The Power of Food Memories (+ Snickerdoodle Cake!)

Saturday, January 30, 2021

Food memories are the strongest memories.

Of all our experiences as human beings on this planet, among the most beloved, the most enduring, and the most universal are those surrounding food.

Sometimes the food is memorable of its own merit — the kind of high-end, fine dining meals we see on cooking shows like Top Chef, with truffles and foams and foie gras.

But most of the time, food is memorable because of its context. A certain bite becomes cemented in our minds as delicious beyond compare, not because it would earn a Michelin star, but because your mom made it for you, or it was the first thing you ate with the person you would later marry.

This is certainly true for me. When I think of my strongest food memories, very few even took place in a restaurant. Instead, I recall a soul-meltingly delicious cornbread served with confusingly amazing hot and cheesy pineapple casserole at my aunt’s Christmas dinner. I remember eating Top Ramen after soccer practice in the dead of winter and thinking that salty, golden broth must be the nectar of the gods. One night for dinner, my mom smeared cream cheese and layered sliced strawberries on a toaster-toasted croissant, and we ate dinner on the couch watching Chopped. After seeing Wall-E in theaters and realizing his children were utterly uncultured, my dad bought us Twinkies at a gas station: I thought that cream-filled log was the best thing on earth. And no lasagna or meatloaf will ever compare to my grandmother’s. Not. Even. Close.

So when my birthday rolled around, and I started to think about what kind of dessert I might want to celebrate with, my mind instinctively started flipping through its biological Rolodex of cherished food memories before landing immovably on this:

A toasted, buttered, brown sugar cinnamon PopTart, eaten with greasy fingers at the kitchen table over the Sunday comics (but mostly just Baby Blues and FoxTrot and Garfield, let’s be real here).

So while my mom does make a Perfect Chocolate Cake (yes, Perfect with a capital “P”), when I found this Snickerdoodle Cake recipe on Sally’s Baking Addiction, and read the words “buttery cinnamon swirls” and saw those stunning brown sugar pockets embedded in three layers of creamy vanilla cake, all wrapped in a gorgeous coating of brown sugar cream cheese buttercream?

I was done. And this cake soon would be, too!

What are your strongest food memories? Remember them, cherish them, and maybe make a three-tiered cake out of them!

Or, just walk to the nearest convenience store and treat yourself to a Twinkie.

Snickerdoodle Cake (adapted, just a smidge, from Sally’s Baking Addiction)

Ingredients:

Cake

• 3 + 2/3 cups (440 grams) cake flour (measured with the “spoon + level” method, if not weighing; easy homemade cake flour substitute here)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 + 1/2 cups (345 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1 + 2/3 cups (330 grams) granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs + 2 additional egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon (yep, a whole tablespoon!) vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• 1 + 1/2 cups (360 mL) buttermilk, at room temperature (“Why so much stuff at room temperature?” you might be wondering. I certainly was! It turns out that letting all the ingredients come to the same temperature, i.e., room temperature, helps them to incorporate more smoothly, so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. And homogenous batter = homogenous bake!)

Cinnamon Swirl

• 1/2 cup (100 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar (I like dark brown for more flavor)
• 1/3 cup cake flour (38 g) or all-purpose flour (41 g)
• 1 tablespoon (yes, tablespoon again!) ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons, or 60 grams) unsalted butter, melted

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Buttercream

• 1 + 1/4 cups (2 + 1/2 sticks, or 290 grams) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 8 ounces (224 grams) full-fat block cream cheese, room temperature, and sliced into four chunks
• Scant 3/4 cup (125 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar (I like the “oompf” of dark brown sugar)
• 1 tablespoon (a tablespoon! yes! no skimping!) ground cinnamon
• ~3 + 2/3 cups (440 grams) confectioners’ sugar (an important note here: the original recipe calls for 5 + 1/2 cups, or 660 grams, confectioners’ sugar, with the option to add more, and I’m sure it yields a perfectly delicious buttercream; my family tends to prefer a slightly less sweet frosting and found we were happy with the texture and taste of the frosting after I’d added only the 440 grams listed above. I suggest you add the confectioners’ sugar about a cup or 100 grams at a time until you reach the flavor and consistency you like best — after all, it’s your cake!)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

