Blueberry - Lime Loaf Cake

Sometime last year, I followed an Ina Garten recipe and made a lemon yogurt cake. The recipe was a huge hit and the cake became very popular in our household. Since then I've made this lemon cake many times and it has always been well-received by all those who have tasted it. I tried Deeba’s very similar recipe recently- her recipe called for limes instead of lemons and buttermilk instead of yogurt. I also used blueberries in my version of the recipe since lime and blueberries go together so well.

Dry ingredients:

• 1 ½  cups all-purpose flour (reserve 2 tsp of this for  later)
• ½  tsp baking powder
• ½  tsp baking soda
• A pinch of salt

Wet ingredients:

• 1 stick/8 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½  cup buttermilk
• Juice of 2 limes
• Zest of 1 lime

• ¾ -1 cup blueberries, tossed in about 2 tsp flour

For the syrup:

• Juice of 2 limes
• 2-3 tsp sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x5- inch loaf pan and set aside.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In another bowl cream the butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, buttermilk, lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla extract, mixing well after each addition.

Combine the dry and wet ingredients and mix well.

Toss the blueberries in about 2 tsp of flour, add to the batter and fold in gently.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

For the syrup, mix the lime juice and sugar in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves.

While the cake is still warm, poke holes all over its surface, brush the solution all over the cake so that it can be absorbed while still warm. Slice and serve.

Orange-Blueberry Bundt Cake

This delicious cake is easy to make and the bright citrus flavors make it a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. The yogurt, fresh orange juice and orange zest make it a very moist, light and tangy cake-  bake it and see for yourself!

This cake is sweet without being overwhelmingly so, and would be perfect with a hot cup of tea or as an after-dinner treat.

Dry ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup yogurt (I had fat-free and that’s what I used)
• ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice (save 3 Tbsp or so of this for the glaze)
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ - ¾ cup of blueberries, tossed in a bit of flour

For the glaze:

• 2-3 tsp powdered/confectioners’ sugar
• 3 Tbsp fresh orange juice

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your pan of choice. I used my bundt pan.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs and beat well.

Add the orange zest, vanilla extract, yogurt and orange juice. Mix well. (At this stage, I noticed that my batter had begun to curdle but I continued mixing. I found out later that this had  not in any way affected the taste, texture or appearance of the final product.)

Mix the dry ingredients well and combine with the wet ingredients. Fold the blueberries into the batter. Pour into the greased pan.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (Mine was done in exactly 35 minutes and I turned off the oven and let the cake sit in there while I got the glaze ready.)

For the glaze, combine the orange juice and   sugar and mix well until smooth.

Drizzle the glaze all over the cake while it’s still warm. Slice and serve.

Blueberry Cornmeal Cake

Berries are in season now and I usually buy whatever it is that’s on sale in my grocery store. Last week, I picked up 2 pints of blueberries. After leaving them sitting in the refrigerator for almost a week, I finally decided to make a blueberry crumb cake using a recipe I’d come across in a magazine.
Now, I’ve never been one to follow any given recipe exactly- I usually just take the general idea and go from there. This time too it was no different. I started out by making a couple of minor changes to the original recipe. By the time I was done though, I’d tweaked the recipe to such an extent that it looked nothing like the original- what started out as a recipe for a blueberry crumb cake ended up becoming one for a blueberry cornmeal cake! But it turned out pretty well, and so I wanted to document it for myself.

Here's what I used-

Dry ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup fine white cornmeal
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt

Wet ingredients:
2 eggs
½ cup sour cream (I used light)
¼ cup oil
1 cup brown sugar (use more for a sweeter cake)
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of one lemon
1 pint fresh blueberries

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a foil-lined round pan/baking dish with oil.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, sour cream, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest until smooth.

Add flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; whisk gently to combine.

Toss in the blueberries (reserve a few for topping the batter) and mix gently.
Pour the batter into the pan; sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top.

Bake until the cake is cooked and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes. Cool, cut in wedges, and serve.

Blueberry Spice Muffins

I had some blueberries left over from making this clafouti the other day, so I decided to make muffins.
I adapted these two recipes and came up with one for blueberry spice muffins.

(For 12 medium muffins)
Ingredients:
¾ cup sugar (adjust according to taste)
4 Tbsp butter
2 eggs
¾ cup buttermilk
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour (reserve about 2 tsp to coat blueberries)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
1 cup fresh blueberries, coated with a light dusting of flour

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.

Cream the butter and sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Add the buttermilk and mix.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Stir until just combined. (Don’t beat or over mix.)

Toss the blueberries coated with flour into the batter and gently fold.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tray, filling each paper-lined muffin cup till it is three-fourths full. Bake for 25 minutes or so till the tops are nice and golden brown or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Serve warm.

Notes:
*These muffins were not as moist as some of the muffins I usually make. I’ll try adding some applesauce to the batter the next time around.

*Although I added almost 1 ½ tsp of nutmeg, the muffins didn’t have the desired amount of flavor that I was looking for. I should spice it up a little more next time.

I’m sending this to Aparna for Think Spice…Think Nutmeg.

Other muffins I have made:
Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins
Banana Walnut Muffins
Oats and Orange-Coconut Muffins
Oats and Cranberry-Pomegranate Muffins

Mixed Berry Shake

Ingredients:

Strawberries

Blueberries

Milk

Honey

Vanilla extract

Blend everything together. Serve cold.

Blueberry Clafouti

Blueberries were on sale last week at my neighborhood grocery store. So I picked up 2 pints. While scouting around the internet for something nice to make, I came across this recipe for a clafouti. This was something new to me but it seemed simple and straightforward enough, and so I was willing to try it out.

Clafouti (pronounced clah-foo-tee), sometimes spelled clafoutis, is a custard-like baked French dessert that is typically made by baking fresh fruit (traditionally cherries) and a batter, somewhat similar to pancake batter, in a baking dish. (Source: Wikipedia)

Without making too many changes to the original recipe, this is what I did.

Ingredients:
1 pint= 2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained
3 eggs
½ - ¾ cup sugar (depending on sweetness desired)
1 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon zest
¾ cup all purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Butter for greasing the baking dish

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish.

Arrange the blueberries in the dish in a single layer.

Place the eggs in a mixing bowl and whisk until they begin to turn light and fluffy, and foam. Stir in the sugar and continue whisking. Add the milk, vanilla extract, lemon zest, salt, and flour, one at a time, until the mixture is light and airy. Beat until well combined.

Pour the batter over the blueberries to cover evenly.

Bake in the oven until the top is golden and set, and springs back when touched. (Check after 35 minutes or so. Mine took about 50 minutes.)

Remove from oven and cool slightly. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, cut into wedges and serve warm.

I had no idea what to expect since I'd never tasted a clafouti before but judging from the taste I'd say that I did a pretty decent job with my very first one. I think it's great not only as a dessert but would also make for a healthy and filling breakfast, albeit a little sweet, considering that it’s basically just a baked fruit pancake.

After making the clafouti I looked around for an event that I could perhaps send this across for, and sure enough, there was one! :D

So, off this goes to the WTSIM Berried Treasure event and AWED: France.