Bundt Cake

Things have been pretty crazy on my side of the earth for the past week or so, so making time to bake and blog was difficult, however I as much as I enjoy doing this blog, I did not enjoy making this next recipe which was a sponge cake. It has to be one of the hardest cake I have ever made. Two years ago I bought the summer 2009 Canadian Living Special Cookbook Issue. There was this one recipe that caught my attention which was a Blueberry Citrus Sponge Cake. It sounded delish, and the picture of the cake was mouth watering, so had set aside a steamy summer afternoon to make this cake and the process was not fun. I have eczema, which is a skin problem where I develop rashes all over my hands, and anything acidic that touches my skin burns. Because this is a citrus cake, it requires zesting and squeezing lemons and oranges. I tried to handle the fruits without actually touching the juice, which didn't work. Next, was the separation of eight egg whites, which was really messy, and frustrating since I couldn't separate them. Although the cake did not turn out bad at all, I did not enjoy making this cake at all. You would think that after making this cake two years ago I would change my mind about this cake, or even improve on the baking method, but I haven't on both accounts. When I was making this cake last night, I screamed so much I was afraid the neighbours may have considered calling the police. If separating egg whites is no feat for you, then be brave and try baking this cake. In my opinion it requires a lot of effort, but the results pay off-if you follow the recipe correctly.

  -Ann

Blueberry Citrus Sponge Cake

2 cups sifted cake and pastry flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1/3 cup orange juice
2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoon vanilla
8 egg whites (oh the horror!)
2 cups blueberries (I used one cup, but that's only because I didn't read the instructions properly and I bought enough to make one cup only) Glaze: 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup orange juice

Directions
1. In large bowl, whisk together cake and pastry flour, granulated sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. In separate bowl, whisk together oil, orange rind and juice, lemon rind and juice, and vanilla; beat into dry ingredients until smooth and thick.
3. In another bowl, beat egg whites until foamy; beat in icing sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until stiff glossy peaks form. Fold 1/3 into batter; fold in remaining whites. Fold in blueberries.
4. Scrape into greased and flour dusted 10-inch (3 L) bundt or tube cake pan. Swirl knife through batter to remove air bubbles.
5. Bake in 350ºF (180ºC) oven until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes.

Glaze
 Meanwhile in small saucepan, bring sugar and juice to boil, stirring; boil for 1 minutes. Let cool. Loosen cake from edges of pan. Invert onto rack; brush with glaze. Let cool.

~Makes 12 servings.

Apple

Hey Ya'll. First I want to start off by saying it's officially spring, yaaaaaaaay!!!!! The sun is setting later, plants are sprouting from the earth, and the best part is that the weather is getting warmer...until this Wednesday, when the temp is suppose to dip down and start snowing again-but the point is that technically, spring has arrived!

Below is an Apple Blueberry Crumble recipe that I got from Donna Hay's Modern Classics book 2. Now I have to admit that I am not a fan of baked apple recipes, people who know me, know that I find 'em slimy, so when I made this crumble, I happily shared this with the rest of my family. All I can say is that if you like apple pie, and strudels, you will love this crumble recipe.

-Ann

Apple and Blueberry Crumble

7 green apples (1.2 kg/2 lb 7 oz), cored and chopped (I used macintosh apples cause grannies are way too sour in my opinion.)

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind

2 teaspoons lemon juice

Topping

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup plain (all-purpose) flour

75g (2 1/2 oz) butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Place the apples, blueberries, sugar, lemon rind, and lemon juice in a bowl and stir to combine. Transfer to a large ovenproof dish. To make the topping, place the rolled oats, sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon in a bowl and mix to combine. Spoon the oat mixture over the fruit and bake for 55 minutes or until the topping is dark golden and crisp and the apple is soft. Serve warm with thick (double) cream or ice cream if desired.

~Serves 4

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I LOVE fritters. That's why I don't make them so often - otherwise I would be 200 pounds by now. They are on my comfort food list. And perfect for a rainy day with a cup of tea. Or for any day, really. =)

This fritters are so light and fluffy that if I haven't practiced my self-restraint I'd have eaten them all by myself. Luckily I had some helpers/tasters this time. And they all gave thumbs up. =)

-Ana

Apple Fritters

From this amazing website - with step-by-step pics!

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons sugar

2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 large eggs

3/4 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 apples, peeled and diced - Ree sugests Granny Smith but I used Gala apples; you can use Fuji apples, as well.

1. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

2. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then add milk, melted butter, and vanilla.

3. Gently fold dry and wet ingredients together until just combined (do not overmix.) Fold in apples. Add enough apples to make a very chunky batter.

4. Heat a couple of inches of canola oil over medium to medium-low heat. When it gets hot, drop a little drop of batter into the oil. If it sizzles immediately and rises to the top, the oil is ready; if it burns quickly, turn down the heat.

5. Drop teaspoons of batter into the hot oil, six or eight at a time. Sometimes they’ll flip over by themselves; sometimes you have to flip them. Just watch them and make sure they don’t get too brown, but cook them long enough to make sure the batter’s cooked through, about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes total.

6. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Dust very generously with powdered sugar or roll them into a sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Serve warm!

**May be heated up the next day in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes.

Yogurt

This week's Challenge: Yogurt. Let's see what both of us came up with.

Yogurt Blueberry Muffins

Taken from Canadian Living.com

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 eggs

1 cup plain yogurt

1 tablespoon grated orange rind**

1/4 cup orange juice**

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups fresh (or frozen) blueberries*

*I used frozen berry mix instead

** Substituted lemon rind and juice

1. In a large bowl stir flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, yogurt, orange rind and juice, and oil. Pour over dry ingredients. Sprinkle berries and stir until dry ingredients are moistened.

3. Spoon into greased or lined tin. Bake in centre of the oven at 375ºF for about 25 minutes.

Ann's Thoughts

I've wanted to bake yogurt berry muffins for a very long time, so when Ana suggested that we use yogurt I knew I had to do this recipe. Honestly, it wasn't my favourite. The muffins were not as sweet as I would have liked them so I would either increase the amount of sugar from 3/4 cup to 1 cup, or I would use a flavoured yogurt like mixed berry. I did like the lemony taste with the berries. These muffins were a hit among my family, so if I'm in the mood to be nice in the future, I know what to make.

Lime Yogurt Cakes

Adapted from here

Yields 8 mini cakes

125g butter, softened

165g super fine sugar - I used 130g

2 tbsp lime zest

3 eggs - I used 2 1/2 large eggs*

120g plain yogurt or sour cream

150g flour

* My eggs were a little on the large side and after the second egg I thought my batter seemed to be very liquid, so I decided to add just 1/2 of the third egg. If you're using small eggs I recommend using 3 eggs.

Preheat oven to 170ºC or 335ºF. Beat butter, sugar and lime zest until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Mix in plain yogurt - don't freak if the batter curdles at this stage. Mine did and it turned out okay. Add flour and mix well. Put in mini tins and bake for 15 min - mine took 25 min.

Lime Glaze

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Lime juice

In a small bowl, put the confectioner's sugar. Add the lime juice, 1 tbsp at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency.

Ana's Thoughts

Pretty easy and straight-forward recipe. It might look a bit oily when right out of the oven, but it will be normal when cooled down. I liked this recipe a lot. Not overly sweet - the way I like it - complementing well with the thin tangy-sweet lime glaze. I'll definitely make this again.

Hope you all liked the new format of the blog. I did. ;)