Blueberry Buttermilk Cake

I think I may have been a little too generous with the powdered sugar, but it's just so fun to watch it snow down over the cake. The bon appétit recipe called for blackberries, I used blueberries. Oh, and I replaced the orange zest with lemon zest, to make the cake Gabes-friendly. Delicious, even a few days later. I imagine a slice would be a delicious mid-afternoon accompaniment to a cup of tea or coffee. Maybe tomorrow...

Blackberry Buttermilk Cake (courtesy of bon appétit, July 2011)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp, plus more for pan & parchment

2 1/3 cups cake flour (sifted, then measured) plus more for pan

2 1/2 cups fresh blackberries

1/4 cup plus 1 1/3 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3 lg eggs, room temp

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest

1 cup well-shaken buttermilk

powdered sugar (for dusting)

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter pan; line bottom with a round of parchment paper. Butter parchment. Dust with flour; tap out excess. Arrange berries in a single layer in bottom of pan; sprinkle evenly with 1/4 cup sugar.

Sift 2 1/3 cups flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda into a medium bowl; set aside. Using electric mixer, beat 3/4 cups butter and remaining 1 1/3 cups sugar in a large bowl at med-high speed, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl, until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and zest. Reduce speed to low; beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating just until incorporated. Pour batter over berries in pan; smooth top.

Bake until cake is golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Let cool in pan set on wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a thin, sharp knife around edge of pan to loosen. Remove pan sides. Invert cake onto rack and remove pan bottom; peel off parchment. Dust top generously with powdered sugar and let cool completely.

dreaming in red, white and green

First of all, is it or is it not the most exciting thing ever when your plants grow? It is.

Second of all, is it or is it not the most exciting thing ever when you get to eat your growing plants? It is.

That’s two most exciting things ever. It is too good.

Also, can you see the green of this olive oil? That, my friends, is why they call it liquid gold.

This particular specimen is from Spain. I think you’ll appreciate the following excerpts from the container:

“Savor the exquisite fresh fruit aroma, the glowing rich green color and the distinctive flavor of Zoe as it magically enhances all that it touches.”

Did you catch that? Magical enhancement!

“As light is harmful to the quality and life of olive oil, Zoe comes to you in an attractive tin which not only protects and preserves the oil, but may also be used as a decorative vase when empty.”

It does come in an attractive tin. And I will use it as a decorative vase when empty. Best olive oil ever.

How could this be made any better? Homegrown tomatoes and homemade mozzarella. Something to shoot for.

leftover no longer

The other day I made some puff pastry beds for a pea-tarragon spread (more on this later). But it relates to this post in that I had a little extra puff pastry left over – the strips that are left after biscuit-cutting out the circles for the appetizers. So I put it to good use and made an empanada of sorts.

You’ll notice that it’s organically shaped – no matter, it was delicious!

A smear of goat cheese, a sprinkling of sliced strawberries, a splash of maple syrup. Fold package as best as possible. Bake until golden. Wait a minute or two before sampling to avoid dreaded scalded-tongue syndrome. Carry on.

/'sgɔn/ or /'sgəʊn/

If Wikipedia is to be trusted (and I think it should), ‘…two-thirds of the British population pronounce it /'sgɔn/, rhyming with “con” and “John”, with the preference rising to 99% in the Scottish population. The rest pronounce it /'sgəʊn/, rhyming with “cone” and “Joan”.’

The Scottish in me wants to say /'sgɔn/ but I feel like I’d come across kind of haughty at Starbucks.

“Yeah, can I have one o’ dem der straaawberry scones.”

It’s hard to mesh the Chicaaago and the Scottish. But that’s my burden to bear, not yours. Of course, now that I am a master scone baker (I do not profess to be an expert, but my friends say that I am) why would I ever need to order a scone from Starbucks again?

the recipe: http://orangette.blogspot.com/2004/08/i-took-deep-breaths.html

notes: i made these once before, and no kidding, the strawberries make the dough messy! (i’ve made a couple versions of the scones with dry ingredients, and the dough is so easy to work with.) but it’s my opinion that the strawberry versions are superior to all the others i’ve tried. i just sliced up a couple strawberries and processed them into the dough. (this worked better than trying to incorporate them solely by kneading.) and i kind of like their knobby-ness. i sprinkled a little turbinado sugar on their tops after glazing too, to brilliant effect (if i do say so myself).

this has become a rather immodest post. sorry.

...upside down cake

you were thinking pineapple, weren't you?

upside down cake has been turned upside down. figuratively.

here's the recipe:

http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/2011/06/strawberry-upside-down-cake-with-cardamom/

i used a full clamshell of strawberries, half white half whole wheat flour, 1/2 tsp of cardamom, and a square pan. joy's is prettier, but i'm happy with the strawberry-ness of the cake. the whole wheat gives it a heartier feel than cake, which is kind of delicious. i can't taste the cardamom, i could put more next time, but maybe it's just that my cardamom is old and weak. the pan was a little too big, but overall, pretty good cake. not we're having a party cake, more like coffee cake, but not as sweet as some coffee cakes. but not quite like bread. a bread-cake. a coffee-bread. i don't have any more or better descriptors. :( but i'm keeping the recipe, and am thinking i'd like to try it out with other fruits, maybe blackberries...

i had mine with a little espresso. a little (or a large) dollop of whipped cream pushes this baby into dessert territory. mmmmmmmmm.