dani finally made this.

barley “pastina” and other bits.

Thu, 4 Mar 2010 14:18:46 -0800

I’m so proud! Thanks to my friend and fellow blogger Sarah, I have a new recipe that’s moving straight to heavy rotation, and that’s after only one try!
The delicious and oh, so nummy comfort food of her family is Pastina -- basically a bowl of orzo or other small pasta cooked in chicken stock and then dolled up by turning off the heat at the end and cracking an egg into the mix with a big handful of Parm and stirring until creamy. Mmmm... I made it last week and fancied it up a bit by sautéing some portobello mushrooms in a lot of garlic and butter and parsley and throwing some on the top of each bowl. I thought it was victorious enough then since I got my husband to eat an egg in some other form than as a binder (those of you who know him can understand my profound sense of accomplishment).
So after thinking about it all week, I decided to take that principle an apply it to my son’s favorite dinner of all-time, Annie’s Mac N Cheese. Without fail, he asks for mac n cheese for dinner EVERY SINGLE NIGHT OF THE WEEK. Once or twice, I give in. On the other days, he’s stuck with whatever makes it to the table that night. I am having a great deal of success lately by just serving him whatever I am making totally un-altered, but also putting something on the plate that is a sure thing for him. He seems to want to try new things when there is an old trusted thing in front of him that he knows he can eat no matter what. He is, however, 3 and 1/2, so what’s true this week may be a bold-faced lie next week.... I hope that I am at least instilling a sense of value in trying new things and giving him a foundation for being an adventurous and healthy eater.
But I digress! Ok, so the big achievement for the week is that I made a batch of plain barley, but then I used the Pastina Principle to doctor it up. I sent it to the table with a mound of mozzarella and grated nutmeg on top and low and behold, after a couple of sniffs and a nibble, my darling son pronounced this “new pasta”, “delicious” and proceeded to eat nearly the whole plate!
So thank you, Sarah! With your pastina as inspiration, I’ve found a great way to get a complex carb AND an egg into my boys without so much as a whine about it! What can I figure out how to disguise next?!
BARLEY "PASTINA"
Mind you, this is not long on looks but it is strong on taste! Serves 1.

* 1 cup cooked barley
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
* 1/ 4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
* salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste

Heat barley in a small pan with 1/4 cup of water or stock. Once it is warmed through and almost all liquid is absorbed, turn off the heat and crack one egg into the pan. Stir the egg vigorously to create a creamy "sauce" and then add parmesan cheese and salt, pepper and/or nutmeg to your taste. Dump this yummyness into a bowl and top with a handful of shredded mozzarella and grate some additional nutmeg on top. Serve to one happy person.

Note: Nearly any veg would be a lovely accompaniment to this. Use this basic recipe with any grain or pasta and any cheese combo you can imagine. The options are endless!

BEWARE: More ranting. But you should read this one.

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 13:08:50 -0800

Don’t worry, I have a bunch of recipes I’m dying to tell you about. They’re coming... soon... I promise! But I just got my mind blown to pieces and I MUST tell you about it.
Do me a favor and read this, ok?

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/01/cultivating-failure/7819/

It's rare at the age that I am at now that someone can knock me flat on my face with their counterpoints to an argument I already felt reasonably well-educated on and upon which I had a established a deeply-set opinion (see the rant in my previous post). I feel a little bit shattered right now. I am grateful for these moments.... it makes me feel engaged in the conversation on the next level. But mmaaaannn, do I feel like a schmuck too.

I started reading this essay thinking it was only going to help me build upon my already strong feelings about the merit of school gardens. And yet somehow, in all my cumulating years of interest in this issue, I never once thought to consider how one-dimensional my perspective has been.

But the fact of it is, I only have the thoughts I have about all of this stuff precisely because I had a sound education and strong role modeling that gave my brain the food it needed to grow and cultivate ideas of my own. As much as I wish my childhood had been enriched by the physical experience of learning to garden and grow my own food, if I'm entirely honest with myself, enriched is really the key word in that sentence.

My brain is strong and my abilities are vast because I had parents who cared about the grades on my report card and not the calories in my belly. I learned early and I learned often that doing my homework was the only way to succeed. I had a dad who often brought the dictionary to the dinner table because he wasn't going to dumb down his conversation for the sake of appealing to my pleas to understand. "If you want to know, look it up."

Gah! If you want to know, look it up. I love my dad a lot, but I can't believe how much I am really appreciating him right now. Looking it up did lead to stronger commitment in the classroom. And the TV dinners that fed me most nights of the week.... well, I think they probably contributed less to my overall performance than I would like to believe.

