Maple Blondies with Butterscotch and Chocolate

I have a lot of maple syrup to use up soon (thanks Costco!) and was looking for a treat that would use some for the monthly potluck. This recipe from "The Ultimate Brownie Book" uses a half cup of pure maple syrup and was exactly what I was looking for at 7 pm when I didn't want to go out to buy something I needed. I had all of the ingredients I needed in the house. I opted not to use cocoa nibs and did a mix of half butterscotch chips and half chocolate chips (3/4 cup each).

This was a fairly sweet, maple-flavored... cake. I wouldn't exactly call them blondies. They weren't bad by any means... I just expected something else. The "blondies" were moist and light in texture with hints of sugary maple and a nice kick of chocolate.

I probably won't make them again since I don't enjoy cake-y brownies, but there was no shortage of people trying them at the potluck.

Southern Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Strawberries.

For hubby's birthday this year, I decided to make 2 desserts.  I made chocolate hazelnut cupcakes for his actual birthday and a southern lemon cake for his birthday weekend (which involved his parent's company).

The chocolate hazelnut cupcakes came from a cupcake book that I got from my sister-in-law 2 years ago.  The book hasn't been too successful in providing good recipes.  I've used it to make Rocky Road cupcakes and Purple Velvet Cupcakes.  Neither recipes were that great!  I decided to give the book one last chance to impress me and if it didn't succeed, then the book was history.  The chocolate hazelnut cupcakes were decent.  They were edible but nothing to brag over.  The cupcake part was a bit on the dry side but it might be because I halved the recipe.  I won't even attempt to add the recipe to our blog though since it's not something I'd make again.  The book will stay on my shelf from now...

I've been watching TLC's The Next Great Baker for the past 8-10 weeks.  It's one of those shows where candidates compete to win money and a chance to be hired on as "The Next Great Baker" in Carlos' Bakery.  Every time I watch the show, I get hungry for cake.  I'm not much of a cake fan at all. But the cake designs are so appealing and some of the things the candidates bake look delicious.  In one episode, Dana makes a Southern Lemon Cake.  The judges are blown away by his cake.  Since then, hubby has been talking about Dana's Southern Lemon Cake.  So for hubby's birthday weekend with his parents, I decided to make a Southern Lemon Cake.

I searched hard for Dana's recipe on the internet, but of course it is no where to be found.  I looked up some recipes for southern lemon cake and lemon cake.  I ended up using this recipe from All Recipes but with a few modifications based on some reviews and things that I wanted in a lemon cake. 

Southern Lemon Cake

Ingredients

3 cups cake flour
(I didn't have cake flour so I used all-purpose flour.  1 cup cake flour = 1 cup all-purpose flour minus 2 tbsp of flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 eggs, separated whites and yolks
2 cups white sugar
1 cup butter, softened
3 grated lemons, zested
1 1/2 lemons juiced
1 small container lemon yogurt

Directions

1. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Set mixture aside.

2. Separate the eggs -- egg whites and yolks. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/2 cup of the sugar, beating until stiff glossy peaks form. Set aside. (I actually did this all by hand.  It was tough work.)

3. Cream butter or margarine and 1 1/2 cups sugar.  Add egg yolks, lemon zest, and lemon juice together until fluffy.  Add flour mixture alternately with the yogurt to the egg yolk mixture.  Gently fold in the egg whites and pour the batter into the prepared pans.  (I used 2 8" round cake pans.)

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes or until cake comes out clean. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.

The lemon cake came out dense, almost like a pound cake.  The lemon flavor wasn't too tart or overpowering.  I might actually add a little more lemon juice or lemon yogurt.  Other than that, it was delicious! 

On The Next Great Baker, Dana makes his Southern Lemon Cake with a cream cheese frosting and tops it with strawberries.  I found a cream cheese frosting recipe on All Recipes that got close to 2000 reviews at 4.5 our of 5 stars.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. 

