Wednesday, Jun. 10, 2009

McCRAY: Cake Walk

Confession: I'm a cake-mix person.

Don't ask me why. I make other things from scratch. Most everything, really, from pasta sauce to soups to macaroni and cheese.

So, what's so intimidating about cakes?

Maybe it's because I'm scared my cakes will turn out hard as a rock. My mom used to make cakes for our birthdays, and every one -- from the chocolate I would request to the pineapple upside-down that was my brother's favorite -- turned out more like a doorstop than a dessert.

That's why I chose this week's recipe. I wanted to make a cake, darn it. A good cake. One that was light and airy and tasted like spring.

I finally settled on a lemon pound cake with cherry compote from the current issue of Cooking Light magazine.

It's a good fit for cooks in the Modesto area because cherries are at their peak. Just check out your farmers market.

Another reason I chose this recipe: You don't need fancy ingredients. No cake flour. No vanilla from Madagascar or cinnamon from Vietnam. I had pretty much everything in the pantry and the garden.

The kids helped me mix up the batter. They cracked the eggs and measured the flour. They took their safety scissors outside to cut the mint from the garden.

They came back with exactly four leaves. Not exactly the amount the recipe called for, but I figured it would do. I wasn't so sure about fresh mint in a cake. Why not just pop it on top for a garnish?

When the cake was in the oven, we started the compote. This is where kids come in handy. They love to pit cherries. Who knew? My 6-year-old delighted in pitting the entire 4 cups herself with a cherry pitter. (This is a long-handled gadget that punches the pit out of the cherry).

Once everything was made, and the cake cooled, we put the dish together. My impressions: The cake was a bit dry, but lemony. Couldn't taste the mint. The compote was delicious. Fresh cherries really made a difference.

Better than a cake mix. Or a doorstop.

Bee staff writer Kerry McCray can be reached at 578-2358 or at kmccray@modbee.com.