Individual Blueberry-Buttermilk Breakfast Cakes

HOWDY!  How in the world is everyone?  Sorry I’ve been away so long…life is busy as always.  I have continued trying new recipes, but just haven’t had time to blog about them lately.  Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to post some of them soon.  I’ll start with this yummy breakfast cake that I made into individual muffin-sized servings rather than a regular full-sized cake.

I found the original recipe on a wonderful blog I recently came across called Alexandra’s Kitchen.  She calls it Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake, and it’s absolutely delicious.  It’s very versatile, quick and easy, and works well in either muffin or cake form.

I’m posting my version of the recipe (with a few minor changes), but you’ll want to try it Alexandra’s way as well.  And while you’re checking out this recipe, be sure to browse around through Alexandra’s other recipes…you’ll find plenty of yummy things to try.

Anyway…here’s my version.  Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Individual Blueberry-Buttermilk Breakfast Cakes

Ingredients

For batter:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon

7/8 cup sugar (3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons)

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. lemon juice

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (set aside 1/4 cup to toss with the blueberries)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup buttermilk

For Topping (this is optional, but it adds a delicious lemony-crunchy-sweet texture):

1 to 2 Tbsp. Turbinado sugar (I use granulated Sugar in the Raw)

1 tsp. lemon zest

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Cream butter with lemon zest and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg, vanilla and lemon juice and beat until combined.  Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with 1/4 cup of the all-purpose flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk.  Fold in the blueberries.  Mix turbinado sugar with 1 tsp. lemon zest and set aside.

Scoop or spoon batter into greased muffin tins (my large cookie scoop is the perfect size for this) or spread into a greased 9-inch square baking pan.  (Greasing the pans with butter adds a yummy buttery flavor, but non-stick cooking spray will work fine as well.)

Sprinkle muffins (or cake batter) with Turbinado sugar/lemon zest mixture, and bake for 25 to 35 minutes.  (NOTE:  If you are making a cake rather than muffins, it may take a few minutes longer to cook.)  Use a toothpick or metal tester to check for doneness, when it comes out clean, Your muffins are done!

I let them set in the pan for about 3 to 5 minutes, and then remove them to a wire rack to cool for another 5 minutes or so before serving.  If you make the cake, there’s no need to remove it from the pan, but you’ll want to let it cool at least 15 minutes before sampling.  Those blueberries get HOT!  (Not that I would know that from experience.)

Since this is a cake batter, these muffins are very light textured and delicious.  You’ll want to make them more than once!  They also freeze well if (despite them temptation) you can’t eat them all in one sitting.

I didn’t write it down, so I may be mistaken on this, but I think this recipe made about 15 regular muffins.

Once you’ve tried it, be sure to stroll through Alexandra’s Kitchen, and while you’re there, say howdy and tell her Faithy sent you!

Blessings,

--Faithy

P.S.  Hope to be back with some more recipes soon.

Mini Lemon Mint Cakes

HOWDY friends!  I hope you are all well and happy on this fine day.  It’s been really hot and humid in Zig Zag lately, sure makes me grateful for air conditioning!  I’ve been busy as ever, but I just had to find a minute to share one of my favorite new “go-to” recipes with you.

One of my favorite bloggers is Ally over at Ally’s Kitchen.  I love her creative takes on old favorites.

I was perusing her Facebook page a while back, and came across her recipe for Lemon Mint Cake Pie.  I love lemon, and mint, so I knew I had to try it.  I needed something to serve some volunteers at my office one morning, so I decided to make it into mini-muffins rather than the larger pie pan cake in Ally’s original recipe.  The final product was very light and flavorful, and I’ve made it quite a few times since.  It gets rave reviews every time I serve it!  I just love the little bite-sized bursts of flavor.  It’s impossible to eat just one!

This is DEFINITELY one you’ll want to try my friends.  Take my word for it!  It’s perfect for brunch or tea time snacking.  My adapted recipe is below, but please go by and check out Ally’s version too!