Protocol:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (177 C).
2. Prepare the pans! Lightly butter or grease three* 9-inch cake pans, line the bottom with a round of parchment paper, then grease or butter the parchment paper. Sprinkle sides and bottom of pans with flour, tapping out excess. I know, I know, this may seem like a lot of work before we even get to make the cakes. Still, there is nothing more frustrating than a cake stuck in the pan — I once wept over a poor bourbon apple bundt that I had to excavate from my pan, then cobble together with a bourbon glaze; it was a good thing the cake already called for alcohol. *Note: if you don’t have three 9-inch cake pans — and don’t have exceedingly tolerant friends and family from whom you can borrow pans in exchange for baked goods — feel free to let the batter sit tightly covered while you bake the cakes one-by-one in the same pan. You could also use three 8-inch pans; they might just need an extra minute or two in the oven.
3. Make the cake! Sift together the cake flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together, then give a quick whisk to make sure they’re well-mixed. Set aside.
4. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed.
5. Beat in the 3 eggs, 2 egg whites, and vanilla on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. The mixture will look curdled as a result of the egg liquid and solid butter combining; don’t worry, this is normal, and the cake will be FABULOUS.
6. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined.
7. With the mixer still running on low speed, slowly pour in the buttermilk, then mix just until combined. Make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl, but don’t go crazy — we want to avoid overworking the flour to ensure a tender cake! The batter will be pretty thick.
8. Pour batter evenly into cake pans. If desired, weigh them with a kitchen scale to ensure accuracy — my total batter came out to 1635 grams or 545 grams per 9-inch cake pan, but your total weight may vary slightly. Also, it’s cake, not surgery; each layer doesn’t need to be perfectly identical. Set aside for a few minutes as you make the cinnamon swirl.
9. Cinnamon swirl time! In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together with a fork until combined. Pour the melted butter on top and mix just until combined. Use immediately in the cake batter (next step!) because the longer the cinnamon swirl mixture sits out, the harder it will get as a result of the butter solidifies.
10. Dollop wee little spoonfuls of the cinnamon swirl on top of each of the unbaked cakes. Use a knife to gently swirl the spoonfuls into the batter, leaving some small chunks to melt into delicious little brown sugar pockets.
11. Bake for around 23–26 minutes or until the cakes are baked through; mine all took closer to 23 minutes. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
12. Frosting time! In a large bowl, using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Up your mixer to medium-high speed, and add the cream cheese a piece at a time, mixing until each has combined before adding the next. (Honestly, I just creamed all my butter and cream cheese together at once with no problem, but I wanted to include the original instructions here, in case folks have historically struggled with incorporation).
13. Once the cream cheese is combined, add the brown sugar and beat on medium-high speed until combined, about 1 minute.
14. Stop the mixer, add the cinnamon, confectioners’ sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. Turn the mixer on low speed and beat for 30 seconds, then turn the mixer up to medium-high speed and beat until completely combined and creamy.
15. Add more confectioners’ sugar if frosting seems too thin, or more heavy cream if the frosting seems too thick or sweet. An extra pinch of salt or cinnamon, or even an extra dash of vanilla, can also be added at this step if you need to tweak the flavor. It’s your frosting! Make it how you like.
16. Assemble the cake! You’re free to level and trim and crumb coat to your heart’s content, but I like a simple, homey cake. I just put one cake layer down on a plate, top with a little frosting, settle down my second cake layer, smear on some more icing, third cake layer down, and boom, frosting on the top and sides. Cake, frosting, cake, frosting, cake, frosting. I had a good bit of frosting leftover, which I saved in Tupperware in the fridge to enjoy later with graham crackers.
17. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30–60 minutes before slicing and serving; this helps the cake hold its shape when cutting.
18. Cover leftover cake tightly (I just stick the whole thing under a cake dome) and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Happy snacking!