Frites et Chocolat

Look at what I made with the mulberries we picked this week! Next, some cordial and back to the tree with a ladder to pick the ripe fruits that are teasing me. This recipe yielded a surprising soft, spongy cake. Highly recommend.

• 1 cup mulberries, give or take, I do not measure precisely, I just throw a handful or two on top until I am satisfied
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cup, plus a couple of tablespoons whole spelt flour
• 2/3 cup wildflower honey
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/4 cup cream + 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2-3 tablespoons raw or dark brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat the eggs, lemon zest and honey until well incorporated, this may take some time, but you want to mix a lot of air into and make sure the honey and egg become one. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add dry mixture and cream/milk to eggs mixture, alternating.

Pour the batter in a greased and floured pan then distribute the mulberries over the batter and bake. Fifteen minutes in, sprinkle sugar on top of cake. Bake for ±35 minutes until the cake is golden brown. Let cool and serve.

Nothing says dessert like a rustic cake made from scratch. This recipe is perfect as a breakfast or snack as well; the rhubarb adds a wonderful acidity and balance to the vanilla and raw sugar topping in this recipe and is equally delicious served warm with a Chantilly cream or as a quick pick-me-up in the afternoon. Baking this cake in a cast-iron skillet imparts another dimension as it adds a bit of character to the cake by creating a slight crust. You can bake the cake in a mould without any alteration of the recipe, but it is fun to eat it right out of the skillet [if you were to happen to ask my husband and children].

• 1 1/4 cup cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt, dissolved in 1 teaspoon warm spring water, let cool
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup sugar, plus one teaspoon
• 1 vanilla bean, split length-wise and seeds removed, save pod for later use
• 1 large whole egg, plus one egg white
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup roughly chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb
• 2 tablespoons raw sugar

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly butter the bottom of a cast-iron skillet, alternatively you can use a 9-inch cake mould, butter and flour or line with parchment paper.

Sift cake flour, baking powder and baking soda and set aside. Whisk egg white with sea salt dissolved in water until soft peaks form, add vanilla seeds and 1 teaspoon sugar and whisk until glossy to create a meringue. Beat butter and sugar at medium-high speed for about 2 minutes. Add whole egg and incorporate well.

At low speed, mix flour mixture and buttermilk, alternating, until smooth. By hand, fold in meringue until well incorporated. Spoon batter into skillet or cake mould and top with rhubarb. About 15 minutes into baking, sprinkle the cake with raw sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean; approximately 25-35 minutes.