Blueberry Buckle

There are crisps, crumbles, brown betties, slumps, sonkers, grunts and pandowdies but I am going with the buckle as my favorite type of fruit cobbler.  Yes, definitely, hands down, the buckle.  I absolutely loved this recipe.  I had it last night for dessert and again this morning for breakfast -  be warned the buckle is dangerous but also crazy delicious! 

Cailyn's (and Martha Stewart's) Strawberry Cake

I am not much of a cake person but this cake that my daughter Cailyn made was incredible!   She had friends coming over and wanted to make dessert.  We had beautiful fresh strawberries from our CSA box and she had seen this recipe on Martha Stewart's website.  I can't believe how fast that she put this together.  So simple and it came out moist and so delicious.  In the reviews, a commenter described this cake as "tastes like a cross between light, fluffy angel food cake and buttery pound cake - just the right density."   I would agree and it is not overly sweet.  The fresh berries are so good .  She served it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream - perfect dessert!   We loved it so much that she made it again!  The only 10 inch pan that we had was a springform pan and it worked out well. 

Have a great weekend!  Happy Father's Day to the dads! 

Ingredients

Makes one 10-inch cake

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pie plate
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl.

2.Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.

3.Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to buttered pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.

4.Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool in pie plate on a wire rack. Cut into wedges. Cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 2 days.

Fresh Picked New Jersey Strawberries

Did you know that a serving of fresh strawberries contains 140% of your recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C? They also contain flavonoids which help lower bad cholesterol. Better yet, they are low in calories and just delicious!  Enjoy them when they are available locally.   These are a few of the ways that I have been enjoying the fresh berries:

Fresh Picked Strawberries from Cedar Hill Farms, Red Hill Road, Middletown, NJ     $5.50/qt.

Sourdough French Toast topped with fresh strawberries - scrumptious! 

Chocolate Covered Strawberries made with Valrhona Dark Chocolate - oh my!

Lemon Cornmeal Birthday Cake with Strawberries

Yesterday was my birthday and a very nice birthday it was!

 I received lots of birthday wishes from dear old friends and...

My father made me this beautiful windowsill herb garden that I just love!  The perfect gift for me! 

My mother gave me a gift certificate for a pedicure at a local spa - Ahhh...

I have three new cookbooks to add to my collection - thanks Cousin!

My husband gave me these pretty flowers although he wasn't supposed to buy me anything - thank you Matt!

Cailyn's friends called and sang Happy Birthday to me - love them all!

My daughters were both home for my birthday dinner - priceless!

NJ strawberries are finally here and they are so delicious!   Fresh strawberry season in NJ goes by very quickly.  I wanted a cake that I could top with strawberries that would not be too heavy or too sweet.  Lemon Cornmeal Cake was just perfect!  The cake recipe was adapted from Everyday Food's Orange Cornmeal Cake.  I substituted the zest of two lemons for the orange zest that was called for in the recipe.  I also used white wine instead of orange juice.   I absolutely love this cake!  I could write a poem about it!  A great thing about it is that there is absolutely no butter or dairy in this cake.  Make sure to use a  good quality, mild flavored olive oil ( I used Frantoia).   I'll be making this cake again soon!  I also will be enjoying every moment of strawberry season in NJ. 

Quickest Dessert Ever!

Fresh strawberries are abundant and inexpensive in the supermarkets right now.  I, of course, love local strawberries and can't wait until June to have some fresh picked but I couldn't resist picking some up now.  I could smell sweet strawberries as soon as I walked in the door of the supermarket! 

I have been very busy and have not been devoting my usual amount of time to preparing meals and have been pulling out lots of short cuts.  I decided to make pound cake, with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert with the berries.  My first shortcut was to pick up an already baked butter pound cake from - yes - the supermarket!  Honestly, I don't think that a homemade cake would have been that much better and was a huge timesaver.  I washed and sliced the berries which took all of about two minutes.  Now for the secret that I have turned to many times...I added 1/4 cup of raspberry preserves to a microwave safe bowl and microwaved for thirty seconds.  I gave it a quick stir.  I let it cool for a minute and then tossed the sliced strawberries into the melted preserves.  The melted preserves add the perfect sweetness to the berries and I love the strawberry/raspberry combination.  I am not sure where I picked up this trick but I think that it is great for those times when you need a quick dessert that is impossible to mess up!  I served the strawberries on the pound cake and topped with fresh whipped cream.  I did make the whipped cream which took only minutes.  Quick and delicious! 

Thank you all for the kind comments about my daughter.  They were much appreciated!

Weekday Dinner and Dessert

I used to be able to do it all - but not lately. For years I would work all day, run home to get dinner ready, and then head off to class 2-3 times per week. Now, dinner and dessert on a weeknight is a chore. Long since done with my MBA ... I can't get my act together during the week. Maybe I need to go back to school?

Well, I saw this incredible dessert on Stacey Snacks, with the post title Brown Butter Bliss: Make This Tonight! Everything Stacey makes is amazing and since I went to Catholic school, I am a good at following instructions! I had plans and couldn't make it that night, but Stacey was kind enough to grant me a reprieve. Since, I can't seem to be able to handle both dinner and dessert, I bought dinner and made dessert. That is really unusual for me. I always choose cooking over baking. Many times, I will cook and my daughters will bake, which works out well. One daughter off at college, the other furiously working on college applications, so what to do..?

I have been wanting to try the turkey pot pie from Griggstown Quail Farm and just learned that they are available at Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck, NJ. I am a big fan of Griggstown and have ordered my Thanksgiving turkey from them. Their fresh poultry is so good, but it is over an hour away from home. Delicious Orchards is a wonderful market, which is easy to drop by on my way home from work. They carry lots of organic and specialty items. They are famous for their pies, apple cider, and donuts. I ran in and picked up a Griggstown turkey pot pie, apples for dessert, and of course a pack of apple cider donuts! I popped the pot pie in the oven and made the dessert.

The pot pie was really delicious. The turkey bites were so good and there were lots of delicious vegetables. The crust is made from puff pastry - yum! Oh, and dessert - amazing! Warm apples, cinnamon, and the butter... Mmmmm... loved it! I love it when a plan comes together! Thanks Stacey! I think that this dessert will make an appearance again at Thanksgiving!

Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies

Who doesn't love a brownie? These were some of the best - rivaling favorites such as Ina Garten's and the King Arthur flour recipe. All good, but these just might take first place!

Inspiration: Annie's Eats - A beautiful blog - everything looks amazing!
Recipe courtesy of Baking Illustrated