photo courtesy theguardian.com
Today, it is exactly one week until the “first day of Spring”. I find this to be a dubious designation, even though I understand that it is so from the perspective of the equinox. But, we all know that the season of Spring has a mind of her own, and really arrives when it she is good and darned ready – and never on any such day as formally expected or called for. And so, we wait with watchful eye and hopeful heart. She may likely tease us with a balmy day here and then retreat as if not entirely sure she’s ready to stay. So, I prefer not to be fooled. I’ll just be happy when the snow cover is gone. (Can’t quite help but be a bit wary after the last two Winters here.)
Since I first read it in 1991, the opening passage from Rosamund Pilcher’s novel, “September” has remained fast in my mind. In it she heralds the long-awaited arrival of Spring in Scotland.
passage courtesy Rosamunde Pilcher:
“Tuesday the Third
In early May, the summer came, at last, to Scotland. Winter had clung, with steely fingers, for far too long, refusing to relinquish its cruel grip. All through April, bitter winds had blown from the north-west, tearing the first blossom from the wild geynes, and burning brown the yellow trumpets of the early daffodils. Snow frosted the hilltops and lay deep in corries, and the farmers, despairing of fresh grazing, tractored the last of their feed out to the barren fields where lowing stock huddled in the shelter of the drystone walls.
Even the wild geese, usually gone by the end of March, were late in returning to their Arctic habitats. The last of the skeins had disappeared around the middle of April, honking away north into the unknown skies, flying so high that the arrowhead formations looked no more substantial than cobwebs drifting in the wind.
And then, overnight, the fickle Highland climate relented. The wind veered around to the south, bringing with it the balmy breezes and the soft weather that the rest of the country had been enjoying for weeks, along with the scent of damp earth and growing things. The countryside turned a sweet and verdant green, the wild white cherry trees recovered from their battering, took heart, and spread their branches in a mist of snowflake petals. All at once, cottage gardens burgeoned into colour-yellow winter-flowering jasmine, purple crocus, and the deep blue of grape hyacinths. Birds sang, and the sun, for the first time since last autumn, brought a real warmth with it.”
When she was at the height of her popularity, with the success of The Shell Seekers, I began my love affair with her writing. To me, her ability to physically image through her words was both elegant and supremely evocative – exactly what you aim for as a writer of her genre.
This passage, and the phrase, “the wind veered around to the south, bringing with it balmy breezes and the soft weather……” remains till this day my most vivid mental image of the arrival of Spring. I guess I just hold this idea in my heart. When I bemoan the last weeks of Winter here in NJ, my thoughts often turn to the despair others who must wait even longer must feel. This will fill me with added anguish.
Thinking of early Spring in Scotland, pre-April, as noted above, when the bitter wind is still tearing blossoms, makes me visualize a nice peat fire, tea and cake……..
And so, sun shining, yet snow continuing to hold fort, it would seem to be another day to retreat into the kitchen for solace. Even so, I made it a rare day of sorts, as I spent it with Suzanne Goin, and in California – well, sort of. I have had my eye on a cake of hers for about a week now, only it called for the fresh plums of Summer. (sigh). Being that today I am not “there” in reality nor in the proper chapter of fruit season, I decided to borrow her recipe and massage it a bit. It was a very good diversion for me – to dream of California and their fresh-picked height-of-summer plums. But to make her cake, I had to be a tad self-deceptive and a bit creative.
I decided upon pears as the replacement for the plums. And, this recipe calls for a plum caramel, cause for swooning. I decided to massage that part around too and use a streusel – but not just any streusel. This cake turned out to yield a heavenly aroma in the house – always a most-appreciated reward.
And, so, Suzanne Goin’s Creme Fraiche Cake with Santa Rosa Plums and Pistachios in Olive Oil, became:
Creme Fraiche Cake with Bosc Pears and Orange/Ginger Streusel – adapted from Suzanne Goin’s The AOC Cookbook –
yield = heartwarming 
Butter a 9″springform pan, place a round of parchment paper on bottom and butter the parchment. Set aside. Preheat oven to 375F.
18 tblsp unsalted butter at room temperature
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup semolina flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup creme fraiche
6 extra large egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
4 large bosc pears, peeled, and cut into thin slices.
1 recipe orange/ginger streusel – recipe follows
Butter a 9″ springform pan, place a round of parchment on bottom and butter the parchment. Preheat oven to 375F.
Combine the flour, sugar, semolina, baking powder, baking soda and salt in the bowl of electric mixer – just to blend. Add the butter and 1/2 cup of the creme fraiche. Beat on low speed until the mixture starts to come together but is still crumbly. Add the other 1/2 cup of creme fraiche, the egg yolks, vanilla and almond extracts and increase speed to medium high. Beat until the color lightens to a uniformly pale yellow color, about 2 minutes. Scrape down paddle and bowl and blend again, 1 minute.
Spread 1/2 of the batter in bottom of the prepared pan. Cover with 1/3 of the streusel. Arrange 1/2 of the pears in a circle. Spoon remaining batter over all and spread with an offset spatula. Cover with remaining pear wedges and cover with remaining streusel.
Bake for 60 minutes, turning pan 180 degrees after 30 minutes. Cake is done when cake tester inserted in center comes out clean and center of cake is firm and springs back when pressed with finger. Cool completely on a cooling rack.
Orange/Ginger Streusel
zest of one large navel orange
1/4 cup minced crystalized ginger
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 stick butter melted and cooled slightly
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
Melt butter and cool slightly. In a medium bowl, mix together the orange zest, ginger, granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour over the cooled butter and mix again. Add the flour and mix gingerly until a nice crumble forms. Set aside.
Notes from the kitchen: this cake is heavenly, but mine did take more than 60 minutes to bake, principally because I sliced my pears too thickly, I believe. I have amended the recipe to call for thin pear slices, about 1/4″. I can’t wait to try the plum and plum caramel version. Gee, it’s only about 4 months from now……. Until then, I expect you can try this with a wide variation of other fruits – rhubarb is coming soon. There is so very much to look forward to now. 🙂