I (Heart) Martha's Beach Towels

It's a bit counterintuitive, perhaps, for a Canadian to love beach towels. After all, outdoor swimming only occurs in Canada for about three months of the year. Perhaps that's why, then, that I find myself ogling their bold, summery colours and designs each year in the department stores and online catalogs; the fleeting swimming season here makes their use all the more special, I guess.

Martha has always been a big believer in the luxe beach towel and has provided her consumers with various options over the years. Her Martha by Mail catalog had gorgeous beach towels with vintage illustrations of aquatic life: see below. The Everyday line at Kmart also had a good seasonal offering with striking, modern designs. The Martha Stewart Collection at Macy's is where you'll find her current selection - and quite a selection it is! There are 12 different designs, shown above, some with two different colorways. Each is made from plush Turkish cotton, measuring 38" by 68" - a fabulously large dimension for lounging on the beach. 

There is a great Memorial Day sale on at Macy's right now and I snapped up four of these towels for myself. (Even Canadian shoppers will find the sale prices very good with reasonable shipping rates across the border).  Visit Macys.com for more.

These beach towels featured on the cover of the Summer 2000 catalog for Martha by Mail were always a favourite of mine. I really wanted the sand dollar design: so chic! (To anyone of influence I say, please bring these back!)

A New Documentary About Martha's Life In The Works

It has been widely reported (People, Variety, Entertainment Tonight) that R.J. Culter will be directing and producing a documentary about "the life and times of Martha Stewart" for Netflix. Cutler, who is known for directing "Billie Eillish: The World's a Little Blurry" for Apple TV+ also garnered an Oscar nomination in 1993 for his film "The War Room" and received much acclaim for his documentary "The September Issue", which chronicles the production of the September issue of Vogue magazine. There are very few details about the Martha documentary, but it is expected to cover many aspects of Martha's life, including her childhood in Nutley, New Jersey, her legal troubles in the early 2000s, all the way up to the present day. The documentary is said to be an "all-access" account, meaning it will involve Martha's full participation. No word yet on when the documentary will air. 

I have been hoping for a documentary like this for awhile now. Some of my favourite biographical documentaries in recent years have included "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work" (2010), "Very Ralph", HBO's documentary about Ralph Lauren, released in 2019, and most recently "Tina", another HBO documentary about the life of Tina Turner, released earlier this year. Each one was excellent in its own way. Martha is more than worthy of a well-produced, well-researched documentary. I can't wait!

Martha's Double-Orange Cardamom Bundt Cake

I recently received a new Bundt pan as a gift and decided to inaugurate it by making one of the Bundt recipes from the May 2020 issue of Martha Stewart Living: a double-orange cardamom cake. The recipe is also included in Martha's Cake Perfection book, published last year. I should start by saying that the idea of making a Bundt cake has always frightened me: all those nooks and crannies where batter can get stuck and refuse to unmold! Do I risk spending an hour or so in the kitchen (not to mention shopping for ingredients) when there's a chance the cake might not even come out of the pan? I decided to bite the bullet and just try it.

Since baking sprays are not sold in Canada (think Baker's Joy and Pam's Happy Baking Cooking Spray), it was crucial that I thoroughly grease the pan with butter and dust it with flour before pouring the batter in. To me, it is the most crucial consideration when making a Bundt cake: treat the pan well, and it will treat you well in turn.  

The cake came out beautifully and just as described, although I omitted the Triple-Sec soaker and glaze since I was not in the mood for a boozy cake: a simple dusting of confectioners' sugar did the trick. The batter is luscious and fragrant, studded with orange zest and a healthy dose of ground cardamom. It's perfect for a small spring gathering. Below is the recipe along with some tips for successfully extricating a Bundt cake from its mold. 

Double-Orange Cardamom Bundt Cake

Martha Stewart

(Serves 12)

INGREDIENTS:

For the Cake:

2 sticks (one cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

3 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup whole milk

½ cup freshly-squeezed orange juice

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon grated orange zest (from two oranges)

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 ¼ teaspoons ground cardamom

1 ½ cups sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

 

For the Glaze:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter

½ cup orange liqueur (Triple Sec or Cointreau)

2/3 cup sugar

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step One: Preheat oven to 350. In a bowl, stir together whole milk and orange juice. In another medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cardamom.

Step Two: With an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to medium. Add the dry mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk/orange juice solution, beginning and ending with the dry mixture.

Step Three: Generously brush a 10-cup Bundt pan with butter, dust with flour and tap out excess.  Pour batter into the pan two-thirds of the way to the top. Even out the batter with an offset spatula.

Step Four: Bake until cake is puffed slightly and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack.

Step Five: Make the glaze. In a small saucepan, cook butter over medium-high heat until boiling. Remove from heat; carefully add the liqueur (mixture will bubble). When bubbling subsides, add sugar and return to heat. Stir constantly until sugar is fully dissolved, about one minute. Remove from heat.

