Blue Cayenne

Happy birthday to one of the kindest people I know–my neighbor Gene.

Gene, a retired high school science teacher, avid gardener and gourmand, is a loyal a supporter of this blog.  He also is celebrating his 87th birthday this month. Way to go, Gene!

Gene is a part of an awesome duo–Gene and Sarah. They are neighbors who have had my back on any number of occasions. They help me run Blue Cayenne by willingly taste testing my cooking experiments–even when the going gets tough and I yield to my wild experimental side. (I haven’t told them yet that I’m exploring jackfruit recipes.)

So it was only natural to celebrate Gene’s birthday with a special cake.

This flourless chocolate cake is elegant and chocolatey beyond your wildest dreams.

It’s just right for a really good friend.

The recipe is adapted from on that appears on the King Arthur Flour site. You can find the original recipe here.

Who doesn’t need a bit of sunshine to cut through the winter gloom right about now? The weather is iffy and the world news is dreadful.

Here’s what you need to do to regroup.

Cue the music:  “I Can See Clearly Now.”  That’s Johnny Nash’s 1970s number one hit single. Great song—whatever your age. Hopeful.

Now find a spot and have a generous slice (or two) of this tea cake full of bright lemony wonderfulness.

You’ll be feeling better in no time.

About the cake…

The taste of the cake is sublime but it is the cake’s glowing yellow color that will first catch your attention (and lift your spirits).

Interestingly, it is not the lemon that gives this cake its sun shiny color. It’s the turmeric.

You read that right. Turmeric. (Bet you didn’t expect that!)

Turmeric is the spice that gives curry its distinctive intense yellow color and that virtually every alternative medicine site is touting for its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

So, what in the heck is it?

Turmeric is a part of the ginger family. It looks like a fresh ginger rhizome but it is smaller and the flesh is bright orange rather than the pale yellow of fresh ginger. You can buy it fresh at most Asian markets and I’ve recently seen it at Sprouts.

Turmeric has been used culinarily for thousands of years. It also has played an important role in Indian Ayurvedic medicine since ancient times. Some people in South India even wear the rhizome around their necks as a protective amulet to ward off danger.

Turmeric’s  modern-day uses are broad, too. While it continues to be widely used in food and medicine, turmeric also is used as a dye for skin and clothing, as a pigment in painting and as a garden plant. Turmeric is commonly used to give mustards their intense orange color, for example. It is even used to give popcorn a warm orange hue.

So, here we are. Healthy and vibrant turmeric in a delicious cake.

Enjoy it with a hot cup of tea with Johnny Nash’s music in the background.

It is going to be a bright, bright sun shiny day. Gotta believe that.

This recipe was adapted from one that appears in Alison Roman’s Nothing Fancy. You can buy her book here.

Got holiday anxiety?

You deserve a little private celebration during these busy holiday weeks.

This elegant little Pea and Fennel Cream Soup certainly fits the bill. It is bright-green beautiful, comfortingly creamy and oh-SO-easy to prepare.

This recipe is adapted from one that appears here.