My true love

I met a lot of people my freshman year of college. Some of them I met, forgot, then met again. You have those conversations where you discover that you were in the same room at the same time with someone you later got to know well, yet you have no memory of them there at all.

Everyone who knows me has heard this story a million times, of how I "met" my husband (of either 32 or 27 years, depending on where you start counting), but it's worth repeating here, on our 35th Valentine's Day together.

Thinking that I would be a costume designer, I took theater classes my freshman year. Quickly discovering that I absolutely hated being around actors (so why am I working for a theater now? It's a question I ask myself daily), I switched to the art department the following year. I don't remember anyone from my theater year, except that skinny Chinese fellow with the aviator glasses. Sophomore year, having put theater behind me, I was sitting in the choral rehearsal room, and in that guy walks. Christ, I thought, the theater people are following me.

I never did shake him loose (tried once or twice, but he's a stubborn fellow and I'm no match). So this is for you, my own true love, with a little help from my recent trip down memory lane.

Chocolate-Basil Red Velvet Cake

2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (15 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup packed fresh basil leaves (plus addition leaves for garnish)
3/4 cup sour cream plus 1/2 cup milk whipped to a thick liquid,
• or 1 1/4 cup buttermilk (if you can find it)
2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter two - 9 inch (23 cm) round cake pans and line the bottoms of the pans with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Place the sugar and basil in a food processor. Process until basil is chopped fine and uniformly green in color (it will look slightly wet).Set aside.

In bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add the sugar/basil mixture and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and sour cream/milk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Because of the basil, cakes will be more of an antique red than the deep bright red of a traditional red velvet cake.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.

Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto wire racks. Cool to room temp, then glaze with

Light Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting

1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
6 tablespoon reduced fat sour cream
1 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium bowl whisk the powdered sugar and cocoa powder; set aside. In a separate medium bowl beat the sour cream and melted chocolate with an electric mixer on low speed until blended. Gradually add sugar mixture to sour cream mixture, beating at low speed until well-blended. Add vanilla and beat well for 1 minute until very smooth and creamy.

Icing from Enlightened Cooking blog. I swear I came up with the basil before I started looking for frosting recipes, proving the internet truism that if you can think of it, there's already a website. Cake recipe adapted from Joy of Baking.

Still more pumpkins

Chilly, grey, not quite fall day, and I've still got 2 30" pumpkins on the vine and 4 cups in the fridge. So it's pumpkin-palooza today, in two separate posts. Needed something to use up the ginger-pear sauce I was left with after making pear syrup the other day, so I took a chance and adapted my mother's pineapple upside down cake recipe, and came up with this.

Pumpkin-pear Upside Down Cake

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted
1 cup pear compote
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 pear, sliced thin

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup cooking oil


Combine brown sugar, melted margarine or butter, and cornstarch in a small bowl. . Stir pear compote into brown sugar mixture. Pour
mixture into a 10x2-inch round baking pan or a 9x9x2-inch baking pan. Arrange pear slices on the syrup in the pan

Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and baking powder in a small bowl; set aside. In another mixing bowl beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Using low speed, beat in pumpkin and oil. Fold flour mixture into pumpkin mixture just until moistened. Carefully spoon over pears. Spread mixture evenly with back of spoon.

Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Invert onto a serving plate.

And then of course, there's all those seeds (about 2 cups from 3 pumpkins). The sweet version is from About.com's Southern Food set, the savory version is my own. Scale the recipe, depending on how many cups of seeds you have. I don't like pumpkin seeds, but these were amazing.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon melted butter or vegetable oil

for sweet:
1 tablespoon granulated sugar, or more, to taste
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice

for savory:
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne paper
1 tsp sugar

Rinse seeds well and get as much of the pumpkin pulp off of them as possible. Some of the small pieces are going to adhere, but they won't hurt the seeds at all, and might even add a little more flavor. Pat dry with paper towels. Don't let them dry completely on the paper towels, because they might stick! I dried mine thoroughly on a dish towel before using. Toss seeds with the butter, sugar, and spices.

Heat oven to 300°. Spread coated seeds in a shallow baking sheet (I lined it with baking parchment) for about 45 to 60 minutes, or until nicely browned and crunchy.