Dimply Plum Cake -- Sundays with Dorie!

Right now Ian is sitting in front of me on the floor contorted in strange positions striving to capture the perfect picture for the second ever Sunday with Dorie. If you are a little lost and scratching your head about the day, let me explain.

One of our favourite bloggers Hilary and I have not been accepted yet into TWD after waiting and politely sending e-mails for seven weeks now. We just couldn't wait another week longer and with book in hand, decided to start our own baking club. Ok, so my book hasn't arrived in the mail yet, but I was too excited to start! Plus this week was my turn to pick the recipe and I have had my eye on this bright plum cake for a while. Hilary wrote an incredible open letter in her Sunday with Dorie post last week which pretty much sums it up.

I can't really tell you much about the cake right now except that it smells insatiable and I am having a very hard time not eating it off of Ian’s photo shoot. What I can tell you is that the cake is much lighter than expected...oh wait, he's done shooting... Be right back....

....as I was saying, now that I have tasted more than just the crumbs from the pan, I can tell you that the cake is more like a fluffy and airy version of a pound cake accenting the sweet and sour plums perfectly. A hint of cardamom added to the batter pulls the fruit and cake together. The lighter texture could be due to the fact that I switched the oil for the same amount of no-fat yogurt. Yes, I am on a blogger diet, basically meaning that there is no way around all the baking and eating but I know enough kitchen science to play around with the ingredients/calories.

Since I am still waiting on my cookbook I found the Dimply Plum Cake recipe at Smitten Kitchen, where Dorie Greenspan’s cookbook ”Baking From My Home to Yours” never stays on the bookshelf for too long.

Now go check out Hilary's blog Let Her Bake Cake for some more dimply goodness.

Rosemary Roasted Plums, Roasted Celeriac, and Frisee Salad with Shallot and Toasted Walnuts - Valentine's Day Part 3

On to Valentine's Day Part 3.
So today I am going to recount the delicious side dishes that accompanied our main duck dish on Valentine's day.

Have you ever had celeriac? The first time I saw it I thought it was a joke; this weird grey tuber looks just like a brain and is pretty large. I have been meaning to buy some for a while but whenever I pick one up, something about its menacing look makes me second guess the veggie, and I opt for potatoes instead. Luckily for this modest plant, Valentine's Day was a chance to expand our culinary expertise, and it was really good! Celeriac is the root of a celery plant; so naturally, it tasted like a mix between celery and a potato. The heaps of butter and thyme it roasted in didn’t hurt it either.

The second side dish was my favourite, and possibly the best food I have eaten all year. Roasted plums with rosemary and a port reduction. Uhhhh, just writing the words is making me salivate. They were so good paired with the duck, which naturally does well with fruits, but I really wasn’t expecting them to pack such a punch, and nearly left them out of the dish altogether. Thank gosh I didn’t. Also, don’t go thinking that you have to wait till plums are in season, I bought three semi ripe plums in the dead of winter, imported from who knows what country half way around the world, and they were still incredible.

Finally the last side was a simple frisee salad with shallots and toasted walnuts. Oddly enough, with all this extravagant food Ian found this side to be his favourite. But then again he likes anything with a lot of acidity.

So I hope you had fun reading about our wonderful day, we had a blast cooking and eating.


Rosemary Roasted Plums, Roasted Celeriac, and Frisee Salad with Shallot and Toasted Walnuts
adapted from Anthony Sedlak's book "The Main" 2008

Roasted Plums
3 plums, halved and pits removed
2 tbsp sugar
2 sprigs rosemary
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
1/2 cup port

Roasted Celeriac
2 large bulbs celeriac
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp butter
2 sprigs thyme
salt and pepper

Frisee Salad
1 head frisee
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
1 small shallot, finely minced
1-1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil

Roasted Plums
Preheat oven to 400. In a bowl, toss to combine plums, sugar, salt, rosemary and olive oil. Arrange plums in pan and roast until plums are soft, 30 mins. Transfer plums to serving dish. Deglaze plum roasting pan with port and bring to simmer, reducing volume by half. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over plums.

Roasted Celeriac
Peel and cube celeriac into large bite sized pieces. Heat olive oil in large skillet. Sear celeriac until light golden on all sides; add butter and thyme sprigs. Transfer to baking dish. Season to taste with salt and pepper and roast in 400 oven until outside is golden and insides are tender, about 30 minutes.

Frisee Salad
Combine shallot, red wine vinegar and olive oil in a medium mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add frisee and top with toasted walnuts. Toss well.