Music and Cats

This is the story of the best mistake I’ve ever made while baking.

It happened on a holiday morning, a one-day, mid-week respite from serious overwork. It was, I thought, a perfect morning for baking. Several luminous, burgundy-freckled apricots beckoned from the kitchen counter, their fragrance intoxicating. My copy of Dorie Greenspan’s Baking was still crisp and clean; the spine crackled as I opened to the recipe for Dimply Plum (or Apricot) Cake.

I gathered all of the ingredients for the cake: flour, baking powder, cardamom, butter, brown sugar, eggs, canola oil, a lemon (for zest), vanilla extract, and eight glowing apricots.

After setting the oven to preheat, I buttered and floured my 8-inch-square Pyrex pan. I measured white and emmer flours into a bowl, spooned in baking powder and a little cardamom, and whisked to blend. I lined up three small glass mise en place bowls, and filled them thusly: into the first I cracked eggs, into the next I measured brown sugar, into the third I grated lemon zest, which I covered with vanilla extract and canola oil. (I do not usually do this sort of careful preparation, but it was a holiday, and I had all the time I wanted.)

I dumped some butter in the bowl of my Kitchenaid mixer, and set it to beating. Desired texture: soft and creamy; ETA: 3 minutes.

While the butter creamed, I washed the apricots. I added the sugar to the mixer bowl, and began halving and pitting the apricots. The perfume of apricots, butter and brown sugar filled the kitchen. I added the eggs to the mixer, and cut more apricots. After I added the oil, zest and vanilla to the mixer, I halved a ninth apricot to replace the one that I’d eaten.

I’d reached the point in the recipe where Dorie writes, “the batter will look very light and smooth, almost satiny.” And so it did! Time for the dry ingredients. I poured about a third of the flour mixture into the batter; the beater gently incorporated it. I add another third, and the batter thickened to something resembling cake batter.

I added the rest of the flour, and… Oops! This didn’t look like cake batter any longer; it looked like soft cookie dough! What had I done wrong?

I squinted at the recipe, then went hunting for my reading glasses. When I returned, my vision restored to normal, I could see that I’d increased the flour in the recipe by one cup! I’d read a small, seriphed 1 as a 2. What I had now was definitely not cake batter.

If it looks like cookie dough, I thought, why not treat it like cookie dough? I grabbed a couple of baking sheets, greased them lightly, and spooned the dough onto them, drop cookie style. I slide them into the oven… and then I started reassembling the ingredients for the cake. (I had all those halved apricots waiting to be used!)

After eleven or twelve minutes, I pulled from the oven a sheet of fragrant, domed, lightly browned… what? They’re slightly crumbly, gently spiced, fairly plain (but in a good way). The sort of cookie that’s nice when you want just a bite with your coffee or tea. Let’s call them tea cakes.

Accidental Tea Cakes
based (loosely, or blindly) on Dorie Greenspan’s Dimply Plum Cake

2 1/2 cups flour (I use 1 1/2 cups all-purpose and 1 cup emmer flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
5 tablespoons butter, room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
zest of one lemon
8 apricots, halved and pitted (oops, save those for another time)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease baking sheets.

Whisk the flour(s), baking powder and cardamom together. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium until soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the brown sugar and beat 2 minutes more. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each addition. Add the oil, zest and vanilla; beat for another minute. Turn mixer to low, and add flour mixture; beat until just incorporated.

Drop spoonfuls onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly browned. Makes about 30.

To open the Advent calendar window for Day 12, click here:

Accidental tea cakes. Wonderful with coffee or, of course, tea. Truth be told, I prefer them to the cake.

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