Blueberry Cake

This wasn't what I envisioned for my blueberry cakes. When most of the berries sunk to the bottom and the cake wouldn't even support itself, I had to flip them upside down.


These were some of the better looking ones and the sinkage might even pass as intentional for decoration purposes.


Since I'm obsessed with texture shots, this is the best one I could get after splitting through 3 and only seeing an explosion of blueberries. Maybe I went a teeny tiny overboard with the addins.

Despite their appearance, these were amazing! I loved the tight crumb and light and fluffy texture. The blueberries added a really nice burst of flavour with each bite. I'm definitely going to give this recipe a try again as cupcakes. Blueberries add a lot of moisture and these cakes weren't soggy at all so I hope that the cake only version won't end up dry.

I used the cake part of the New York style crumb cake from CI

New York Style Crumb Cake
Cooks Illustrated

Crumb Topping

1/3 cup granulated sugar (2 2/3 ounces)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar (2 2/3 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/8 teaspoon table salt 
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and still warm
1 3/4 cups cake flour (7 ounces)

Cake

1 1/4 cups cake flour (5 ounces)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon table salt 
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), cut into 6 pieces, softened but still cool
1 large egg 
1 large egg yolk 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1/3 cup buttermilk 

Confectioners' sugar for dusting

1. FOR THE TOPPING: Whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt, and butter in medium bowl to combine. Add flour and stir with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mixture resembles thick, cohesive dough; set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut 16-inch length parchment paper or aluminum foil and fold lengthwise to 7-inch width. Spray 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and fit parchment into dish, pushing it into corners and up sides; allow excess to overhang edges of dish.

3. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed to combine. With mixer running at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and buttermilk; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping once if necessary.

4. Transfer batter to baking pan; using rubber spatula, spread batter into even layer. Following photos below, break apart crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces and spread in even layer over batter, beginning with edges and then working toward center. Bake until crumbs are golden and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan by lifting parchment overhang. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.

TWD: Blueberry Blanc-Manger

As much as I love cream, I tend to make substitutions or remove heavy cream entirely when I can (pastry creams, curds and sauces). If I'm eating cream, it's going to be in whipped cream frosting or icecream and maybe a tiny sliver of whipping cream pound cake or else I feel kind of guilty. When I decided to substitute the cream for milk, I knew it wouldn't be as decadent or rich and that I've possibly converted it from blanc-manger to milk jello, but I did save a lot of calories from saturated fat! Surprisingly the milk jello wasn't so bad...ok, that's what I wish was true. I really didn't like the crumbliness of the ground almonds, but maybe it would have been different if I used cream. I don't think this even counts as a TWD anymore and I wasn't even going to blog about it, but I was too proud of how it didn't fall apart from unmolding because I forgot to grease.

Thanks so much to Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy for choosing this recipe! You can find the recipe on her blog or in Dorie's book. Don't forget to check out the TWD blogroll!

Low Fat Blueberry Muffins

These were supposed to be cupcakes until I tasted my blueberry puree and found it a little bland. I was pretty sure baking wouldn't magically release more blueberry flavour so I decided to make muffins instead, since additional fruit is added. I made Cook's Country's low fat blueberry muffins, although I don't know if I would call these low in fat because there was still 1 tsp of butter per muffin. Maybe if compared to a Costco muffin then sure, but then again, those are gigantic! I wasn't actually planning on making a low fat recipe. All I wanted was something that wasn't overly rich and used milk/buttermilk as their liquid so I could substitute the blueberry puree for some of it. Too bad it led to a greyish batter, but other than that, these were really good! I also creamed the butter and sugar for a lighter texture because that's how I like them. You can always melt the butter for a quicker and denser muffin.

Cook's Country Low-Fat Blueberry Muffins

1 cup blueberries (I used 1 & 1/4 cups)
2 cups plus 1 Tbl. all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
4 Tbls. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 teaspoon grated zest and 2 teaspoons juice 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk eggs and brown sugar together in medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Gradually whisk in melted butter, then buttermilk, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla until well blended. Fold into dry mixture with rubber spatula (a few streaks of flour should remain).
Toss blueberries with remaining tablespoon flour in small bowl. Gently fold blueberries into batter, being careful not to break berries.
Distribute batter in muffin tin and bake until light golden brown and toothpick or skewer inserted into center of muffin comes out clean, 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.

