I am not a baker.   

 

I liken baking more to science than art, which is difficult for me.   With precise measurements required for the chemical reactions that make baking delicious, baking doesn’t suit me well.   I’d rather riff, explore, change, and adapt my cooking on the fly.  The only time I ever really measure anything is when I’m developing a recipe for this publication.

 

On a summer walk recently, I came across a mulberry tree, heavy with fruit.   The taste of the foraged berries awoke a memory of a trip to the mountains as a child, when my parents cooked down mulberries into a thick syrup and spooned the sauce over . . . what was it?   Some kind of cake?  I knew cornmeal was involved.  I called my mom, who laughed, and about three minutes later sent me a screenshot of a stained recipe card.  

 

The bowl of berries that I had unburdened from the tree seemed to wink at me from the counter.  It was looking very likely I was about to do the unthinkable and bake a cake.

 

I was at Tyson’s house, which doesn’t have measuring cups or a mixer.   I did my best with a uniform mug that looked to be about a cup.  I used food processor instead of a mixer, and nearly broke my elbow whisking the egg whites manually, until I called Tyson in despair and he came home from work with a new appliance.

 

But the cake turned out beautifully.  The sour cream in the batter brings out a tanginess that liberates this simple pound cake from the fate of becoming its rather boring cousins.   The lift from the egg whites, folded in at the end, provide a welcome lightness, and the slight texture and crunch from the cornmeal was as delightful as I remembered.  We served the cake as a capstone at a dinner party later that night and spooned over syrup made from the mulberries and torn mint leaves.  

 

I’ll never be an enthusiastic baker, but as our guests headed out the door, clutching leftover cake, I thought, maybe, just maybe, I might make this again.

 

3 cups sugar

1 cup butter, plus more for greasing the pan (please kindly disregard the reference to margarine in the recipe; that’s foolishness)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (try almond or another if you feel creative)

6 eggs, yolks and whites separated

1.5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for preparing the pan

1.5 cups cornmeal

¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sour cream

Salt

Topping bar: ice cream, whipped cream, warmed jam or preserves, fruit syrup and/or torn herbs like mint or basil.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Grease a 10” tube or Bundt pan with butter, then sprinkle flour over and shake off the excess.  Using a mixer, cream together butter and sugar until well combined, adding vanilla (or other flavor) and a generous pinch of salt.  

 

Add the egg yolks to the butter and sugar mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  

 

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cornmeal and baking soda, discarding any leftover lumps of flour.  In batches, add the flour mixture and sour cream alternately to the butter/sugar/egg mixture, incorporating each well before adding the next.

 

In another separate bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until peaks form.  Gently fold the whipped egg whites to the other mixture, then pour into the prepared pan and bake about an hour, until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

Serve with any or all of the following: ice cream, whipped cream, warmed jam or fruit syrup, and torn herbs like mint or basil.