Cookbook Review: Enlightened Cakes

By Camilla V. Saulsbury

From the book jacket:

“If you have had a lifelong love affair with cake but cringe at the thought of all the fat and calories, Enlightened Cakes is for you. Full of ‘lighter’ versions of old favorites as well as fresh, new combinations, the cakes found in this collection are also a breeze to make.”

Camilla Saulsbury again brings one of her “enlightened” recipe books to the shelves as she offers more than 100 cakes that are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.

What I really liked about this book was the way the recipes are arranged. There are separate chapters for old favorites, icings, layer cakes, cheesecakes and, even, cupcakes! How fun is that?

And, as always, her recipes are easy to make and absolutely delightful.

I’ve reviewed other “enlightened” recipe books by this author and I love adding her books to my kitchen shelf. The review for “Enlightened Soups” can be found here and “Enlightened Chocolate” here. These are wonderful cookbooks, but the one issue I’ve had with all her books is the minimal number of pictures because I really do like to see what the recipe is supposed to look like.

With “Enlightened Cakes,” there are no pictures at all, which is especially disappointing. However, anyone who does a lot of cooking and baking should be able to imagine what the recipe will look like. After all, a cake looks like a cake … or at least it should!

If you’re trying to cut back on fat and calories, I highly recommend this series. These recipes allow you to eat healthier without sacrificing taste and that’s a plus in my book.

And you might want to check out Camilla’s Enlightened Cooking blog where she shares recipes, product reviews and giveaways with her readers.

Column from April 22, 2010

Digging for a great bowl of soup

We recently went to the annual get-together of the All Rockhounds Pow-Wow Rock Club at Mattawa, Washington. Eric’s parents were actually some of the original members of the group and we joined several years ago.

Every spring, the group meets at the Buckshot Ranch campground and takes several trips up the Saddle Mountains to look for petrified wood. It’s a lot of fun and it’s great to see everyone.

This year, Eric took several people to a location that hasn’t been dug for a long time. He and his dad used to spend quite a bit of time there and they brought back some great pieces.

However, it’s really a major climb and not for the weak of heart (or stamina). The climb is straight up the side of the mountain, through a draw, and takes over an hour for even someone in great shape.

They got some nice pieces of wood, so the harrowing trip was worth it for them.

The next day, we went to another site that also hasn’t been worked for many years. It’s more flat ground, though, so it was easier for those who would never survive the other climb.

There, we picked up bags of small pieces of petrified wood. It’s also a great place for the little tykes – very safe and easy.

The Pow-Wow Club is a field trip group. This summer, we will travel to Madras, Oregon, and in the fall, we go up to the Teanaway River near Cle Elum, Washington. They are a great bunch of people and we always have a good time.

Most of the folks show up either late Friday evening or Saturday morning very early. (The first caravan goes out at 8 a.m.) We got there Friday afternoon when it was still pretty quiet.

We visited with some of the folks who showed up early and one older couple invited us to have dinner with them. They had brought a container of homemade soup and as most of you know, I’m a sucker for soup!

I could probably eat soup just about every day and never get tired of it. Some bread or a sandwich makes it a full meal and doesn’t leave you feeling like you just climbed the side of a mountain.

After a great meal and fellowship, we headed home to get our gear ready for the rest of the weekend. We typically don’t camp over at Mattawa since it’s so close to home.

In the spirit of the rock club, I’m going to share one of my favorite soup recipes. Enjoy!

Vegetable soup

2 small leeks, white part only

1 large potato, peeled

1 small onion

2 stalks celery

1 medium zucchini

12 green beans

2 medium carrots, peeled

6 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons water

2 quarts chicken stock

4 to 6 ripe tomatoes, peeled and seeded

4 medium garlic cloves

30 fresh basil leaves, washed and dried

Salt and pepper

Cut the leeks, potato, onion, celery, zucchini, green beans and carrots into 1/4-inch diced cubes.

In a 6-quart stockpot, combine 3 tablespoons of the olive oil with the water. Add the vegetables and sauté over medium-low heat until all the water evaporates. Do not brown the vegetables.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Cook at a gentle boil for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a food processor fitted with the metal blade, put the tomatoes, basil, garlic and remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Pulse until pureed.

Stir the puree into the cooked soup. Do not let the soup return to a boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve the soup hot or cold from a tureen or in individual bowls.

Serves 6.

Column from April 15, 2010

Sharing your time and a favorite recipe

We were having lunch at The Old Hotel Café the other day and Sally Laufer was there. She’s the manager of the art gallery.

Sally was telling us about how she met her husband and we just had to share our story, too.

Some local folks might remember the recipe column we used to run in The Othello Outlook. We would run a feature story about someone in town and include their favorite recipe.

It was lots of fun and I met many very nice people right here in Othello.

Eric had won a set of Brittany Spears concert tickets from a promotion Pepsi had going. He chose to take the cash instead because he couldn’t imagine sitting through a concert with a bunch of screaming teenagers.

I did the story for the “My Favorite Recipe” column. We started dating a couple weeks later and got married the following year.

The Old Hotel Art Gallery is a volunteer organization. That means they rely on the kindness of others to keep running. Sally told me they are very short-handed and could use some extra help right now.

That's probably true of some of the organizations in your own areas. If you have a couple hours a week to spare, please consider spending some time helping these great groups.

