I might as well admit it. I originally bought Apples for Jam : A Colorful Cookbook for the cover (see below - next to the cake!). Sight unseen - I ordered it entirely based on the cover photograph. Crazy, I know - but luckily in this case, it turned out to be a really good choice. With a staggering amount of recipes (200 to be precise); stunning photography and writing of food, family and life; as well as artwork by her children scattered about - I really like this book. Oh, and the whole thing is organized by color. By color. Oh, so visually dreamy. I don't think I've ever had a 'cookbook' I've looked at like this one.
The recipes (oh right. the recipes! it is a cookbook after all) are really good, too. They're simple in nature and construction - family food, if you will. And with a little tweaking here and there, I think a lot of these will find their way into our own family food repertoire. We started with a dessert - we happened to have everything it needed on hand, and well, desserts are always a good place to start, don't you think? With some butter and buttermilk from dear Dulsie, and the very last of our backyard blueberries of the season - it made for a super yum mid-day, early afternoon snack. We barely saved enough for Papa's arrival home from work. (But we did. We would never forget Papa with the daytime dessert making.) And yes...I do know that this makes perhaps recipe #4 that I've shared that involves a baked blueberry thing. Hmn. Well. I don't really know what to say about that. Blueberries are good!
Berry and Buttermilk Cake, Adapted from Apples for Jam
1.5 cups unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
freshly ground nutmeg - a few grinds
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
4 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 cup fresh berries
2 Tablespoons brown sugar (for topping)
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk eggs until fluffy in another bowl, then add all wet ingredients. Mix dry and wet gently until combined. Spoon mixture into a 12x8x2 inch pan. Sprinkle blueberries on top. Bake for 25 minutes at 400 degrees. Cool in pan before cutting.
(Oh, and since writing this post, I've made the winter squash fritters from this book, too. Um. Soooo good.)
