Lemon Blueberry Bread

I had a packet of frozen blueberries in the freezer with the idea of making a smoothie. Tried it once and the kid didnt like it at all. So I used half of them in this blueberry muffins earlier and the rest went into this delicious blueberry bread. Do try this recipe, its definitely a keeper.

Source - JoyOfBaking
Ingredients:
 1 1/2 cup All purpose flour
1/2 cup butter softened at room temperature 
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tblsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberrries
1/2 cup milk


For the lemon glaze:
 2 tablespoon white sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice.


Method:
Preheat the Oven to 350F
Prepare a loaf pan by buttering up the sides and bottom.
In a large bowl add the flour, baking powder and salt, whisk well to combine.
Take a table spoon of this flour mixture in a small bowl and gently coat the blueberries.

In an other bowl cream the butter with the electric mixture until soft.
Add the sugar and beat for another 2 -3 minutes till it becomes creamy. 
Add the egg one by one and beat well to incorporate.
Scrape the sides of the bowl using a spatula and beat the mixture till its smooth and pale.
Now add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the milk, ending with the flour.
Gently fold in the blueberries. Do not overmix.


Transfer the batter to the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 mins or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the glaze:
Place the pan on a wire rack. 
In a microwavable bowl add the sugar and lemon juice , warm it up for 20 secs or just until the sugar dissolves.
Poke holes on the bread with a tooth pick and then gently brush the top with the warm liquid. 
Remove from the pan after 20 minutes.

Notes:
If using frozen blueberries , do not thaw, toss with flour and directly add to the prepared batter.
Do not skip the glazing part, its not too sweet and gives the bread a moist texture.

Chunky Guacomole With Baked Pita Chips

I used to hate Guacomole when I first tasted it in a mexican restaurant and stayed away from avacado for quite some time. But then a few years back I was introduced to this chunky version of the dip by a dear friend S (back in Belgium) in her son's birthday party. After numerous assurances from her I gave this a try and absolutely fell in love with the dip and also with the wonder fruit - avacado ever since.

Thanks to S ,nowadays I make it atleast once a week  for snack as my son loves this 'green' dip (as named by him) a lot. The tastes of the Guacomale is at its best when the Avacado is ripe, moist and in season. Never use the blackened or over ripe ones as it tends to spoil the taste.

Serve with some baked pita bread for healthy version or with some store bought tortilla chips for quite an indulgence :)

Ingredients:

1 ripe and firm Avacado

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped tomatoes(without pulp)

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 small green chilli finely chopped.

salt ,coarse black pepper and fresh lemon juice to taste

Method

Cut and scoop the pulp of the avacado int a bowl.

Cut the tomato into half, and sqeeze the pulp out of it, discard the pulp and add the chopped tomato to the bowl.

Now add the onions, chilli, salt, coarse black pepper and chopped cilantro

Give it a mix with a fork, gently breaking down the avacado pieces..

To make the pita chips.

Cut open the pita bread into two discs. (I used it whole here)

Cut into triangles and bake in 400F preheated oven for about 10 -15 mins, or until it becomes crisp.

Notes:

If you like the smoother version, mash the avacado well with a fork to a smooth texture and then add all the other ingredients.

Always use freshly ground coarse black pepper as it gives much better flavour to the dish.

Weekend Baking - Blueberry Muffin.

My Son has taken a sudden liking towards blueberries. Few months back he always said 'no' to this wonder fruit, but now he demands  blueberries in everything even in dosai's. I am so surprised to see his taste bud change in such a short time. So nowadays I always make sure to pick up a box of blueberries during my weekend shopping. I am not a big fan of blueberry muffin , but since I had some fresh fruit in the refrigerator wanted to give this recipe a try and am so glad I did, it turned out soft and delicious, we all loved it .

This is also a low calorie recipe with oil and yogurt.

Recipe source: Joy Of Baking

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar

1 cup blueberries

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup yogurt

1 egg (slightly beaten)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the oven to 190F

Prepare the muffin tins with paper liners.

Sift the dry ingredients , the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt to a medium bowl.

Add the oil and yogurt in a large bowl and beat well with a whisk.

Add in the slightly beaten egg, vanilla extract and mix well.

Now add the flour mixture and mix gently to incorporate. Do not overmix.

It is ok to have small lumps. Over mixing will lead to tough muffins.

Gently fold in the blueberries. Spoon the batter in to the prepared pan. 