TWD: Perfect Party Cake

I was so excited for this cake because last summer, this was the recipe I used to bake my first ever layer cake. Thanks to the DBers who raved about this enough that I had to give it a try. It was the first time I realized that cakes could be made from scratch! Since many of the experienced DBers had problems with flat layers, I decided to make a triple layer cake with 3 8 inch pans (I needed all the help I could get).


One year later I wanted to try it with 9 inch pans, since Dorie posted helpful tips to fix the height issues and because my 8 inch ones aren't the greatest in quality. I used all purpose flour and 2% milk. I omitted the 2 minute beating at the end because I didn't want to risk overbeating. 2 minutes of beating with all purpose flour... I don't even want to imagine what would happen to the cake! The layers aren't as tall as Dorie's, but I was really happy with the overall result.


The way I frost layer cakes hasn't really changed. I like to keep the outside bare because I'm not a huge frosting lover, but if there's one butter based frosting to make, it's definitely Cassie's SMBC. I can't say enough about it because it's that good! Creamy and perfectly sweetened without tasting like a stick of butter unlike most meringue based buttercreams. I used her SMBC instead of Dorie's and added some blueberry puree. I couldn't really taste the blueberry and will use jam next time for a more concentrated flavour. Even though SMBC is my favourite kind of buttercream, 4 layers of it can be hard to stomach. Instead, I made a lightened version of CI's pastry cream by omitting the butter and using milk instead of cream. I love how soft this cake was even with all purpose flour. I really liked it, although I can't really say the same for for the rest of my family. It can be so frustrating to bake for them because everything is either too buttery, too sweet, too rich, too moist (?!). I'm starting to get the feeling that what they really want is sandwich bread (and it better be Wonder bread since it's like biting into air) lightly sweetened with sugar.


Thanks so much to Carol of mix, mix... stir, stir for choosing this recipe! You can find the recipe on her blog or in Dorie's book. Don't forget to check out the TWD blogroll!

Pastry Cream, adapted from CI
1 cup milk
2 tbsp sugar
2.5 egg yolks
1.5 tbsp cornstarch

Whisk sugar, eggs and cornstarch together until incorporated
On medium high heat, heat milk.
Pour milk in egg mixture to temper the eggs
Pour mixture back into pot, whisking until thickened and bubbles appear on the side.
Remove from heat and pour into another bowl to stop cooking.
Place plastic wrap on surface and refrigerate until cool and ready to use.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Adapted from Cassie's How to eat a Cupcake

Ingredients
2 large egg whites
1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
1/4 blueberry puree

Directions
Put egg whites and sugar into the top of a double boiler over a pan of simmering water. Whisking constantly, cook until sugar has dissolved and mixture is warm (about 160 degrees).
Pour heated egg whites into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg white mixture on high speed until it forms stiff (but not dry) peaks. Continue beating until fluffy and cooled, about 7 minutes.
Switch to the paddle attachment. With mixer on medium-low, add butter two tablespoons at a time, beating well after each addition. Increase speed to medium-high; continue beating until frosting appears thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low; add blueberry puree and raise speed to medium and beat until incorporated.

Blueberry Muffins

I don't think I've made a better muffin, ever. These were were absolutely amazing!! I think I've said this before, but I'm not a fan of muffins mostly because they're either too dessert-like (but suprisingly taste bad considering the amount of fat) or too lean that it's just not worth wasting the calories over. These however, were definitely 'muffin' muffins and packed full of flavour. Every bite had a burst full of blueberry yumminess either from the whole blueberries or the swirled bluberry sauce. Umm.. yes, blueberry sauce, but trust me, it was definitely worth the 5 extra minutes and extra pot to wash. Too bad I didn't have any of the dried blueberries the recipe called for so I had to omit them. Best of all, the crumb was moist, tender, yet sturdy enough to support all the blueberries. The combination of butter and oil provided both flavour and moisture, which made these delicious even a few hours later. We all know how disappointing it can be when a muffin or anything that's still warm tastes amazing only to turn dry or crumbly later on. The only thing that was missing in these muffins is a bigger muffin top, but maybe it's because I made them smaller or baked at a lower temperature.


