Tomorrow on Cornflower Books, the CBG will be discussing Wallace Stegner's novel Crossing to Safety, so here is the cake to go with the book. This is not what I'd intended to make, but a happy alternative - as it has turned out - when the infelicitous results of my first choice meant it had to be abandoned!
The book itself is a bit short on food - yes, there are various convivial gatherings including picnics in it, but the fare is mostly savoury, bar some Sara Lee cakes, and grilling enormous steaks on a New England hillside was not a practical option for me, sadly. As the story is largely set in Vermont, I thought maple syrup would have to be a key ingredient, and I started to make this tart but alas, my pastry went to pot, and I had to think again.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you a Cornflower concoction: Chocolate, maple and pecan cake!
Grease and line a 23cm. baking tin (slightly smaller will do but adjust the cooking time). Pre-heat the oven to Gas 4/350/180 deg. (I baked mine on the rack on the floor of the Aga baking oven).
You will need 4oz. pecans plus extra for decoration, 7oz. butter, 4oz. caster sugar, 3 large eggs, 2oz. self-raising flour, 100 ml. maple syrup, 3oz. dark chocolate.
Grind the pecans in a food processor. Cream together 6oz. of the butter and the sugar. Beat the eggs and fold in along with the flour and the ground pecans. Melt the remaining 1oz. of butter with the chocolate and the maple syrup, stirring as you do so. Combine that with the sponge mixture and pour into the prepared tin. Decorate the top with pecan halves. Bake for 20-30 mins. until a skewer comes out clean.
You could serve this warm, with cream, as a pudding, or cold with coffee or tea. I'm very pleased with the way it has turned out, unlike the shrunken, somewhat blackened pastry from the abandoned tart (no pictures of that!).
That looks delicious! Wishing I could eat a slice right about now.
Posted by: Jennifer | 20 November 2009 at 12:59 AM
It does look wonderful. My copy of the book, alas, is still at the library waiting to be picked up. I'll catch up with my reading and enjoy the cake in the meantime.
What! no photos of the disaster?
Posted by: blackbird | 20 November 2009 at 02:22 AM
You must be very happy with the results. As happens so often, when I cook or bake things they don't look half as nice as the photo in the cookbook. Your cake looks gorgeous and I'm sure is quite delicious!
Posted by: Darlene | 20 November 2009 at 01:39 PM
Your cake looks delicious! In fact, I think it looks much tastier than the tart in the Waitrose photo. Now if only I hadn't fallen so behind on my reading... K x
Posted by: kristina | 20 November 2009 at 02:01 PM
Looks so good--so rich and moist. Thanks for the recipe!
Posted by: Karen | 20 November 2009 at 06:40 PM
hee-hee...looks like we're on the same wavelength!!! Yum!! :)
Posted by: Neuroknitter | 20 November 2009 at 07:50 PM
The chief cake taster - all together now, it's a tough job but somebody has to do it - confirms that this experiment has been successful, though follow-up research on short term keeping properties would give a more complete picture.
Posted by: Mr Cornflower | 20 November 2009 at 09:56 PM
Yummy!
Posted by: Anne@andamento | 20 November 2009 at 11:34 PM
Oh, my, this looks so divinely delicious. Sounds like the perfect cake to make on a Sunday afternoon....mmmmm....I think I will! Thanks for the recipe.
Posted by: cathleen | 22 November 2009 at 02:39 PM