year-old Sicilian winemaker, Ariana Occhipinti.  (Here’s her website, if you happen to read Italian.) The woman herself will be at Farina next Tuesday for a special wine dinner in Celebration of SF Natural Wine Week and I’ve already made a reservation.  Come join if you’re in the Bay Area!

And of course I’m cooking and baking a lot.  I’ve been having squash with almost every meal because I seem to have planted the world’s most prolific squash plant this year.  (And squash is a pretty prolific crop to begin with, as you may know already if you’ve ever grown one.)  And I’m baking a lot, mostly cobblers and pies because I buy too much fruit at the farmer’s markets and I hate throwing it away.

Which leads me to the Best Fruit Cobbler Ever recipe and the story of Berk.  Berk is a colleague of mine, a Turkish-born software engineer who knows his sweets — he always brings delicious little candies and desserts back from Turkey when he goes home to visit his parents.  And when his mother comes to visit him here, she bakes decadent homemade goods that Berk brings in to share with all of us.  But Berk is also a man of few words.  And that is why, after I brought this cobbler into the office a few weeks ago, it seemed notable that Berk stopped me in the hallway to tell me it was the best fruit cobbler he had ever had.

The BEST.  Ever.

Those were his words.

Try it for yourself and let me know if you agree.

Filling

8 cups pitted and sliced stone fruit*
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
grated zest and juice of one lemon

Crust
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature

To prepare the filling, combine the sugar, flour, and lemon zest in a small bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Place the sliced fruit into a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice.  Sift the flour mixture over the fruit and stir gently with a wooden spoon until no white flour remains.

Grease an 11 by 9 by 3 inch baking dish with cooking spray.  Pour fruit filling into dish and set aside.

To prepare the crust, mix together the flour, 1/4 of the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  Whisk to combine thoroughly.

Combine the buttermilk and melted butter in a separate bowl and whisk to combine.

Slow add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture and stir to form a soft dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes or until the dough is firm enough to roll.

While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 375F.

With lightly floured hands turn the dough onto a clean, lightly floured work surface and roll into a 12- to 14-inch round, about 1/4 inch thick.

Using a sharp knife and a ruler or straight edge, cut strips of dough and arrange them over the cobbler in an alternating basket-weave pattern, leaving 1-inch gaps for steam to escape. Trim any long ends even  with the edge of the baking dish.

Brush the strips with egg wash (I egg beaten lightly with 1 tablespoon water), sprinkle with turbinado sugar, bake for 40 to 45 mins until fruit is bubbly and the top is golden brown.

*Peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, blueberries, or any combination of the above work great.  You can peel the fruit if you wish by dunking it in simmering water and removing it with a slotted spoon after 60-90 seconds.  The skins should just peel off once the fruit is cooled.  Note that apricot skin is so delicate, there’s really no need to bother.  And if you’re using blueberries (as I did in the photo) they just go in whole.

This photo pretty much sums up my weekend… beautiful, relaxing, and a tad bit decadent.  Saturday morning I hit the Grand-Lake farmer’s market and loaded up on all kinds of edible treasures I didn’t really need but simply couldn’t resist: cherries, strawberries, apricots, eggs, herbs, green kale, garlic, turnips, lavender honey, and a loaf of mushroom-potato flatbread.  Just as I was wondering what I was going to do with all that food, my friend Yvonne called and asked if  I was free to get together.  Sure! I said.  C’mon over for brunch tomorrow.

Meanwhile, I had the rest of Saturday all to myself with no plans whatsoever.  I finished graduate school five weeks ago and I’m still not quite accustomed to the stillness of my school-free weekends.  But I’m working hard at adjusting: I spent the rest of the day on the couch with a book.  I’m halfway through a riveting piece of historical fiction, The Help, which fills me with utter dismay one moment and unbounded hope the next.  It’s hard to believe that less than fifty years ago folks in Mississippi were building separate bathrooms—outdoors—for their African American housekeepers because they thought it unsanitary to share a toilet.  And yet it’s painfully, painfully true.

