I am content if the dessert I order is sweet and satisfying. But there are times when that dessert is so much more and takes on a life of it’s own. This was the story of a generous slice of cake I recently shared with friends.

It was simply described as “Pineapple Banana Cake”,  but this cake had lots of everything. Not only was it a sixth of a cake and easily served four, it was rich and moist, studded with pecans, packed big pineapple flavor, and arrived frosted in thick buttercream. The garnish deserves its own mention: a mountain of maple laced whipped cream on the side, topped off with fresh strawberries and a drizzle of caramel sauce.

I realized my fixation with this slice had become overwhelming as I was working through my third rendering. It was just hard to resist the pale stripes of frosting intersecting dark textured cake, punctuated by bright spots of red strawberries. The first piece this cake inspired was a painting,  which quickly transformed into a baking project, and then became a serving of Chocolate Strawberry Cake from The Cardboard Kitchen.

Crazy? Maybe a little. Fun? Definitely!

Strawberry and Whipped Cream Filled Chocolate Cupcakes

Cake:

3 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350⁰

Melt chocolate, set aside

Beat butter in stand mixer, then add brown sugar and eggs. Beat until light and fluffy (about 5 min).

Add vanilla and melted chocolate, beat just until combined.

Combine flour, baking soda,salt. Add to chocolate mixture, gradually, alternating with sour cream and beating after each addition.

Stir boiling water into batter. Batter will be thin.

Fill paper lined muffin pan 3/4 full.

Bake 15-20 min or until center springs back when touched. Makes 18.

Filling:

1/2 pint fresh ripe strawberries,wash, dried, roughly chopped, set in sieve to drain.
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla (or to taste)
sugar to taste

Whip cream, add vanilla and sugar to taste.

Fold in strawberries.

Set aside in fridge until ready to fill.

Buttercream: ( if you are not piping, halve recipe)

4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk, or (more adjust to consistency)
1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
food coloring if desired

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Beat at low speed until well mixed. then increase speed to medium

until light, fluffy and well mixed,scraping bowl often. Tint with food coloring if desired.

Assembly ( just before serving):

Piping bag method:

Fill bag  fitted with a #18 plain tip with cold strawberry whipped cream mixture.
Fill from the bottom by puncturing, being careful not to overfill.

Layering method:

Split cupcakes horizontally, and spread mixture between layers, and refit with top.
Note: I found it easier to frost after I filled, but I was piping the frosting and piping the filling.

That’s the industry slogan, and they are incredible when you consider the spectrum of dishes in which they appear. Is anyone baking today? How about that souffle, or lemon meringue pie that you love to show off? Or ‘THE’ perfect omelet that  took a few tries to conquer.

Everything, as they say, from soup to nuts can be made with eggs. This incredible edible acts as a leavening and binder, as well as being delicious on it’s own in a variety of preparations.

I am a purist when painting eggs. I reduce them to their obvious yellow and white form: deviled; in the shell; out of the shell; sunny side up, etc. As long as I can see the white and the yolk together. Then, like the real thing, I can always add pepper, paprika, parsley: well the palette is endless.

The color of the yolk is always a variable which it makes it exciting. It ranges from  a bright cadmium pale yellow, to  the  warm deep cadmium orange. Crack the shell. Out comes a clear viscous liquid surrounding a luscious golden circle that holds it’s shape. This is my experience of the egg.

We have been having the dreariest, wettest Spring this year. Perhaps this is why eggs have been on my easel so often the past few months.

I love to thoughtfully consider the icons of food, and why they remain so popular. Enter the well known Hostess Cupcake.

At one time I occupied a studio space directly across from the Hostess plant in Seattle. I faced a wall with a protruding pipe labeled “sugar in”. At various times during the week, a tanker style truck would arrive, hook up a giant hose to that pipe, and the rest is Cupcake, Twinkie and Ding Dong history.  At the time all sorts of crazy ideas about this entered my creative process, but I never imagined a blog post.

