Off the Fork: Compote-crowned cake

Many people who enjoy baking share a childhood epiphany that occurred when they were allowed to mix a handful of dusty flour, a lump of butter that smelled like a cow, and a cup of gritty sugar, and make a cookie. The first time you participate in the transformation of two or three seemingly inedible substances into something as delicious as a sugar cookie, it’s a revelation.

That’s why this simple blueberry cake recipe is one of my favorites. It came to me from a friend whose young son had renamed it “Poppy-Uppy” cake because as it bakes, the cake part rises up to cover the blueberries, which sink beneath the surface like tract houses disappearing into a Florida sinkhole.

You can use any cornmeal for this dessert, (which happens to be gluten-free) but coarse ground cornmeal gives it a little crunch, which I really like. If you prefer a less dentally challenging torte, use fine ground cornmeal.

Rhubarb is plentiful on farm stands in the area, and at Briermere, (4414 Sound Ave, in Riverhead) they have three plantings of rhubarb and are still selling the earliest with the other two nearly ready to harvest. They will probably have rhubarb well into June.

Rhubarb is another one of those seemingly inedible things that is transformed through the miracle of cooking. A celery-like vegetable with leaves that are not just inedible, but actually poisonous, it’s too bitter to eat raw, but becomes a runny, syrupy compote with a very complex, sweet and tangy flavor after about 20 minutes in the oven. The Indian spice mixture called garam masala includes cinnamon and cloves, and seems to bring out the best in rhubarb.

Roast a pound of rhubarb to create enough compote for your breakfast yogurt, spoon it over rice pudding or over vanilla ice cream as the crowning touch for this blueberry cake.

Poppy-Uppy Cake

Serves 6

1 cup cornmeal

1 and ½ teaspoons baking powder

¹⁄8 teaspoon salt

8 ounces butter

1 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups blueberries

1 teaspoon lemon juice

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Mix the cornmeal, baking powder and salt with a whisk until the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Cream the butter and 1 cup of the sugar in another bowl until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla.

Blend in the dry ingredients.

Spread the batter in a greased 9-inch pie plate or an 8-inch square pan.

Mix the berries and the lemon juice, and pour over the batter.

Mix the cinnamon and remaining tablespoon of sugar and sprinkle over the berries.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until the top is well-browned.

Rhubarb Compote

Used as a topping for the blueberry cake or spooned over ice cream or yogurt, a pound of rhubarb makes enough for at least 15 servings.

1 pound of fresh rhubarb, leaves removed and discarded.

¾ cup sugar

Zest of one lemon

½ teaspoon garam masala

Cut the rhubarb stalks into two- or three-inch pieces, toss with the sugar, and allow it to sit for 15 minutes.

Add the lemon zest and the garam masala, and scrape it into a glass or ceramic baking dish. Cover with foil.

Cook at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, stir, and continue to cook covered, checking every five minutes. When most of the rhubarb stems have collapsed and the mixture is bubbling, remove it from the oven and let it cool covered in the dish. Rhubarb compote can be stored in the refrigerator for at least four days