Cherry Blueberry Cake

Cherry Blueberry Cake

Cherries are no longer available in my farmer's market but I saw them at Trader Joe's. If you are lucky, grab some cherries and make this simple, simple cake. So easy. No Kitchen Aid. Just a bowl and a whisk. And you don't even need dairy products. Did I mention that this is way easy?

Cake and Fruit. Dude, two of the best combos ever. I brought this into work and we demolished it. Make it for your next meeting!

One bowl.
Can I tell you how nice that is? You don't even need to bust out the Kitchen Aid. Just grab a whisk.
This would be a good cake for the kids to make too.

My friend sent me a can of Bak-Klene ZT no stick spray. IT IS SO AWESOME. It will be great during Bundt season! (It's not cheap like Pam Spray, but I've not been happy with Pam's new formula. Bak-Klene works much better. You can also get it at Williams Sonoma).

This is my Instagram picture.

Dorie Greenspan (yes, THE Dorie Greenspan) commented on the post and I freaked out. Love how my friends on Instagram used the emoji to express their delight too! :)

Simple to make and the baking really brings out the best in the fresh fruit.

Topped with Sugar in the Raw (turbinado)!

Recipe:

Cherry Blueberry Cake
1 cup (140 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 t vanilla
1 cup blueberries
3/4 cup cherries, pitted, cut in half
2 Tablespoon raw sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 8 or 9-inch cake pan (butter & flour or spray with baking spray) I use this great Bak-Klene ZT spray...it's rad.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and sugar.
3. Add eggs, vanilla and oil to the bowl and whisk until just combined. The batter will be a little thick.
4. Pour batter into prepared cake pan. Smooth out top with an offset spatula.
5. Spread the fresh fruit on top of the batter.
6. Sprinkle raw sugar all over the fruit.
7. Start checking the cake at 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Can take 45-60 minutes to bake, depending on your size of pan and the type of fruit used.

You can also use other soft fruits such as strawberries or stone fruit such as peeled peaches or apricots.

Fresh Cherry Upside-Down Cake

I missed a week of the Farmer's Market and was stuck buying produce at the local supermarket. And that is a crime during the summer. I picked up a $6 bag of cherries...and they sucked compared to what I can get at the Farmer's Market. Sad. So, I baked with them!

Here is a fresh cherry upside-down cake from Bon Appetit. Find the recipe here on Epicurious.

Placing these cherries (cut side down) on the bottom of the pan was probably the most time consuming part of the cake. Luckily, Racheal and Lee just sent me an awesome cherry pitter!!! Thank you Racheal & Lee! You saved me a zillion hours of work!

The bottom (later the top) layer of the cake is a combo of butter and brown sugar with cherries on top. I think there is too much brown sugar (3/4 cup), but my co-workers liked the big o' layer. You melt the butter in the pan over low heat on the stove (see left photo). This always makes me nervous but it worked out fine.

The recipe says to use a 9" x 2" pan, but I used my 9" x 3" pan. If you have one, please use it. The second photo is from the oven, and this cake totally rises. I think it might overflow in a 9" x 2" pan.

Make this cherry cake with your cherries...and go to your farmer's market for the best stuff! :)

Recipe: Cherry Upside-Down Cake
from Bon Appetit, June 1997

Cherry Cheesecake Tart - You Want Pies with That?

I need to check my birth certificate. I think my middle name is actually "Procrastination."

It's Sunday night...the Lakers just won Game 2 of the NBA Championship (whoo hoo!) and my pie is finally in the oven. And, of course, it is due in a few hours. I also spent the morning at Disney's California Adventure with UCLA friend, Barbara...and got my personal best on Toy Story Mania with 176,100 points...however, I just watched this youtube video of hints and discovered the high point Easter eggs. Next time, I'm going over 200K :)

This month's theme for You Want Pies with That? is "Childhood Favorite Pie" by Ellen at Kittymama. Ellen couldn't join us this month because she has very exciting happenings in her life...in fact, check her blog for details of how she is going to create wonderful childhood memories for a beautiful little sweetheart!

Childhood Memory Pie: Bake a pie or tart that is inspired by a favorite childhood memory. Maybe you spent a summer vacation in Maine so it's a blueberry pie; or your grandmother always baked lemon meringue, or you remember your first taste of apple pie ever. Tell us a little story that will help us walk down memory lane with you and relive some happy childhood memories!

Um. Memories.
Let me describe myself using some Disney terms.

I am Dory from Finding Nemo. I speak whale and can't remember anything.

However, I did reach way way back and found two childhood food-related memories: graham crackers and cherries.

