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.

Spiced Nectarine Cake from Bon Appetit

Spiced Nectarine Cake

It's a delicious time of the year. Stone fruits. Cherries. Strawberries galore.
Awesome.

Make this cake.
Serious.
Go to the Farmer's Market, buy stone fruit and make it. You probably have all the base ingredients in the house right now!

It doesn't make much batter (only 1 1/4 cup flour) so the fruit really shines. The batter is simply a delivery device for warm fruit. :)

The original recipe from Bon Appetit has lemon juice and zest. Um, I totally forgot to add them, but I did take the suggestion of the reviewers and added some vanilla extract. I also baked it in this glass pie plate - the recipe calls for a 9" springform pan.

You can serve it on a plate with some coffee, tea or even a scoop of ice cream. Or, you can be like my co-workers, cut a slide and use your hand eat it like a pizza during the meeting.

Wow. Two blog posts in two days. And I served this cake this morning, and I'm posting it tonight. Finding my camera again has given me lots of inspiration!

Take care, Mary the Food Librarian

P.S. Make this cake!!!

Spiced Nectarine Cake
Adapted from Bon Appetit, August 2005

Difference from the Original Recipe on Epicurious:
1. Totally skipped the lemon juice and zest. Totally skipped it because I totally forgot to add it.
2. Added vanilla extract.
3. Did not have self-rising flour, used a mixture of flour, baking powder and salt
4. Only needed 3 nectarines - recipe calls for 5.
5. Baked mine in a glass pie tray (because my springform pan was in use).
6. Forgot to sprinkle the topping on the cake before placing in oven...pulled it out after 15 minutes of baking and sprinkled on top. Yes, I was a bit tired when I made this!
7. You can substitute peaches, apricots or plums.

Cake Batter:
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups (175 g) all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 medium nectarines, sliced, not peeled

Topping:
3 Tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9" springform pan or pie tin.
2. Sift together the flour and baking powder. Whisk in the salt.
3. Using a paddle attachment, cream the butter with sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until blended. Add the vanilla.
5. On low speed, add the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Don't overmix.
6. Spread into the pan.
7. Arrange a layer of nectarine slices.
8. Mix together the topping ingredients. Sprinkle over the cake.
9. Bake until cake is golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes.
10. Serve at room temp or warm from the oven.

Orange Blueberry Muffins

Orange Blueberry Muffins

Things have been crazy busy lately. Don't quite understand how it got to be near the end of February! Where is 2012 going?!

Take a moment to slow down and make some muffins. Muffins are always simple and fast...they aren't called "quick breads" for nothing.

I received Sweet and Savory Swedish Baking by Leila Lindholm from my friend JustJenn of JustJenn Recipes. She selected this book because "it had little frosting." My friends know me quite well! :)

A bit of orange zest is added to the mix. I used frozen blueberries from Trader Joe's because I ate the fresh ones with my yogurt. And I always like a bit of sanding sugar atop a muffin for the great texture and bit of sweetness it provides.

Adapted from Sweet and Savory Swedish Baking by Leila Lindholm (Nine Classic Muffins, page 98)

Orange Blueberry Muffins
1/2 c (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 c milk (I used whole milk)
Zest of 1 orange (I used a Cara Cara orange)
2/3 c sugar (130 grams)
2 eggs, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/3 c all-purpose flour (326 grams)
2 teaspoons baking powder
Dash of salt
1 1/2 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Sanding sugar

1. Prep: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep muffin tin with liner (12 muffins).
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Melt butter. Add milk and combine.
4. Rub zest with sugar. Whisk in eggs and vanilla until pale.
5. Add butter and milk mixture into egg mixture.
6. Pour wet mixture on dry and carefully fold together. Don't overmix.
7. Fold in blueberries, reserving a few for top of the muffins.
8. Scoop into muffin tin. (I use an ice cream scoop)
9. Top with the reserved blueberries. Sprinkle with sanding sugar (optional).
10. Bake, depending on your oven, until toothpick comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes (using frozen blueberries takes longer to bake).

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.