Bake for 16- 20 mins or until the toothpick inserted in the center come clean.
Cool in the pan for 5 mins before removing and cooling on a wire rack.
Makes about 12 muffins.

Note: If using frozen berries, toss them in about a 2 tablespoon of flour from the flour mixture and then add to the muffin mix.

The sweetness was on the milder side for this recipe, so if you want a sweeter muffins increase the sugar to 3/4 cup.

Strawberry Fresh Cream Cake

There's not much to say except that we celebrated our 11th anniversary with this delicious Strawberry fresh cream cake over the weekend. This is a very simple cake which can be made in a jiffy , but tastes rich and exotic. Strawberries can be substituted with pineapple or any fruit of your choice.

Ingredients:
For the Sponge Cake:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs (at room temperature)
1tsp Vanilla essence


For the cream:
250ml Fresh cream
2 tblsp powdered sugar
1 tsp Vanilla essence


For sugar syrup to soak the sponge
1tblsp lemon juice 
4tblsp warm water
2tblsp sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 350C.
Prepare two 8inch  round cake pans. Line the base and the sides with parchment paper.
Beat the eggs  and sugar over simmering water for about 6-7 minutes.
Take the vessel out of water, let it cool for a minute add the essence and then beat again for 2 -3 mins till pale and creamy
Now slowly add the flour with a soon and mix gently with a spatula. Do not over mix.
Mix just until the flour is incorporated.
Pour the batter in the prepared tins and bake for 25-30 mins.


Cake test - The tooth pick inserted in the center should come out clean. The edges of the cake will pull away from the pan at this stage.
Cool the cake completely  on a wire rack .

Prepare the cream.
Chill the bowl and the beater in the refrigerator for about an hour. 
Add the cream and powdered sugar in the chilled bowl and beat for 6-8 mins in medium speed , till the cream becomes thick and clotted. 
Take care as overbeating may result in grainy or curdled cream


To Assemble:
Chop the strawberry to tiny pieces
Cool the cake completly before Decorating.
Mix the lemon juice and water in a small bowl.
Place one layer of the cake in the decorating plate
Brush the top of the cake with this syrup or you can go ahead and sprinkle it.
Add the cream on the cake , level it and add the chopped strawberries on top. 
Place the next layer of the cake and gently press down. 
Now again apply the sugar syrup and then the cream.
Gently level the cream over the top and the sides of the cake. 
Pipe desired pattern over the sides and the bottom of the cake.

Chill the cake for atleast an hour before serving.

Multi Fruits Kesari

Made this Kesari today ..The recipe is same as the Pineapple Kesari which I have posted earlier.The only difference is that I added muliple fruits ( store bought Can) instead of pineapple. I added red food color instead of kesari powder just to cut ot some hearts for Priya's Valantine's day event.

Happy Valentines day to all the lovely ladies out there...

Sending this also to the Valentine's day carnival event at "TheFunAndFoodCafe" by Mansi

Apple cinnamon muffins

I had bookmarked this recipe from Baking bites long back but didnt get to it.Whenever I think of trying this recipe either I will be short of apples or the apples will not be fresh.Since Iam travelling to India on a three weeks vacation Iam planning my menu everyday such that no vegetables or fruits are left out in the refrigerator.Veggies I can manage, but fruits ! with only three days left there is a lot of fruit (peaches,cherries, pears, apples)to be finished thanks to the visit to the farmers market..So dont be surprised if there is an other post on something with peaches.(ya I have a bookmarked recipe of peaches too..)

I didnt use the recipe as such, made a few changes like avoided eggs and used milk instead of buttermilk.I also used whole wheat pastry flour.The result was soft moist and delicious muffins.

Recipe adapted from Baking Bites

Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract ( I used vanilla sugar)

1 cup milk

2 cups diced apple

3 tbsp coarse sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnomon

Method

Preheat oven to 375F (190C). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.

In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar , melted butter, vegetable oil and vanilla.

Working in two or three additions, alternately stir in flour mixture and milk, ending with an addition of flour and mixing only until no streaks of flour remain visible in the batter.

Stir in diced apple.Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups filling each to the top, or slightly over.

In a small bowl, stir together coarse sugar and additional 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.

Sprinkle generously over muffins.Bake for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.

Cool muffins on a wire rack.

Mine made 9 large Muffins.



The theme for this month's Think Spice event hosted by Sunita herself being "Spiced sweet treat" these gorgeous Apple Muffins spiced with cinnamon and ginger makes their way to the event.



