heavy cream | Food Loves Writing

June 26

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives” (Annie Dillard)

I read the above quote a few years ago, back when I was compiling a 25th anniversary scrapbook for my parents in which people wrote and told of gifts and memories and experiences they’d had with my mom and my dad, and I was reflecting then the way I’ve been reflecting lately, about what are the most meaningful things we do, about what we really want. I’ve been asking myself: How am I spending my days, since that’s how I’m spending my life? And then, is the way I am spending them good?

cherry chocolate ice cream

Of course the easy way to define our days is by our full-time gigs, be it school or work or motherhood or something else that requires most of our time, and I’ve done that before: I’ve sat down to dinner with friends and explained my class load. I’ve called myself a copywriter. I’ve mentally calculated some kind of personal net worth. But the older I get, the more I see those things—while important—are not the only things.

Now when I look at my days, I look instead at harder questions: how am I pursuing things that matter? what am I accomplishing? where’s my passion? whom do I love? how is my life improving someone else’s?

homemade cherry chocolate ice cream

I am convinced and convicted that these are questions we can ask from a cubicle or a kitchen, in our teens or in old age, no matter where we’re working or whom we’re working with. And in my particular case, these are questions that have prompted some pretty major changes.
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cakes

When I come home from church on Sunday afternoons, after meeting my friend Jackie for lunch, listening to her tell me stories about her fourth-grade class and the funny things they say, I kick off my shoes and pull up my hair and think about taking a long, comfortable nap, with blankets piled high, the windows open and the fresh breeze flowing in. But instead, for weeks in a row now, I’ve done no such thing. Instead, go figure, I’ve been baking cakes.

It all started when my brother told me about that coconut recipe he saw; then there was the yogurt I wanted to try baking with, although that might have been a weeknight; most recently, it was because I had a glass full of heavy cream about to go bad, and I didn’t want to waste it. These are simple excuses, not exactly the stuff of solid alibi, I know, but what can I say? Cakes are simple and satisfying—like cookies—and they don’t take much work, and, well, mostly, I am bad at turning them down, even when fresh sheets call my name.

For this last cake, I didn’t go in with high hopes, which is key to enjoying what you make, I find. This would just be something to use the heavy cream in, and I didn’t care how it was frosted or what I would do with it or who would eat it.

batter for cream cake

To start, I mixed the batter: eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla and, importantly, heavy cream. It’s the cream that gives the mixture its consistency: thick and velvety, the kind that holds its shape when you lift it from the bowl. I actually went back to the recipe a few times to make sure I hadn’t forgotten something, sure a batter this thick couldn’t be right. But after I’d spread it in the pan like frosting and baked it for half an hour, it emerged as something entirely different: a simple, fragrant, white cake that pulled away from the edges of the pan and fell easily onto a cooling rack.

cakes in pans

This recipe is called a cream cake, which, beyond its obvious use of cream in the ingredients, simply means it is the kind usually filled and/or topped with some sort of cream or cream-like substance like a custard. I ate this cake—well, cakes, since it makes two layers—plain, sans frosting, and enjoyed every simple, sweet bite. But they’d be just as lovely with a homemade whipped cream, maybe with fresh berries on the side. I’d avoid buttercream, which would be too heavy with the rich texture, if you can.

cream cake

Honestly, I had half a mind to go out to the store for some whipping cream to whip up right then, but, anticipating the following Sunday afternoon when I’d want to use up the leftovers, again, I stopped myself. So I hope you’ll try it that way for me? Do it whenever you’d like, Sunday afternoons or otherwise, and let me know what you think.

Cream Cake
Adapted from About.com

Like I said, because this was an impromptu decision, I didn’t plan for frosting, but I think you should. Homemade whipped cream is as simple as blending heavy cream in a bowl, set over another bowl filled with ice. (You can also just stick everything in a stand mixer [no ice], but it will take longer.) Once it’s starting to thicken, add around three Tablespoons of sugar and maybe a little vanilla for flavor and continue mixing.

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat eggs until thick and bright yellow; then add sugar.

In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add them, alternately with the cream and vanilla, beating well.

Spread batter into two 8-inch round pans—it will seem thicker than usual cake batter, but that is OK. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.