Add vanilla and confectioners' sugar to taste.  Some reviewers said this frosting was too soft, too sweet, not sweet enough, not enough vanilla, etc.  I followed the recipe exactly because it was just right for my taste.  It would be perfect with a carrot cake or red velvet cake as well.  To change it up, I might add some food coloring, change the vanilla to almond extract, or maybe add some cocoa powder for a chocolate frosting.  It's definitely a recipe to keep.

With the cake baked and cream cheese frosting made, I had my first chance to decorate my cake.  I cut off the tops of the cakes to even them out for a flat surface. 

I frosted the first cake.

Topped it off with sliced strawberries.

Added the second cake. 

And frosted the entire cake, topping it off with a few strawberries.

Let me say, getting the cake to be smooth is a big challenge.  It's no wonder people use fondant.  It probably makes a difference to have the cake tools to help smooth the frosting, which I don't have. 

And Voila!  My version of Southern Lemon Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Strawberries.

A huge hit!  The cake and frosting tasted great with the strawberries (or any berries).  It wasn't too sweet, too lemon-like or anything.  And for once, I actually ate all the frosting off my cake.  (I usually pick off all frosting from cakes.)  My in-laws asked for a small piece of cake, probably because it looked really sweet with the frosting.  After their first piece, they immediately helped themselves for seconds.  As for my hubby -- Happy Birthday Honey Bunches!

Caramel-Topped Semolina Cake

I saw Dorie make this on Martha Stewart's show in December and was interested. A cake that used farina as its base and contained no butter? This I have to try! It also looked easy and quick, which it was.

I mostly followed the directions, except I used a 9" cake pan since I don't own any 8" ones. The cake came out very flat. I also used almond milk instead of whole milk since I never have cow's milk in the house. I've made it twice now and both times I had trouble flipping the cake over after it was done baking. The first time was probably my fault. I forgot to run a knife around the edge in my haste and the edges stayed stuck in the cake pan. The second time, I sprayed the pan with non-stick spray and ran the knife around but I think the non-stick spray made the cake move too much within the pan and it squished itself to one side. I guess if I try this again, I won't use non-stick spray and I'll just run the knife around the edges?

Despite my troubles, you should try this cake. I hesitate to even call it that, as it is very custard-y in texture and not like a cake in the traditional sense. It is almost flan-like, but much more delicious. Jon didn't care for it, saying that I've made better, but Rich and I devoured it.

Caramel-Topped Semolina Cake

Substituting Cherries for Cranberries in White Chocolate Cherry Cake

I made this awhile back but haven't gotten around to posting the recipe. I got this recipe from a co-worker of mine back in 2005. It's for White Chocolate Cranberry Cake. But when cherries were in season, I ended up substituting the cranberries for cherries to make this delicious cake. Hubby gave it a thumbs up and as usual, we devoured it quicker than expected.

Changes in the recipe:
- Cherries = Cranberries (pitting all the cherries stained my fingers for days)
- Did not make the glaze.

Ingredients
6 oz of white chocolate chips
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
4 eggs
3 tbsp grated orange peel
3 tbsp orange juice
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 cups fresh pitted cherries

Grease and flour bundt pan. Beat butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, orange peel and orange juice. Mix well. Add flour and baking powder. Stir in chocolate and cherries.

Bake 60 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and remove to a wire rack.

Bundt cake on the wire rack

Close up of the cake

Sliced to perfection!

Molten Spiced Chocolate Cabernet Cakes

I felt like baking something new yesterday and came across a recipe that I tore out of 2008 Martha Stewart Magazine. I have made Molten Chocolate Cakes, also known as Lava Cakes, before but I can't ever seem to get the baking time right. Some cakes are overcooked and don't have chocolate flowing out when you cut into them. Other cakes are undercooked and I can't get them out of the dish without them falling apart. This recipe came out great! The timing was just right and the cakes came out of the ramekins easily. And the cakes weren't overly sweet, which is often the case with the standard Lava Cakes. I'd probably add a dash more ground ginger for more of that spice but other than that, this recipe is a keeper.