On the Hostess site I found the history of this cellophane wrapped chocolate enigma. In 1950 a baking executive added the vanilla creme filling, and the signature squiggles on top. That must be it! That circular white line work on a satiny dark brown coating, coupled with a white creamy circle that is set into a soft dark brown fluffy texture must be the secret to the success of this well known phenomenon.

Like the ipod, mid century modern furniture, and your favorite chef knife, the Hostess cupcake is well designed!

Artists love pears. They are figurative, and like the figure, come in many colors and shapes. They also stay ripe for quite a long time, which is the best part: you can use them in a still life to paint, and then eat them.

Those of you who follow my Flickr photos know that I have been receiving lots of pears through my shared Full Circle Farm Subscription. Early in the fall pear season it was the Bartlett,  which is great for baking. More recently it is the versatile Anjou.

If left to ripen, Anjous are meltingly soft and sweet. But I had so many ripening in my fruit bowl that were almost to the point of eating. This forced me to be quick and creative. My first choice was a  savory tart, but of course I recently posted a tart recipe! I will save my Savory Pear and Cheese Tart for next fall’s crop.

I used the only currently available edible in my garden: rosemary. Pairing these two flavors produced the most unexpected and delicious flavor combination. One part pungent and aromatic, the other sweet and floral, it is just heavenly. Don’t be afraid of all the rosemary in this recipe: it’s fantastic!  I served this  with roasted room temperature root vegetables on a bed of peppery arugula, vinaigrette and shaved Parmesan. Mmmm. Try this pairing before the season ends in late spring.

The original was published in Bon Appetit years ago, and called for Bosc’s. I have not only used all varieties, but  I’ve also made a few changes here and there and everywhere!

Caramelized Pears With Rosemary

5 large (7-8 small) pears peeled, cored, and cut into 8 wedges each. If using some of the softer varieties like  the Anjou, use them while they are still firm but fragrant and not overly ripe.

2 Tblsp fresh lemon juice
2-4 Tblsp. butter
2 fresh sprigs of rosemary, one 6″ with leaves left on, one 2″ with leaves removed.

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

(Alongside kosher salt, I used a gift from a dear friend: truffle salt. The earthy truffle flavor  used as the last seasoning adjustment below, was incredible with this dish).

• Preheat oven to 350º

• Spray or butter a baking pan and spread wedges in one layer.

• Bake 15-25 min, or until tender when pierced. Cool slightly.

• Rub with lemon juice to prevent browning.

• Chill overnight.

• In large saute or frying pan over medium heat, melt 2 Tblsp. butter.

• Add pears, the 6″ full rosemary sprig, and salt to taste.

• Cook until pears are brown and caramelized. (I did this in two batches to ensure my pears
wouldn’t be too crowded and steam. This uses more butter.)

• Stir in pepper to taste and remove rosemary sprig. Adjust salt to taste. (I added a sprinkle of truffle salt as a finishing salt, and used kosher salt above in the initial seasoning step).

• Serve at room temperature, garnished with the fresh rosemary leaves from the 2″ sprig.

Note: I know you all think that’s crazy: eating raw rosemary as garnish, but it really is delicious!

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What a wonderful pastry! Traditionally made with alternating layers of puff pastry (mille-feuille) and pastry cream, then decorated with a shiny poured fondant and chocolate drizzle pattern of varying designs, it is elegant, delicious, and graphically beautiful.

I read through many online recipes, as well as my stand by Pastry book: The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, to gather the construction details I needed to create this quintessential pastry in The Cardboard Kitchen. I also looked through hundreds of photo’s from my talented Flickr friends. I used my Flickr friend Jen’s Photography food set as the resource for my primary image reference. Her Chocolate Napoleon not only gave me the graphic line quality I was looking for, it is also up close and personal luscious!

