Cozy sweaters, hot steaming drinks, fires in the grate, slow simmered stews, and simple, comforting cakes. These are just a few of the things I so love about fall. Our temperatures have suddenly dipped below 50 at night and I finally can crack our bedroom window before we sleep to let in the cool night breezes. Their enveloping scents and sounds inevitably lull us to sleep.. It’s bliss.
Hot summer days are lovely, but I also have to admit I find that they can also be exhausting. Fall feels like so much rejuvenation to me, a respite from fire, dry and drought.
One of the many wonderful things about summer that I invariably miss though, is the abundance of beautiful, fresh produce. It’s always sad to say goodbye to stone fruits and seasonal tomatoes and I lament the loss of weekly trips to the farmers market. We try to get to the farmer’s market as much as we can while it’s open. Supporting farmers is so important and living in the Northwest, we have but a limited time each year in which we can really do that.
Sensing this inequity, and striving to right it, is a wonderful company named Barn2Door.
Barn2Door is a local Seattle area company founded by my dear friend Janelle Maiocco, whose aim is to provide an online market place that provides a link between farmers and consumers. As you know, farming is one of the most labor intensive professions. Farmers are so often busy farming that getting their goods to customers can sometimes be an enormous challenge. Janelle provides the framework for that exchange to happen seamlessly and effortlessly for both farmer and consumer. Their online store highlights a variety of growers and their products and gives customers a chance to order directly from the source. It’s a win for shoppers and definitely a win for famers.
Limited currently to the Seattle market, Barn2Door has big plans to grow and develop other markets. They’ve set their sights on a nationwide program with Portland, OR next on their schedule! So please head on over to give the site a look and if you live in the area give them a try.
To kick things off right, Barn2Door is generously offering my readers $15 off their orders through October 15th, 2015!! Head on over, sign up, and place your order. Enter in the PINK15 code upon check out to obtain your discount and your golden!
Janelle recently sent me a box of the most beautiful Jujube fruit from Fairview Orchards in Ojai, California. More familiarly used in Asian cuisine, Jujube fruit reminds me very much of dates, both in looks and flavor. Moist and full of delicious apple flavors you can eat them fresh or dry them and use them as you would dates. My leftover Jujube’s went directly into the dehydrator and I’ve been snacking on them ever since.
Sticky Toffee Pudding is a dessert that we typically make only in the winter months and as we are approaching fall, I thought it would be a perfect way to highlight this gorgeous fruit. I simply switched out the dates in the recipe for Jujube fruit and prepared it as usual. The result was outstanding and hopefully something you are able to try.
If you really want to up the cozy factor for this cake, warm it up in the oven for 5-10 minutes before serving. It goes perfectly with a roaring fire and fuzzy socks.
Ingredients
- Cake
- 3/4 C. pitted Jujube fruit finely chopped in a food processor
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 C. boiling water
- 3/4 C. sugar
- 1/4 C. softened , unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 C. flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- Toffee Sauce
- 1/4 C. butter
- 1 C. packed brown sugar
- 3 Tbsp. heavy cream
- 1 C. toasted hazelnuts chopped
Servings:
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Combine the fruit, soda, vanilla and boiling water in a small bowland set aside.
- Butter and flour a 8″ cake pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until light. Add the egg. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the butter mixture. Beat well.
- Carefully add the fruit and water mixture and beat until smooth. The batter will be thin. Pour into pan and bake 35-40 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 15 minutes, then turn out on to cooling rack for the remainder of the cooling time.
For the Toffee sauce:
-
Combine the butter, brown sugar and heavy cream in a saucepan over low heat. Stir until the sugar and butter melts and the mixture is smooth. Whisk over medium heat 2-3 minutes until mixture thickens slightly. Allow to cool 10 minutes, the spread evenly over the top of the cake. Garnish the edges with hazelnuts. Slice into wedges and serve.