I halved the recipe, got 10 muffins using my large cookie scoop and baked them at 375 instead of 400 because mine were a little smaller. I finally used my Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch pan I got for Christmas and I love it!! The baking is even so the edges don't dry out by the time the centre is cooked and the crust is perfectly golden without being burnt. I think this is the most amazing pan I've baked with, but I've only used Wilton, which suck because of all the trimming I have to do from the top doming and around overdone sides and Chicago Metallic, which are pretty good except that they brown the edges more. Now, I need to get some Goldtouch 8 inch rounds and loaf pans!!


The blueberry sauce is genius because you get a pretty swirl of blue inside, but not an overall blue muffin. It also provides a lot of moisture and flavour from the extra concentrated blueberry juice. I found the recipe at food.according to me.

I think the key to the tenderness and texture of these muffins compared to others I've tried is the mixing method.
* Instead of just whisking all the wet together at the same time, the eggs and sugar are first whisked by hand until pale and fluffy (I whisked so much the eggs and sugar actually ribboned and I thought I was going to lose my arm)
* Next, the fats are slowly whisked in followed by the liquids and extract.
* The berries are also added with the wet before the flour. Since they're not folded at the end, it helps to prevent overmixing. (this is my favourite step and what I've always done with addins to eliminate any possibility for overmixing)
* Also, it's important that the flour is measured correctly. Since these muffins aren't loaded with fat any extra flour will definitely make them too dense.

Blueberry Muffins
Recipe from food according to me

2 cups fresh blueberries, about 10 ounces
1/2 cup dried blueberries (I didn't have any)
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, 12 ½ ounces
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
8 ounces white sugar (I just used 1 cup, which is 7 ounces because my berries were really sweet)
3 large whole eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk (I used 1 tbsp vinegar and added milk until it reached one cup)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4 tsp turbinado sugar

1. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position to heat oven to 400ºF. (I used 375)Prepare muffin tins.
2. Bring 1 cup fresh blueberries and all dried blueberries to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently and pressing blueberries against the side of the pot, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened, about five minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in the large bowl. Set aside.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Slowly whisk in melted butter and oil until incorporated. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined.
5. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in remaining one cup blueberries.
6. Gently fold in flour mixture until just moistened. Batter will be very lumpy.
7. Using a large spoon, divide half of the batter equally among the 12 muffin cups (about a third filled.) Place a heaping teaspoon of berry mixture on top of batter. Scoop remaining batter on top of berry filling. Using a bamboo skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter.
8. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of the muffins.
9. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes. (I took them out when a toothpick inserted had like 2 mini crumbs attached - almost perfectly clean, but not with huge crumbs attached either) Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool for five minutes more before serving.

Light Banana Blueberry Bread

Our bananas ripened to the point where they just couldn't be eaten, but perfect for banana bread. This time, I decided to make light banana bread even though it involves taking out the KA. If anybody would have a tried and tested light recipe, it would be from Christopher Kimball and gang so I got the recipe from Cook's Illustrated.


I'm not usually too adventurous with the addins, mostly because I'm afraid of screwing up a perfectly good tasting recipe by adding in weird flavours or textures. My biggest fear though is from folding in anything extra and create a tough and chewy product. Every time nuts or chocolate is involved I always dump it into the flour first and then mix wet and dry. I could never risk folding it in gently after the wet and dry have been combined. In the beginning, I used to just poke blueberries in my muffins and chocolate chips in my cookies. I wasn't in the mood for chocolate or nuts so I added one cup of blueberries instead. Since there was so much fruit going in, I reduced the amount of bananas to 1 cup mashed and the sugar to 1/2 cup. As usual, I couldn't give up the opportunity to use my bundt pan!


I love blueberries and bananas together! The juicy blueberries squirt in your mouth and both fruits add a lot of moisture. I almost left my banana blueberry bread in the oven for too long, but luckily the irresistable scent of banana blueberry bread caught my attention before it was too late.

