Blackberry Swirl Poundcake Perfumed with Tulsi Basil

Photo by Katrina Ludlow

Making this cake, I thought of my stepdad because blackberry picking is his favourite summer sport. In the month of August, he'll be gone for hours at a time, lost in the bushes and in his thoughts, meditating in the sunshine and brambles, returning home with mountains of the little black jewels. He likes to eat them on his cereal or yoghurt but he also freezes a lot of them. So whenever I come home for a visit, even if it's in the dead of winter, I can pop open the freezer and have a little taste of summer in the Gaspereau Valley.

It took some courage to pick the blackberries to make this cake. Right now, we are house-sitting in the tick-mecca of mid-coast Maine, notorious for the small lyme disease carrying deer ticks. Yikes. The first morning we were here, I went out to pick just a quick cupful of blackberries for my breakfast smoothie and returned 5 minutes later with 2 deer ticks on me. So I've gone out picking since that first morning but each time more cautiously and less enthusiastically than the time before. And I've returned each time with both blackberries AND ticks. So I'm putting my lofty goals for blackberry jam & pies on hold until I find a less tick-prone patch. At least I got what I needed for this cake, and I'm glad I did. This one is a keeper.

This summer I've fallen in love with tulsi. Do you know it? Also known as sacred basil, it's used in India in Ayurvedic medicine and Hindu rituals. Herbalists love it because of its numerous medicinal properties. We planted some tulsi in our garden this year and it turned into a giant bushy patch whose fragrance sends me over the moon every time I walk by. When I'm working in the garden and starting to feel tired and achy, I just walk over, stick my face in the flowers and inhale deeply. The bees are in agreement with me on this, they have been hovering over it ever since it's been in flower.

I had been dreaming of capturing the intoxicating perfume of tulsi in a cake and when I saw this recipe for blackberry swirl pound cake, I knew it was going to be the perfect marriage of flavours. When I chopped the tulsi basil and added it to cake, its aroma mingling with the smell of the vanilla batter and blackberries almost shot me straight up to heaven. I realize not everyone has easy access to Tulsi, so if you don't, I would recommend just using a teaspoon or two of your favourite herb in the cake batter instead. Italian basil would work well, I'm sure, as would lemon balm or lavender. If you're not feeling as herb-obsessed as I am, I'm quite certain that a simple blackberry swirl pound cake will be exquisite on its own.

BLACKBERRY SWIRL POUNDCAKE WITH TULSI BASIL
(Based on this Martha Stewart recipe)

1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup blackberries
1 cup + 3 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 large eggs, whisked
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream or yoghurt (I used half cream, half kefir)
1 tbsp finely chopped Tulsi basil (or your favourite herb)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a standard bread loaf pan (I used a square pan) and dust with a little flour to prevent cake from sticking. In a blender or food processor, puree the blackberries and sugar with the 3 tbsp of sugar. In a bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking powder. In an another bowl, use a mixer to beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and tulsi and incorporate fully. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream / yoghurt, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

Transfer half the batter into your cake pan, creating a slight indentation in the centre with slightly raised edges. Pour about half of your blackberry puree in here, being careful to contain the puree if possible so it won't touch the edges of the cake pan too much (otherwise it might burn and make it hard to remove the cake). Top with remaining batter and add the rest of the puree. With a sharp knife, swirl the puree and batter to create an attractive pattern. Bake until golden on top and a toothpick should come out clean (aside from a bit of puree on it). This will take about 1 1/4 hour. Remove the cake, let it cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, then remove and let it cool completely before slicing it. Enjoy!

Garlic Dill Green Beans with Dijon Vinaigrette

Pulling a big bulb of garlic out of the ground is right up there on my list of life's most satisfying moments.