Do I think being well-fed physically is as important as being well-fed spiritually, emotionally, and educationally. Absolutely. You won't get me to budge on that fact. But Caitlin Flanagan, you've just successfully expanded one very stubborn mind on a very personally important issue. Thank you for feeding me today.

A culture of thinking hard must be present in your foundation. And no amount of good eating will replace that.

BEWARE: This is a rant. Please skip this if you don’t want a soapbox.

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:33:50 -0800

So I'm watching Food, Inc. a couple months ago (a film which I highly recommend and encourage you ALL to see... and don't worry, it won't leave you with the feeling that you can never eat again, just maybe the feeling that you don't want to eat certain things again) and there is this segment that profiles a low-income Hispanic family. They are rolling through some unnamed drive-thru and while the two daughters glumly eat their crappy cheeseburgers, the mother explains that their limited budget doesn't entitle them to eat any other way. Meanwhile, this family of four has just spent $12 at said drive-thru.

Now I agree, $3-per-head-per-meal is a tall order to work out when you're cruising the aisles of your local Whole Foods but alas, EVEN AT WHOLE FOODS, you can eat economically AND eat well. Trust me. I am on a tiigggghht budget at the moment and our bellies are still full. It's that "will and a way" thing....

I am sorry but I am so effing tired of the "it's too expensive" argument. Now, time on the other hand? That is another issue and one that I certainly respect. It's fair that many of us don't have the luxury of time to cook healthy, balanced food every meal of the day. But I think it's rare that someone in a household is not off work at least one day of the week (especially in these times), and if basic strategies are worked into the system for how your family operates, I really don't understand why we can't all feel "entitled" to the basic human right of good nutrition.

EVERYTHING -- and I REALLY believe EVERYTHING -- that is failing in our system today can be traced back nutritional deficiencies. Our health care system is about to implode thanks to... obesity-related health problems that have over-extended our ability to pay. Thanks to bad nutrition. Our schools are performing at their lowest levels in the last 25 years.... because kids are on meds and can't focus... because they are malnourished. And their parents aren't there for them because they are just struggling to get through the day themselves... thanks to a vicious cycle of consuming calorie-rich, nutrient-starved food and chasing it with a soda.

After I wanted to cry for this family that was clearly just trying to do the best they could I wanted to wring all of their necks I was so angry. Cut to the next shot of them comparing produce prices at their grocery store and dad can't justify the $1.29 price for a head of broccoli because he's convinced himself that the dollar will go so much farther on the processed food aisle... or even better, it could buy him a hamburger! A poop-infested, ammonia-filled, ecoli burger. That's right, it could! We simply cannot play the ignorance -- or cost -- card anymore and expect to have quality of life.

Shit is seriously broken when you can't safely go to the grocery store and fill your cart with "food" that will "feed" you. Once I began to read labels to see what was in my food, I began to make changes that have, years later, had a profound impact on my life and the lives of the people I share a home with.

I would challenge this family and any other to buy that head of broccoli, plus a bag of brown rice, a block of cheese, and some nuts, and see how their $12 makes them feel after a meal made from those 4 items tossed together and cooked a bit.

Bad meat, bad calories... they all cost way too much in the long run. I implore our nation to regroup and fight the assumption that we are already too far gone to change things. Eat. Good. Food. PLEASE.

Sorry for the rant...I’ve just had this on my mind a lot lately for some reason and that’s what writing should really be for, right? Expressing your thoughts? Anyway, thanks for indulging me. I'll go back to recipes in the next episode...

going bananas today.

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:07:30 -0800

I’ve been on a bit of a baking bender the past few weeks, as evidenced by the overwhelming dominance of cookie recipes that I seem to feel compelled to share. It’s just that when there’s stress in my life... I turn to butter. I mean, I turn to butter anyway. But when I’m stressed... well, forget about it.
Mack’s had a really tough week, and Noa’s little busy bone is emerging. All waking moments must be spent actively cruising to and/or chewing on the object that catches her eye. It’s so much fun, but man am I tired! We have a house full of teeny tiny toys now and everywhere I turn there is something dangerous in her path. Seriously, I don’t know how people manage more than two. This life is CRAZY! My “no drinking during the week” program is out the door too. Rules are made to be broken, right?
Ok, back to the food. Though I find myself baking more than usual, I am actually making other food, too. Soups are taking center stage lately because it’s such an easy dinner to get to the table, and my goal is to begin baking fresh bread to break with those soups.
I have been feeling a creative lull so I turn back to steaming veg when I need to just take a break. I have been simply steaming all mode of vegetable that doesn’t end up in the stock pot... and lunch easily becomes a plate full of good colorful food with very little effort. Not long in the excitement department but I am fed, and that’s always a good thing. My favorite combo of the moment is steamed broccoli, fresh carrot sticks, strawberries and avocado, drizzled with walnut oil and sprinkled with salted sunflower seeds. Nom! (And a side of bleu cheese dressing to dip the broc and carrots in is pretty fantastic too.).
The banana bread happened because all necessary ingredients were in the house, and I really wanted to make something for Mack that wasn’t his standard yogurt-and-toast breakfast in the morning. I used the lovely Banana Cake recipe from Breakfast, Lunch, Tea as a launching point and beefed it up with extra goodness in the form of oats, flax seed and wheat germ. Mack happily devoured the first loaf along with the rest of us, and the second loaf went into the freezer for consumption at a later date...
BANANA BREAD (adapted from Breakfast, Lunch, Tea by Rose Carrarini)