Light Banana Bread

Makes 1 9-inch loaf, serves 10

Nonstick baking spray with flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar -- divided (I used 1/2 cup)
3 very ripe bananas (about 1 1/4 pounds), mashed well (about 1 1/2 cups) (I used 1 cup)
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional) (I used 1 cup blueberries)

Heat oven to 350. Spray loaf pan with baking spray. Mix flour, cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and 1/4 cup of the sugar in medium bowl. Set aside.

In separate bowl, mix mashed banans, yogurt and vanilla. Set aside.

Beat remaining 1/2 cup sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium high until light and fluffy, 3-5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.

Reduce mixer speed to low. Beat in half of flour mixture, then one-third of banana mixture. Add half of the remaining flour, then one-third of banana mixture. Repeat once more, being careful not to overmix -- batter will be thick and chunky. Fold in add ins, if using.

Scrape batter into pan and sprinkle with walnuts, if using. Bake about 55 minutes, until toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove and transfer loaf to wire rack.

TWD: Strawberry-Blueberry Cobbler

I wanted so badly to make a cherry rhubarb cobbler because I've never eaten rhubarb before and because cherry + rhubarb sounded like a nice combination. Somehow, I never made it to the supermarket to pick up a bag of frozen rhubarb. Without the rhubarb, it just didn't feel worth it to pit a pound of cherries! Instead, I used a half a box of strawberries that were a little too ripe to be eaten, but would make a delicious filling and tossed in some blueberries so that there would be more filling.

Usually, I make my TWD recipes during the weekend, but it got so busy with birthday parties and work. To make clean up a lot faster and more convenient, I just rubbed the butter into the flour with my fingers and mixed the rest of the dough by hand. Somehow, I forgot about the whole wheat flour and added all purpose twice. I was afraid that the biscuit would be done before the fruit so I popped the filling in the oven first for 25 minutes as I prepared the dough (a trick I learned from Cook's Illustrated). Good thing the filling was precooked or the biscuit would have been way overdone... although that may not have been a bad thing as the filling made it a little soggy.


I didn't have a deep dish for baking and had to settle with my 8x1.5 inch cake pan. Thankfully the biscuit tasted so good because it was overtowering on top just a couple berries. This was the first time I've had cobbler, but I knew it wouldn't be the dessert for me. Sogginess has always been something that turns me away.. I can't even use mayo in my sandwiches because of the sogginess factor. I actually had to eat this hot before the juices soaked into the biscuit.


Thanks to Amanda of Like Sprinkles on a Cupcake for choosing this recipe, which can be found on her site and in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my Home to Yours. Don't forget to checkout the TWD Blogroll!

TWD: Blueberry Pie

This week's TWD was a little messy, but a lot of fun! I've never made a pie or a crust before (unless if graham cracker crumbs + butter counts) so I was really worried. It was especially nerve wracking since I was taking this to my cousin's birthday party and I had no idea how it would turn out. I didn't have a 9 inch pie plate so I made 2 8 inch pies by making 1.5 times of the filling, but using the same amount of dough.
An added bonus of making this pie was the big blueberry sale the supermarkets were having last week... 2 pints of blueberries for 3 dollars! Some TWDers mentioned that the filling was runny, but I wasn't going to add more flour considering there was already 1/2 cup. Instead, I used Cook's Illustrated tip and mashed and cooked 1/2 of the blueberries to make a wonderfully thickened blueberry sauce. This worked wonderfully and the filling was not runny at all. I also reduced the sugar so that the natural sweetness of the blueberries could come out.

Thank god I didn't forget to line the pies with the baking sheets because the filling was bubbling like crazy in the oven. Especially since I used one 9 inch pie dough recipe for 2 8 inch pies, I barely had enough crust so there was a lot of blueberry filling spillage onto the baking sheet. I also had to cut out 5 big holes in order to have enough crust for the top. Overall, the filling was ok, but luckily the crust was so good, it could have carried any type of filling. Everyone at the party liked it.. at least I hope!

Thanks to Amy of South in Your Mouth for choosing this recipe, which can be found on her site and in Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my Home to Yours. Don't forget to checkout the TWD Blogroll!