I had to ‘shop’ for four key ingredients: puff pastry; pastry cream and white poured fondant. Fortunately  I had  a small amount of chocolate glaze in The Cardboard Kitchen pantry from another baking project.

I began with  my hunt for the pastry, and found the perfect mille-feuille in a furniture store recyling bin. I think you will agree that, although it may not have “a thousand leaves”, after a little kneading  and folding, it looks like flaky layers of puff pastry!

The most difficult ingredient to find was the pastry cream. It had to be the perfect color and just the right texture to create the slight ooze between the layers of mille-feuille.

The  shiny poured fondant was created from a shipping box which once held wire shelving. The ink used to print on the background layer of this box provided just the right sheen.

The traditional chevron pattern is created by piping the chocolate glaze onto the white glaze  and pulling it through before the glazes are set up. Using this technique, the piped chocolate appears to be raised ever so slightly above the shiny poured fondant. In art we call this a bas-relief!

Of course there is no way to pull chocolate cardboard through white cardboard fondant, so to achieve this bas-relief feel, I inlaid it. No need to mention how many times I had to do this over to achieve the perfect glazed top, let me just say YIKES….

The  pièce de résistance  was my find of a discarded and torn section of architectural board: the type used by architects to make their fantastic models. It made the perfect pastry wrapper to prevent sticky fingers.

Although you can’t eat it, I think you’ll agree the Napoleon baked in The Cardboard Kitchen is visually delicious!

I know I am not the only person eating tomatoes several times a day during tomato season. There is no substitute for the flavor of a tomato in season. And in the Pacific Northwest, tomato season can last into late Fall because our summers don’t really begin until late July.

This is a delicious trick of Mother Nature.  In the Fall, when those who eat tomatoes out of season are buying bland substitutes from across the globe, we continue to get the very best intensely flavored vine ripened varieties of tomatoes.

The added benefit from an artistic point of view, are the brilliant  reds, greens, oranges and yellows among the muted colors of the Fall veggies. And as if that wasn’t enough, the abundance is amazing:  Mother Nature stores extra energy so she can offer up as many tomatoes as possible before the tomato bar closes for the season! I particularly look forward to buying extremely reasonable flats of big misshapen and colorful Heirlooms  late September thru late October. I quarter, roast, and freeze these for use all winter, but that’s another post!

At the end of the season when the flavors peak they may not look their best, so I transform them into into a beautiful and delicious tart which uses the equally abundant zucchini. I found this recipe in the New York Times about 15 years ago. It is called “Connie’s Tomato Zucchini Pie” although I have long since lost any reference as to who Connie may be. I think she will forgive me.

This is originally a pie recipe, but somewhere in the distant tomato past I began making it as a tart. I love the flaky buttery taste of the tart crust layered with the other flavors, as well as the way it looks! If using a tart crust it should be blind baked. The pie shell version calls for an unbaked crust.

Either way, tart or pie,  I think you will agree it’s a Grande Finale for the last tomatoes of the season!

Connie’s Tomato Zucchini Pie (if using pie shell, amounts in parentheses)

1   9 1/2-10″ blind baked tart shell* or unbaked pie shell
1/2 cup Dijon mustard (1/3)
3/4 lb. mozzarella thinly sliced (1 lb.)
4 medium firm ripe tomatoes (5)
2 medium zucchini thinly sliced (2 large)
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic divided, or to taste-I use 3 cloves!
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, or 1 tsp fresh finely chopped or to taste divided
2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil, or 1 tablespoon dried, divided (if using fresh basil only chop 1   tablespoon at a time to prevent browning)
Salt and Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (2 tablespoons)

• Preheat oven to 400° with a baking sheet.

• Spread mustard evenly over the bottom of the shell.

• Cover completely with mozzarella.

• Sprinkle 1/2 of the garlic, oregano and basil on top of the cheese.

• Beginning at the outer edge of the shell, make layered overlapping rows of tomato and zucchini slices,  alternating for color.