Makes 2 loaves.

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
• 1 cup organic sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 bananas (about 12 oz total weight), mashed, plus one banana sliced thinly
• 1/2 cup buttermilk, or a mixture of milk and yogurt (I used whole milk with half a lemon squeezed into it)
• 1 heaped tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 and 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1/4 flax seeds
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and two 10-inch loaf pans and line the base with parchment paper. Butter the parchment again and dust with flour.

Beat the butter and sugar until they are light and creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the bananas and the milk mixture. In another bowl, mix together the baking soda, salt, flour, oats, wheat germ and flax seeds and gently mix into the wet ingredients. Add the walnuts by folding them in gently.

Spoon into the prepared tins and place the banana sliced decoratively on top.
Bake for about 1 hour, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool the cake in the pan before taking it out.

this is your new cookie recipe. trust me.

Mon, 8 Feb 2010 13:43:48 -0800

Everyone needs the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. I’ve been tweaking my own personal recipe for years now, and yesterday I finally achieved The Perfect Batch. I feel it’s only my duty to share it.
Please come up with a reason to make these and give me your feedback. I just ate one as I wrote that last sentence and I am pretty certain that was the best cookie I ever ate.
DANI'S CHOCOLATE-CHIP COOKIES

Preheat oven to 375. Then mix these dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Cream together with an electric mixer the following ingredients:

• 3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
• 1/4 cup almond butter
• 1/2 cup organic sugar
• 1/2 cup, plus 1 tbsp. packed organic dark brown sugar

Once the sugars and butters are well-blended, add:

• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Mix well. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and blend until dough is no longer sticky. The dough might look a little drier than your average cookie dough, but don't worry. Add:

• 12-16 oz. chocolate chips (I prefer Callebaut or Ghiradelli)

Incorporate chocolate chips into mixture. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and scoop rounded and even spoonfuls onto both sheets. Bake in oven for 12-20 minutes, switching halfway through for even cooking. Bake until light golden brown.

pretzels, with a side of battitude.

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 09:41:33 -0800

Attitude that we don’t like is known as battitude in our house. There’s been a bit too much battitude coming from the boy this week. I always try to look for a reason, but frankly, I think this is just something they do from time to time. Testing the waters... checking out the boundaries.... making sure we’re riding the edge of sanity, apparently.
I always do this to myself: Last week was so creatively charged that I had boundless energy and was certain that it was a sign of “normalcy” on the horizon (“Normal” being the once upon a time when I could clean house, take care of a couple kids, provide a couple of great meals to the members of my household a couple times a day, AND have enough inspiration left over to, you know, write a clever blog entry or two. And do some freelance work. Riiiight.)
Ok, so here’s my yoga moment for the week. I’ve arrived. Somehow it became Wednesday already and I’m about to gauge my eyeballs out from a three-year-old vacillating between talking my ear off, to being a perfect gentleman, to pooping his underpants in defiance, to throwing tantrums left and right because life isn’t going just how he wants it. Oh, and the baby doesn’t ever want me out of her sight.
And here I am, MAD at the blog. Because I promised myself it would be something I would commit to 3-4 days each week. Because I keep sitting down trying to have something brilliant to say and nothing comes. Because I am not looking at what I HAVE achieved this week.
I cook even more when I need to relax, and this definitely qualifies as one of those times. So though I have nothing revolutionary to report, I have some lovely photos as proof that despite feeling like a torture victim at times this week, I took those lemons and made lemonade... and pretzels, and pork tenderloin with fennel, and more biscotti, and piles of various cooked veg instead.
I am going to exhale now. And take another deep breath. And promise myself that I will be kinder to myself during times like these and know that I am just doing the best I can... and that’s a pretty good job, now that I look at it. That’s my real New Year’s resolution. To just be kinder. Everywhere and to everyone.
And maybe to eat another pretzel.
HOMEMADE SOFT PRETZELS (courtesy of Alton Brown)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-soft-pretzels-recipe/index.html
I followed this recipe to a T, as it was my first time making any kind of boiled bread. It was easy to prepare, follow, and produced an amazing result... DO try!!

it was a good day.

