Thursday, January 19, 2012

French Friday with Dorie: Quatre-Quarts

A DELICIOUS VANILLA CAKE THAT CAN BE USED IN WAYS SIMILAR TO A POUND CAKE
I am excited by this simple cake that can compliment a meal in so many ways or is lovely on its own.  I had thought about getting fresh strawberries but decided to use what I had on hand.
THIS CAKE HAS A LIGHT AND LOVELY CRUMB--GREAT TEXTURE
With a little dark brown sugar sprinkled on the cake top before baking, this cake has a nice top crust with just a little crunch when sliced or eaten.
GARNISHED WITH ITEMS FROM THE PANTRY--DELICIOUS!
I had caramel sauce from a previous project and my grandkids were here eating bananas, or halves of bananas, so I found a good way to use those other halves.  A dab of whipped cream was a perfect addition to these garnishes.

This cake would be good with fresh peaches, any berries, grilled and coupled with a scoop of ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate, it could be cut in half and assembled like a Boston cream pie..........lots of good toppings come to mind.  Quatre-Quarts is a homey version of a pound cake, but it is lighter due to stiffly whipped egg whites that have been folded into the mixture.

We enjoyed this cake warm from the oven.  It was a perfect addition to our family meal and was especially enjoyed again as a bedtime snack.

All ingredients are regular pantry items.  From the process beginnings to eating our version took only 45 minutes, and most of that was baking time.  We love fast and easy desserts...we will make this again soon.

19 comments:

  1. Wow, your photo with the bananas looks like it could be the cover shot of a food magazine! Well done. And you are so right, this cake is a great base layer which can be spruced up in so many ways. But it is also quite good plain, which is how my husband ate it for breakfast! Way to get the day off to a healthy start:-)

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  2. I totally broke my rule and bought out of season strawberries for this one :-)
    Caramel bananas = yum!

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  3. This looks great, Kris! I'm looking forward to trying it again with lemon and orange zest and different liqueurs.

    Here's the link to my photo album on FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2959892163617.146496.1450940483&type=1&l=78fbcdc164

    I hope your granddaughter loves them!

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  4. OMG Kris...those bananas on that cake look fabulous! And it does look like a professional photo! I never thought of bananas to top this cake but now I will and of course with caramel! Have a wonderful weekend!

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  5. I love the banana caramel topping. It seems this cake needs a bit of sauce to it. Even though I didn't make it, I'm glad it is getting such rave reviews.

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  6. That photo with the bananas is a stunner - talk about making you want to claw at the screen!

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  7. Love the bananas!!!! I like all your ideas on how to serve this wonderful cake, I think the beauty of it is the simplicity and how many ways it can be adapted;-)

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  8. I love that you topped it with fresh bananas and caramel sauce! It just looks so enticing.

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  9. The photo with the bananas and caramel made me hungry! I want to make the cake again so I can try that!

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  10. You had me at "caramel sauce." That sounds delicious!

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  11. OMG. I think I want to eat a bucket full of bananas foster after seeing your pictures!! ... I bet it was good with caramel and bananas!

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  12. You'll have to try it again when you have some berries. We didn't need whipped cream or anything else with the strawberries.

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  13. What an inspired twist, bananas and caramel sauce on top! Looks great, Kris!

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  14. Wasn't the crunch of this cake just wonderful? And bananas, cream and caramel sauce was a perfect topping.

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  15. Oh, my! That cake and delicious topping look sinful. Great looking dessert!

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  16. Bananas and Caramel - YUM! What a great combination - it looks scrumptious!

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  17. Bananas and caramel what an out of the box idea. I'm definitely listing that as a make next time idea. Beautiful photos too.

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  18. Oh yum! Caramel and bananas on top sound delicious!

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  19. Bananas and caramel? Yum! Great idea and I love using pantry items:)

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