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07/27/2001 Archived Entry: "Laurie Colwin's Spice Cake"

There is a beautiful tribute to the late writer Laurie Colwin in this month’s Gourmet magazine. Written by Anna Quinlan, the piece points out, among many other things, that Laurie’s food stories, which she wrote for Gourmet and are collected in two books, Home Cooking and More Home Cooking, are even more popular than her 10 novels.

I was thrilled to hear that Laurie’s work still sells; meaning, of course, that she is still read. She had so much good domestic and life wisdom, not to mention good humor. She died very young, at age 48, in her sleep, apparently of a heart attack, only nine years ago.

I knew Laurie only briefly even though she was a long-time neighbor of mine in Cornwall, Connecticut. Mutual friend-neighbors told us about each other, and told us we had to meet because we were both “food people” and we would love each other, but the meeting happened only weeks before she died. We gathered one Sunday afternoon to celebrate the completion of Don Bracken’s painting studio. Laurie made hummus (I remember it was served in a huge, handmade pottery bowl) and some other simple sustenance for the party because Janice Bracken, Don’s wife, was not capable enough in the kitchen to provide food for 50 or so well-wishers. Naturally, no one expected Don to make food for his own party. It was enough that he built his own studio, and that he could paint, although I must add that Janice was a visiting nurse, the mother of two, and did art work of her own.

As soon as I pulled up to the studio shed and got out of the car, Laurie spotted me and knew who I was. It was one of those open-armed “where have you been all my life” greetings and I immediately felt the same way.

We must have spoken at least five times and for hours on the phone over the next two weeks. I invited her and her husband and young daughter to dinner the next weekend, but something was up with her family and they couldn’t make it. Laurie was in the country full time, I only for the weekends, of which there were only a few left to the summer. So we agreed that breaking bread together would have to wait until she got back to the city. Then we could go to a restaurant and have dinner alone.

It never happened because Laurie died the week before she was supposed to return to New York.

A week after the funeral, Janice Bracken called to say she had something for me. It was a cake. Janice, who couldn’t make dips for her husband’s studio-warming party, had baked a cake and brought me the recipe. Naturally, I was mystified.

Then Janice told me this story: She told me that it bothered Laurie that she, Janice, bought cake in the supermarket and couldn’t bake one. She couldn’t even bake a cookie for her children.

“One day Laurie came over with this cake,” Janice said, “and said this is going to be your cake. It’s easy. You can do it. And it will be your specialty. You don’t have to tell anyone where you got the recipe. You can say it is an old family recipe if you want. And I won’t ever publish it.”

Now Janice wanted me to have the cake recipe. I am still touched by the gesture. She thought Laurie would like me to have it, and that I, as a food writer, could probably make hay with it, while all she could do was bake it and eat it.

It is truly a great cake -- tender and buttery, full of character from the large measure of nutmeg, and with the caramel sweetness and added texture of a crisp bottom layer of brown sugar shortbread. To me, it is a bittersweet cake. But isn’t that appropriate.


Laurie Colwin's
Nutmeg Cake
Makes 1 10-inch cake

I suppose because it is made with yogurt, I decided at one time that this recipe must have originated in the Middle East, perhaps Syria. Certainly Laurie Colwin did not present it that way to Janice Bracken when she gave her the recipe. I just like the idea. I like things to come from somewhere, although it should be enough that this came from Laurie Colwin.

The mixing technique here is unusual. A portion, about half, of the butter-flour-sugar mixture, which is combined by cutting the butter into the dry ingredients, is used to make a cookie-like base for the cake. Then the remainder of the mixture is blended with the spices, yogurt, egg and the leavener, which is baking soda. You’ll end up with a light, but rich cake top over a crisp cookie base.

The cake stays moist, under a dome or wrapped in plastic, for many days. I’ve kept it for as long as five days, although the crisp base gets less crisp with each passing day. I prefer eating it several hours after it is made, or the next day.

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
4 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 egg
1 cup yogurt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Butter the sides only of a 10-inch springform pan.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter, cut into 6 to 8 pieces, with the flour and dark brown sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour and sugar until the mixture resembles fine meal.

Measure out 2 1/2 cups of this mixture and spread it evenly in the bottom of the prepared pan. With your hand flat, firmly compress the mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.

Add the spices to the remaining dry ingredients. Mix well.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir the egg and yogurt together to mix well. With a wooden spoon, stir the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Finally, sprinkle the baking soda over the surface of the batter and gently but thoroughly stir it in.

Spread this batter over the mixture that was pressed into the bottom of the pan, and with a rubber spatula, smooth the top of the batter.

Scatter the chopped walnuts on top.

Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a wooden cake tester comes out clean from the center of the cake, and the sides of the cake have shrunk slightly away from the pan.

Cool in the pan, on a rack, for 5 minutes. Then slid a thin-bladed knife around the circumference of the cake to make sure there are no spots still attached to the sides of the springform pan. Remove the sides of the pan and cool the cake completely.

For presentation, the cake can be fairly easily removed from the bottom of the springform. When serving, cut down hard through the shortbread bottom.