Election Day Cake recipe

Need something for sustenance while watching this year’s election results? Try a piece of Election Day cake like early Americans ate on their way to the polls. Due to sparsely located polling places in the early days of the United States of America, colonists would need to travel far and wide to cast ballots in local and national elections. To keep up voters’ strength, women of hosting towns would serve cakes weighing up to 10 pounds to those going to the polls.

The Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink reports that Election Day Cake is a yeast-raised fruitcake of New England, first mentioned by Amelia Simmons in her American Cookery book as early as 1796. Other records showed such cakes being baked to celebrate Election Day as early as 1771 in Connecticut, and the tradition spread throughout the Midwest and West in the nineteenth century. Usually associated with Hartford, they are often called “Hartford Election Cakes.” The original version is something of a cross between bread and a cake, more like a less dense English fruitcake or plum cake.

Chef-Instructor Alison McLoughlin of The Culinary Institute of America charged her students to create their own delicious version (below) of this classic recipe just in time for the 2008 election. Featuring dried blueberries, cranberries, and golden raisins, its patriotic colors are sure to please—no matter which candidate you will be voting for this November.

Makes one 10-inch cake

    * 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
    * 1/2 cup water
    * 1 1/2 cups dried fruit, including cranberries, golden raisins, and blueberries
    * 1/2 cup American whisky
    * 1/2 cup warm water
    * 1/2 cup milk
    * 1 package (1/4 ounce) rapid-rise yeast
    * 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour, sifted
    * 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
    * 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    * 1/2 teaspoon ground clove
    * 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    * 1 teaspoon salt
    * 1/4 pound (1 stick) soft unsalted butter, cut into cubes
    * 3 eggs
    * 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

   1. Combine 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar with the water in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium-high heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.

   2. Place the dried fruit in a large bowl. Add the sugar mixture and whisky; stir and set aside.

   3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine warm water and milk.

   4. Combine yeast with 1 cup of whole-wheat flour and combine it with the milk mixture. Sprinkle the remaining whole-wheat flour on top. Set aside to allow the yeast to ferment until the yeast breaks through the surface of the flour, approximately 30 minutes.

   5. Lightly spray and flour an 8-inch tube pan.

   6. Sift together the remaining dry ingredients and set aside.

   7. Drain the fruit mixture; reserve the syrup for later use as a glaze.

   8. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and the remaining 1 cup of granulated sugar until light in texture. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition.

   9. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the sponge (flour and yeast mixture); mix until fully combined. Add the remaining sifted dry ingredients. The batter will be stiff. Stir in the drained fruit.

  10. Place the batter in the pan, cover, and set in a warm area to allow the cake to rise, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

  11. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze: In a medium-sized bowl, combine the 1 cup confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons of the syrup reserved from the drained fruit. Stir until smooth and set aside.

  12. Bake cake in a preheated 350º F oven for 45 to 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

  13. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes and transfer cake to a wire rack to cool. When cool, lightly brush with reserved syrup, and top with glaze.

Afghanistan: Quite simply 'there is no good reason'

On the way to work this morning, I was listening to the Diane Rehm’s show on NPR. I feel so sorry for folks who either don’t live where there is an NPR affiliate station, or have let the wingnut media convince them that it’s some kind of liberal media conspiracy.

But I digress.

She had Amb. Richard Haass, president, Council on Foreign Relations among her guests and the message I heard was simply that none, I repeat ‘None’, of the ‘arguments of why we should be fighting an intractable war in Afghanistan hold water.

Al Queda can, and do, craft terrorists plans anywhere and everywhere. Close Afghanistan to them, and like cockroaches in the dark, they slip away to Tunisia, Somalia, to Pakistan or for that matter Denver, Colorado.

To think that Afghanistan under the CIA’s crooked puppet regime of Hamid Karzai will ever become a stable, democratic society is pure wishful thinking bordering on the delusional.

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Dispatch from Florida

“having a great time, wish you were here!”

That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. All the family is here in Florida for the wedding and it’s all day, all evening visiting, eating, laughing and the usual chaos of family. The weather is great and I’d forgotten how great it is to take an early morning swim everyday. They’re all complaining about the ‘cold water’. Ha! I swim in Lake Tahoe. Let’s get real.

Really, being close to swimming pools and the ocean is what I miss most about Florida. It makes me feel like a kid again, growing up in Miami. I can do without the rest of it, however. But that’s another story.

Last night we had a huge meal for about 20 of us at my sister-in-law’s home… cooked and served by my Culinary Institute of America graduate nephew who is now an executive chef for R&D in Dallas, Texas, and his equally talented brother. What a pair. The pork roast was the most succulent and tender that I’ve ever wrapped a lip around. He even let’s me help as sous chef. I got plenty of photos, but they’ll get uploaded in good time.

Niece, Theresa, is here, too. As one of the key forces behind the astounding growth of the Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota Foundation, she was instrumental in the following spot. I hope you are as impressed with it as I am. This is an example of what can be ‘right’ about healthcare in America.

Gosh, I have some amazing relatives!

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Torture: we know it when we see it, or should

according the Office of Legal Counsel/Bybee memos, this form of coercement, drafted in response to a requests from George Tenent’s CIA and routed through White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, defined the moment that America stepped into the sickenly murky waters of torture, and abuse of power and authority that we’ve roundly criticized others for. It appears that then Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice was aware of the turn of events, in addition to other high ranking Bush administration staffers and cabinet members.

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