Tag Archive | Baking

Lemon Pound Cake

Hi friends! As many of you know I’ve gone back to work part time! More about that another time. For now I want to share a recipe with you I’ve been making regularly the last couple months. I always seem to have left over Greek yogurt and sour cream in my fridge. This recipe makes good use of those left overs!

This time around I used lemon yogurt and a few additional ingredients but feel free to do the basic sour cream pound cake by trading the yogurt for sour cream and vanilla for the lemon extract. Also omit the lemon juice, zest and poppy-seeds. You will still wind up with a dense, moist loaf that is great as a base for strawberry shortcake!

The lemon pound cake has a great lemon kick and I like to drizzle it with a little glaze made of lemon juice and powdered sugar.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup lemon yogurt
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
Zest from one lemon
Juice from 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
2 tablespoons poppy seeds (optional)

Method
Allow butter, eggs, and yogurt to come to room temperature for best results.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease and lightly flour a loaf pan.

In a stand mixer beat sugar and butter on a low/medium speed for ten minutes. Don’t skip this step!

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside.

Zest and juice lemons, set aside.

Once sugar and butter are light and fluffy add lemon extract and one egg at a time beating for 60 seconds on low after each egg.

Add in zest and lemon juice and mix on low for 30 seconds.

Add in half flour mixture and stir to combine, alternate yogurt and flour mixture until all ingredients are combined.

Be sure to scrape sides of mixer as needed. Stir in poppy seeds if desired.

Transfer mixture to loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove from pan and allow to cool on rack.

Chocolate Prune Cake

Feb6

Looks can be deceiving! While this cake still contains some sugar, it’s much healthier then many other chocolate cakes! The secret ingredient to its moist texture is prunes!!

Yep prunes! But I promise you it’s delicious. It is also low in fat!! Give it a try, I promise you will be pleasantly surprised.

Ingredients

2 cups Pitted Prunes
3/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon almond extract
4 egg whites (1/4 cup if using cartoned egg whites)
1 cup flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Chop prunes into small chunks

Bring prunes and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Mixture will become very thick.

Remove from heat to cool.

Beat together wet ingredients.. sugar, butter, milk, extract, egg whites and prunes in a stand mixer for 3 minutes on medium/high.

Sift together dry ingredients and then slowly beat into wet ingredients. Once incorporated together beat mixture for a few minutes on high.

Spray a cake pan with nonstick cooking spray then coat with 2 tablespoons sugar, shaking out excess.

Place batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 40-45 minutes until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

I like to serve this cake with a raspberry sauce, a dusting of powdered sugar and a touch of chocolate sauce!! So yummy!

Peach Blueberry Crumble

Jul15

One of my favorite parts of Summer is the availability of local fresh fruit! On Saturday Kevin and I headed out to Lepp Farm Market in abottsford and stocked up on amazing local products including local organic blueberries and Okanagan peaches!

I decided to throw together a quick fruit crisp with my purchases. This blueberry peach crisp comes together quickly and easily and rewards you with a relatively healthy treat!

Ingredients
6 large peaches peeled and sliced
3/4 cup Blueberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 cup oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

Method
Spray baking dish with non stick cooking spray and layer sliced peaches and blueberries in dish. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of flour. Toss gently with hands to coat.

In a separate bowl combine oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and cut in butter. Work with hands until mixture resembles course crumbs.

Sprinkle oat mixture over fruit, covering evenly.

Bake for 30-35 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Allow to cool slightly on a rack if serving warm.

I like to serve my crumble with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream for a yummy summer treat!

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

Jun9

So I woke up this morning to a dreary rainy day. I wasn’t feeling up to running in the rain so I ventured into the kitchen. Upon inspection of my fridge I decided blueberry buttermilk muffins were in order! They are Kevin’s favorite, I’m such a good wife 😉

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup oil or butter (melted)
2 eggs (beaten)
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon zest (optional)
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 tablespoon flour for dusting berries

Method
In one bowl sift together dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and powder, salt, sugar)

In another bowl whisk together milk, butter or oil, vanilla, eggs, lemon zest. My photos show three eggs because I have super tiny organic farm eggs this week from chickens that just started laying!!!

