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.

Any Day All-Occasion Apple Snack Cake (Flo Braker)

Flo Braker’s Baking For All Occasions

I love snack cakes as much as I love Downton Abbey. I'm a bit late to the party and have been watching marathons of the first season. Oh, that Thomas...you are vile. And Bates and Anna? So perfect...if it weren't for that crazy pesky wife. Anyway, Miss Patmore might not make this, but you can make a quick cake any morning.

This recipe is from Flo Braker’s Baking For All Occasions - pick up the book, it is filled with lots of yummy recipes.

This cake uses oil and no butter, even for the topping. Mix most of the dry ingredients together with oil and then pull out some of it. Add nuts (I used chopped walnuts from Trader Joe's) and some cinnamon to finish off the topping.

In the headnote, Flo says you can add a cup of fruit or veggies to the mix...it's very versatile. I shredded an apple (skin on).

Any Day All-Occasion Apple Snack Cake
(adapted from Flo Braker’s Baking For All Occasions)

2 1/3 cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur all-purpose unbleached flour)
3⁄4 cup sugar (150 grams)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon - divided (I used Penzy's cinnamon)
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar (200 grams)
3⁄4 cup vegetable oil (I used Wesson's canola oil)
(I added 1 cup shredded apple with skin on)
1 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or hazelnuts (I used Trader Joe's Walnut baking pieces)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg

Prep: Preheat oven to 350 F. Prep a 9 x 13 pan.
You don't need a KitchenAid mixer...just a couple bowls and a whisk.

1. Sift together the flour, sugar, salt and 1⁄2 tsp cinnamon into a large bowl.
2. Mix in the brown sugar with a whisk.
3. Stir in the oil. (By this point, my batter was a little dry and in crumbles - this worked out fine).
4. Crumb topping: Remove enough of the flour mixture to measure 3⁄4 cup loosely packed. Add the remaining 1 tsp cinnamon and blend well with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Set aside.
5. To finish the cake batter, stir in the baking powder and baking soda. Add the buttermilk and egg and whisk until the mixture is smooth.
6. Stir in your added fruit or veggies (if adding). I added one shredded skin-on apple.
7. Pour the batter into pan, then sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the batter.
8. Bake for about 35 mins until toothpick comes out clean.
9. The instructions say to depan the cake after 10-15 minutes and let cool completely. However, I just left it in the pan to cool off.

"Easiest Cake Ever" with Strawberries & Blueberries

Its name is "Easiest Cake Ever"
And it lives up to its name. Easy peasy.

I've scheduled this post to publish as I'm heading up to BlogHerFood in San Francisco! I'm excited to meet fellow bloggers and the speakers they have lined up sound great.

I haven't been able to bake much lately as I'm finishing up the move. I hope to get all settled next week and start pounding out some stuff. I have a big thing planned for the blog in October/November...stay tuned! :)

I'll post about the conference (and food) when I get back!

This cake is so easy to make. Give your KitchenAid a break and pull out a bowl, basic ingredients and a whisk. Any soft fruit will be yummy. I'd like to try it with some fresh peaches next summer!

Mix in a large bowl:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
zest of 1 lemon
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla

Pour into cake pan. I used a 8" pan. Top with any soft fruit, I used strawberries & blueberries. Top with a tablespoon of raw sugar.

As a bonus, it is non-dairy too!

Have a great weekend! See you next week! - mary the food librarian

Recipe:
Easiest Cake Ever adapted from Everybody Likes Sandwiches

Zucchini-Spice Cupcakes - Martha Stewart's Cupcake Club

For this month's Martha Stewart Cupcake Club, Tracey from Tracey's Culinary Adventures chose Zucchini-Spice Cupcakes on pages 44 of Martha's fantastic book: Martha Stewart's Cupcake Book. Tracey is the most awesome baker, cook, and all around nice person! I love her! Go visit her blog!

Martha Stewart Cupcake Club is a new baking club started by Sugar B of Eat My Cupcake and we are going to make one cupcake recipe per month (or more!) Check it out on the new website here.

I made this recipe earlier with a simply glaze, but this time I made it with the recommended Cream Cheese Frosting. It was the first recipe I made from this book, and it's a winner! I was very happy to make it again as I still had lots of zucchini hanging out in the veggie drawer.

The recipe calls for a boatload of cream cheese frosting. I made 1/2 the cupcake recipe and about 1/4 of the frosting recipe. Me thinks Martha and her crew love the frosting way more than me. :)

Be sure to check out the other Martha Stewart Cupcake Club members and their version of the recipe! And be sure to make this tasty treat! (The cupcake is dairy free but the cream cheese frosting...well, is not!)