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:24:27 -0800

wednesday was one of those days that just went... right. the little man couldn’t wait to get to school, and from there the baby and i headed straight for the farmer’s market to load up on goodies. she was in a great mood so i gave myself the luxury of meandering the entire market -- something i rarely do anymore since i always feel a bit rushed with the kiddo’s morning food and nap schedule looming over my head.
well sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do, and they say a happy mama makes happy children. so we wandered.... and there’s always so much to discover, i find, it a state of wander. like the DELICIOUS walnut oil in the very last stall at the very end of the market that i splurged on. and the little black truffle that became the inspiration for wednesday’s supper. like i said, it was good day.
so we get our bounty home and i decided to make good on some of the items that i’d prepared in past weeks and needed to use before they went bad. first: candied ginger.
i have been meaning to try alice water’s recipe for biscotti in The Art of Simple Food. her version calls for anise and almond, but i swapped it for some cherries and said ginger. holy moly. these guys are the REAL DEAL. i can’t encourage you enough to give them a try. throw anything you got in the pantry in there! the base for the cookie is super simple and quite easy to pull together. i totally recommend. next time i am going to slip in some flax seed and buckwheat flour to amp up the health factor a bit... i’ll keep you posted on the outcome.
so dessert was done, but it was already 1:45 and i had to get to school soon to pick up the boy. what’s for dinner? hmmm... i had a veg stock in the fridge from a couple weeks back that had a strong porcini mushroom base. i looked at my counter that was overflowing with produce and decided on a leek, fennel and potato soup. i quickly cut and washed everything, threw it in the stockpot with a bit of butter and garlic, and sauteed everything for about 10 minutes. then i poured the stock over it, brought everything to a boil, and then simmered for another 10 before i had to leave. turned off the heat, left it to cool, and voila... dinner!
needless to say, it rarely goes like this. and as a matter of fact, the boy was in the mood to terrorize me from the moment i picked him up until bedtime. but i had that soup. and those biscotti. and with a couple of glasses of wine to wash it down with and the company of a husband and a dear friend, i can say with a whole and happy heart that it truly was a good day.
CHERRY-GINGER BISCOTTI
(adapted from Anise-Almond Biscotti in
The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters)

* 2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* a pinch or two of salt
* 3 eggs, at room temperature
(note: alice suggests warming them up in a
bowl of warm water if you need to speed it up.
i used this method and it worked beautifully.)
* 1 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup dried cherries
* 1/2 cup candied ginger, chopped

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs with sugar until the mixture forms a ribbon (it starts to look like meringue but doesn't get as stiff because of the egg yolks). This should take 3-4 minutes with an electric mixer. Gently stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture until just incorporated and then fold in cherries and ginger.

On a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, form the dough into 2 3-inch loaves. The dough will be very sticky, so use a spoon to get the dough onto the sheet, and then use wet hands to shape and smooth the dough into a loaf shape. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until lightly golden. Remove the loaves from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 300 F.

Cut the cooled loaves into 1/2-inch-thick cookies and place cut side down back on to your baking sheet. Cook for 20 minutes (or until brown on one side), turn the cookies over, and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

