LET FRUITS TAKE THE EASTER CAKE
Let (dried and fresh) fruits take the cake
Jason Schreiber is a staunch advocate of fruit cakes for every season. While his repertoire includes the boozy Christmas fruitcake loaded with dried fruits and nuts, it is not confined to it. The recipe developer and food stylist has widened the fruits-in-cake concept with creative desserts that incorporate familiar and uncommon fruits.
He touts a peanut butter and jelly snack cake topped with strawberries. Four-layer hummingbird cake flavored with banana, pineapple and coconut. Crumb cakes moistened with poached pear or blueberry and gooseberry. Crepe cake layered with a guava paste filling. Macaroon cake packed with dried apricots. Raspberry tea cake with a hint of black pepper. Creamy cheesecake perfumed with pureed mamey, aka sapote. Chocolate cake soused with port-soaked dried figs.
They are among 75 recipes featured in his debut cookbook, “Fruit Cake: Recipes for the Curious Baker” (William Morrow; November 2020). The 38-year-old Brooklyn
resident has worked at Ron Ben-Israel Cakes in New York City and written recipes under the Martha Stewart brand name.
It was after he made a fruitcake for his brother’s wedding that he decided to pay ode to fruit cakes with a cookbook.
“I thought if I was writing a book where fruit is the focus, I wanted it to be aspirational and educational on some level,” he says. “I wanted to introduce people to fruits that they might have had before but not made anything with it. Or it might be a fruit they stumbled on or sought out.”
He offers substitutions for the unusual and harder to find fruits. For instance, he suggests doubling the blueberries in the crumb cake recipe if gooseberries cannot to be found. His make-do suggestion is even easier for a kiwi and goldenberry torte. “If fresh goldenberries are unavailable, substitute with a smattering of your favorite fruit,” he writes in the book.
If a fruit is out of season, he works with ones that are available. His buttermilk ricotta cake with peaches, he says, works just as well with mangoes, pineapple and even banana. He avoids fruits that will break down too much in the oven and also oranges, as they will add too much liquid.
In a phone interview, Mr. Schreiber spoke about how to handle fruits in cakes and offered baking tips that can be helpful when making desserts for Easter. The Q&A has been edited for clarity.
Q: How do we keep fruits from sinking to the bottom of the cake?
A: A dense piece of fruit will be more likely to sink in a soft, light batter. Coating the fruit in flour before mixing it into the batter will help it float a bit. So will adding the fruit to the top of the batter so it has a longer distance to travel before reaching the bottom of the pan.
Q: What about getting fruits to hold their shape when they are baked?
A: One of the things that helps a fruit to hold its shape is pectin. Different fruits have different levels. For instance, quince is very high in pectin. Acidic apples like Honeycrisp and Granny Smith will hold their shapes when baked, but ones like Red Delicious will turn to complete mush in the oven. Similarly Bosc pears, which are firmer, are more likely to hold their shape than, say, Anjou pears.
Q: Is there something that can be done to make fruits look pretty and not washed out in an upsidedown cake?
A: You have to take the time at the beginning, in the first few steps, when you are layering the fruits. You want to arrange the fruits properly so they look just as neat when the pan is flipped after the cake is baked.
Q: When styling a cake with fruits, what are some key aspects to keep in mind?
A: Save the prettiest fruit for the top or whatever part of the cake will be the most visible. Use a mix of whole and sliced fruits to add interesting shapes and a variety of sizes. If the leaves or blossoms of the fruit are available, and are edible, throw a few in for good measure.
Q: What is the best way of storing a cake topped with fruits? A:
A cake with fresh fruit on top will probably need to be refrigerated after assembling. If possible, add the fruit just before serving so it looks its best. Leftovers can be loosely covered with plastic or a cake dome and refrigerated.
Q: How do you prevent a fluffy frosting from crusting up? A:
Frostings that are made with powdered sugar will form a crust when exposed to the air. I see this as a feature rather than a defect as it is largely unavoidable, though refrigeration may slow the process. If you prefer a silky smooth frosting, look for a recipe like Swiss meringue buttercream.
Q: Does it matter whether a rubber spatula or wooden spoon is used to fold in wet and dry ingredients?
A: A rubber spatula will do a better job than a wooden spoon because its flexible design allows it to scrape the sides of the bowl. As a result, you’ll be able to mix the ingredients together more efficiently with fewer strokes.
Q: How do you prevent a cheesecake from cracking on top?
A: A cheesecake cracks when it cools too quickly.
Take the cake out of the oven at the point when it is just setting. If you shake the pan, the outside of the cake will be firm, but the very center will still have a wobble to it.
Let the pan sit in the water bath for about 30 minutes after it is taken out of the oven. Then transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let it come down to room temperature slowly. Finally, refrigerate it.
Q: Not everybody owns cake pans of different sizes. What is the one must-have pan size?
A: For most people, an 8inch pan will be sufficient. That being said, if a recipe calls for a certain size pan, go with that, because that’s what it was tested in. If you use another size pan, the cake may take a longer or shorter time to bake or the batter could overflow.
Q: How important is it to prepare a cake pan with grease and flour?
A: Greasing the pan is one of the most important steps you can take. There is no point in making a cake if you cannot get it out of the pan, right? You can lubricate the pan with softened butter or oil. I personally don’t like spray-on products. Flour offers a layer of protection and helps to prevent the cake from sticking to the pan and the butter from melting into the batter.
I have a Pan Goo recipe that calls for ¼ cup neutral oil and ⅓ cup all-purpose flour. It is easy to use as you need to brush the pan with just one thing.
Q: As a recipe developer, you obviously encourage substitutions. But when do you say, “Stop the madness”?
A: I don’t think I would change too many things at once. If you have a good sense of what each component of the recipe is there to do, then go for it. Use your judgment and understand what and why you are doing it. But if you are missing half the ingredients, maybe you should look for a different recipe that features ingredients you have on hand.