• Sprinkle the top evenly with the remaining garlic, oregano, and dried basil.  If using fresh basil sprinkle the remaining on before serving.

• Season to taste with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with extra virgin olive oil.

• Put the tart on the baking sheet (for a tart  I recommend using pie shields for the first 20 minutes) and bake 30 min. (For the pie version bake 40 min.)

If using fresh basil, cool before serving and sprinkle with remaining basil finely chopped.

*I use Rose Levy Beranbaum’s “Basic Flaky Pie Crust” from the Pie and Pastry Bible. I love this crust!

There are those flavors that just work together naturally. Peanut butter and chocolate is one of these perfect pairings. I love the colors as well as the flavors. How classically beautiful is a caramel color paired with a deep, dark brown. On the artist’s palette this translates as raw sienna and burnt umber. When I squeeze these two colors onto my palette, it looks just like chocolate and caramel sauce!

When the style magazine Jalouse asked for a favorite cupcake recipe to accompany my interview, this was my choice: a gooey, chocolate-y comfort food cupcake!

More dense  peanut butter brownie than cake, and topped with a  large dollop of peanut butter flavored buttercream and a chocolate cherry, it’s a perfectly sweet way to pair these two favorite flavors and colors. And don’t be tempted to overlook those chocolate dipped cherries. You may want to make extras. I do.  This gives me an excuse to  eat the ones that aren’t perfect! I love this fun recipe so much, I created the recipe again,  in The Cardboard Kitchen!

Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcakes

Makes 16

For the cupcakes:

1/4 cup unsalted butter 1 package semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°

Line muffin tins with baking cups.

In medium bowl, blend sugar, flour and baking powder gently with a whisk until blended. Set aside

Melt butter and chocolate chips in a 2 quart saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and stir in peanut butter until well incorporated.

Beat eggs  into chocolate mixture one at a time until smooth, using a spoon.

Stir in vanilla.

Beat in sugar/flour mix until smooth. Dough will be stiff.

Divide batter into cups, filling 3/4.

Bake 25 to 30 min, or until the tops appear dry. A toothpick inserted will still have a few crumbs sticking to it. The brownies will set as they cool. Spread or Pipe Peanut butter buttercream. Top with chocolate dipped cherry.

Peanut Butter Buttercream

1/4 cups unsalted butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar sifted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
cream or milk to desired consistency.

Beat all ingredients in a medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.

If piping the buttercream, double the above recipe for 16 cupcakes.

Chocolate Dipped Cherries

12 cherries in syrup
12 oz dark chocolate
1 tablespoon butter
Remove cherries from syrup and pat dry.

Melt butter and chocolate in a double boiler over low heat, stirring until smooth and to prevent sticking.

Dip cherry and place on parchment to set.

Place  cherry on top!

The Cardboard Kitchen was featured in the April issue of Jalouse, the French style magazine!

Many thanks to my friend Otilia for providing the translation, and to Florence Valencourt for the virtual interview. Next time I would like to be interviewed while sipping café au lait along the Champs-Elysées!

To get the American version of the recipe, and to see the homage from the Cardboard Kitchen, be sure to read my next post!

Translation:

CHEF, HERE’S THE RECIPE!

IT’S CARDBOARD CHIC!

Everything that comes out of artist’s Patianne Stevenson’s kitchen is recycled, eco-artsy, and calorie free! A real dream come true for foodies who are concerned about their weight.

