Early winter pleasures

By Nancy Young

At "The Violent Study Club," one of Betsy's planned poetry readings on a snowy night was James Russell Lowell's The First Snowfall (Betsy refers to it by it's first line in Betsy's Wedding).  It's a lovely, touching poem, and we include the first four stanzas here not only in salute to Betsy and Lowell, but to the first major snowfall of the season that's been "heaping field and highway" since about noon today.  (It arrived a little early for the gloaming part, however.)

Also now part of our frost-chilled, late-autumn mornings is nice, warming cereal for breakfast, from which any leftovers are always welcome as enrichments for dark, rich wholegrain breads and comforting cakes.  One of our favorite treats-from-leftovers follows, and can use up anywhere from 1/4-cup to 1/2-cup of leftover farina (aka Cream of Wheat).  I think the 1/4-cup makes a better cake, but either version is terrific.

This recipe adapts to use up to ½ cup of leftover farina.  The lesser amounts of whole wheat flour and cocoa are for the ¼-cup measurement, the greater amounts are for the ½ cup rendition.  Of course, more cocoa can be used if a darker-chocolate cake is preferred—and white flour can be used instead of whole wheat, but you'll need a bit more, perhaps 7/8 cup to 1¼ cups of all-purpose or unbleached.  If you like (and we often do as you can see by the photograph), the cake can be topped with some nuts and sugar before baking.

 

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

About ¼ to ½ cup cooked farina

2 eggs

1 teaspoon almond, vanilla or hazelnut flavoring or grated peel of 1 orange and 1 teaspoon vanilla

½ to ¾ cups cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch salt (optional)

¾ to 1 1/8 cups whole wheat flour

Up to ½ cup chocolate chips