Step Six: Pierce holes in cake with a skewer at 1-inch intervals. Brush half the glaze evenly over the cake; let it stand until absorbed, about ten minutes. Invert cake onto a rimmed baking sheet. Gently pour the remaining glaze over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides and center. Place cake back in the oven for ten minutes until glaze has set, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack before serving.

Cook’s note: Glazed cake can be kept in an airtight container or cake dome for up to three days. The glaze is not necessary for this recipe if you would rather do without the liqueur. It is just as good sans-glaze, served with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar, some whipped cream, and fresh raspberries.

Bundt-Pan Troubleshooting Tips:

Here are a few tips for baking with Bundt pans:

·       Grease it well! I cannot stress this enough. Bundt pans have a non-stick coating, but this is not enough. You must very generously grease the pan with either butter or vegetable shortening, ensuring you get it into every nook and cranny of the mold: you can use a pastry brush or your fingers for this. A very generous coating of flour (if making a white cake) or cocoa powder (if making a chocolate cake) should then be added to ensure the cake does not stick. Tap out any excess. Grease the pan just before you pour the batter in so that the butter does not warm and slide to the bottom. You can also use baking sprays (NOT cooking sprays) if they are available to you. Again, use a very generous amount.

·        Let it cool! Because Bundt cakes are quite dense, it is important to let them cool for at least 20 minutes in their pans before attempting to invert them. It allows the cake to set and to slowly pull itself away from the sides of the pan.  Inverting the cake too soon will cause the cake to fall apart. Conversely, don’t let it stay in the pan too long or the sugars will begin to get sticky and cling to the sides of the pan. Twenty minutes is the golden rule. Set your timer.

·       Red alert! If the cake does appear to be stuck to the pan, there are a few things you can do to help unmold it, although they are not failsafe. 1. Thoroughly soak a dish cloth in ice water and wrap the cloth around the pan while it is still warm. This helps the cake contract quickly. 2. Place the entire pan in the freezer while it is still warm and wait for ten minutes while the cake contracts from the sides. 3. Never use metal implements to loosen the cake; this will scratch the non-stick coating. Use the end of a rubber scraper to gently loosen the sides. 4. Pray.

My Favourite Books About Baking Cakes

I've baked cookies, pies and puddings, crisps, crumbles and cupcakes. But there is something about baking a cake that just feels so good. Part nostalgia, part curiosity, the act of baking a cake is something I enjoy immensely. Many of the cookbooks in my home library contain recipes for cakes that I love. And there are cake recipes from friends and family that will always have a special place in my heart. But to have a book (or two, or four) devoted exclusively to the art of cake baking is essential to the home baker, I feel. 

The focus on that one particular confection - how to make it, how to decorate it, how to store it - is really invaluable for the home cake baker. Below are descriptions of the four cookbooks that I rely on consistently for cake baking. Each one engages my interest and sparks my appetite for a beautiful and delicious piece of cake. 

Yossy Arefi has been a contributor to Martha Stewart Living and Bon Apetit magazines, but I had not heard of her until her book was mentioned by her colleague Claire Saffitz in one of her "Dessert Person" video blogs on YouTube. (I highly recommend Claire's YouTube channel, by the way, as well as her "Dessert Person" cookbook). 

"Snacking Cakes" might just be the most perfect little book on straightforward cake baking you will ever encounter. By definition, a snacking cake is a simple, single-layer cake that can be made quickly. The book is perfect for beginners but sophisticated enough to keep even expert bakers interested. Arefi intended to create a book with one word in mind: simplicity. Each of the recipes can be made in one bowl and baked in one 8-inch square cake pan. The ingredients can all be easily found at your local supermarket and the equipment used to make them is minimal - no stand mixer required! 

Arefi also provides pan alternatives, which is so helpful! If you want to make any of the cake recipes in a loaf pan or a round pan, you can. Arefi provides the alternate cooking times for each type of pan.

The recipes are perfect for weeknight baking, something Arefi stresses in her introduction, and are ideal to bake for potluck dinners, school bake sales, or just to have at home for dessert or a quick pick-me-up with a cup of coffee. The book was published last year and is beautifully photographed and well-designed. The recipes are divided into sections devoted to cake types: Fruit Cakes, Warm and Toasty Cakes, Chocolatey Cakes, and Not Your Average Vanilla Cakes, which is simply one foundational white cake recipe with multiple variations for different frostings and additions. Brilliant!

I admire the devotion to simplicity without compromising on flavour. Favourites include the Berry Cream Cheese Cake; All The Spices Cake; Powdered Donut Cake; Salty Caramel Peanut Butter Cake; Sparkling Gingerbread; Espresso Chocolate Chip Cake; Red Velvet Cake, and Fudgy Chocolate Cake. 

