Growing Cakes

Written by Leah Rosenberg | 04 August 2011

Last year, during my first visit to the farm, I was inspired by a tour led by one of the younger volunteers. My 7-year-old tour guide explained “lasagna farming” and the benefits of layering cardboard as mulch as we passed the neatly stacked mounds of them. He warned me of the consequences of eating the wrong kind of mushroom and showed me the fava bean he had planted amidst a sea of thousands of them. “How on earth did you remember that that was the exact one you had planted?” I asked. He shrugged his shoulders,“It’s just an instinctual thing, I guess.”

So that year, when Zoey asked if I would do a cake for the first Interdependence Day celebration at the farm, I tried to conceive of a cake that would incorporate all of the things that go into building a farm into this cake. From collecting seeds and planting them, preparing the soil and stacking the mulch, tending to the gardens daily and watching them grow, then finally taking from it and sharing it with others. A farm cake was made. With vegetable juice dye, cookie crumb dirt, marzipan vegetables, chocolate covered pretzel fencing. And it sure was hard work cutting into it, but when you finally did, it was a delicious layered surprise – an offering of nourishment and pleasure, a reward for all that hard work, a job so well done.

A year later, after more hard work, jobs well done and good times, Interdependence Day approached once more. This called for cake, of course. I was sad to miss the Interdependence Day festivities this year at Hayes Valley Farm, but so happy I could contribute with cake. Zoey had the idea of having a “cake walk”, so I made cake pots for the participants to carry down the “runway” as accessories. Chocolate cake baked directly in a three-inch terra cotta pot, layered with chocolate ganache, chocolate frosting, crushed chocolate cookie crumbs for dirt and finally, a sprig of mint or lemon verbena was “planted” in each of them. I wish I could say this idea was “just an instinctual thing” but really, it was inspired by Martha Stewart.

I’d like to think that the difference between cake and the Hayes Valley Farm is that there is an end to cake. It gets eaten, consumed, but that Hayes Valley Farm will carry on forever, for people to wander through, eat from and contribute to. But sadly, like cake, there comes a time when urban farms located in a spot that once was just a concrete space off the freeway ramp might have to come to an end, too. Not because of a lack of effort or care, but because people are hungry for something else. Hayes Valley Farm is about so many things: memories, contribution, generosity, activity, sustainability, relationships and deliciousness. Imagine those as layers of a cake. I will leave you with a recipe here so that you can bake it and share it and eat it while you watch your fava beans grow.

Flower Pot Cakes
(makes 6)

1/3 cup vegetable oil, plus more for pots
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder,

plus more for dusting
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush inside of each flowerpot with oil, and line bottom with parchment paper round. Brush parchment with oil, and lightly dust with cocoa.
-Sift cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add egg and yolk, 3/4 c warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix on low until smooth, about 1 minute.
-Divide batter among prepared pots, filling each about two-thirds full. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake, rotating sheet about halfway through, until a cake tester inserted into centers comes out clean, 45-50 minutes. Let cakes cool completely in the flowerpots on a wire rack.
-Frost cakes with an offset spatula; sprinkle with crushed cookies; "plant" herb sprig of choice in each cake.

Chocolate Frosting

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

-Sift sugar and cocoa together in a bowl. Whisk in butter, milk, and vanilla until smooth.

Take a peek at Leah Rosenberg’s other masterpieces at leahrosenberg.org.