Ingredients:

4 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp Cabernet Sauvignon or other wine
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
6 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger

1) Butter 4 6oz ramekins.
2) Microwave chocolate and butter in a bowl for 1 minute or until butter is melted. Whisk until chocolate is completely melted.
3) Stir in wine, vanilla, and sugar until blended. Whisk in eggs and yolk. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spoon evenly into prepared dishes.
4) Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Let stand for 1 minute. Loosen edges with knife. Invert onto serving plates. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and enjoy.

After they came out of the oven

Inverted cake

Dusted with powder sugar

Taking the first bite and watching the spiced chocolate flow out

When life hands you lemons, make lemon cake!

Or was that lemonade? Lemonade is so boring. After a coworker left behind an abundance of lemons for the taking on the freebie table, I decided to make this lemon cake. I had all of the ingredients (except for 1 egg - thanks j&k!).

Unfortunately, I guess I didn't grease the pan enough because the cake BROKE after trying to remove it!

Bah!!!

I sprayed the pan with Pam but apparently it wasn't enough. I guess I'll have to do more than the 1/10000 of a second serving next time. I loosened the cake with a knife as directed but I couldn't reach the top of the pan and thought it would just come off. Nope. Parts of the cake were still stuck to the pan once I flipped it over. :(

I had planned on bringing in the cake to work, but since it looked... well, un-cake-like, I just distributed it to the family members.

Lemon Bliss Cake (or disaster cake)

The cake isn't as moist as I would have liked despite having still glazed it. I also would have preferred a more intense lemon flavor. I noticed later there wasn't any actual lemon flavoring in the cake itself -- just the glaze. It isn't bad and certainly is acceptable, but I am overall disappointed with this experience.

Apple Blackberry Cake / Bread

Last week I was going through some papers and found a recipe I cut out from a Martha Stewart magazine. It was for an Apple Blackberry Cake / Bread. The picture looked delicious! Even though we planned on camping for the weekend, I decided to make the cake/bread... I assumed whatever didn't get eaten during the week, we'd just bring along with us... I assumed wrong... Nothing was left. I made this cake/bread on Tuesday and it was eaten by Friday morning from just the two of us. It was a big hit in the kitchen and something I'd make again. The recipe was sugar quick and easy.

Granulated sugar, for pan
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp butter cut into pieces (for topping)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tbsp packed light brown sugar (for topping)
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
4 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into wedges (I used granny smith apple because they're my favorite)
1 cup blackberries
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Butter a 9" springform pan and dust with granulated sugar.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. Whisk together melted butter, 3/4 cup brown sugar, milk and eggs in a separate bowl. Whisk flour mixture into wet ingredient bowl.
4. Spread batter evenly into prepared plan. Arrange apple wedges over batter and sprinkle with blackberries. Gently press fruit into batter.
5. Combine remaining 2 tbsp brown sugar, cinnamon and remaining 2 tbsp butter into a bowl. Cut into pieces and sprinkle over fruit.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 24-50 min or util cake tester is clean.

Orange Chocolate Chunk Bundt Cake

It's Easter and we were celebrating at my brother's palace today. My contribution was dessert. I decided I was in the mood for chocolate. I have been making a variety of healthier options -- cookies with dried fruit, breads with vegetables, and muffins with fresh fruit -- and needed to go back to my "core" chocolate. For whatever reason, the combination of orange chocolate came to my taste buds. I was in search for some orange chocolate cake. But I didn't want to bake a chocolate-based cake with a flavoring of orange. I wanted an orange cake with chocolate flavoring. And what do you know, Ina Garten makes a Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake.

