Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - November 2016

BY ROSS MAVIS
Spread the melted butter onto the aluminum foil lining, then sprinkle cherries and
chopped nuts into the butter. Sprinkle brown sugar and drizzle corn syrup over the
fruit and nuts.
Meanwhile, sprinkle yeast into warm water in a small bowl. Let rise for about 5
minutes and then add sugar and salt, mixing with fork. Then add a cup of flour. Beat
well for about two minutes.
Add the egg and the second cup of flour (and a little more if needed), mixing well
to form a soft batter. Spoon this batter over the entire bottom of the pan, covering
fruit and nuts, etc. Place the lid onto the pan (removing pressure valve, to allow cake
to breathe, if using a pressure cooker).
Let it rise for about one hour before placing on a low to medium-hot cook top. Let
it cook for about 30 minutes. It may well need some tweaking, for the heat generated
by stovetops is not all equal.
When done, carefully remove the cake from the pan by lifting with the aluminum
foil. Place on a plate, put another plate on top and turn the cake upside down, carefully
placing onto the second plate. Peel off the foil and serve the cake warm, with
coffee or tea for breakfast or an afternoon treat.
This delicious recipe can be the start to your imaginative stovetop cookery.
NOVEMBER 2016 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 38
Keep Cool with
Stovetop Coffee Cake
Try this baking method when you’re cruising in the tropics and the last thing you
want is an oven heating up your galley more than normal.
When I was a young boy, about 60 years ago, we were visited by a door-to-door
salesman who showed my mum some amazing cookware. The thing that impressed
mum the most during the sales pitch was the fact that she could cook a delicious,
moist cake on top of the stove and not use the oven. I still remember her tentatively
raising the lid of the new pan for the first time and exposing a perfectly baked cake.
Quite remarkable, we believed!
The heavy aluminum pots and pans were pricey but my father decided they would
be an investment well worth the money. Many years later, at the age of 96, my
mother was still successfully using that cookware.
Well, the same results are possible today, using a heavily clad pan with a snugfitting
lid. A pressure cooker is perfect. This is not only a cool way to cook but is also
a very successful way of yielding excellent baked goods.
As an aside, the concern and scare about aluminum cookware being a possible
cause of cancer or Alzheimer’s disease seem unfounded. Mum, bless her soul,
passed away at 98 without experiencing any problems from cooking virtually
every meal in her aluminum cookware. It makes you wonder what the fuss was
all about.
Here is a recipe for a delicious coffee cake using the stovetop method for baking.
Try it and I think you will be convinced that baking can be done without heating up
your galley.
Stove-Top Coffee Cake
1/3 Cup melted butter
1/4 Cup candied or maraschino cherries and chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 Cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon corn syrup
3/4 Cup warm water
1 packet active dry yeast
1/4 Cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 Cups flour, divided
1 egg
Spray the pot with non-stick spray and then line it with aluminum foil, leaving long
enough edges to lift cake from pan when cooked. Also spray the aluminum foil with
non-stick cooking spray.
Come to DOOmuch or DOOlittle?
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IN BEAUTIFUL MARIGOT BAY
Exclusive to the island, enjoy one of several SteakStone menu options!
Open from 8am - midnight daily
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Plenty of moorings and large dinghy dock for easy access to the restaurant + bar
3 billiard tables complimentary to patrons of Doolittle‘s
Happy hour daily from 5-7pm and 10-11pm
Light provisioning available including ice
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