Freedom and a Pumpkin Cake Because I am Free To Make Things Unrelated to the Book

Jonathan's Franzen's Freedom was the "it" book when it came out a little over a year ago.  Everyone was reading it and writing about it (a literary masterpiece  or totally overrated, which camp do you fall in?) I pretty much only read paperbacks unless someone gives me a hardback (yes, I am in the process of evaluating whether I am ready for the switch to a Kindle), so I was feeling very left out waiting for the paperback.  I was a big devotee of Franzen's first book, the Corrections, and was perturbed to have to wait nine years for his next book, and then have to wait a year more because of my stubborn insistence of paperbacks (and it isn't just cheapness, ask my friends, I am not a cheap girl you should see what I drop on a pair of  shoes). Anyway, I got Freedom as soon as it came out it paperback and quickly devoured it.  My take? I am not in either camp -  I thought it was neither a literary masterpiece or grossly overrated.  I really enjoyed the book, but I must say I did like Jennifer Egan's Goon Squad a whole lot more (and there was some controversy when her book won the Pulitzer Prize that Franzen had been  robbed).  What I think is wonderful about Franzen's book is how it is both a detailed character study of the troubled marriage of two fairly unlikable people and to some extent a historical novel - a depiction of our country during the Bush years.  The problem with the book blogwise, however, is that it was just impossible to come up with any food for it - it is beyond some cute food analogy really.  I thought about it for a bit and I was stumped, asked around, my friends who read it were stumped too.  So, as I turn to write my blog post on this chilly fall weekend, the last in October, I have decided that for this book I will make whatever I damn well feel like making, since I have the freedom to do that.  Et viola, this seasonally appropriate Pumpkin Cake, cause who isn't obsessed with all things pumpkin the last weekend of October.

Freedom is the story of Walter and Patty Berglund, both individually and as part of a deeply strained marriage.  The book starts with a sort of gossipy account of the Berglunds through the eyes of their neighbors in their liberal up and coming neighborhood in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Patty is clearly disliked by the other women on the street  - resented for her attractiveness and her choice to be a stay at home Mom.  She is described as a bit of a busy body and overachiever when it came to domestic tasks - always the class mom, always the first to a house with some baked goods when someone was sick.  Her husband was quiet and tolerant and liberal, and a bit of an odd ball.  The seemingly perfect domestic picture is cracked when the Berglund's headstrong teenage son Joey moves out of the house and into the house of their neighbor, where he lives with his girlfriend and her trashy single Mom and her boyfriend, a loud NASCAR loving republican.  This event pushes Patty over the edge, and the neighborhood watches with satisfaction as the Berglund's lives fall apart.   By this point, I was interested in the Berglunds and hungry for the real story underlying this observed account.  Then, in a device I really enjoyed, Franzen switches to Patty's perspective - told in as part of an autobiography that her therapist suggested she write.  Patty's voice as a writer is funny, and I enjoyed both reading her version of things as well as her explanations and justifications for her behavior.  Patty grew up as the odd man out in her family in a suburb of New York City.  Her sisters and her mother were into artistic and political things, while Patty was a hyper competitive athlete.  She grew up feeling isolated and unloved.  An incident at a party in high school leaves her deeply resentful of her parents, and she gets out of town as soon as she can, heading to the University of Minnesota on a basketball scholarship.  While Patty thrives on the basketball team, she becomes friends with a troubled, obsessive girl.  She doesn't really like Eliza, but because Eliza so idolizes Patty she stays friends with her.  Through this friendship, she meets the charismatic Richard Katz - a tall, Jewish, punk rocker.  Richard is the kind of man all women become infatuated with, even though he seemingly doesn't try to hard and isn't that good looking.  Richard's roommate and best friend is the saintly Walter Berglund - not too attractive, very serious about his studies and everything in his life.  Walter seems like a salt of the earth kind of guy  - worked to support his mother and brothers and clean up after his drunk father.  Once Walter, Patty and Richard meet the emotional triangle between them forms and will dominate the rest of their lives.  Franzen also gives us the story from Richard, Joey and Walter's perspective (and again later in the book in Patty's autobiography) (time jumps around too, moving forward and back depending on whose telling the story).  We never hear from the Berglund's other child, Jessica, and I felt that absence.  In a book filled with hyper realized characters, Jessica was notable under developed.  The book follows the Berglund's from their childhoods, meeting in college, and their marriage through 20 to 30 years.  Franzen also depicts the world around them through these years, and how this world - 9/11, the Bush years, effect the Berglunds

Brown Butter Pumpkin Layer Cake with Bourbon Mascarpone Frosting
This cake came out like a dream. It is impossible at this time a year not to want to make as much as you can with pumpkin.  I took a Brown Butter Pumpkin cake recipe from Fine Cooking and created this frosting myself  - I wanted something a little lighter than cream cheese frosting but still rich with some tang.  Instead of flavoring it with vanilla I went with Bourbon since I just came back from a friend's wedding in Kentucky and Bourbon was on the brain.  This cake is totally unrelated to Freedom and apologize for that, but sometimes I get stumped!

Brown Butter Pumpkin Cake with Bourbon Frosting
(printable recipe) 
Cake adapted from Finecooking.com
Ingredients (cake)

6 oz. (3/4 cup) unsalted butter; more for the pans

9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for the pans

1-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1-1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

3/4 tsp. table salt

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1-1/2 cups granulated sugar

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 can pumpkin puree or 1 and ½ cups fresh cooked pumpkin 

Ingredients (frosting)

8 ounces mascarpone cheese

1 stick of butter

1 and 1/2 cups (or more) confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon bourbon

garnish of your choice (I used plain walnuts)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Butter and flour (or spray) two nine inch cake pans.  Line the cake pans with parchment (the parchment should be buttered and floured or sprayed).
3. In a small saucepan, heat the butter till melted.  Continue to cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.  Take off stove and let cool but not too much, don't want it to set.
4. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
5. In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugars, buttermilk and pumpkin puree.
6. Add the flour mixture and combine with a rubber spatula.
7. Whisk in the browned butter.
8. Pour into prepared pans and bake until set in center (toothpick comes out clean) about 28 minutes.
9. Remove and let cool in pans on rack for 5 minutes.  Gently remove from pans and let cool on rack completely.
10. For frosting, add butter to stand mixture and beat with paddle attachment till light and fluffy.  Add the mascarpone and beat till incorporated.  Add sugar till you get the desired consistency and taste.  Beat in bourbon.
11. Frost cake with offset spatula and serve.