I was 28 years old the first time I ate a fig. I’d had Fig Newtons before but never a real fresh fig. I remember that first time pretty well. It was while I was working for Live It Learn It and I was taking students on a trip to visit the Washington Youth Garden (WYG) which is located inside the National Arboretum. During the trip fourth grade students tour the garden, learn about food groups, and pick fruits and vegetable that will be used in making a healthy snack.

Sometimes while they gather materials for the snack they also get to taste things along the way. On this particular visit, the figs were ripe and our WYG educator picked one and cut it in pieces for the kids. While in the garden the kids try a lot of foods they haven’t had before but that are familiar to me. This time I was in the same boat as the kids. I had never had a fig and was both nervous and excited to try. It looked a little funny but seemed harmless enough. I asked the educator if I could try some of the fig too, and I found (along with the kids) that I liked it! It tasted like a Fig Newton (duh) but also softer, brighter, and like warm sunshine. It is one of the freshest things I’ve ever eaten. Since then, I’ve tried to be more often to eating and cooking with figs. 

On the outside, figs aren’t so beautiful. They look like fat purplish-green bulbs. The inside is a whole different story. Figs are bright colored, nearly magenta and full of tiny edible seeds. I think the insides are really gorgeous and so should definitely be shown off when cooking. I chose to pair them alongside my other favorite pretty fruit with lots of seeds: strawberries. So this fig and strawberry cake was born. However, both of these fruits are most attractive raw. There’s something about baking fruit that makes them sort of ugly because they get wrinkly and discolored. Appetizing descriptions right?

But what strawberries and figs lose in aesthetic luster, they gain in flavor. Sprinkled with sugar and baked they take on a soft jam-like flavor and texture. A few weeks ago I made a peach upside down cake, and with that recipe the peaches stay firmly on the top layer of the cake. Here, the fruit is put on top of the batter and as the cake bakes the fruit softens, falls a little bit, and gets ooey gooey inside. It’s a nice summery flavor surprise.

Since the fruit it put on top of the batter and sugar is sprinkled on top the cake has a rustic homemade look to it. But in the nicest, most comforting, though slightly trendy way possible. It’s the kind of thing you would find in a small indie coffee shop or at a farmer’s market. I also think it’s a really forgiving cake to make. Sometimes you want your cake to be iced perfectly, the fruit to be placed perfectly, and the slices to come out perfectly. This cake lets you be a bit messy and unkempt. It’s ok if the fruit falls into the batter a bit, if it browns unevenly, or if it is a bit crumbly. It’s going to taste good and that’s all the matters. I mean, it’s just cake for goodness sake!

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Messy level: Three spoons. It’s not more messy than any other cake, but I think cake by nature is a bit messy. Cake is messy because you need two bowls and because something always gets thrown out of my stand mixer.

Fig and Strawberry Cake

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

1 hour 10 mins

Total time

1 hour 25 mins

 

Serves: 8 slices

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons/ 85 grams butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
• 1½ cups / 188 grams all-purpose flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon table salt
• 1 cup / 200 grams plus 2 tablespoons / 5 grams granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• ½ cup/ 118 ml milk
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 2-4 figs cut into quarters, depending on taste
• about 10 medium strawberries, halved (use a few more or less depending on taste)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F /180°C.
2. Butter a 10-inch pie pan and set aside.
3. In a small bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter and 1 cup of sugar until pale and fluffy. This takes about 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the egg, milk, and almond extract to the butter mixture. Mix on medium speed until just combined.
6. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture a little bit at a time (I did about ¼ cup at a time). Mix until just combined. It's ok if there are some lumps.
7. Pour the batter into your prepared pie plate.
8. Arrange figs skin side down and strawberries cut side down on top of batter. Arrange them in whatever way you think looks nice. Put them as close together as possible in a single layer. You might think you can't fit everything but you can definitely fit more than you think.
9. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar over the fruit.
10. Put the cake in the oven and bake cake for 10 minutes. Then reduce oven temperature to 325°F/160°C and bake for an additional 50-60 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
11. Let cool then cut and serve.

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I think the first time I made brownies was in high school. My mom has a really good recipe that she got from a friend. The recipe is hand written on a tattered piece of paper and the instructions are pretty vague. When I was a teenager the only thing I had ever baked was sugar cookies at Christmas, so making brownies was a big leap for me. Suffice it to say, this leap didn’t go well. I remember the brownies did not hold their shape and it was easy to mold the under cooked chocolate concoction into balls. The misshaped brownies tasted good, but looked bad. And maybe unsafe as they were under baked. After that I only made brownies from a box. 

In fact, I’m not sure how many times I’ve made brownies since that high school mishap. The answer is probably not many. But I had a craving for chocolate so I decided I to make some brownies. Now, chocolate and strawberries is one of my favorite combinations. I don’t know why but I think chocolate covered strawberries are one of the best (and fanciest) treats. So, wouldn’t brownie covered strawberries be really good?! Even better perhaps?! I was going to try it out so I went to the store to buy some ingredients.

I had some other errands to run so I went to a shop a little further from our flat than usual. I was shopping at the Budgens on Holloway Road. In this store when you’re waiting to pay you get in line and then wait for whichever cashier was next. I was first in the line and ahead of me were two registers – one had a man and one had a woman – both had babies in strollers. Both babies were making general happy baby noises and I remember thinking, “babies are always making some kind of noise.” That sounds crotchety and mean, but I work with children I hear them making noise all the time. But anyway… the man at the register bent down to coo at his baby and I did a double take.