the original breakfast, lunch or dinner of champions

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:36:45 -0800

my husband’s aunt sent me a really nice note about this little blog of mine today, but lamented about the size of her waistline as she (and all of us) finds herself recovering from the sheer gluttony of the past few months. needless to say, she doesn’t want to make that cake anytime soon. i don’t blame her -- neither do i!
i am, on the other hand, PILING IT ON in the land of veg these days and it feels oh so good. my protocol of late has been to hit my markets as often as 3 days a week if i can, but then leave the produce on my counter until it is prepped (i.e. cleaned, chopped, etc). only then does it earn the right to sit in my fridge. sometimes it waits overnight if i just can’t get it done (come on, i have a 7 month-old and a 3 year-old). (another note : my house errs on the chilly side so nothing goes bad. that would defeat the point, wouldn’t it?)
anyway, i chop ahead and then everything is there when i want it. most meals can go from fridge to table that way in under 10 minutes. yea!
well, that brings us up to date on the story of this recipe. i don’t know how the rest of you feel about your dark, leafy greens, but i’ve had to take a long journey to find love in the world of collards and kale.
i didn’t grow up with cooked greens in my daily diet so the flavor profile didn’t come naturally. and when i did have them, they were always so brown and soggy, i didn’t understand how there could actually be nutrition somewhere in there. so when i brought some elephant kale home from the farmers market a few months ago, i was wary. as i do with my veg, i chopped that bunch up and rinsed and cleaned it in my salad spinner. then i just threw it in the fridge -- in the spinner -- and stayed away. it took a couple days to motivate myself to try to eat the stuff, but i landed on a recipe that sounded intriguing and decided it was time. I am going to need to say this in all caps because I am still so shocked by it myself, but KALE IS IN MY TOP FIVE. of all time. seriously, i freaking love kale. KALE?! kale. it’s amazing stuff. besides being SO good for you, it’s very delicious, economical and efficient. kale is remarkable. it’s like the squash of the green kingdom. it keeps, like, forever. (no joke, i’ve kept it in the spinner for 10 days and it’s as happy as the day i bought it.)
i’ve been tweaking my favorite recipe for months now, and i have settled in on a method that just straight delivers. this salad will not only boost your energy but your brain somehow gets smarter from it too. it’s my go-to lunch many days of the week now. trust me and try it.
Super Kale Salad (for champions only)
* a bunch of kale, chopped
* 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
* a handful of your favorite nuts(pistachio is getting it done for me lately)
* olive oil
* pinch of salt (or two)

optional (but encouraged):
* 1 slice of bacon
* sriracha (aka rooster sauce) **highly recommended!!
* any other roasted veg that might be hanging out in your fridge

Heat up your largest non-stick pan with a bit of olive oil and toss in the kale, garlic, and nuts all at once. Throw some salt over it all and let everything sit there and start getting crispy for awhile. When you really hear it making some popping sounds, start sauteing it and moving everything around so it doesn’t burn. I like to use tongs so that I can lift big clumps and flip it.
Everything in your pan should get nice and browned, and the kale should still be bright green but wilted. Once you pile it all in a bowl, drizzle some rooster sauce -- or whichever preferred “wang” sauce as we refer to it in our house -- on the whole mess and have at it. Num!

how it all began: gourmet takes the cake

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:41:58 -0800

ok, so i made this cake.
know first that i trash most everything that crosses my path, but for some reason, i have years and years worth of gourmet magazines meticulously organized by season and carefully preserved in magazine files in my bookcase.
i think it must have been a lethal combination of very-encouraging boyfriend (now husband) and the allure of those gorgeous covers staring back at me in the checkout line that got this whole mess started.
i have always really enjoyed food. we grew up eating out -- a lot -- and eating well when we could, and i began to perceive the difference from a pretty early age. my parents both worked, and so the story goes that necessity is the mother of invention i suppose.
when TV and homework didn’t intervene, i would fight boredom at home in the afternoons with the joy of cooking, trying my hand at baked goods mostly. i never took it seriously however, and managed to get to my 20’s without having had any meaningful experience in the kitchen.
then i met this guy who liked to cook. and he was really good at it.
i thought i was the luckiest girl in the world until he started to pressure me into trying to make things too. “but you’re the one who’s good at this! don’t make me try! i don’t know what i’m doing!” i must have argued my way out of effort for months before he finally told me to put up or shut up. i had so much desire to cook, and so much fear standing in the way of getting started.
so in the same way this begins, so did the cooking.... with a LOT of whining and trepidation. i burnt a lot of shit. i made crunchy things soggy. i left out flavor. and then, i started to get a little better. i stopped looking at the gourmet covers in the grocery store and actually started taking them home and reading them instead.
i was staggered by how accessible it all seemed. for being... gourmet... it was so... i don’t know, straightforward? i began to try to cook things from “the everyday kitchen” and miracle of miracles, stuff tasted GOOOD. and even started looking good too.
well, that was nearly a decade ago. i’ve become obsessed. i cook almost daily. i am a self-diagnosed food-writing junkie. i love my farmer’s markets. i know my farmers. i know my food.
my husband got the ball rolling (as is so often the case), but gourmet fed the passion. and last year when i baked this cake, i felt so much gratitude for this tool, this guide, this... friend, in a way... that got me to the point where my food looks like the covers. so i took a photo comparing the real, delicious deal sitting on my kitchen counter with the beautiful photo inside the cover. and i felt like i had arrived.
so i’ve been snapping photos here and there ever since. and claiming that there will be some outlet for it all someday. i think this is it.
in case you’re interested, the recipe for the cake is this:
RASPBERRY BUTTERMILK CAKE
(from gourmet june 2009)

* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
* 2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 large egg
* 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
* 1 cup fresh raspberries (about 5 oz)

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes, then beat in vanilla. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.