Talented,
bright and accomplished, Kansas City, Missouri-based chef Paige Vandegrift
has fashioned her impressive culinary background into customized professional
role that suits her well —a private chef to an appreciative client base.
A 1992 graduate of Le Cordon Bleu in London, Paige has explored her culinary horizons on two continents. In France, she worked both in Provence and in Normandy, where she assisted cookbook author Susan Hermann Loomis. Back in the United States, she continued to hone her skills in a series of Kansas City kitchens, including the award winning American Restaurant, The Pastry Goddess and the Culinary Center of Kansas City.
In 1998, Paige received a prestigious national scholarship to study with Madeleine Kamman at her home in Vermont. Known to exercise great influence over her students, Kamman cemented Paige’s appreciation for seasonal foods and the culinary traditions of France and Italy, as well as her love of simple, classic flavors.
Today, Paige offers her clients the opportunity to experience first class cuisine in the privacy of their homes. Her menus change seasonally and are posted on her tasteful Web site (www.simple-food.com). Should you browse the menu pages, you’ll frequently find honey mentioned in recipe descriptions, most often in savory items. “I prefer using honey to complement savory foods, says Paige. Along with sweetness, honey also adds flavor, and gives depth and balance to marinades, dressings, sauces.” Paige particularly likes honey paired with naturally sweet vegetables like winter squash and carrots. “It pulls out their natural sweetness and broadens the flavor at the same time.”
During her travels, Paige expanded her knowledge of varietal honeys. “It was traveling in Provence, where I tasted an array of honeys at a market there that I came to appreciate the innate flavors of honey, as well as the vast number of varieties. Lavender is still my all-time favorite honey to spread on toast.” (It also makes a fabulous addition to apricot scones, she notes).
In Kansas City, Paige purchases her honey from local sources. “It’s always a pleasure to be able to purchase food products directly from the growers and producers. In fact, the honey I used in developing my pear upside-down cake is a country wild flower honey from a Missouri grower.”
Pear Upside-Down Honey Spice Cake
Yield: 12 servings
Honey-Spice Cake
9 |
Tablespoons unsalted butter |
16 |
oz. (1-1/3 cup) honey |
1 |
egg, beaten |
1 |
cup milk |
1 |
teaspoon vanilla |
2-1/4 |
cup (9 oz.) all-purpose flour |
1/2 |
teaspoon salt |
1-1/2 |
teaspoon baking soda |
1-1/2 |
teaspoon ground ginger |
1/2 |
teaspoon ground cloves |
1/4 |
teaspoon cinnamon |
Pear Topping
4 |
ripe Bartlett pears |
1 |
cup sugar |
3 |
Tablespoons unsalted butter |
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 10 x 2 – inch round cake pan (do not use a shallower pan—the cake will over-flow).
Peel the pears. Cut into quarters lengthwise and remove the cores. Cut each quarter in half lengthwise. Place the sugar in a large sauté pan and place over medium heat. When the sugar begins to melt, stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to stir and cook until all the lumps of sugar are dissolved and the sugar syrup is a light amber color—this will only take a minute or two. Remove the pan from the heat and add the 3 Tablespoons of butter—be careful, the hot caramel will sputter when the butter is added. Stir until the butter is incorporated.
Working quickly, pour the hot caramel into the prepared cake pan—tilting the pan to completely cover the bottom. Being careful not to burn your fingers on the hot caramel, fan the pears in a circle around the edge of the cake pan; fill in the center with the remaining 6 or 7 pear slices. If the caramel hardens before the pears are in place, set the pan over low heat (or in the oven) to soften the caramel. It is important that the pears are “stuck” in the caramel as it sets up as the batter is quite thin, and the pears will float if they are not “attached” to the caramel. Set the pan aside.
Put the 9 Tablespoons of butter and the honey in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Gently warm until the butter is melted—do not let the honey boil. Whisk to combine; set aside. In a small bowl, combine the egg, milk and vanilla. Set aside.
Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the honey/butter mixture over the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Add the egg mixture and whisk until well combined. Pour the batter over the pears. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean—about 40-50 minutes. Cool the cake for 10 minutes in the pan. Invert the cake onto a serving platter.
Serve slices of cake with a dollop of crème fraiche drizzled with a little honey.