I remember eating graham crackers for snack at "Preschool in the Park" (it was actually held in a park). And I remember seeing a photo of my brother and I holding a big box of fresh picked cherries. Now, I don't remember going out and PICKING the cherries, but I remember my mom showing me the photo and telling me that we went cherry picking someplace in Los Angeles or the surrounding counties. Pretty pathetic memory, but, like I said...I'm Dory.

This pie is a variation of Tyler Florence's Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars. I made the original before (very yummmmy!), and switched it up for this challenge.

I used a 9" tart shell, omitted the lemon zest, and used 1 cup pitted and halved fresh cherries on top. Baking time remained the same. It's a great tart for those times when you don't want a 3" tall chunk of cream cheese but all the flavor. Original recipe: Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars by Tyler Florence

Please be sure to check out the other creative You Want Pies with That? bakers!! Whew! 11:45 pm and I got it in! Good night!

Cherry Mochi Cakes - Cute and Gluten-free

fresh california cherry mochi mini-cupcakes

Remember the Blueberry Mochi Cake I made recently? It has been well received by my co-workers, friends and family...and it is such a thrill when I get comments from people who made it for their family (and they liked it!)

Now that it is Summer Fruit time (whoo hoo!), my thoughts are all about the cherry. Two years ago, my friend Charlotte forwarded me the Martha Stewart Tiny Cherry and Almond Tea Cakes recipe. It is just so pretty!

But I tend to shy away from nut recipes (because a co-worker can't have nuts or seeds), so I thought...what if I make it with mochi cake!? The result, if I do say so myself, is YUM!

Cherry Pitting with a chopstick! I tried my best to keep the stem attached.

Since I wasn’t sure how this would all work out (read: it could be another baking disaster of mine), I didn’t want to risk wasting my very first batch of beautiful California sweet cherries! So, I made 16 mini cupcakes with fresh cherries, and poured the rest of the batter into a 9 x 13 pan and added frozen Trader Joe’s Sweet Cherries (about ¾ of the bag)

Make this easy-to-make, gluten-free recipe! Since it is made with mochiko flour (sweet rice flour), the texture is slightly chewy!

Cherry or Blueberry Mochi Cake
Adapted from JustJenn who adapted it from Hawaii's Best Mochi Recipes by Jean Watanabe Hee

Mix together: 2 sticks melted butter and 2 cups sugar. Mix in 1 can evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk).

Whisk in 4 eggs. Add 1 box of Mochiko (Sweet rice flour. You can get Koda Farms Mochiko at an Asian grocery store, Surfas in Los Angeles, or health food stores because it is gluten-free. I buy it at Japanese grocery stores for $1.28 - $1.50 a box). Add 2 tsp. baking powder and 2 tsp. vanilla and mix until smooth. Done! How easy is that?!?

You can add frozen blueberries to the mix or layer them into the batter. Or, as I did for this one, add fresh and/or frozen cherries. I covered some and just popped the cherry in other...both ended up the same; I would do the easy method!

I made 16 mini cupcakes and baked them for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees…until they were a bit golden on top. The remaining batter went into a 9 x 13 pyrex glass pan for 60 minutes (check at 50 minutes).

For the mini cupcakes, I sprayed the tray with Baker’s Joy. However, if you were going for totally gluten-free, please just brush with melted butter.

Cherry Mochi Cake - Give it a try!

Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp with Cherries (Barefoot Contessa)

Barefoot Contessa's Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp with fresh cherries (and Jake, the cat)

I'm in DC visiting my friends Racheal and Lee who used to live in Los Angeles. She is on modified bed rest for her first pregnancy, her husband is on a business trip, and we are hanging out having a slumber party with pizza deliveries, take-out, naps, and lots of cable TV and movies (you know, all for the welfare of the baby...)

For dinner, I made a roast chicken with potatoes and carrots. Seriously, there is nothing better than potatoes roasted in chicken drippings. Yummmmmmy! However, the only problem was that I put the 4 pound chicken on the roasting pan upside down. When I tried to be cool and carve said chicken on Racheal's yet-to-be-used-but-received-three-years-ago-at-their-wedding meat cutting board (with "meat juice" border), my knife just keeps hitting bones. I mumble to myself, "This chicken is like me. No breasts." Luckily, I finally turned it over and found the hooters.

I used granny smith, braeburn, and gala apples in this crisp. I pitted and halved a few fresh cherries. This photo was taken before I realized I forgot the cinnamon and nutmeg! Next, I mixed in the missing spices. The topping is a mixture of butter, oatmeal, butter, flour, other stuff, and butter. Get the recipe on the Food Network website.

Apple & Cherry Crisp with baby boy a la mode

Racheal says, "I'm pregnant. I'm hungry. This is my share!"

Recipe: Adapted from Old-Fashioned Apple Crisp by the Barefoot Contessa. I added fresh pitted, halved cherries.