Beds of Gemstones Aside, "Let's Bake!" and Other Stories

I've kept myself quite busy the past few days, baking till midnight, making yogurt, eating fish for the second time since childhood (David Rocco's recipe for "Baccala Alla Pizzaiola" ), organizing kitchen drawers to find space for our piles of mason jars (being emptied of our peeled tomatoes and sauce) and figuring out how to use the digital camera that we got for Christmas (the results of which are above)... Even though I'm thoroughly dedicated to my 30+ year old manual Cannon camera, I think this digi- cam will be of use to me for blogging, so from tomorrow on, pictures should accompany recipes! But for now, here is one fantastic and simple cake to bake when you crave something chocolate-y but not super- rich, and don't want to spend hours in the kitchen:

Chocolate Ginger Cake adapted from Moosewood's Book of Desserts

1 9- inch cake pan
3/4 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup yogurt/ buttermilk
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger root

for optional glaze: two squares bitter sweet baking chocolate, melted gently with chocolate or coffee liqueur, spread over cooled cake

1) Preheat to 350 degrees, butter the pan and dust with cocoa
2) In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients, stirring well
3) In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients, then add them to the liquids, along with the ginger
4) Fill pan and bake cake until tester comes out clean, 30- 45 minutes, cool and top with optional glaze
5) Don't feel guilty about polishing off half the cake in one sitting, there is hardly any fat in it after all (Do I hear rationalizations???)

Recipes to come include: honey-spice cake, warm cauliflower and caper salad, the perfect frittata every time, white bean and squash stew, the perfect homemade yogurt, soup for nausea (this might take a while...)