美国国家公共电台 NPR NPR Taste Test: Upside Down Cake To Turn Your Holiday Party All The Way Up

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST: 

Hey, Aggie¹. How's it going?

We met up with pastry² chef Aggie Chin again this past week to bring you her recommendation for a family-style dessert perfect for a holiday dinner, pear upside-down spice cake.

AGGIE CHIN: I love pears and apples and those types of, like, white fruits for the holidays, just because they can kind of take on whatever flavor that you're cooking with.

CHANG: Oh, I never realized that. It's like the tofu of fruit (laughter).

CHIN: Right, kind of - exactly. I mean, the flavor itself is really nice. But if you think of apple pie, a lot of times, like, you think of, like, the cinnamon and ginger³ and the spices, and so that's kind of similar with this cake.

CHANG: OK. So you're - are an expert peeler.

CHIN: So (laughter)...

CHANG: Look at her go.

CHIN: So I'm just peeling it along the length of the pear. You'll probably need between one and a half to two pears for each cake, depending on the size. This is a 9-inch cake so it's good for, you know, up to 12 people.

CHANG: These pears are so spotted⁴. They're, like, super ripe.

CHIN: You know, my family doesn't really like things terribly sweet. So the riper the fruit, the less sugar you have to supplement with.

CHANG: So you're arranging them like a big sunburst, like a pear flower almost.

CHIN: Right.

CHANG: All right, so that's the bottom...

CHIN: Right.

CHANG: ...Of what will be the top of an upside-down cake.

CHIN: Exactly.

CHANG: OK.

CHIN: And so now for the cake - in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment⁵, you just want to put the butter and sugar. We're going to cream this until it's, you know, light and fluffy⁶.

(SOUNDBITE OF MIXER WHIRRING)

CHANG: Once the butter and sugar reach that light and fluffy consistency⁷, Aggie added an egg, then some vegetable oil and yogurt. Then she pulled out a little ramekin of a sauce I couldn't quite identify.

CHIN: This is a little bit of pear sauce that I made. When you're cutting the pears, if you have extra you can use that, or you can just use applesauce bought from the store. The dry ingredients are flour, baking soda⁸, salt and then ground cinnamon, ground ginger and cardamom ground.

CHANG: Can you use fresh ginger or you...

CHIN: You can. You can definitely use fresh ginger. And you can always swap⁹ these spices depending on what you like and what your flavor preferences are.

CHANG: Then Aggie spooned the batter¹⁰ carefully over the pears arranged in the pan and smoothed the batter with an offset¹¹ spatula¹².

CHIN: So then we'll stick this in the oven at 350 for - check in in about 30 minutes. When it's done, the sides will kind of pull away...

CHANG: OK.

CHIN: ...From the edge of the pan. And you can test it with a toothpick or a cake tester, and it'll come out clean.

(SOUNDBITE OF OVEN DOOR CLOSING)

CHIN: That's it.

CHANG: So why did you choose to make this cake - 'cause we asked you...

CHIN: Right.

CHANG: ...Aggie, bring in something that's, like, great for a family.

CHIN: Family, yeah.

CHANG: What is it about this cake that's great for a family?

CHIN: Well, I think it's great for a number of reasons. A, it's very easy to make, and it's fast. So if you're cooking a big meal, this doesn't have to be an added point of stress.

CHANG: Yeah. Yeah, that's important.

CHIN: So it's very easy. Yeah. This is delicious when it's warm straight out of the oven. It's also great the next day when it's - once it's cold. My dad actually prefers this for breakfast.

CHANG: Really?

CHIN: Yeah (laughter). Whenever I make dessert, he rarely eats it that night after dinner.

CHANG: Maybe he's too full.

CHIN: Yeah. So he'll always wait. And he'll say, I'll have this tomorrow. So he'll have the piece or two pieces the next day either for breakfast or with coffee as, like, a mid-morning, mid-afternoon snack. To me, these spices and these flavors kind of represent the holidays. It's comforting to me...

CHANG: It is comforting.

CHIN: ...Like, the flavors and the texture¹³ also. It's like a warm blanket in a dish.

(SOUNDBITE OF VINCE GUARALDI TRIO'S "SKATING")

CHANG: That was pastry chef Aggie Chin. She'll be back again next week with recipes for a festive¹⁴ New Year's Eve dinner.

(SOUNDBITE OF VINCE GUARALDI TRIO'S "SKATING")

1 aggie   

n.农校，农科大学生

参考例句：

• Maybe I will buy a Aggie ring next year when I have money.也许明年等我有了钱，我也会订一枚毕业生戒指吧。
• The Aggie replied,"sir,I believe that would be giddy-up."这个大学生慢条斯理的说，“先生，我相信是昏死过去。”

2 pastry   

n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry.厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• The pastry crust was always underdone.馅饼的壳皮常常烤得不透。

3 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

4 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

5 attachment   

n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附

参考例句：

• She has a great attachment to her sister.她十分依恋她的姐姐。
• She's on attachment to the Ministry of Defense.她现在隶属于国防部。

6 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

7 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

8 soda   

n.苏打水；汽水

参考例句：

• She doesn't enjoy drinking chocolate soda.她不喜欢喝巧克力汽水。
• I will freshen your drink with more soda and ice cubes.我给你的饮料重加一些苏打水和冰块。

9 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

10 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

11 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

12 spatula   

n.抹刀

参考例句：

• He scraped the mixture out of the bowl with a plastic spatula.他用塑料铲把盆里的混合料刮了出来。
• She levelled the surface of the cake mixtured with a metal spatula.她用金属铲抹平了蛋糕配料。

13 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

14 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。