I discovered Zoe Francois on Instagram early last year. Beautiful images of her extraordinary-looking cakes kept popping up on my feed and I was quickly seduced. When I found out she was publishing a book on cakes, I knew I had to have it. And I'm so glad I do! 

One of the book's best selling features, for me, is the vast amount of information about the art of cake making itself. The first 60 pages of the book are devoted to an in-depth discussion of cake-baking techniques, ingredients, and tools. There is even a whole "Cake Academy" section with extremely detailed tips and hints for the best batters, frostings and presentation techniques. It's this kind of expert advice that is so lacking in those online repositories of recipes, and why I feel cookbooks are still so necessary for the home baker. 

The book is beautifully organized and photographed (by Sarah Kieffer) with chapters divided into cake types: Pound Cakes, Quick Breads and Bundts; Fruit-Studded Cakes; Soaked Cakes; Cake Layers, Loaves and Sheets; Light-as-Air Cakes; Layered Cakes; Rolled and Fancy Cakes; Icings; Fillings and Flourishes.

It seems to be intended for the intermediate baker, although even beginners will find some delightfully-simple cakes to try, such as the zucchini cake and its dark-chocolate variation. And if you really study the "Cake Academy" section before you start any of the recipes, you'll already have a huge head start. Each of the recipes, too, refers back to the "Cake Academy" section if you need a refresher about a specific technique along the way, which is a very thoughtful addition. There is also a "Baker's Note" at the end of each recipe with more guidance if you're unsure of a certain step. 

Favourites in the book include the aforementioned Zucchini Cake (the chocolate one too!) as well as the following: Lemon-Curd Pound Cake, Apple Cake with Honey-Bourbon Glaze, White Cake, Yellow Cake, Ultimate Carrot Cake, and Black Forest Cake.

I don't know if this book will be for everyone, but it's definitely for me! The camp cover with all its citrus exuberance, and its cheeky title, alludes to the fun that lies between its two covers. Martha Stewart, it seems, agrees, as she contributes an effusive foreword, extolling the virtues of Jason Schreiber, whom she has collaborated with on several culinary projects, both as a recipe developer and stylist. 

"Fruit Cake", of course, is devoted to cakes with fruit in them. So, if you don't enjoy fruit-infused cakes, then this book will be lost on you. The book's subtitle, "Recipes For the Curious Baker", perfectly sums up its aim and ethos; the recipes are designed to intrigue and, at times, even baffle! But that's what is so much fun. Schreiber makes you want to jump in with both feet and give his creations a try. I would not recommend this book for beginners, even though there are some very simple recipes inside. The overarching theme of the book is one of experimentation and idiosyncratic whimsy, beautifully demonstrated in the highly-stylized photography and the occasional Schreiber poem, inscribed between recipes.

The book is divided into chapters that speak the cakes' virtues: Constant Cravings, Out of Hand, Showstoppers, All Rise, Soaked, and a Basics section with all the fundamentals: curds, frostings, meringues, etc. 

Among my favourites in the book: Banana Tiramisu; Raspberry Tea Cake; Applesauce Cake; Fig & Date Snowballs; Orange-Currant Zaleti; Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake; Chocolate, Cherry & Orange Cake; Fig, Port & Chocolate Cake, 

To me, the book perfectly sums up what cake should be about: fun, whimsy, curiosity and delight.

This one should look familiar to a lot of you! Martha Stewart's Cakes was her first book on bundts, loaves, layers and coffee cakes (published in 2013) and it has been a favourite of mine ever since. With more than 150 recipes, it has all the bases covered. So far, it's the best collection of cake varieties that I've come across, spanning the whole gamut of cake types, from cheesecakes to icebox cakes. If you're looking for a simple coffee cake, this book has it. If you're looking for a basic pound cake, this book has it. If it's a three-layer birthday cake with fancy flourishes you're looking for, well, this book has it too! 

I think it's a very good book to invest in if you intend to explore the universe of cake baking. You can bake your way through it over time, starting with the very simple recipes and advancing to the more difficult ones. As with most of the other books mentioned above, this book is divided into cake types, making it simple to navigate: Loaves, Bundts & Tubes, Coffee Cakes, Single Layers, Cheesecakes, Icebox Cakes, Cakes with Fruit, and Layer Cakes. Each recipe is accompanied by a full-colour photograph (always helpful) and there is a Basics section at the back with fundamental recipes for frostings, curds, meringues, lists of essential tools and basic techniques. 

I've tried quite a few cakes from this book and these are my favourites: Basic Pound Cake (my go-to pound cake recipe, always); Maple Cake; Applesauce Cake; Strawberry Cake; Blackberry-Cornmeal Cake; Tender Lemon Cake; Buttermilk Cake with Chocolate Frosting; Pumpkin Layer Cake; Vanilla Layer Cake; Double Chocolate Cake; and Carrot Cake.

I highly recommend this book.

If you have any cake books you love, I'd love to hear about them in the comments.