In a third bowl toss blueberries with the tablespoon of flour.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in liquid ingredients.

Mix until combine but do not over mix.

Fold in blueberries.

Divide mixture into greased muffin tins. I did 6 jumbo muffins and six regular muffins. If you want all regular size I normally get 18 muffins out of a batch.

Bake in preheated oven (350 degrees) for 18-20 minutes for regular size muffins and 24-26 minutes for jumbo muffins. They are done when a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove from pan and allow to cool on wire rack.

These muffins are not perfectly sweet without being to sweet. They are great on their own or warm with butter or lemon curd. I know it’s not quite blueberry season yet but I can’t help myself from buying the organic ones to snack on and to bake with!

Homemade Banana Bread

Apr26

I always seem to have over ripe bananas because I only eat green bananas! So what’s a girl to do with all these yellow and over ripe bananas?!?!? Bake banana bread of course!

This recipe produces a dense, moist loaf with lots of banana flavor. Kevin likes it best when I add chocolate chips. It’s a versatile recipe and works well with other additions like nuts, coconut, dried fruit, etc. Today I will share with you the basic no fail chocolate chip banana bread recipe.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1 cup of sugar
2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 3 to 4 ripe bananas to equal one cup mashed

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Method
Cream together butter and sugar once creamed add in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.

Once these ingredients are combine add in banana and combine again.

In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Once dry ingredients are mixed add to wet and mix.

Fold in chocolate chips, transfer to greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

I always like to have this banana bread slathered in peanut butter, however I can tell you from experience it makes delicious French toast!

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Apr18

Want to bake the easiest muffins ever? Six ingredients, no mixer, extremely low fat, and delicious! These pumpkin spice muffins are moist and taste awesome. Here’s the secret….the base is a boxed spice cake mix! Don’t judge! I won’t tell if you don’t! These muffins come out of the oven tasting like they were baked right from scratch!

Ingredients
1 box Spice cake mix
1 can pumpkin purée
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup of raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Method
Dump cake mix into a bowl, add pumpkin purée and water, mix well. Fold in chocolate chips, raisins, and pecans.

Divide evenly into 18 regular lined or sprayed muffin tins and bake for 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

These muffins are so quick and easy you will be amazed something so simple can taste do good.

Homemade Perogies!!!

Mar18

Hello Blog world! I’m most definitely still taking up residence on my couch. No work for me again today! Also no adventures in the kitchen either. Bronchitis sucks!

However I do have a recipe to share with you! Last week I made Perogies from scratch and Kevin said they were the best Perogies he’s ever eaten!!! Making perogies isn’t extremely difficult, just time consuming with the folding and the pinching. Don’t let the time investment deter you. These yummy bites of potato deliciousness are worth it!

Filling Ingredients
4-5 Large potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon garlic
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/4 cup sour cream
6 strips of bacon cut into pieces
3/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice
Salt and pepper to taste

Dough Ingredients
3 cups of flour
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup water
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method
Start by peeling and chopping your potatoes and cooking them as though you were making mashed potatoes.

Next start pan frying your bacon pieces and then chop your onion. Once bacon begins to crisp add the onion to the pan and cook for another 3 minutes.

Once your potatoes are done cooking drain and return to large bowl to mash. Mash with butter, sour cream, garlic, and spices. Once mashed mix in cheese, bacon and onion. Set aside to cool.

Dough Prep
In bowl, mix together flour and salt,garlic,Italian and pepper.

In another small bowl beat together egg, water and oil. Stir into flour mixture, adding a touch more water if needed to make dough soft but not sticky.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth. Rip dough in half and cover with plastic wrap or damp towel and let rest for 20 minutes.