I know how busy people can get. In fact, I’ve been telling myself to get on the ball and make some craft items to take to The Old Hotel for consignment sales. But, sometimes, there just aren’t enough hours in the day.

Sally was also kind enough to share this great recipe for my column. She said her kids always expect to have some of this cake when they come home for a visit.

She said it’s more like a brownie texture and the icing is similar to a layer of fudge on top.

Chocolate syrup cake

1 stick butter

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can chocolate syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream butter and sugar; add eggs. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt alternately with chocolate syrup. Add vanilla.

Bake in a sheet pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool before icing. This will be like a brownie, so don’t over bake.

Icing

1/2 stick butter

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup evaporated milk (must be evaporated)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a saucepan, mix butter, sugar and evaporated milk; boil 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add chocolate chips.

Beat until thickens to the texture of icing; pour over cake.

Column from April 8, 2010

Using those Easter dinner leftovers

We had a great time with the grandsons last weekend. We hid eggs and they spent some time trying to find them.

It was really fun!

Most of our Easter was celebrated Saturday because that’s when the kids were here. I like to fix a ham dinner and there are always leftovers, so I’ll be sharing a good recipe for using extra ham at the end of this column.

When I was a little girl, my parents always hid Easter baskets for us to find. It was always an easy spot, though.

I remember the first year they thought we were too old for such things. I got up that morning and hunted through the entire house and, well, no basket. I was heartbroken.

Finding out there was no Easter bunny was worse than no Santa. It was traumatic!

The origin of the Easter bunny goes back to the pre-Christian, Anglo-Saxon days. There was a holiday with a pagan celebration that worshipped the goddess Eastre. She was the goddess of springtime and her earthly symbol was the rabbit.

When the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity, the pagan holiday, which occurred around the same time as Jesus’ resurrection, was combined with the Christian celebration and given the name Easter.

Coloring eggs goes back even earlier. Ancient Romans and Greeks used eggs in festivals celebrating resurrected gods. Plus, the egg featured prominently in the Jewish rituals of Passover as an essential symbol of springtime and rebirth.

I like the comparison of eggs to spring. It’s a great time of year. The trees are budding and the flowers are starting to grow.

It’s really a sign winter is over and done with!

Everyone seems to have their own opinion on what constitutes the first sign of spring. Growing up, it was when the robins came back from their winter migration.

However, since we have robins that winter here, that doesn’t work anymore. That’s OK. I prefer watching for the flowers, so I’ll use that.

Hay and straw

1 package (16 ounces) linguine

2 cups julienned fully cooked ham

1 tablespoon butter

3 cups frozen peas

1-1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese

1/3 cup heavy whipped cream

Cook linguine according to package directions.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, sauté ham in butter for three minutes. Add peas; heat through.

Drain linguine; toss with ham mixture, Parmesan cheese and cream.

Serve immediately.

Makes eight servings.

Column from April 1, 2010

Cranes probably don’t make a good meal

I saw a lot of familiar faces at the Othello Sandhill Crane Festival last weekend – both local and out-of-town.

There were also many new folks this year, which is always nice to see.

I’ve been attending the festival since 2001. Most of the time, it was to cover the event for the paper. But I’ve always taken some time out to enjoy myself, too.

The last few weeks, we’ve been wandering the area to find where the cranes are hanging out. We’ve seen a few, but it seems like many of the corn fields where they typically found have already been plowed up this year.

That’s too bad. It makes it more difficult for the visitors to our area to get the opportunity to watch these unique birds.

It’s one of the disadvantages of having an early spring. I do understand, though, why the farmers need to get started on their growing season. After all, we do depend on that ag economy for Othello to exist.

However, a road trip around our area in the early spring to look for cranes is never a complete loss as we do see lots of other wildlife, including ducks, geese, pheasants and hawks. One thing about the Columbia Basin, there is never any lack of wildlife for folks who enjoy birdwatching.

Here in Washington, the sandhill cranes are protected by law. In Alaska, where they go once they leave the Othello area, there is a hunting season. The birds are voracious eaters and can make quick work of an alfalfa field.

I’ve heard they taste a lot like turkey and you can cook them the same way. Personally, I’m not much for wild game (or turkey, for that matter), so I don’t think I’d enjoy a meal of sandhill crane as the main dish.

Now chicken, that’s a different story. In fact, I eat a lot more chicken that I used to. My grandmother made the best authentic Hungarian chicken paprikas. She was a wonderful cook and it was always a treat when she came to spend a weekend because she would do most of the cooking.

One time, my sister was fixing dinner and Grandma kept trying to stick her hand into the preparations. Diana – a teenager at the time – would scoot her out of the kitchen, but it wasn’t long before she would be back.

Finally, she took a couple chairs and used them to block the doorway. Grandma finally got the hint!

So, here is a copy of my grandmother’s recipe. It’s pretty easy to make and you can’t beat the taste.

Chicken paprikas (Csirkepaprikas)

2 onions, chopped

4 tablespoons shortening

3 tablespoons Hungarian paprika

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

4 to 5 pounds chicken parts (legs and thighs work best)

1-1/2 cups water

1 cup sour cream

Brown onions in shortening. Add seasonings and chicken, brown 10 minutes.

Add water, cover and simmer slowly until tender.

Remove chicken. Add sour cream to drippings in pan and mix well. Return chicken to pan and heat through, but don’t boil

Serve over hot buttered noodles.