Feasting on Art

On this blog Andy Warhol is becoming synonymous with tasty cakes (see my recipe for Tomato Soup Cake). Upside-down banana cake has become my new favorite dessert recipe which could also double for a really decadent breakfast bread. The crumb is moist and dense and yielded a tasty cake that is dangerously addictive.

Andy Warhol, Bananas, 1978
Polaroid photography, Paul Kasmin Gallery

The Polaroid camera fit perfectly into Andy Warhol’s artistic methods of mass production. Warhol began working with Polaroid cameras in the early 1960s and according to him “There is something about the camera that makes the person look just right” (1). Often if Warhol particularly liked a photo he would turn it into an acetate before working with the image in his infamous mode of silkscreen reproduction. The ready-made nature of the Polaroid format was well suited to the pop icons captured as subjects. Although Warhol’s Polaroid photographs were never intended to be viewed as art but instead as a means to an end, the small body of work is perhaps the most revealing with regard to who Warhol was as a person.

Within the realm of upside-down cakes, the pineapple variety is perhaps the most famous. The upside-down pineapple cake is a product of the 20th century but the technique is much older with fruit on the bottom cakes made in a skillet dating back to the middle ages. Typically these cakes were made with apples and cherries and were called skillet cakes. In addition to the famed pineapple cake – the 20th century also brought with it the modern convenience of electric/gas oven baking and so the cake recipe adapted to its present form.

{Upside-Down Banana Cake}
adapted from Gourmet

3/4 c brown sugar
50 g (4 TB) butter
2 large bananas, sliced

1 1/2 c flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 mashed bananas
1/2 c buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c vanilla sugar
1/3 c butter
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180C. Cream the 4 TB of butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until it is fluffy. Spread on the bottom of a cake pan and arrange the slices of banana to cover the entire mixture.

Cream the vanilla sugar and remaining 1/3 c of butter in another bowl. Once fluffy add the eggs one at a time and then the buttermilk and vanilla extract and mix well. Add the dry ingredients and once incorporated stir in the mashed banana. Pour into the cake pan over the sliced banana.

Bake about an hour and fifteen minutes until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean and the sides of the cake begin to pull away from the pan. Cool and then invert onto a serving platter.

Originally I started this blog to establish a forum to study and write about art as well as experiment in the kitchen (experimenting with photography was an added bonus!). I do however, have certain goals, one of which is to curate an exhibition revolving around the idea of a meal. I won’t go into detail but you can imagine my delight when I discovered Caitlin Williams Freeman’s Mondrian Cake from the cafe at the San Francisco Museum of Art. It is my dream! In cake form!! I decided I had to make one but I wanted my version to be easily recreated in any home kitchen. The cake was delicious but there are a few things I will change the next time I try this recipe. First, I will use angel food cake rather than pound cake – I think it would better absorb the natural food coloring and not appear so yellow. Secondly, I will try mixing the berry juices into the batter to see if I can achieve an even stain. Although the slice of cake pictured below turned out pretty even, my results throughout the rest of the cake were spotty at best. Finally, I would wrap the outside in fondant to hold all of the segments together. Using the natural food colorings will not achieve the bright results found in Freeman’s cake but it does provide a pretty tasty way to insert a bit a flavor into each slice.

The painting recreation was inspired by Bridget from The Way the Cookie Crumbles.

Piet Mondrian, Composition No. 8, 1939-42
Oil on canvas, 74 x 68 cm, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth

The canvas Composition No. 8 was painted during Mondrian’s time in London and New York where he fled from Paris because of the invading fascist forces. Mondrian worked within rigid self-imposed artistic restraints. Typically he only painted using primary colors and straight sided forms. He founded the De Stijl movement (Dutch for ‘The Style’) which had a profound influence on modern and abstract art. His later paintings feature more lines than the earlier works and have been likened to cartographic maps. During this period, the blocks of color were not habitually contained by the black lines and were instead allowed to ‘float’ freely upon the white space. Mondrian developed the idea of a ‘dynamic equilibrium’ evident through the relationships and patterns of the blocks and lines (1). The composition is not balanced, with more visual activity on the right side of the canvas. This however, is compensated by the inclusion of the large red square in the top left which is then stabilized by the strip yellow at the bottom center of the painting. There is no reason to the rhyme but Mondrian includes enough impetus to carry the eye over the entire surface of the canvas.

Traditionally, pound cake was made with a pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar (hence the name). Often the ratio is paired down to make smaller cakes with additional ingredients added depending on the regional origin of the recipe. The British variation contains dried fruits and yields a very dense cake. My recipe, because of the inclusion of lemon zest, would be closer to the French version called quatre-quarts which features fresh lemon juice. The most favored recipe is the sour cream pound cake found in the United States (2). The sour cream addition makes for a wonderfully moist cake with a very delicate crumb.

{Mondrian Pound Cake}
Pound cake recipe adapted from Good Taste – April 1998

250 grams butter, room temperature
1 c superfine sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest
4 eggs (I omitted 2 of the yolks to keep the cake from becoming too yellow)
1 2/3 c flour
3 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 170C. In a large bowl begin to beat the butter with an electric mixer until it is smooth. Add the sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon zest and continue to beat until creamy. Add the four eggs, one at a time and continue to beat the mixture between each addition.

Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and gently fold until well combined. Spoon the mixture into a bread tin and after smoothing the top of batter, bake for 50 minutes or until a testing skewer comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool.

Assembly:

Prepare frosting and natural food colorings (see below). Slice the cake into strips of varying sizes (see picture) paying attention to the order in which the cake was dismantled (it will be helpful to remember for a quick and painless assembly). Select three strips of cake to be stained and poke throughout with a toothpick to allow the berry juices to penetrate the middle of the cake. On a large plate drizzle all of the sides of each strip of selected cake with the berry juice. Be careful not to over-soak the cake and make it soggy. Allow to dry slightly before assembly.

Place a piece of parchment paper on the cake platter. On the first strip of cake to form the base cover all sides with the chocolate icing. Lay the next strip down and repeat the process effectively gluing the cake back together with the icing. Once the cake is reassembled coat the outside with the remaining chocolate frosting. Before serving place in the freezer to set the frosting and to keep the segments together. Will keep for 2-3 days refrigerated.

{Chocolate Frosting}
adapted from Hello, Cupcake!

1 stick butter, cubed
2/3 c chocolate, chopped
450 grams icing sugar
1/3 c milk

Melt the butter and the chocolate stirring often. Pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer.

Add the icing sugar alternatively with the milk. Continue beating until smooth.

{Natural Food Coloring}

Red: Finely grate two strawberries.

Blue: Boil 1/2 of a pint of blueberries until the juice is released.

Yellow: Add 1/3 tsp turmeric to the juice from half of a lemon.