TRAVEL/FOOD

From beloved James Beard Award–winning and New York Times bestselling author Dorie Greenspan—a vibrantly illustrated collection of recipes for simple yet most memorable cakes in Dorie’s Anytime Cakes (HarperCollins Harvest, $35).

Over the years, Dorie has created thousands of excellent recipes, yet she finds that of all of them, the ones she always comes back to are the simplest cakes. Some may have a dusting of powdered sugar or a drizzle of icing, but most of them are straight-from-the-oven cakes that taste great as-is.

And they’re cakes that you probably already have all the ingredients for in your pantry. The kinds of cakes you can whip up and set out so that anyone with a hankering can come by and cut a sliver or a hunk. Any time. Or at least until they’re all gone, which trust me, will happen quickly.

With her typical evocative writing and expert advice along with gorgeous illustrations by Nancy Pappas, Dorie’s Anytime Cakes celebrates the simple—but still exciting and special—with more than 100 recipes for easy-to-make, easy-to-love cakes.

There are recipes for all kinds of cakes, including loaves and rounds, muffins, crumbles, and Bundts—even savory cakes—plus frostings, fillings, and other flourishes:

·       BFF Brownie Cake

·       Morning, Noon, and Night Thanksgiving Cake

·       Cafuné Corn Cake

·       Simplest, Plainest, Most Old-Fashion—Also Best Tasting—Marble Cake

·       Buttermilk Plum Cake

·       Faux-caccia Squares

·       Miso-Cheddar Scone Cake

·       Feta, Sumac, and Za’atar Loaf

·       The Devil’s Chocolate Cake

You’ll also find “Playing Around” suggestions throughout—Dorie’s inspirations for making each recipe to your own taste and right for all occasions. Flavor your sugar with citrus or tea for a special touch, spice your cake up with hot honey, or transform your plain cake into an impressive, layered party cake. Just like Dorie, you’ll return to baking these favorite cakes again and again. 

Inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America, Dorie Greenspan is the New York Times bestselling and IACP award and James Beard Award winning author of fifteen cookbooks, including Baking with Dorie, Dorie’s Cookies, Around My French Table, Baking Chez Moi, and Baking: From My Home to Yours, and a Substack with a hugely devoted following, xoxoDorie Newsletter.

She lives and bakes in New York City, Westbrook, Connecticut, and Paris.

Matcha Latte Loaf / Makes 8 servings

Please, please, please use culinary-grade matcha powder for this cake. First-quality matcha (often labeled “ceremonial”) is very expensive and meant to be savored on its own in a tea. Its most prized characteristics would be lost in this cake.

A word on coconut milk: Look for full-fat coconut milk – it’s flavor is deep and its texture is satiny.

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾  cups (238 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
• ½  teaspoon fine sea salt
• 7 tablespoons (3 ½ ounces; 99 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons neutral oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ½  cup (120 ml) full-fat coconut milk (shaken and mixed well before measuring)
• 4 teaspoons matcha green tea powder (see left), whisked if lumpy

DIRECTIONS:

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 325 degrees F.

• Coat the interior of an 8 ½ -inch loaf pan with baker’s spray or butter it, dust it with flour and tap out the excess.

• Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.

• Working g in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, or until creamy, scraping the bowl and beater(s) frequently—this is a batter that needs diligent scraping.

• Drop the speed down to medium and add the eggs one by one, beating for a minute or so after each goes in.

• With the mixer running, pour in the oil, followed by the vanilla, and mix until blended—the batter will be thin and satiny and have a pretty sheen.

• Add one-third of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until they are almost incorporated, then mix in half of the coconut milk.

• Stop the mixer, scrape, add half of the remaining flour mixture and beat until it’s almost blended in.

• With the mixer still on low, pour in the rest of the coconut milk and, when it’s almost incorporated, add the last of the dry ingredients.

• Give the batter a few turns with a flexible spatula and then scrape half of the batter into a bowl.

• Sprinkle the matcha powder over one of the portions of batter and stir it in with the spatula, mixing until the batter is uniformly green and you’re no longer mesmerized by the beautiful swirling patterns you’re making.

• You’re going to dollop the two batters into the pan and you can do this with a large spoon or a cookie scoop (my favorite tool) or two pastry bags (no need to insert any tips).

• I like to drop some white scoops into the pan, fill the in-between spaces with green batter and then continue filling the pan by topping the white scoops with green and the green with white. But that’s just my game—you can make up your own.

• When all the batter is in, run a table knife, a bamboo skewer or a long toothpick through the batter to marble it. Make just one or two passes—more than that, and you won’t have distinct marbling.

• Bake for about 60 minutes check the cake at 55 minutes, but it will probably need more time), or until it’s risen and can be gently nudged from the sides of the pan; a tester poked into the center of the loaf will come out clean. And, yes, the top will crack.

• Transfer the pan to a rack and let rest for 10 minutes, then run a table knife around the sides of the pan and unmold the cake. Turn the cake right side up and leave it on the rack to cool to room temperature.

Cocoa-Swirled Pumpkin Bundt / Makes 12 servings

Make sure that you choose pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling, which is sweetened and spiced. While there are different versions of pumpkin puree available—many supermarkets have their own brands—if you can, I suggest you buy Libby’s. It is the

most consistent, it has a beautiful color and, most important, it’s not watery—it always bakes well.

Ingredients:

For the Swirl:

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• Pinch of fine sea salt
• Pinch of group cinnamon
• ¼ cup (50 grams) finely chopped dark chocolate or mini dark chocolate chips

For the Cake:

• 3 cups (408 grams) all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 ½  teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup (240 ml) neutral oil
• 1 ½  cups (300 grams) sugar
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) brown sugar
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 can (15 ounces; 425 grams) pure pumpkin puree

DIRECTIONS:

To make the swirl:

• Mix the sugar, cocoa powder, salt, cinnamon and chocolate together in a small bowl and keep at hand.

To make the cake:

• Center a rack in the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees F.

• Coat the interior of a 12-cup Bundt pan with baker’s spray or butter it, dust with flour and tap out excess.

• Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the oil and both sugars together on medium speed for a couple of minutes to blend well—the mixture should look slushy, like wet sand.

• Still beating on medium, and scraping the bowl and beater(s) early and often, add the eggs one at a time, beating for about a minute after each one goes in. The mix will continue to look iffy until that last egg is in and then, as if by magic, it will become satiny.

• Reduce the mixer speed and blend in the vanilla and pumpkin puree.

• Turn the mixer off, add one-third of the dry ingredients and pulse the mixer on and off to get the blending going and to help prevent the counter from getting showered with flour.

• Working on low speed, mix until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. Turn off the mixer, scrape and add half of the remaining dry ingredients. Pulse, mix on low, stop and scrape again, then add the last of the dry ingredients, mixing on low until fully blended. Give everything a few last turns with a flexible spatula.

• Scrape one-third to one-half of the batter into the pan and smooth it with the spatula.

•  Spoon the cocoa swirl over the batter—you can try to make an even layer and prevent the swirl from touching the sides of the pan, but it’s almost impossible, so relax.

• Add the rest of the batter—it will only half fill the pan, but it will rise considerably in the oven.

• Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until the cake is beautifully puffed, is cracked around the top and pulls away from the sides of the pan when gently tugged. A tester poked into the center of the cake should come out clean—make sure you don’t hit the gooey swirl.

• Transfer the pan to a rack and let the cake rest for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto the rack and allow it to cool to room temperature.

• Once the cake is cool, you can dust it with confectioners’ sugar, or you can glaze or ice it.