Sending these healthy muffins to the "Show me your muffins " event by Divya at Dil-se

Cherry cake

Baked this beautiful cake past weekend with some leftover cherries from the farmers market.

Browsed a lot of recipes from the net and finally settled on the one from Joy of Baking.

I followed the recipe as given, but had to replace the sugar with brown sugar, as I realised that I ran out of white sugar, after beating the eggs.

But the cake baked beautifully and was delicious.I made this in the evening and the cake plate become empty by the time we had tea.

Ingredients:

1 pound (454 grams) fresh cherries, pitted
1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (150 grams) brown sugar
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup (80 ml) milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).

Butter and flour an 9 inch (23 cm) spring form pan and line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
Rinse, dry, and pit all the cherries. Cut the cherries as desired.

Take about 1/4 (about 15) of the cherries (to be placed on the top of the cake during baking) and cut them in half.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl , beat the eggs and sugar until thick and lemon colored (about 3-5 minutes).

Add the melted butter, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest and beat just until incorporated.

Add the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Gently fold in the whole pitted cherries.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula.
Bake for 15 minutes then remove from oven.

Quickly arrange the remaining cherries, cut side down, on the top of the cake.

Return the cake to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake portion comes out clean.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly.
Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of softly whipped cream.
Makes 8 - 10 servings.

Source : Joy of Baking

Strawberry Cake and Muffins

It was raining strawberries at home last week. My toddler just started eating strawberries and he likes it a lot even if its soar.Just the fact that my son has started a liking towards these pinkish beauties made my husband go for loads of them.Yes, he brought home a whole bag of it.

The best part of it is that he didnt know that strawberries doesnt have a longer life even if its refrigerated. So two days later I started browsing for some recipes to use the left over fruit, and came across two wonderful recipes.

The first one was Aparna's Strawberry muffin.

The recipe was so simple I immediatly baked them. As she mentioned in her post I added some sugar to the berries before mixing as mine was very sour.But the muffin tasted really good with no trace of the sourness.

The next one was a Strawberry spring cake from Asha's Foodie's hope.

This recipe was already book marked by me when she posted it last month, waiting for some neglected strawberries, and so baked that wonderful soft cake the next day.

Over all the recipes were so good and welcomed by all , that I baked them twice.

Iam posting the recipes here for keepsake:

Strawberry Muffins:

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar*

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup chopped (not too fine) Strawberries

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

1 egg (or flax seed substitute**)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Put the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and whisk lightly to mix well.

Add the strawberries to the flour mixture and mix to ensure they are well coated with flour.

In another bowl, lightly beat the egg/ flax seed substitute, vanilla extract, milk and oil together. Add this to the strawberry-flour mixture and gently mix together, in a folding motion, about 4 or 5 times. Do not over stir, or the texture of your muffins will suffer.

The batter will be lumpy and slightly floury.

Grease the muffin tins/ cups and divide the batter equally between them, so that each one is about 2/3rds full.

Bake at 180C for about 25 minutes till the muffins are done and lightly golden brown on top.

Cool for 10 minutes, unmould them and cool completely on a rack. This recipe makes 8 muffins.

Note : I used whole wheat flour completly for this recipe, and somehow my batter become a little thin , but my muffins came out just fine.

Strawberry cake

:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ( 1 stick) softened butter,

2 eggs,

1 cup regular white sugar,

1 tsp vanilla essence,

1 3/4 cups plain flour,

1/8 tsp salt,

2 tsp baking powder,

2/3 cup fresh red ripened Strawberries pureed.

Method:

Preheat oven to 350F/190C.

Spray cake pan with no-stick oil or butter well and keep aside.

In a mixer bowl, beat the sugar and butter first until fluffy.

Add in the eggs,mix. Then add in the vanilla.

Sift flour and baking powder, add to the creamed butter mixture and mix again gently on low speed until everything comes together.

Now, stir in the strawberry puree, beat until batter is well mixed and evenly pink.

Pour into the prepared pan, tap on the kitchen counter to top get the bubbles out.

Bake for about 35 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden and skewer comes out clean form the center.

Take it out of the oven, let it sit for 5mins. Invert gently on the cooling rack.

When cool, sprinkle powdered sugar on top to serve or you can use Vanilla icing.

I served it with whipped cream.It was delicious.

Hence ended my starwberry saga for this season and No more for this year ! :)

Sending these Muffins and Cake to 'The Strawberry Feast' hosted by Happy Cook at 'My Kitchen Treasures'

Eggless Banana Dates and Walnut Muffins

Banana bread being a regular outcome from my kitchen almost every week, I tried to give it a twist by adding some Dates and Walnuts to it. The taste of walnuts cuts through the sweetness of the dates in this recipe.I made this with whole wheat flour ( ground with husk ) which gave these muffins completly different taste and the texture was great too.