Now for the fun part! Take one ball of dough and rip it in half. On a lightly floured counter roll out dough very thin, about 1/4 inch thick. Using a round biscuit or cookie cutter cut dough into 10 rounds. Re-rolling as little as possible.

Fill each round with a small amount of filling. Fold perogie in half and gently pinch edges of dough together. If you’re having issues making the edges stick moisten edge with a tiny amount of water.

Place perogies on a flour dusted cookie sheet and cover with a dry, clean tea towel. Repeat process with each portion of dough. You should get 40 – 50 perogies out of this recipe.

You are now ready to cook your perogies or freeze them at this stage. To cook them bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and place some perogies into the water and allow to boil for a few minutes until they pop to the surface. Be sure to do this in batches as to not over crowd the pot.

Once they surface transfer them to a frying pan with some butter and cook until golden and crisp.

I served these with barbecued locally made farmers sausages, sour cream and fried onions. I really think the addition of spices to the dough really gives these perogies something extra.

Blueberry And White Chocolate Scones

Mar16

Good morning, I hope everyone is doing better then I am! I am currently holed up on my couch. I managed to get a late afternoon appointment with my family doctor yesterday who confirmed my suspicion that I do in fact have bronchitis! Yuck! Definitely not how I planned on spending my weekend.

Anyways enough about me! On to the good stuff! Here is the recipe for the Blueberry white chocolate scones I mentioned in my last post. These are amazing and actually very pretty. Not very sweet but again the white chocolate helps in that area. I think they are fabulous with a little lemon curd.

Ingredients
3 cups flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup cold butter cut into chunks
1 cup of buttermilk
1 egg
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Zest from a lemon
1 cup of blueberries fresh or frozen
1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks

Method
I did this in a food processor but feel free to do it by hand, or with a pastry cutter.

Place sugar, butter, flour, salt, baking soda in the bowl of the food processor and pulse until mixture resembles crumbs. Dump into large mixing bowl. Add blueberries, chocolate and lemon zest and gently toss the berries to coat in flour mixture.

In a smaller bowl mix together the milk, egg, lemon juice. Once mixed add to dry ingredients.

Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until mixture comes together nicely.

Turn out in lightly floured surface and kneed until dough forms. Do not overwork the dough. Form dough into round mound and then flatten out in a circle to about 3/4 to 1 inch thick.

Cut into triangle wedges and place on parchment lined baking

Brush with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar (I used vanilla sugar) if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for about 18-20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

I hope you enjoy these scones, my friends and family definitely did.

White Chocolate Raspberry Drop Scones

Mar14

So I spent some time researching scone recipes yesterday. The ingredients list is pretty basic while there are many ways to form the actual pastry shape. You can make them round, square, triangles, whatever you like! Everything I read pointed to the same advice, keep everything cold and work the dough as little as possible. So after doing some research And with the advice in mind I went to work and decided to come up with a simple drop scone recipe!

These scones come together quickly and form a rather sticky dough. Don’t panic that’s ok. There is no rolling out of the dough so the stick factor isn’t an issue.

These scones come out with a nice crisp outside and a soft melty inside. The white chocolate adds a wonderful sweetness as the scones aren’t overly sweet themselves.

Ingredients
2.5 cups flour
1.5 tablespoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold butter cut into small chunks
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup raspberries fresh or frozen
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Zest from 1 lemon

Method
Combine dry ingredients and add cold butter. Work with hands to form crumbs. Add chocolate chips and raspberries. Work dough to slightly smash the raspberries. Add buttermilk and mix until everything is just mixed.

Drop onto parchment lined cookie sheet. About 1/2 cup per scone.

Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Cool on rack and enjoy. I got 9 out of this batch.

I love the color these come out having because of the smashed raspberries. I enjoy the simplicity of making them in this method. I actually made two batches of scones this morning. I made blueberry and white chocolate scones but in a more traditional way. Those ones I cut in triangles. I will post that recipe soon.

Let me know what you think if you try this recipe. I hope you enjoy the scones.

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