“Everything prepared in the Cardboard Kitchen is made from recycled ingredients”, says Patianne Stevenson. “I visit wine stores for boxes with colors, grocery stores for the perfect textures, and art supply stores for that certain thickness. Everyone is very happy to have me remove cardboard boxes, and I love stocking the cardboard pantry! I begin my recipes with an organized work plan. I layout the utensils I will need for each recipe: various sizes of scissors, utility knives, glue brushes, and erasers. I then take a look in The Cardboard Kitchen pantry. I had stored a piece of peanut butter colored cardboard. Mixed with vanilla and chocolate colored cardboard, cut to fit and assembled, I knew this would become a sweet creation. I decided on a cardboard homage to one of my favorite cupcake recipes, Peanut Butter Brownie Cupcake With Peanut Butter Frosting and Chocolate Dipped Cherry. What’s nice about The Cardboard Kitchen is there no waiting until the cupcakes come out of the oven! But sadly, you can’t lick the bowl!

For the gourmands, here is the real recipe:

Makes 12

Cupcakes:

50g butter
100g creamy peanut butter
256g broken chocolate bar
little vanilla extract
3 eggs
175g of flour
200 grams sugar
10g baking powder

Preheat oven to 180C
Melt butter and chocolate in bain marie, stirring to mix
Add peanut butter, blend well
Beat in eggs one at a time, until smooth
Stir in vanilla

In another bowl mix sugar, flour and baking powder.
Add to chocolate mix. Stir until smooth.

Fill muffin cups two thirds full.
Bake 20 min. Cool.

Peanut Butter Cream:

50g butter
100g peanut butter
150g icing sugar
20-30 cl cream

Use a pastry sock to decorate the cupcakes.

Chocolate covered Cherries:

12 cherries in syrup
75g dark chocolate
20g butter
Remove cherries from syrup and pat dry
Melt butter and chocolate in a bain marie
Dip cherry and place on parchment to set.

Place  cherry on top!

It actually was in Spring, during my first trip to France, that I discovered the radish sandwich. I couldn’t believe I had lived so long without knowing about this simple, delicious, and incredibly satisfying meal.

Take spicy, salty, sweet, and buttery then place it all in one package! And if that wasn’t enough, you are treated to the crisp snap of radish, and the pleasurable crack of the crust on a fresh baguette. And let’s not forget the little bit of chew from the soft interior.

So, every Spring I wait patiently for the first and sweetest radishes of the season to appear in the Farmers Market. I can then assemble what Susan Loomis refers to in her  French Farmhouse Cookbook as “France’s finest snack”! And indeed it is. A little research told me that this is actually a staple of the provincial kitchen. Although seemingly simple, the flavors layered here are anything but provincial. I would call them sophisticated simplicity.

I have tinkered with it over the years experimenting with the addition of herbs to the butter, and my recipe follows. However in it’s simplest form it is just as delicious with a split baguette, unsalted butter, thinly sliced radishes, and a sprinkling of fleur de sel.

At Art On The Menu we swoon when we bite into this:  sweet herb butter slathered on a crusty baguette, radishes and salt, and all in under 10 minutes! What’s not to love!

Radish Sandwich

Although traditionally made with the delicate bi-colored finger width French radish, I used globe radishes above.

Serves 4 ( or sometimes 1)

1 16″ baguette
1 bunch radishes (approx 12-15 med size radishes)
3/4 cup room temperature unsalted butter
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon, or 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh tarragon
fleur de sel, or any fine grained salt

Herb Butter

Combine butter and herbs. Mix well. Can be prepared anytime in advance for the flavors to meld. I sometimes prepare it days in advance. Refrigerate if preparing in advance, and remove to bring to room temp for assembling.

Radishes

Remove greens, and clean radishes well. Thinly slice. You should have approx 2 1/2 to 3 cups  for a 16″ baguette.

To Assemble

Split baguette lengthwise.

Thickly spread herb butter on both sides of the bread. Layer the radishes on, and sprinkle generously with fleur de sel. You will need quite a bit of salt to bring the flavors together. For a 16″ baguette I usually sprinkle 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of fleur de sel. Cut diagonally into serving size sandwiches.

Or set out a bowl of fleur de sel and let your guests have fun by salting their sandwiches.

After salting consume immediately: the salt brings out the liquid in the radishes. It all becomes deliciously juicy!