We're a little on the late side harvesting ours so a few cloves were busting out of their protective shells, but overall it was a very successful harvest. And this garlic is a little special too because my boyfriend and I planted it together shortly after we met for the first time, last fall. So it's romantic garlic, ooh lala! We planted 2 varieties: Georgian Crystal and German White. My friend Sara who was visiting (good timing Sara!) gave us a hand with it all and took this photo of us beaming with pride after a long day in the sun.

Personally, I can barely function in a kitchen without garlic and I refuse to buy the stuff that's been shipped all the way from China, so I was pretty stoked when I saw our small mountain of garlic heads. I have a feeling it will easily last us all year, until our next harvest. 

Aside from the garlic, pretty much all of our meals are coming from straight out of the garden these days which is such a joy. 

Since the green beans are in full swing, I was planning to make canned dilly beans with them but my dill seed heads aren't quite ready yet, so I sautéed these ones in some of that freshly harvested garlic with butter and some late-planted radishes, garnished with fresh dill. Nothing too ground-breaking here, but I thought I'd share this simple taste of summer with you. Everything that went in that pan is from our garden (except the olive oil and butter).

Garlic Dill Beans with a Dijon Vinaigrette

Around 1/2 pound green beans
6 cloves of garlic (or 1 big head)
1 shallot (or onion)
1 small bunch of radishes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
Fresh dill, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Dijon Vinaigrette
1 tbsp whole grain dijon
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Snap the ends off the beans and cut in half or thirds, depending on how long your beans are. Bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Blanch the beans for 3 minutes or until deep green but still crunchy. Drain and set aside. In a pan, sautée the shallots in the olive oil until golden. Add the sliced radishes, garlic, beans, and butter. Salt and pepper generously. Sautée until the beans reach the desired texture. Test them as you cook! I like mine well-done but with a light crunch left in them. Remove from heat, toss with dill and vinaigrette. (Or serve vinaigrette separately). Serve hot or cold.

Candy-dipped Chocolate Ice Cream Cups

"The sincere friends of this world are as ship lights in the stormiest of nights."

                                                                                                                                                        -Giotto di Bondone

It's a gray rainy weekend here on the East Coast so I thought I'd put a little colour out there by sharing one of my sister's recent sprightly concoctions: chocolate ice cream cups. A great activity for kids on a rainy day (including the big kids). Leave it to Ariell to make this treat no, not out of plain old regular brown chocolate, but bold purple chocolate dipped in multicoloured candy sprinkles. That girl knows how to have fun. Seriously. And man do I miss her these days. 

She made these recently with her loyal sidekick Melissa and luckily for me (and you), they documented the whole whimsical adventure and allowed me to share it with you here. 

But before we get started, let me just tell you a little bit more about this dynamic duo. My sister is a cook extraordinaire and I already told you a little about her magical ways in my post about her Butternut-Peanut-Coconut soup recipe last fall. At 12 years old, she was already running her own business, selling her baked goods at our local farmer's market and over the years, her love of food and cooking has only grown. Recently she started a catering company called Edible Art and she also runs a beautiful little cafe in Newport Landing Nova Scotia. Her friend Melissa is a magnificent photographer and the genius behind Raven Dawn Photography and together, these two girls are unstoppable. This winter they went to Hawaii and had the time of their lives. Their friendship is one of those that spills out joy all around and makes even the gumpiest person crack a smile. When I saw these photos of their ice cream cup-making adventure, I wanted to share them with you all. So here's how you make them.

Step 1: Blow up some balloons, as big as you want your bowls to be. Small water balloons work well.

Step 2: Melt the chocolate. Ideally, it should be tempered, which you can read all about here.

Step 3: Once the chocolate is cooled to around 90 F (32 C), dip the balloons in.

Step 4: Dip in candy sprinkles.

Step 5: Put a dollop of chocolate on a baking sheet and put the balloon on it.

Step 6: Pierce your balloon and discard it.

Step 7: Fill with your favourite ice cream and share with someone you love.

And in case you want a little extra instruction, here's a wicked little video from The Chocolate Addict, showing the whole process. Enjoy!