Cake and Meteors

I was really lucky this past Saturday, in that I was able to go out to the family farm of an acquaintance of mine with a group of friends and take in the Perseid meteor showers that were happening over the weekend. The night consisted of a bit of distance from the city, a tractor tire ring as an impromptu fire pit, a few telescopes, a cuddly spotted cat, and a lot of fun. We were having such a good time that 3 am snuck up on us rather unexpectedly. The stars were beautiful, the meteors relatively plentiful and I got to tend the fire all night, which is always something I enjoy immensely. We even taught a few people how to make s'mores. I have to admit, I was a bit gobsmacked that there were people my age who had never had a s'more, but at least that has been remedied now.

A close friend had celebrated a birthday recently and I decided to make cake and ice cream to take out to the Star Party. I made a batch of the Saffron Spice Gelato, because he loves chai tea and saffron, and then decided to make a spiced cake to go with. For the cake I wanted something that would travel well as we were piling into cars to leave the city, so that meant no icings or serving syrups. Which creates a bit of a challenge - how to make a cake flavourful enough that no one was going to feel gypped that there was no icing?

I started poking through Dorie Greenspan's Baking and came across her recipe for Cinnamon Squares. I decided to adapt it a bit, subbing out coconut sugar for the white sugar, removing the frosting and chocolate from the batter, and substituting hazelnut extract in place of the vanilla. The results were fantastic. The swap to coconut sugar was a great decision - the cake was less sweet so the spices stood out more, and the flavour of coconut sugar is subtly different, kind of toasty. You can make this cake with regular white sugar (that is what the original recipe calls for) but if you have coconut sugar, give this a shot.

The cake was decimated by the happy crowd before I remembered to take pictures, but I figured I wanted to post the recipe because I know I'll make this again. The ribbon of espresso and cinnamon through the middle of the cake was a very inspiring combination, and I used it again today trying to make some macarons. The cinnamon dolce latte from Starbucks suddenly makes a lot more sense to me as a flavour profile. The espresso flavour it not terribly strong in this cake - it adds more of a deep richness than a distinct coffee flavour. I would encourage you to give it a chance even if you aren't actually a fan of coffee as a beverage.

The gelato melted on our way out to the party (despite the ice; I think I am giving up on ever transporting gelato or sorbetto to anywhere more than a 20 minute drive away. None of the times I've tried it have been successful) so we ended up using the melted gelato/custard as a pouring custard, which was actually very delicious. I'd do that again. Intentionally, even.

This cake as listed makes an 8x8" square pan; I doubled everything up to make a 9x13"pan with decent height. It keeps well covered at room temperature, but I doubt it will last terribly long as it is so exceptionally snackable.

Cinnamon Cake
(adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Cinnamon Squares)


For the spice ribbon in the cake:
2 tbsp sugar (I used white sugar for the ribbon)
2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp instant espresso powder

For the cake:
1 1/4 cups coconut sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 3/4 cups flour
pinch of salt
3/4 cup whole milk
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp hazelnut extract
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp melted butter (10 tbsp), melted and cooled


Centre the rack in the oven and preheat it to 350F.

Prepare an 8x8" square baking pan with butter or cooking spray. Either line the bottom of the pan with a piece of parchment paper, or lightly flour the bottom of the pan.

To make the spices for the spice ribbon in the cake:
Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and espresso power in a small bowl and mix until everything is well incorporated. Set the bowl aside for now.

To make the cake:
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and hazelnut extract. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk gently until everything is well combined and there are no streaks or pockets of dry ingredients left in the batter. Then gently whisk in the melted and cooled butter until it is absorbed. The batter will be smooth and glossy.

Scrape half of the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth it out as best you can. Sprinkle the reserved sugar/spice/espresso mixture evenly over the batter. Carefully pour the remaining batter over the spice mixture, sandwiching it in the middle. Smooth the top carefully - you'll find it won't want to stick to the bottom layer because of the layer of dry spices, but it will smooth if you are patient with it.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the cake has puffed up and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. A skewer inserted into the cake will come out clean. Let it rest in the pan 15 minutes before attempting to unmolding it, or leave the cake in the pan, pile it into the car, and go on an adventure. Your call.

^_^

Serve plain or with ice cream and/or fruit (raspberries would be choice), warm or at room temperature.
Enjoy.