Mini Lemon Mint Cakes 
Yield:  24 mini muffin cakes

INGREDIENTS

Batter: 
8 Tbsp. salted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup Whey Low Granulated (or regular granulated sugar) 
1-1/2 lemons, juice & zest (about 3 to 4 Tbsp. lemon juice & 1 Tbsp. zest) 
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. fresh mint, finely chopped (I've played around with several varieties, and haven't found one I didn't like yet!  Just use your favorite or whatever type you have on hand.) 
1-1/4 cups flour, all purpose
1 tsp. sodium free baking powder 

Lemon Glaze: 
1/3 cup Whey Low Powder (or powdered sugar), sifted
2 Tbsp. lemon juice 
1/2 tsp. lemon zest 

Garnish: 

turbinado sugar (optional)
sifted Whey Low Powder (or powdered sugar) 
1 tsp. fresh Lemon Zest (optional)
finely chopped mint (optional)

DIRECTIONS 
Preheat oven to 325°F.

Batter:  
Combine butter and Whey Low Granulated (sugar) in a large mixing bowl, and mix until light and fluffy.

Add the remaining lemon juice and zest to the bowl.  Blend until incorporated throughout.

Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Remove from mixer and stir in mint with a rubber spatula.

Whisk flour & baking powder together in a small mixing bowl.  Stir into batter about 1/4 cup at a time.  Blending well after each addition.  The batter will be thick.

Fill mini muffin cups (sprayed with cooking spray) to the top.  (My small cookie scoop works perfectly for this!)

NOTE:  If you decide to go with Version Two...see below BEFORE you put them in the oven! 

Bake in a preheated 325° oven for 12 to 15 minutes.  (I like to cook them until they are just starting to brown on the edges.)  Remove from pan to a cooling rack.

While the cake is baking, make the glaze.  Whisk together the Whey Low Powder (powdered sugar), lemon juice and lemon zest in a small bowl (or 2-cup measuring cup), until all lumps are dissolved. 

I've made this quite a few times now, so I've played around with the recipe a bit.  I think I like the extra lemony goodness absorbed in Version One (below) the best, but Version Two (pictured above) looks a little prettier.  Both variations are scrumptious! 

Version One: 
Brush glaze liberally over hot muffins.  (You want the muffins to absorb as much as possible.) 

Once muffins have cooled completely (waiting is SOOOOOO hard!), dust with Whey Low Powder (powdered sugar).  (I have a great Pampered Chef flour & sugar shaker that works perfectly for this, but a fine mesh strainer works well too.)  Top with additional lemon zest and the remaining fresh mint, and enjoy! 

Version Two (pictured): 
Sprinkle with turbinado sugar/lemon zest before baking.  (This adds a delicious crunchiness!)

Allow the muffins to cool completely, and dust with Whey Low Powder (powdered sugar).  Drizzle with lemon glaze, and garnish with fresh mint.

I hope that this will become one of your favorite recipes, just like it has become mine.  Be sure and stop by Ally’s website or Facebook page, and tell her Faithy sent you!

Enjoy your summer my friends, and try to stay cool out there!
Blessings,

--Faithy

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Happy Wednesday friends!

Found another good coffee cake recipe in my inherited cookbook stash.  This time it's from Southern Living:  Homestyle Cooking cookbook (published by Oxmoor House)...a great book, full of yummy homestyle recipes from community cookbooks all across the South!

I must say, I’ve had pretty good luck with Southern Living recipes over the years.  They’re not always the most healthy or figure friendly recipes, but boy are they good!  You can find this on pg. 120, in the Breads, Breakfasts & Brunches chapter.

As usual, I can’t just seem to make a recipe the way it’s printed, so this one is adapted with my usual substitutions.

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake 

1/2 cup Smart Balance Butter Blend sticks (or butter/margarine - softened)

1 (8 oz.) pkg. fat free cream cheese (softened at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes)

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup Smart Sugar

1/2 cup HEB Real Egg (or 2 whole eggs)

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons sodium free baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup skim milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumb Topping (see below)

Beat butter and cream cheese (with an electric mixer) until smooth & creamy.  Gradually add sugar and beat well.  Add eggs (1 at a time if you’re using regular eggs), and beat thoroughly.

Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl.  Add to butter mixture, alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.  Mix on low speed until just blended.  Stir in vanilla.

Pour into a greased 13x9” baking pan.  Sprinkle with crumb topping.  Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in the pan, on a wire rack.

Crumb Topping:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup chopped almonds (the original recipe called for chopped pecans, but I was out…OH, THE HORROR!!...these substituted nicely though, I may use them again)

1/4 cup Smart Balance Butter Blend sticks, melted

Combine all ingredients to make 1-1/2 cups.

Makes approximately 12 servings.

This one got a “thumbs up” from my hubby, uncle and brother (all who got a chance to try it).  It has a good flavor, and a wonderful texture.

Give it a try and let me know what you think!!

Blessings,

--Faithy 

Taste and see...

Taste and see that the Lord is good. -- Psalm 34:8

Happy Saturday my friends!  Sorry I’ve been AWOL lately…life has been busy, busy, busy!  Last weekend, I did quite a bit of cooking, but didn’t have time to tell you about it.  I’ll try to catch up a bit this weekend.

A potluck luncheon (or “covered dish” as we like to call it here in South Texas) at church last Sunday prompted me to search out some new recipes to try.  Thankfully, most of them were pretty successful.

First, I did a Fig Cake, which gave me an opportunity to use up some of last year’s fig preserves.  It turned out delicious!!!  If you have any extra fig preserves laying around, you really should try it.

I got the recipe from the “Bountiful Blessings Cookbook” - © 1998 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.  Apparently it was also previously released under the title, “Homegrown Heaven Bound Cookbook.”  This is a fun book of “favorite old-fashioned, down-home, family-tested recipes” submitted by members of a large Christian book club.  The “Fig Cake” recipe was submitted by Virginia Lear, from London, KY, and may be found on p. 247 if you happen to come across this treasure.

As usual, I’ll give you my version of the recipe…

 Don'tcha want to try a piece?

Faithy’s Fig Treasure Cake

1-1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2/3 cup whole wheat flour (or 2 cups all-purpose flour if you don’t have whole wheat)

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon cloves (I NEVER use as much cloves as recipes call for, because they have a tendency to be overpowering - the original recipe called for ½ tsp.)

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup Smart Sugar (the original recipe called for 1-1/2 cups sugar…you can divide it up however suits you!)

¾ cup HEB Real Egg (or 3 eggs, beaten)

1 cup canola oil

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup fig preserves

1 cup chopped pecans (I actually only used about ½ cup because I’m running low)

Preheat oven to 325° F.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda and cloves.  Set aside.

Cream together sugar and eggs (1 at a time if you’re using regular eggs).  Add oil and vanilla.  Mix thoroughly.

Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternately with buttermilk.  Stir in preserves and pecans.  Mix well.

Pour into a greased (I sprayed mine with cooking spray) Bundt pan and bake for 1 hour.

Cool (if you can wait that long to try it!), slice and serve with whipped cream or plain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The original recipe listed the buttermilk in the ingredients list, but then never mentioned it again.  LOL!  Not to worry, I’ve baked before, so it wasn’t too hard to figure out a good place to add it.

It smelled so good while it was baking that I just couldn’t stand it.  My husband and I had to sample a couple of slices - just to make sure they were good enough to serve at church! J  Also needed to show the inside for the blog picture. 

Hee, hee…that’s me, always willing to make a sacrifice for the good of someone else.

I’m thinking this recipe would be good with other types of preserves too…I’m thinking peach preserves off the top of my head.  Mmmm…maybe we’ll try that next time I end up with some fresh peaches to make preserves with!

If you have a chance to experiment with it let me know!!

I'll try to get back online this weekend and post my other potluck experiments.
 Hope your weekend is filled with blessings,

--Faithy