Friday five for August 7

Hard to believe, but another Friday has rolled around!  It's been hot and sultry for weeks, but the past couple of mornings there's been just a touch of coolness in the air that hints ever so slightly of fall.   Here goes with five more blessings from the past week:

1.  Much more progress on cleaning out the homestead.  More trips to the Restore and thrift store -- so thankful that both are taking donations again!  I was especially tickled that we could drop off some books at librarian Susan's porch -- and had a short but sweet visit with her and her hubby also.

Roses and fields at the home place

2.  Lovely phone chats with my friend Jennifer and my faraway daughter Joanna.    It's always wonderful to catch up with these dear women by phone.

Vintage ad from my collection

3.  A cool day to bake some cakes for an upcoming wedding.  I don't need to decorate them; I was just asked to bake some gluten-free chocolate layers for the bride and groom to cut.  If you are interested in the recipe I used, it is here: Never-Fail Chocolate Cake. I just substituted the Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour for the flour called for in the recipe.  For two 8-inch layers, I doubled the recipe, filled the pans half full and had enough batter left to make a tea-sized loaf cake which Mr. T and I devoured.

This old photo of Josiah scraping a chocolate bowl seemed just perfect here!

4.  Sunday School starting up again!  Finally we get to finish the last chapter in A Woman Who Reflects the Heart of Jesus.  This chapter is on Worship, so it seems very appropriate right now.  I've linked to the book on Elizabeth George's site, but one can also find like-new copies on Thriftbooks.com for a very good price.  A note, too, that I consider the subtitle 30 Days to Christlike Character a misnomer.  I think we all know that becoming Christlike is a lifelong process.  It has taken me a couple of years to get through this study with the ladies' class, and none of us will say that we've arrived in any of the areas we've studied.

5.  Today is my local daughter and son-in-law's anniversary.  How can it be they've been married 21 years?  Where did that time go?  So thankful for them and their wonderful kiddos.

And there is this week's Friday five!  Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Banana Crunch Cake

On Sunday, a friend at church gave me some bananas that needed to be used up.   She is in the process of moving and does not yet have a functional kitchen in the new place.  I really wasn't sure I could find time to bake, but took the bananas anyway.  I was thinking of either muffins or a coffee cake, but was undecided (and uninspired).

I didn't get around to using the bananas until Tuesday and was just looking through recipes trying to find inspiration.  After a bit I remembered an old Quaker Oats cookbook I have.  This is a great little cookbook and I still use the meat loaf recipe from it, quite often.  I thought it just possible I might have seen a banana cake recipe in that book.

Sure enough!  In the dessert section, I found this:

Best of all,  the recipe didn't call for anything unusual that I didn't have on hand.  (If you need to enlarge the recipe, just click on the photo.  That should do it -- it did for me.)

One thing I appreciated while putting this together was that the ground oat flour was specified in an actual cup measurement.  Often, recipes will call for a certain amount of oats and have you grind them into flour in a blender.  I usually buy the Bob's Red Mill oat flour in a bag, so a recipe that requires starting with oats (and doesn't tell you how much oat flour you'll actually need) isn't too helpful.  For the all-purpose flour called for, I used the Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour.  I didn't use the chopped nuts in the cake part, but did in the topping, since I had a couple tablespoons of toasted walnuts on hand.  I think another time I would use quick oats rather than old-fashioned in the topping, just to make it more attractive.

This cake was delicious the day I made it, but by the next day it was really fantastic.  Very moist and flavorful.

It was fun cooking from one of my older cookbooks!  I hope you'll give this recipe a try.  We enjoyed it very much!

Pumpkin Snack Cake with Praline Frosting

Photo from The View from Great Island

Another gloomy rainy day here in New Hampshire!  If you feel like doing a little fall baking to lift your spirits, I highly recommend this Pecan Praline Pumpkin Snack Cake!

This past weekend,  I was in the mood to bake.   And we were planning on having a guest, maybe several, over for supper on Friday evening.   I had seen this Pumpkin Snack Cake with Praline Frosting on the Instagram feed of The View from Great Island, one of my favorite recipe blogs.  It looked so scrumptious that I went to the blog at once and pinned the recipe to my Perfectly Pumpkin Pinterest board.

