Posted on 07/01/2021 7:58:48 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
This month: Crab – and yet another Cake.
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-JT
Won’t be crabbing for Dungeness out here until December.
Sigh. We don’t have those, here; and by December, we’ve ended our season.
But I can’t believe yours are better than our Beautiful Swimmers...:-)
We has six hungry kids, so this was something my parents could feed us that was only limited in quantity by how many bushel baskets we came home with, so we did it often.
My mother would cover the table with newspapers, and with the big pot on the stove with water on the bottom, using big tongs, would transfer the crabs one by one into the pot. She would throw in three or four, pause, pour (not sprinkle...pour) Old Bay Seasoning all over them. Then transfer a few more, stop, and pour more seasoning, making a crab and Old Bay parfait until they were all the way to the top. She covered it and steamed them, and when they were done, she would pile all the crabs on cookie sheets and put them on the table where we would devour them. I was always squeamish about the insides, but I ate the claws and legs. I used to spike my butter just like my mom, with scads and scads of ground black pepper, lemon juice, and...Tabasco sauce! I would extract the meat, and throw it into my butter-bowl concoction to marinate for a few minutes, then take a break from cracking the claws to eat that crab in the hot butter. This was ingrained into me, this love of Blue Crabs.
I went to a conference in Baltimore some years back, and the vendor took us out to a crab house, steamed crabs covered with Old Bay Seasoning, and lots of butter, all you could eat. I tore into those things like a fox tears through a henhouse, and smashing them with wooden mallets, I was piling up carcasses while bits of crab, shell, and crab guts were flying around. The majority of the people in the group were from the midwest, and seeing their faces of fascinated horror as they watched me eat, I am certain they thought I was a brutal, carnivorous madman piling up the crab carcasses trophy-like, looking for all the world like Vlad the Impaler to them.
That multi layer cake looks delicious.
It’s highly constructed. Probably takes quite a while to create and assemble all the layers. It is probably stored inside a fridge as soon as its put together. You don’t want those layers getting warm, soft and wobbly.
I’m guessing it ends up as a rather small cake, mainly because most people would not chose to make a sheet cake with so many thin, delicate layers. Who has 14 baking pans? Maybe a professional bakery.
I’ve never had any other than Dungeness so you’ll get no argument from me. I just find it interesting that our seasons are basically opposite.
That’s a nice story, and it starts before the crack of dawn.
I can picture each scene you just described.
Glad you liked it.
There is something, if one is lucky enough, to the time where you get up early in the morning when even the paper boys weren’t up yet, to go out and do something with your dad.
One of those core memories!
Great story!
We didn’t live on the water, and my first encounter with an actual crab was when I was a young teen, sound asleep, and my brother woke me up late at night waving a crab in front of my eyes and saying, ‘Come On!’
He had brought home a bunch, and the rest of the family was at the table devouring them.
I’ve been a fan ever since. (I’ve never seen the attraction in lobster. I will always go for crab.)
There is something humorous about that imagery you painted there!
"Come on!"
Mary Ada Marshall on Smith Island has made the cakes (and Crabcakes!) for many years and sent them off on boats to people who order them. She gives demonstrations in her home for tourists to the island, and you can find them on YouTube. (Not sure she’s still doing all of this, but up to a couple years ago she was going strong.)
Here’s a nice little video about Mary Ada, her husband Dwight, and Smith Island:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAqM4Y5RIEk
http://libapps.salisbury.edu/nabb-online/exhibits/show/baking/smith-island-cake/mary-ada-marshall
I don’t think I”d ever seen a crab ‘up close and personal’ before...but I don’t scare easily, so I got up and joined the party :-)
Best crabcake sammich I ever had was at an eatery a door or two down from The Admiral’s Cup at Fell’s Point. A kid was sitting there on the dock a few feet from us, chicken-necking. I don’t think it’s there under the same ownership or menu anymore, unfortunately. I was dating a girl back then who was new to the Delmarva, and we went into a seafood shop in Wheaton. They had a big cookie sheet lined point-to-point with jimmies. When she leaned close to the glass to get a better view, one of them swung up its claw at her like, “Git! Begone!” She didn’t know they were still alive. You should have seen her freak. LOL! That Crab Imperial recipe is similar to mine, but I add a tiny bit of diced green bell pepper into the mix. Try it. I’m a native Marylander and an Old Bay junkie, you can trust me here. Stuff the mix into a mushroom cap and broil them with a little Parmesan cheese on top. Delicious.
lets cook dem sombiches up in a pie
That cake looks really good. I’ve never tried it before.
He’s another good one:
Whipping Cream Cake
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup heavy whipping cream (do not whip)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray - preferably one for baking. This will help ensure a clean release of the bundt cake from the pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy - about 5 minutes.
Add one egg at a time, beating after each egg.
Alternately add the flour and heavy whipping cream starting and ending with the flour. Scrape down the sides and mix to combine. Add in vanilla extract and mix until incorporated.
Start the cake in a COLD oven by placing the cake into the oven, closing the door and heating the oven to 325°F. Bake for 1 hour and 15 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for 45 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate.
Top with whipped cream and fresh berries.
https://www.mybakingaddiction.com/whipping-cream-cake/
Hey, people do it. But I think traditionally it was usually parmesan on Crab Imperial.
(I seem to recall that even Jacques Pepin’s wife liked cheese on her shellfish dishes...)
Sounds good!
I was going to make a different Crab Imperial today, but didn’t have a red bell pepper. I didn’t think a green one would be quite the same, so it will wait until tomorrow...
As long as you are sparing on the green bell, you’re in for a treat. It adds a nice flavor without overpowering it. A tiny bit goes a long way.
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