The past four days in review: Two emergency plumber visits (and counting). Fifty kilometers of an ultramarathon run by one of us on Saturday morning, necessitating a tiny bit of hobbling about for a day or two, although shockingly little in the way of fanfare or recovery . (Do I need to clarify that it was not me, or is that painfully obvious? If you are not familiar with the term, “ultramarathon” doesn’t mean “a really awesome marathon”—although it should—but rather any running race longer than 26.2 miles. Some people even run ones as long as 100 miles, and yes, people are nuts. By way of further clarification, if it had been me who’d run 50K, you would know because I’d be broadcasting my accomplishment widely and casually dropping into every possible conversation. “Oh, you need me to copyedit something on page 250 by Tuesday? Sorry, I was distracted by the number 50 which totally reminds me of all of the kilometers I ran this weekend. In my ultramarathon. The one I did. With my own two legs.”)
What else? One pizza topped with smoked scamorza cheese, shaved Brussels sprouts, thin slivers of red onions, and fresh mozzarella. One batch of stovetop chocolate pudding: the extra-easy method of cocoa powder + cornstarch + sugar + salt, whisked with milk (oat milk, in my case), and cooked over medium heat until thickened. I often stir in a handful of dark chocolate at the end because whyyyyy not.
Three dramatic readings of the Brambly Hedge picture books. Two and a half chapters of a new novel (Expectation by Anna Hope). I also optimistically downloaded the following on my Kindle, in the hopes that it’ll encourage me to start reading again before bed: Here is the Beehive by Sarah Crossman, White Ivy by Susie Yang, The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne, and A Burning by Megha Majumdar.
I’ve made three very good dinners (sesame beef and broccoli over brown rice / sweet and sour tofu with pineapple over buttery millet / creamy basil pasta with greens). More on those soon.
I’ve baked sweet potato rolls, two loaves of white sandwich bread, and done too many loads of laundry to count. I’ve listened to this song at least 10 times and done three “10 minute dancer arms” workout videos and yes, I do think my biceps look more toned already, thanks for asking.
Oh, and most importantly, I’ve made one cake. After the first bite, I said out loud to no one in particular: “I think this is the best cake I’ve ever made. I’m not going to make any others ever again.”
While the second part is clearly untrue, the first might not be. This cake comes from Yossy Arefi’s new book called Snacking Cakes and it tastes exactly like an old-fashioned cake doughnut dusted in powdered sugar.
If you do nothing else this week other than make this cake, you’ll be doing okay.
Note: Yossy’s recipe calls for sour cream—I used mascarpone because it’s all I had on hand, and it turned out beautifully. I also think full-fat Greek yogurt would work perfectly well too, so use any of those three that you like. Also, she calls for 1 1/4 teaspoons of freshly grated nutmeg. I only had ground, so I upped the quantity to 2 teaspoons and I’m glad I did! The nutmeg flavor is essential for getting that doughnut vibe.
Powdered Sugar Doughnut Cake
Adapted from Yossy Arefi
For the cake
3/4 cup (148g) granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (227g) mascarpone (or sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt)
1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (180g)] all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
For the topping
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 8” square cake pan with parchment and lightly grease the parchment. In a stand mixer, beat the sugar with the eggs until frothy (about 3 minutes on medium-high speed).
Add the mascarpone (or sour cream or yogurt) and melted butter and beat well.
Add all of the remaining ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth.
Scrape the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 25 to 35 minutes (mine took about 35), or until the cake is puffed and golden and the top feels just set.
Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. Once it’s cooled a bit, but still feels warm to the touch, brush the top with the 2 tablespoons of melted butter, and dust the confectioners’ sugar over the top using a sieve or sifter.
Slice and serve. The sugar will start to “melt” a bit over a day so if you want to serve it after a day and care about it looking pretty, just dust a bit more over the top.