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
2-3 rippened bananas

10 - 15 dates, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup of melted butter or 1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

1 tsp vanilla essesnce

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180C

Sieve the flour and the baking powder mix thrice.

Mash the banana's and keep aside.

Using an elctric beater or by hand beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, add the vanilla essence beat well.

At this stage add the milk in three stages alternating with the flour mixtue and stir well to combine.(do not beat).Fold in the mashed bananas, chopped walnuts and dates.

Fill in the muffin cup and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or till knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Note: Fill in the empty muffin cups with little water so that it prevents the top of the muffins from drying out .

Sending this as an entry to the 'Sugar High Friday (SHF)' event which was started by Jennifer of 'Domestic Goddess' hosted by Mansi of the Funs and the food blog.
The theme for this months theme is 'Fruits and Nuts'

Tried and Tasted - Pears Walnut Upside Down Cake

Past weekend I was searching for a simple cake recipe, as I had invited some friends for dinner.Came across Sunita's post on "Pears Walnut Upside Down cake" .The pictures tempted me to give it a try, and morever I had all the ingredients in hand.Then what else do I need, I whipped it up in less tha 15 mins and baked for half an hour.

The result was an absoluetly delicious cake.We had it with Ice cream. Even my 18 months old toddler seemed to like it very much.

The recipe remained the same, but I added a tsp of cinnamon along with fruits and sugar, and baked it in a slighly larger pan than hers.So I got a thinner and a dark colored version of the cake. Here are the pictures.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Since I have started blogging after a long break, its quite difficult to catch up on the food events and the hustle bustle of the food blogosphere.But its very interesting to find lots of new event chains, and many new food blogs.
Checking on some of the old and favorite events first, I came across the good old Monthly Mingle event hosted by Meeta of "Whats for Lunch honey". The Theme for this months event promptly reminded me of my "Pineapple Upside Down Cake' which I made last spring, and somehow didnt get to post it.

So now is the right time for that.... here goes the recipe.



Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
6 slices pineapple or 1 can (20 ounces) can of drained pineapple chunks

Cake
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
Method:
Melt little butter in the cake pan; sprinkle with brown sugar. Arrange pineapple pieces on sugar, making a design.
Cream 1/2 cup butter; gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well. Add sifted dry ingredients alternately with the milk; beat until smooth, ending with dry ingredients. Pour over arranged pineapple pieces.
Bake at 180°C for about 35 minutes.


Let cake cool for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a serving plate.
Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired.

Healthy Peach upside down cake.

Well, this post is a result of a huge bag of peach that I brought from the farmers market two weeks back. Not only Peach I also brought Plums and Cherries. Could not resist them as they were fresh , glowing and not to say they were on Sale too!!!. Thats why I love summers. While cherries and plums got over by sunday evening peaches were not touched. As my Husband hates peaches, the whole week I managed to finish off most of them by myself.

Finally I had 5 more ripe peaches left in the basket, and I started looking for a peach cake recipe. As usual I mix and matched few recipes and came up with this healthy version(no butter , no egg but some oil though) which made a delicious snack for our short trip over the weekend. Here is the recipe.





Ingredients:
For the base.
4-5 ripe but firm peaches
2 tblsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnomon
1 tsp flour
1 tsp vanilla powder/essence

For the Cake:
1 cup All purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
1tsp Baking soda
1 tsp cinnoman
1 tsp vanilla essence/powder

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350F /180 C
Coat the baking pan with a tsp of melted butter.

Blanching:
Boil a pot of water, remove from the heat and put the whole peaches in it, close with a lid. Peel the skin after 10 minutes.



Slice the peaches and place in a plate. Sprinkle cinnomon, brown sugar and vanilla essence and flour over it. Carefully toss it using a spoon so that its well coated.
Arrange these slices on the Baking pan. Reserve the left over juices from the fruit.









For the cake beat the sugar and oil well, and the add milk beat well. Sift the dry ingredients once or twice and then add to the sugar oil mixture. Add the reserved juices and blend well.
Pour the mixture over the arranged peaches. Bake for 30-35 mins










Invert the cake after its completly cooled.

Serve warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.
















Since Peaches are very much in season here in july and august off this dish goes to the "Eating with the Seasons" hosted by Maninas