Here’s a recipe I love because it is fool-proof. Make a mistake? Just keep going. The first time I made this I misread one ingredient and replaced a half-teaspoon of balsamic vinegar with a tablespoon. It tasted great. Now I always use more vinegar. Cut up fresh fruit and it becomes a kind of clafoutis. A chopped-up bar of good chocolate will work just as well. It is perfect when you realize you promised to bring dessert and then forgot all about it.
Call it Whatever Cake.
Ingredients
- One and one-half cups of fruit sliced or chopped, or pitted cherries, or chopped-up chocolate.
- Three-quarters cup flour
- Three-quarters teaspoon baking powder
- Fat pinch of kosher salt
- One egg at room temperature*
- One-half cup sugar plus an extra tablespoon for the top
- One-fourth teaspoon lemon zest
- One-quarter cup EVOO
- 0ne-quarter cup milk
- 1 tablespoon good balsamic vinegar
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and place an oven thermometer in it to check.
- Brush a 10-inch springform pan with olive oil. Line the bottom with parchment paper and brush the paper with oil. Dust with flour.
- Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
- In a standing mixer beat together the egg, the half-cup of sugar and the lemon zest until the mix becomes fluffy, pale yellow and doubled in volume. Add the olive oil, the milk and the vinegar and beat until thoroughly combined. Fold in the flour mixture.
- Pour the mixture into the pan and add the fruit or chocolate (or both!). If you toss the fruit with sugar first it will extrude less juice.
- Bake 50 minutes, until a sharp knife stuck in the middle comes clear and the top is a golden brown.
- Let is sit in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove and cool on a rack. Before serving, dust the top with powdered sugar using a small sieve.
*If you take the eggs out of the refrigerator, let them stand in a small bowl of hot water before cracking them. That will quickly bring them to room temperature.
Quaker Lasagna 