Saturday night I had the pleasure of attending a dinner party with some of my Wharton classmates at our friend Prasad’s house in Fremont.  You’ve never seen such a fabulous home!  It must be 5000 square feet and his lovely wife Risha has filled it with some incredible pieces of artwork and sculpture.  But in traditional Indian style, dinner wasn’t served until after 10pm, so it was a late night.  I stumbled into my apartment (which suddenly felt very much like a shoebox) well past midnight.

This morning, by some small miracle, I got myself out of bed for an early run and then put together a pretty fantastic spread with Saturday’s farmer’s market bounty.  Yvonne and I feasted at my breakfast counter and got lost in conversation for a good couple of hours.  But when she left, I realized I had forgotten the apricots: There they were still in a paper bag tucked behind some cookbooks on the counter.

And so I thumbed through the June issue of Martha Stewart Living, and lo and behold… there was a recipe for apricots in all their luscious, golden glory: Almond-Apricot Tart.

I think I’m legal in printing the recipe here because I’ve modified it just a bit.  The original version yielded too much filling, so I pared it down.  I also think whipped cream needs a little sugar and vanilla when it’s paired with uncooked, unsweetened fruit, so I added both.  But you can leave it unsweetened if you prefer.

Still, you should pick up a copy of the magazine, not only for this recipe but because it’s filled with all kinds of other fun things this month: Some lovely photography of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, some great recipes for summertime libations, and a fun piece on collecting antique citrus juicers.  I know we all love to hate Martha, but she really does publish a beautiful magazine.

Make the Crust

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup blanched almonds, toasted*
4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1 large egg yolk
Pinch of salt

Pulse the almonds and flour in a food processor and set aside.  Beat butter and confectioner’s sugar with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add flour mixture, yolk, and the salt.  Mix until the dough comes together, then turn out into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.  Using the heel of your hand or the bottom of a lightly greased drinking glass, press the dough over the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan.  Refrigerate one hour.

Make the Filling

6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons Myers rum
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325F.  Heat the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat until browned, about 3-4 minutes.  Remove from heat and allow to cool at least 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, beat the yolks, corn syrup, and brown sugar in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the browned butter, scraping the bottom of the pan to get all the browned solids.  Add the rum, cream and vanilla and continue to beat until smooth.

Remove the tart shell from the refrigerator and pour the filling into it.  Bake until the crust is golden and the filling is just barely set in the middle, about 40 minutes.  Allow to cool on a rack.

Prepare the Topping

6 medium firm-ripe apricots, pitted and sliced thinly
2 cups heavy cream, cold
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Arrange the apricots in concentric circles, starting at the outside edge, until the surface of the tart filling is covered.  Beat the cold cream with the sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.  Serve each wedge of the tart with a dollop of whipped cream.  (Note, the apricots will start to turn brown within 30 minutes, so you’ll want to assemble this tart as close to serving time as possible.  If you must make it a few hours ahead, brush the apricots with melted, strained apricot jelly to “seal” them, then cover with plastic wrap.)

*To toast the almonds, spread them in a single layer over a cookie sheet and toast in a 325F oven for 5-10 minutes, stirring them with a wooden spoon every two minutes.  Alternatively, you can toss them gently in a hot, un-greased cast iron skillet over a medium-high flame.  Be careful not to let them burn.  Allow to cool completely before using.

Oh — and while we’re on the subject of the berries, let me just point out my own little food styling misjudgment: In the photo (if you look closely… really closely… zoom in if you have to) you can see that I dusted the berries with a bit of powdered sugar.  But… you know what?  I don’t really like that idea.  Fresh berries are beautiful just as they are.  I say, resist the temptation to dust them or drizzle them or do whatever it is you are thinking of doing to them.  Just leave them be.

Before you begin, you might want to read about making the chocolate band enclosure in “Valentine’s Chocolate Ruffle Cake.”  It’s messy but fun!  And I’m telling you, once you learn how to do this you will want to wrap everything in chocolate.

Make the Cake Layers:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons freshly brewed coffee

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Butter two eight-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until fully whipped and light in color.  (This will take 3-5 minutes.)  Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until incorporated.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee.  With the mixer on low speed, add the flour and buttermilk mixtures to the butter mixture in alternating 1/3 batches, starting with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture.  Mix the batter until fully blended.

Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a spatula.  Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until the centers spring back when pressed lightly.  Cool for 10 minutes on a rack, then remove from pans and allow to finish cooling.

Make the Buttercream:

10 ounces bittersweet chocolate
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
4 egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
pinch cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pound unsalted butter, cool room temperature
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder, dissolved in 1 teaspoon water
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 tablespoons dark rum (optional)

Chop the chocolates and melt in a bowl over simmering water until smooth.  Allow to cool.

Mix the egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk.  Heat the egg whites in the bowl over simmering water until they are warm to the touch, about 5 minutes.  Whisk on high speed for 5 minutes, or until the meringue is cool and holds a stiff peak.

Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, while beating on medium speed.  Scrape down the bowl, add the chocolate, vanilla, espresso, and rum and mix for 1 minute or until the chocolate is completely blended in.  If the buttercream seems very soft, allow it to cool and beat it again.

Assemble the Cake:

Divide each cake into two layers horizontally using a sharp serrated knife.  Attach the bottom layer to an 8-inch cardboard round with a dollop of buttercream.  Spread more buttercream over the top of the base layer, then top with another cake layer.  Continue until all four cake layers are stacked evenly. Spread buttercream over the top and sides of the cake.

To wrap the cake in a chocolate band (as pictured) follow the directions here for “Valentine’s Chocolate Ruffle Cake.”  Be sure your chocolate band is at least 1/4 inch taller than the height of the finished cake.

Finish the cake with a layer of fresh raspberries, arranging the berries in concentric circles starting at the outside edge of the cake.

Note, you may also wish to use raspberries between the cake layers, but only if you are serving the cake on the same day.  Otherwise, the berries may break down and become soggy inside the cake.  Raspberries are very fragile!

I wish I still had that winning recipe.  It was from a recipe book compiled by the PTA moms at my elementary school and sold as a fund-raising tool, not the kind of thing you could easily find reprinted for sale on Amazon.com these days.  If any of my classmates from Sleepy Hollow Elementary (or their mothers) out there still has a copy stashed away somewhere, I will pay top dollar for it.

Meyer lemons are in season right now, and in my neighborhood they are hanging off their branches in heavy clusters.  One family down the street puts a fresh crop out in a straw basket on the sidewalk every Saturday, free for the taking.  The lemons I used in this recipe were picked just days ago, and their freshness adds a magical zing to these bars.  Meyer lemons have a thinner skin than those year-round varieties you find in the grocery store, which is why you can chop one up—skin and all—and throw it into the curd in this recipe.

Pansies are blooming now, too, and this pretty pink one is from the flower pot outside my front door.  Pansies and their cousins, violas, make lovely garnishes, as long as they haven’t been sprayed with a pesticide or other chemicals.  Grow your own to be sure.

Make the Crust

Butter, for coating the pan
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Make the Filling

1 whole Meyer lemon
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
Juice from 3 Meyer lemons (you should get about 1/2 cup juice)
Powdered sugar for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Coat the bottom and sides of an 8×8-inch baking dish with a thin film of cold butter. In a food processor, pulse flour, powdered sugar, salt and zest until combined. Add the butter and pulse until mixture resembles sandy crumbs. (If you don’t have a food processor, mix flour through zest in a medium bowl with a whisk, then cut in butter with a pastry cutter or two knives.) The dough should resemble course meal. Transfer to a baking dish and press into an even layer with your fingertips, or use the bottom of a greased jar or ramekin. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edges.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

To make the filling, clean the food processor bowl and return it to the base. Trim off ends and cut the whole Meyer lemon into small chunks, removing the seeds. Add to the processor and pulse until roughly chopped. Set aside.

Whisk together the sugar, flour and salt. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then whisk in the lemon juice. Whisk the egg mixture into the sugar mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chopped whole lemon. Pour the  filling over the hot crust and return to the oven.

Bake 28 to 30 minutes, or until center is set but still gooey when poked with a toothpick. Cool completely. Sift powdered sugar (if using) over the dish. Cut into 12 or 16 bars and serve.

Store covered, at room temperature, for up to 48 hours.