The recipe takes a little bit of time due to the zesting of oranges and making the syrup and ganache. However, this is a recipe to keep. It was moist and delicious. It got 5 stars from 93 reviewers and it difficulty level was moderate. For those who bake regularly, it's fairly easy. It just takes a little more time.

The only change I made was using 1/4 cup of grated orange zest versus the 1/8 cup. I wanted a more orange flavor. And if I made this again, I would double the recipe for the cake and syrup. The cake turned out dense so doubling the recipe would lead to much happier bellies. The ganache amount can be left as-is. It is enough for us Wong's who aren't that into the "frosting".

In the bundt pan

Out of the bundt pan

Making the ganache

Ganache is finished

The final product!

My brother got a picture of the cake after it was cut! It shows much better than this picture above because you can see the chocolate chips amongst the orange cake.

Red Velvet Cake and Purple Velvet Cupcakes

Around Valentine's Day it seems that every place offers Red Velvet Cake. Its rich and creamy flavor and red coloring make it perfect for the romantic occasion...

So when Kameran's Bridal Shower was planned to be on Valentine's Day, I thought, "I had to buy her a red velvet cake." It turns out that Nothing Bundt Cake (where Jon and Kameran plan to purchase their wedding cake) have a store in Poway and offer a red velvet bundt cake. Perfect! It's not one of their wedding cake flavors but it would be a nice touch to have a Nothing Bundt Cake for her Valentine's Day Bridal shower. So welcome to the family, Kameran!

I'd have to say that Nothing Bundt Cake's red velvet cake with chocolate chips was delicious. It was very dense and moist, which of course means lots of butter and buttermilk. It was a gorgeous bright red meaning they must have used a ton of food coloring to get such a vibrant color. I loved it! For me, it is right up at the top next to Costco's red velvet cake. Here's a look on the inside:


In the spirit of red velvet cakes, my mother-in-law's birthday was celebrated yesterday. I thought it would be a great chance to make a red velvet cake from scratch. But since my mother in law's favorite color is purple, I would take my chances and try to die the cake purple.

My sister-in-law gave me a cupcake cookbook for Christmas. My first attempt at making cupcakes from the cookbook was for Ryan's birthday. I attempted to make Rocky Road cupcakes. And although they looked great, they were quite dry and mostly ended up in the garbage (hence the reason I didn't share the recipe). The red velvet cupcakes where better but not quite as good as Nothing Bundt Cake or Costco. They weren't as dense or moist, but they weren't dry either. They just didn't taste "velvety". And the "purple" velvet cupcakes didn't turn out so purple. They looked purple before baking and turned brown from the cocoa powder after baking. So if you have any suggestions on making this recipe better, send them my way.

Red / Purple Velvet Cupcakes

Makes about 18 regular cupcakes or 9 jumbo cupcakes.
(I made half the recipe and baked them into 4 large cupcakes.)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp distilled white vinegar
1 tbsp red food coloring
1 cup buttermilk

1) Mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in bowl and set aside.
2) Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in vanilla, vinegar, and food coloring. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk and beat until batter is smooth. (Next time, I would add some chocolate chips.)
3) Spoon into cupcake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until done. Remove from oven and cool.

Icing
4 oz shortening (I always use butter instead.)
1 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups powdered sugar

1) Cream shortening with milk until creamy. Add vanilla. Gradually add sugar to shortening. Beat until icing is pale, light and fluffy.
2) Ice cooled cupcakes and decorate as desired.

So for my final product, I attempted to make some cute designs with purple sugar sprinkles. But that didn't turn out so well... (I really need to take a cake decorating class so I have better presentation skills.) I ended up sprinkling on the purple sugar and topped each cupcake with a chocolate covered oreo cookie. Viola!

Fabulous Orange-Chocolate Cake

Because of recent social activities, I had some leftover items in the fridge that needed to be used: sour cream, melted chocolate, and candied orange syrup. I found a cake recipe on allrecipes that I was able to adapt to use everything up.

