Sweet beans on savory pound cake toast

Soak the dried beans; overnight is great, even an hour or two helps.

Whip the shortening and sugar together until really fluffy.

Beat in the eggs, roughly the same weight as the fat, until emulsified and custard-like.

Add the cake flour, the orange zest, finely chopped rosemary, the baking powder and the kosher salt; mix just until the flour is integrated. It should look like a wet cookie dough.

Line a loaf pan with parchment (or butter and flour it), add the batter and smooth it.

Bake at 375F / 190C until a skewer to the middle comes out clean, about an hour. Cool completely before slicing; it can be baked the day before.

Soften the chopped onion in oil in a pot, then add the garlic and stir.

Drain the beans, discard the soak water, add them to the pot and cover with fresh water (or water plus a little white wine); add more as the beans swell.

Add a big squeeze of tomato paste, some ketchup and shakes of Worcestershire sauce; hold back the rest of the acid, since acid makes beans cook slowly.

Boil until the beans are tender, about an hour for black-eyed peas.

Add more tomato, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, lots of black pepper and salt to taste.

Disperse cornstarch in a little cold water; stir it vigorously into the simmering beans until thick enough.

Slice the cooled cake as thin as possible without it getting brittle; toast on a sheet pan under the broiler, quickly on both sides, until golden and crispy outside, about a minute.

Stir the orange juice and fresh dill into the beans.

Spoon the beans over the cake toast; loosen with a splash of water if they tighten as they cool.