Recipe:
Martha Stewart's Cupcake Book: Zucchini-Spice Cupcakes, page 44
Note: The Martha Stewart Cupcake Club doesn't post the recipe. You can use WorldCat to see if your library has it in their collection (hey, I need to put the Librarian in the Food Librarian sometimes! :)

Banana Zucchini Bundt Cake with King Arthur Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites

It's the end of summer.
Sad.
Luckily, I got to go to San Diego over Labor Day weekend and met up with my friend Jami and her new doggie, Maggie. Ain't she the cutest?

When it's summer, it's zucchini time. Kinda like Hammer Time but with a little less dancing.

My blogger friend Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet recently went to King Arthur Flour in Vermont. OMG. When she said she was going to KAF for a baking class, I thought she was kidding. Seriously, I thought KAF was like Oz. A place they mention in their catalog and on their packages, but not an actual place. Well, low and behold, Mary took a baking class with her mom! See her post about her yummy adventures.

After my cat Q-Tip passed away, I received a lovely card and gift package from Mary. She is so sweet. I shook the packet and it sounded like dried cat food! But inside were King Arthur Flour's Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites. These are too cool!

I added 1/3 cup of King Arthur Flour Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites. While they do indeed look like cat food pellets, they are tasty when they soften in a baked good. They are also dairy free! Whoo hoo. (The recipe is also dairy-free).

I found this recipe on Michelle's blog (One Ordinary Day) and Alicia's blog (Confessions of a Bakeaholic ) and it looked so delicious I had to give it a shot. One cup each: raw zucchini, mashed bananas and chopped pecans, along with 1/3 c of the King Arthur Cinnamon Flav-R-Bites.

Yeah. I know. It's a Bundt. Again.
And I have another one that isn't posted yet. I think I'll save that one to space them out a bit! :)

This was yummy. It isn't really rich like Dorie Greenspan's butter and sour cream filled Banana Bundt, but it is a yummy breakfast treat. The King Arthur Flav-R-Bites add a nice cinnamon touch.

Recipe: (three options)
One Ordinary Day who found it on Recipezaar (submitted by Margo59 and baked in two loaf pans) or Confessions of a Bakeaholic

Mark Bittman's Olive Oil Cake

I can't believe it has been 8 weeks since my last blood donation. The summer is just flying by. September in a few days? What the heck? Last time I gave blood, I brought my own post-donation cookie. This time, I can't have dairy so I made an Olive Oil Cake.

I just picked up Mark Bittman's two classics from the library: How to cook everything and How to cook everything vegetarian. They are going on my wishlist of cookbooks.

This cake was really lovely. It was moist and light. The eggs provide a nice sponge, and the glaze a bit of sweetness. I think you'll like it. And it was a delicious treat after giving blood! :)

I'll try this again with either lime, lemon or grapefruit...I love me the citrus.

Whipping the egg whites separately and folding them into the batter gives this cake a nice lift.

And don't forget...if you can give blood, it is much needed. Jan, the RN, at my blood donor center told me that the percent of eligible donors is now 46% of the population. And of the 46%, only 5% actually donate. So, if you can, please think about rolling up your sleeve to help out! Contact you local hospital or the Red Cross.

Olive Oil Cake
Adapted from Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything"

2 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
3/4 c sugar + 1/4 c sugar
4 eggs, separated
1/3 c freshly squeezed orange juice
2 t grated or finely minced orange or lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree.
2. Grease two 8- or 9-inch layer cake pans or one 9 x 13 pan. I used 9 x 13.
3. Combine in small bowl: flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Mix together oil, 3/4 c sugar until creamy. Add 4 egg yolks and beat until thick and fluffy (5-7 minutes)
5. Mix in dry ingredients until smooth. Add the orange juice and zest, and stir until blended. The batter will be pretty thick.
6. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until foamy, then add the 1/4 cup sugar. Beat until soft peaks.
7. I stirred 1/4 of the egg white mixture into the wet ingredients to lighten the batter. Carefully fold in the remaining egg whites.
8. Pour into pan(s). Bake for 35 minutes. If you used rounds, let them cool for 15 minutes before depanning. If you used the 9 x 13 pan, let it cool in the pan. Let cool completely before glazing.

Orange Glaze
1/2 c freshly squeezed orange juice
1 T grated orange zest
1/2 t vanilla extract
3 c confectioners' sugar
Mix together. Glaze the cake.

Recipes:
How to cook everything vegetarian by Mark Bittman, page 852 (has optional glaze recipes)
How to cook everything by Mark Bittman (10th Anniversary Edition) page 914 | glazes on page 919 and 924