It was super easy to put together because of the prepared items used. The directions said to bake the cake for an hour, but when I checked at 50 minutes, the cake was already done! I was afraid I had overcooked it, since it had browned by then, but it was still moist and the orange syrup I added enhanced the texture.

I love the combination of chocolate and orange so I expected to love this cake. I wasn't too impressed when it initially came out. Taste is more important than how something looks but this cake will not win any beauty awards. Perhaps it was its browned appearance, but it didn't look particularly appetizing. When I initially tried it, I just thought it was "okay." I thought maybe I had overdid it with the addition of orange syrup because it tasted like there was too much going on.

When I tried it a day later, I enjoyed it more. I'm not sure if it mellowed (or I did!) but the cake stayed moist (important!) and the chocolate flavor won me over.

The recipe is below with my changes in brackets.

Fabulous Orange Cake
(adapted from allrecipes)

1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cups sour cream [I used 1 3/4 cup since that was what I had leftover]
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup orange liqueur
1 cup white chocolate chips [I used a combination of chocolate chips and chopped chocolate -- the remnants of my melted chocolate]
confectioner's sugar, for dusting [I used about 1/2 cup of an orange-infused syrup I had made]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch Bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together the cake mix and pudding mix. Add the sour cream, eggs, oil and orange liqueur. Mix until smooth and well blended, then fold in the white chocolate chips. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, until cake springs back to the touch. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. When cake is cool, dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

[After the cake cooled, I poked holes in it, and drizzled the candied orange syrup over it.]

Hubby's Homemade Pulled Pork and BBQ Sauce + Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Had a great day today with too much yummy food…

Ryan decided he wanted to venture off and make pulled pork sandwiches for July 4th as well as his own BBQ sauce. He used the crock pot for the pulled pork. It has this sweet and salty taste with a little kick of spice. And then made a little spicy vinegar flavored BBQ sauce. The meal was off the charts. Perfect balance of salty and sweet flavors. Sandwiches were better than any other place I have had pulled pork. Just amazing…















On top of the sandwiches were homegrown tomatoes (I ate a slice even though I am allergic) and some smoked cheese. We had a side of chips and fruit.


A closer look at the pulled pork with homemade BBQ sauce

I wish you all were here to enjoy with us.

For “dessert”, I decided to make a lemon poppy seed bundt cake. Another excellent choice, I think, but you’ll have to let me know what you think yourself…















I made some mini bundt cakes and 1 bigger bundt cake. You each get one of these to enjoy!


A look at the inside. :)

Recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk (I used 1 tbsp of vinegar + milk residual of 1 cup instead of of the buttermilk)
Grated peel and juice of 3 lemons (3 lemons does not equal 1 cup of lemon juice so get more lemons or buy 1 cup of lemon juice
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream 1 cup sugar and butter. Blend in eggs and vanilla.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into the batter.
4. Stir baking soda into buttermilk and add to the batter.
5. Fold in grated lemon peel and poppy seeds.
6. Pour batter into a greased bundt pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and has a crevice in the middle.
7. Meanwhile, combine lemon juice (about 1 cup) and 3/4 cup sugar in a saucepan and simmer over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
8. When the cake is done, let stand for 5 minutes, then drizzle sweetened lemon juice slowly over the top until it is all absorbed.

Pound Cake Showdown!

As you can see from Kameran's post, we were all quite intrigued by the pound cake feature in this month's Martha Stewart Living. It was my turn to make pound cakes and since the article featured at least 8 different variations, I thought I'd try as many variations as I had ingredients for. I made the standard recipe for comparison, which can be found here. The recipe makes 2 standard loaves, so I decided to try four different variations. There was some math involved.

Since I only have one loaf pan, I baked the cakes in a muffin tin. I was worried they would dry out, but I watched the time carefully. It took about 15-20 minutes, depending on which variation. The variations with "stuff" added in (i.e. blueberries, raisins) took longer. The standard recipe made a total of 24 muffins, or 6 of each of the different variations. Perfect for sampling!

