By Paul Suplee, MBA, CEC, PC-3

(April 12.18) The older I get, the more I appreciate a stark departure from chocolate desserts and venturing into fruit-laden sweets. I grew up with Strawberry Shortcake with whipped cream and cobblers of all sorts, but for most of my meager existence on this rock I have taken a shine to unctuous, decadent chocolate mousses, ganache and the like.

In fact I liked it so much that I made a mini-career out of creating truffle packs for Chesapeake Farms years ago. But now, the thought of making a thousand truffles in one sitting truly makes my skin crawl. Time has not healed that wound, but let’s get back to fruity desserts.

I guess it’s like anything else in our diet. I hated Brussels sprouts growing up, but now couldn’t imagine writing a menu that didn’t have them on there somewhere. Shaved and roasted, roasted whole, raw in a slaw or in a power salad, Brussels sprouts, or “BS” as I used to call them in my teenage-years, add a wonderful, natural touch to any modern menu.

And I digress once more. I will try to stay focused from here on out, but at least you know where I’m heading with this. Maybe you don’t. Hell, maybe I don’t. Alright, I will do my best to tie this all together for you.

With strawberry season just around the corner, those of us who are excited will scout out the various pick-your-own farms and hit the fields with great strides. I love picking fresh, ripe strawberries, as the juices and sweetness are far above and beyond anything you’ll buy at a grocery store.

Then come the peaches, and of course the apple orchards will be starting to get ready to pick at the end of the summer or early into autumn. But as we all know, thanks to modern transportation we can pretty much buy whatever we want, whenever we want. That is the way of it, but of course nothing will compare to picking local berries or sourcing heirloom tomatoes from Chesterfield Farms or fresh greens from Terrapin Farms. There’s just something about produce that is at its peak of freshness that sets it apart from commodity produce.

In line with the chilly spring that we’ve been suffering through, this apple dish is a delightful addition to your menu. Swiss in nature (but I’m sure it is prevalent in German and Austrian cuisines as well) this cake is more like a really thick pancake, having a consistency similar to Yorkshire pudding, if you’ve ever had that.

Yorkshire Pudding, if you haven’t, is a loose batter reminiscent of crepe batter, but it is savory. After a solid roasting of a huge chunk of beef, the meat is removed from the pan and a fair amount of the drippings are left in there.

The pan is heated to just under smoking-hot, the batter is added and then it’s finished in the oven quickly. Similarly, this cake has the preheated pan, although I would not recommend using meat scraps and fats to line your pan. I guess I should clarify that this only resembles Yorkshire Pudding in consistency only, and with the absence of eggs, it will be a little different overall.

Follow the recipe, top a whole cake with apples, or cut it up and toss it all together. Either way, the caramel, apples and cake are a wonderful nest for a couple scoops of vanilla ice cream. And I can’t think of a better way to end a chilly spring dinner.

Swiss Apple Dough Cake

serves 4-6

1 recipe cake batter (follows)

1 batch apples (recipe follows)

1/4 cup Golden raisins

1/4 cup Chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 425 F and place oiled cast iron pan in to preheat for 30 minutes
2. Pull out pan and pour the batter in. It will start to cook immediately from the bottom and sides, and then place it in the oven to finish
3. Remove the cake and allow to cool
4. Take the baked cake and either shred it or cut it into uniform cubes
5. Toss this with the caramelized apples
6. Place it all back into the cast iron pan in which you baked the cake and top with powdered sugar or sucre neige (see note below)
7. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and yodel a little

*Sucre Neige (sugar snow) is a pastry chef secret powdered sugar that will neither melt nor dissolve. This will allow it to sit on top of the moist apples without dissipating

Cake Batter

2/3 cup Pastry flour

2/3 cup Whole milk

1/2 cup Heavy cream

3 Tbsp. Sugar

seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean

Pinch of salt

1 Tbsp. Kirshwasser

1. Combine all ingredients with a whisk, ensuring that it does not get overbeaten
2. Set aside until ready to bake off

Apples

1/4 cup Sugar

water, as needed

3 cups Granny smith apples, peeled and sliced

1. Use a couple tablespoons of water to help dissolve the sugar, adding both to a pan
2. Do not agitate this, as sometimes it will force the sugar to harden into rock candy-like chunks that take forever to dissolve again
3. Watch the sugar caramelize, then add the apples to coat and cook until they are done to your likeness
4. Set aside until ready to assemble