Blueberry Coffeecake

Blueberry Coffeecake. This is a perfect quick breakfast cake. I think my favorite part is that it only requires two bowls and hand mixing, so quick and easy for a weekend breakfast with leftovers during the week!

I was out of milk yesterday, so I made it with almond milk. Can't tell the difference, and tastes great. Almond milk is really low-cal, so it does take the calorie count down. This cake is the closest I've come to vegan baking, and since it still has eggs and butter you can see that I have not gotten very close. 

For the record, coffeecake does not count towards the Learn-To-Make-A-Pretty-Cake challenge. I have always been able to make a coffeecake, no challenge there.

For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup almond milk (you could use regular milk)
1 egg
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) blueberries

For the streusel topping:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x9 baking dish with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, prepare the streusel topping by mixing all ingredients together with a fork until crumbly and streusel-like.

In a large bowl, stir together all of the coffee cake ingredients except the blueberries. Mix with a spoon for 30 seconds.  Fold in blueberries.

Spread batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with streusel.

I did not drain the blueberries enough, hence the very blue batter!

Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before serving.

Yum!

Cake Failure #2

This is getting ridiculous. Cake failure #2 comes in the form of Nigella's chocolate cake. I had seen this recipe on a couple other blogs where they had had success.

I did have two problems with the recipe before I even started.
1) No food processor
2) Not usually crazy about cakes with sour cream in them AND in the icing

Nonetheless, the picture looked enticing, so I thought I would give it a shot. Since the last cake failure I have purchased Baker's Joy in lieu of shortening. Gotta say, that stuff works!

Good things about this cake:
1) Looks lovely (which, as you know, is rare for me)
2) Frosting is yummy

Problems with this cake:
1) dry as the Sahara
2) weighs about 5 lbs and could be used as a weapon

This one will be thrown away. Le sigh.

Strawberry Yellow Cake

I have a confession to make. I am not a good cake-baker. Those of you who know me, you have seen lots of desserts come out of my kitchen...but if you think about...very few cakes. And even fewer layer cakes.

This is because I make an ugly cake. I have decided, since attempting this cake, that this is a project I need to work on. Ugly cakes are good for some things (I have a friend that has the ugliest possible cake for her birthday-on purpose), but I should be able to make a beautiful layer cake.

I will share this recipe with you, in the hopes that you will be able to make it pretty. The cake tastes delicious, except P said "I don't really like strawberries". This means he will not really eat much of the cake, which means unless I want to gain 10 pounds, we will not eat the whole cake. Sad. But if you like strawberries, you will like this cake.

The batter:

I used a recipe from King Arthur Flour.

2 cups sugar
3 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, soft
1 1/4 cups milk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt

Add the butter and beat with an electric mixer at low speed, until the mixture looks sandy. Ugly cake problem #1: I added two sticks of butter by mistake, not 1.5 sticks. Oops.

Combine the milk and vanilla and add, all at once. Mix at low speed for 30 seconds, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds. Scrape the bottom and sides of the mixing bowl.

With the mixer running at low speed, add 1 egg. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 30 seconds. Repeat this procedure with the second egg. Continue adding the eggs, scraping after each addition, until all 4 are added.

After the last egg is added, scrape the bowl once more, then beat at medium-high speed for 30 more seconds.

Add to pans, I used 9" round pans. Ugly cake problem #2: I lined with parchment paper instead of greasing and flouring (I was out of shortening). This resulted in a weird looking shape.

Bake for 27 minutes for 9" layers.

The cake is done when it's golden brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Strawberry filling:
Mix 2 cups strawberries, sliced into quarters and 1 T strawberry jam.

Frosting:

I used the recipe for buttercream frosting on the back of the sugar box. It was really runny, and not that great. I will search for another buttercream recipe. Ugly cake problem #3.

To assemble:

Place one cake layer on plate. Spread with thin layer of frosting, top with layer of strawberries.

See odd ugly-cake shape due to parchment paper?

Top with other cake layer.

Ack! Odd shape, and I think thicker than normal due to my butter addition.

And now, due to the runny frosting, I present my Ugly Cake!

I will work on this. I promise. But, aside from the looks, it does taste good! If you like strawberries.

Carrot Cake

So yesterday, I came home from work and put on my workout clothes with the full intention to use one of my workout videos before people came over for American Idol night. Instead, I walked into my kitchen, and decided to make this cake. In my workout clothes. Ridiculous. Did I workout before company came? No, decidedly not. But I did get a delicious cake.

I am always a bit skeptical of the baking recipes in Cooking Light, I have tried some HUGE misses in the past. This cake was a wonderful surprise though! The cake itself is nice and fluffy, light, with a good but not overpowering carrot flavor. The frosting is DIVINE. Heavenly. It may be my go-to recipe for cream cheese frosting from now on. And it was easy!

Carrot Cake, adapted from Cooking Light (I made a couple minor changes to the recipe on the website):

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated carrot
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
Cooking spray

Frosting:

7 ounces cream cheese (low fat), softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare cake, weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ground cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add 2 cups grated carrot, tossing to combine.

Place granulated sugar, brown sugar, and 6 tablespoons butter in a large bowl.

Beat with a mixer at medium speed until combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spread batter into a 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 350° for 28 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake completely on a wire rack.

To prepare frosting, place softened cream cheese and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at medium speed until combined (don't overbeat). Spread frosting evenly over top of cake.

The finished product:

yum!