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Cooking Blues

Whoopee! I broke my cooking blues! After spending a miserable weekend chewing on the fact that I managed to bake 2 totally disastrous (and expensive) fruitcakes in 1 week - perhaps Ive lost my hand for baking, I mused, or my oven is just too small, or, I dont know, whatever -, stripped the bearings of my wheelchair's left front wheel - in fact the whole wheel just dropped off -, was therefore cooped up in my flat listening to the rain drizzling outside for the whole of Sunday, Monday came at last and a corner of the blue veil lifted - I baked a successful Zucchini Chocolate Cake, and it tasted really excellent this (Tuesday) morning (recipe at BakeSpace), and then, to my joy, my caregiver Olivia and I baked the best shortcake Ive ever tasted, a tropical number found at Epicurious.com. I give the recipe exactly as I found it: BUTTER PECAN SHORTCAKES WITH ICE CREAM AND CARAMELIZED PINEAPPLE AND BANANAS Don't save shortcakes just for strawberry season. They're also delicious served with other fruits, like this tropical combination. For shortcakes 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour 3 tablespoons sugar 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans 1/2 cup whole milk 1 large egg 1/4 cup chilled sour cream 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon milk (for glaze) Additional sugar For fruit 6 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 20-ounce can pineapple slices in juice, drained well, patted dry, cut into 3/4-inch pieces 2 large bananas, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds Butter pecan ice cream Make shortcakes: Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 425°F. Line large baking sheet with parchment. Sift first 5 ingredients into large bowl. Rub in butter with fingertips until mixture resembles very coarse meal. Mix in pecans. Whisk milk, 1 egg, sour cream and vanilla in small bowl to blend. Add to flour mixture and toss just until evenly moistened. Using about 1/2 cup dough per shortcake, drop dough onto prepared sheet in 6 mounds. Using floured hands, shape each mound into ball and return to sheet. Brush each with some egg glaze, then sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake shortcakes until golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Transfer to rack; cool. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Rewarm in 350¡F oven 10 minutes before assembling.) Make fruit: Whisk sugar and butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until butter melts and mixture forms dark caramel sauce, about 4 minutes. Add pineapple and bananas; stir gently until fruit is heated through, about 2 minutes. Remove skillet from heat. Cut shortcakes horizontally in half; place bottoms on 6 plates. Top each with ice cream, then with fruit. Lean shortcake tops against ice cream and serve. Serves 6. Bon Appétit January 1999 I left out the pineapple because I hate it tinned, and hate peeling the fresh fruit (although I eat it gladly if somebody else has done the peeling). I increased the bananas, flambeed them with rum,and served the biscuits with sour cream instead of fresh - it became a quite spectacular dish. I must add that I am a dummy for biscuits, scones and shortcakes - they're one of my ultimate comfort foods because my mother often popped a few Cheddar scones in the oven for midmorning tea, or plain ones to be eaten with strawberry jam and cream. Pity we do not have that ultimate luxury in cream, Devonshire clotted cream, here in South Africa, but, what the heck, good double-thick Ayrshire cream is not that bad either. Oh, and make sure that the pecans are really finely chopped to spread their flavour through the biscuits.