Classic Pound Cake



Nothing to say about this. Classic pound cake taste and not dry. I served this with a candied kumquat syrup I had in the fridge. Mmmm.

Blueberry Sour Cream



Very moist from the addition of sour cream. This was probably my favorite, but I also love blueberries. I did not make the lemon cream and didn't think it needed it.

Brown Sugar Walnut

Substitute brown sugar in place of white sugar. Fold in 2 cups toasted walnuts into batter before baking. (for 2 loaf recipe)



I think I baked this slightly too long. I had these in with the cinnamon raisin ones, which needed more time. Still tasty. It would taste even better with the maple syrup peach glaze outlined in the article, but I was lazy and didn't make it.

Cinnamon Raisin

Toss 2 cups raisins with 2 tablespoons flour, then fold into batter. Divide batter in half. In one half, mix 2 tablespoons cinnamon. Alternate adding scoops of each batter, then swirl with knife.



Yum!

Still waiting for the verdict on which one is the winner...

Green Macaroni and Pound Cake

As of late, I have been slacking off on my cooking duties and Jonathan has been making most of the new recipes. I decided I would have something nice ready for dinner when Jonathan came home on Thursday. While stumbling along the internet, I found this recipe. It caught my eye for several reasons...
1. The blog is called "the food in my beard" which is wonderfully weird almost to the point of being gross.
2. Green? As in eco friendly? Or pesto-y? Either way, I'm game!
3. The picture of it looked awesome compared to the peanut butter and crackers I was having for dinner that night.
4. And I had a whole box of basil in my fridge that I was planning on using for pesto anyway.

I decided to change a few things: I had no fresh arugula, oregano or marjoram available to me, so I decided to just add lots of cilantro and a zucchini to the pesto mix instead (the food processor is a wonderful, wonderful thing!) I also added some grated parmesean.


...it made ALOT.

For the cheese bechamel sauce I used monterey jack, provolone and parmesean and only used 3 cups of milk. I didn't know how I was going to fit all the pesto, all the cheese and all the pasta into our little 9x13" pan and I don't think bechamel freezes well.

So! In went both sauces, the pasta, some broccoli and kielbasa to round it all out and it just barely fit in the pan. Topped off with more parmesean and 30 minutes later...

...we had dinner!

I thought it was pretty tasty, though a little heavy as mac and cheese usually is. I loved that it has so many vegetables built in (zucchini, spinach, cilantro, broccoli crowns and stems and onion). I definitely would have added more sausage as it adds the extra protein and flavors. All in all, I would say I enjoyed the recipe very much (and the leftover pesto will make an appearance in pesto bread... (though possibly after the move).


Now onto Dessert!

Thanks to both Jen and Stephanie, this pound cake recipe is ultimately from Martha Stewart magazine. As Jonathan already had two dishes, I took over dessert responsibilities. I originally was going to make the toasted coconut and chocolate chip varieties, except that yours truly was retarded and got all the ingredients except for the coconut (quick! plan b!? what do I have in the fridge?) blueberries! eureka! blueberry almond pound cake!

So, after divying up the batter base into two parts, one half got 1 cup of chocolate chips and a quick mix, the other half got 1/2 teaspoon almond extract and a small clamshell of fresh blueberries. About 10 minutes after putting the loaves in the oven I was inspired by this morning's breakfast almond croissant to throw some slivered almonds on top.



I was pleased! The blueberries stayed fairly uniform throughout the batter and were nice and moist without staining the loaf. I would have added some more extract, maybe 3/4 tsp. or 1 tsp. instead. The almonds on top provided a nice contrasting texture. I think this loaf was my favorite.
Jonathan preferred the chocolate chip loaf, though I think it was missing something, maybe ice cream :). I was sad to find that the chips all mostly sunk to the bottom of the loaf. boo.



All in all, a successful weekend of cooking so far!