“Oh man, I think that’s Chris O’Dowd!” I thought excitedly to myself.

So I looked a bit longer and I decided it’s definitely Chris O’Dowd. And then I got all tingly, excited and star struck. In my adult life I’ve lived in big cities and had interesting jobs so I’ve had the pleasure of seeing celebrities a number of times before. For example, when I interned at the New York City Police Museum, Katie Couric came to see an exhibit and she and I walked down the stairs together and I asked her how she liked her visit. Also, in my first week at the Science Museum Jason Isaacs came up and asked for directions to the bathroom (and I didn’t know the answer). And for a last example, once I was in a cab in New York and I saw Nick Lachey waiting to cross the street.

But I have never felt so giddy to see a celebrity. I have never wanted to talk to a celebrity so badly. I think I first saw Chris O’Dowd in Bridesmaids but I fell in love with him through the IT Crowd. That show is smart, goofy, lovable, and so memorable. Ryan and I joke about it and quote it all the time. We first watched it right after we moved to London and it was the first British TV show that we got into. For me, I was new to a city and this show was a tiny way for me to participate in British culture.

Anyway, I kept looking at him and then he saw me looking at him and I looked away. It was awkward, but probably that happens to him all the time. Then I was called up to pay for my groceries. I paid, walked out of the store and excitedly texted Ryan. I decided to pretend to be cool and not say anything to Chris O’Dowd because, you know, I can be normal and shop in the same store as a celebrity and let him be normal and not bother him. Then Chris O’Dowd came out of the door after me and he went right and I went left. I went home with my groceries made brownies and watched episodes of the IT Crowd. So, this recipe could be called “brownies with strawberries” or it could be called “the time I stared at Chris O’Dowd while buying groceries.” Sure, it’s not the most dynamic celebrity sighting story but I was really pleased with it.

And you (and anyone you share these brownies with) will be pleased with this recipe. The brownies are fudgy and very chocolaty. Fresh from the oven the strawberries taste like jam but when cooled they add a soft texture and nice fruity burst. Ryan said he thinks it makes the brownies get better each day that passes because the brownies got softer and fudgier. Also, I used my homemade butter to make these so I was really proud of the extra-homemadeness! I chose to use 1/2 milk and 1/2 dark chocolate because I wanted a sweeter, creamy, softer flavor. You can totally use all dark chocolate and then you’ll have that rich bitter flavor associated with dark chocolate.  Do what you like, but definitely make these. They are yummy.

Recipe adapted from Saltedtv.com. Salted TV is an online cooking school with loads of recipes and helpful videos about techniques. It’s awesome, check it out.

Messy level: You can make the batter in ONE BOWL!!! I think the real draw back to baking is often having to use two bowls and that doubles the dishes. Made in one bowl, there’s very little mess and clean up.

Brownies with Strawberries

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

33 mins

Total time

53 mins

 

Serves: 15

Ingredients

• 10 medium strawberries cut in half
• 1 cup/ 113 grams butter
• 5.5 ounces/ 155 grams dark chocolate bar cut into chunks (or chips)
• 5.5 ounces/ 155 grams milk chocolate bar cut into chunks (or chips)
• 1½ cups/ 300 grams sugar
• ½ cup/ 110 grams brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1¼ cups/ 172 grams all-purpose flour
• 5 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
2. Line a 9x13" baking dish with parchment paper
3. Scatter the cut strawberries across the bottom of the parchment paper. Set dish aside.
4. In a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium-low heat. (I used number 3 out of 9 on my settings)
5. Lower the heat and add the dark and milk chocolate chunks. Stir gently until chocolate is melted and combined with the butter.
6. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the sugar, brown sugar and salt. Stir until well mixed in.
7. Now stir in the vanilla extract.
8. Add the eggs one at a time. In between each egg stir and mix until the egg is completely incorporated before adding the next egg.
9. Fold in the cocoa powder and flour. Be gentle and don't over mix. It's ok if there are still a few lumps - if you mix too much you'll have a tough brownie.
10. Pour the batter over the strawberries in your prepared pan. Try to make sure your batter is evenly distributed across the pan.
11. Bake in the oven for 33 min or until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out pretty clean.
12. Use the parchment paper to lift the brownies out of the pan. Let cool slightly then cut and serve.

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The next day after moving was Mother’s Day. With all this hubbub of packing, graduating, and moving, I didn’t have a real present for my mom. But in my defense, her birthday was a week before. Anyway, my papa and I cooked my mom a delicious brunch of french toast and yogurt parfait. It was nice to cook for my mom, but also fun to hang out with Papa and learn his cooking secrets. I served more as the sous-chef, but I wanted to share what we made anyway

Yogurt Parfait

I was responsible for the brunch “appetizer.” Papa’s secret is to put the bowls in the freezer to make them extra cold. The next step is to fill each bowl with 1/2 a cup of vanilla Greek yogurt. On top of the yogurt arrange a variety of cut fruit. I used cantaloupe, strawberries, and blueberries – you of course could put whatever fruit in it that you like. Serve immediately! Once you prepare everything it’s important to serve it quickly so you can maximize the prefrozen bowl.

Papa’s French Toast

Ingredients:

Messy level: I think French toast is at least a two spoon meal. Dipping bread into egg means that eggs drips everywhere and gets on your fingers. I want to give it one spoon, but I just can’t. 

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