The only change I made in the recipe was to use the Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour, rather than regular all-purpose flour.   This baking flour is such a blessing because one can make regular recipes gluten free very easily by using it cup for cup in place of regular flour.

One thing that was not addressed in the recipe was how long to let the cake cool before topping it with the warm icing.  As I looked through the comments, I saw that someone else had asked that question, and Sue replied she had allowed the cake to cool about 30 minutes before adding the icing.  I added the frosting very, very slowly, spreading it as I went.  It came out perfectly.

We ended up not having company that night, so I shared a tin full of the cake with my uncle and aunt.  They really enjoyed it and commented especially on the delectable moistness of this pumpkin cake.  That, and especially the praline frosting, are what makes this cake so outstandingly delicious.

If your family enjoys pumpkin recipes, I'm sure you'd love this cake.  We certainly did!

Emma's Apple Cake (with gluten free and dairy free options)

(The photo above is from Pixabay, but it just reminds me so much of the apple barn I visited as a child.)

I'm sure I'm not the only one looking for good apple recipes this time of year!  Recently my friend Nikki posted on her Instagram about an apple loaf cake her daughter Emma had baked.  It looked so good that I asked Nikki if I could have the recipe.  This past weekend I finally got around to trying the cake.  It was SO delicious!

This cake is baked in a loaf pan.  You can see the "apple pie" layer in the middle and on the top.

Here is Emma's recipe, and I will tell you how I adapted it to be gluten free and dairy free.

APPLE PIE CAKE

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk (Emma says: you might add a bit more if the mixture is too thick.)
2 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling
2 medium apples, diced
1/3 cup apple butter

For the topping
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp.all purpose flour
2 Tbsp cold butter (small pieces)
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with some non stick spray and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a small bowl stir together the flour, baking powder,  and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl using a hand held mixer cream together the butter and sugar for a couple of minutes, then add eggs and vanilla and mix for another minute.
4.Add the dry ingredients along with the milk. Mix just until batter comes together, then set aside.
5. In a bowl stir together the diced apples with the apple butter and set aside as well.
6. Lastly, make the topping: in a bowl add all the ingredients for the topping. Using a pastry blender, mix together cutting the butter into tiny pieces that are well distributed throughout.
7. Pour half the cake batter in your prepared pan, then spoon over it half the apple mixture (push into the batter a bit), followed by the remaining batter, remaining apples and finally finished off with the topping.
8. Bake about 50 minutes to an hour,  then allow it to come to room temp before serving.

(When I made this, I had left some longer ends of parchment paper when I lined the bottom of the pan.  I think it made it a lot easier to get the cake out of the pan.)

For gluten free:  I substituted the  Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten Free Baking Flour for all-purpose flour in both the cake batter and the topping.  I've mentioned before how much I love this flour, as it can make any cake, cookie, muffin, or biscuit recipe gluten free without having to make a lot of special adaptations.  I include again a photo of this flour, so you will be sure and recognize it at the grocery store.

For dairy free: I used almond milk (in this case the vanilla flavor as that's what my hubby likes) instead of regular milk in the cake batter.  I also substituted canola oil for butter in the cake batter.  In the topping, I also used canola oil instead of butter.

My very first order of business before trying this recipe had been to locate some apple butter.  I had looked at both my local supermarket and Wal*mart, to no avail.  Now, I know that both places do carry apple butter, and was able to find it on my second try.  It's near the jams and jellies, and was on a much lower shelf than I expected.  At the supermarket, I was very pleased to find the product below:

The only ingredients in it are apples, and apple cider concentrate.  No sweetener, no spices.  It was actually perfect for this cake, and there is still plenty left in the jar to bake several more cakes!  You can read about it here: Tap'nApple. 

Hope you'll enjoy this cake as much as we did!

April 11 Hodgepodge

This lovely, lovely graphic is by Abby at Little Birdie Blessings.

Where does the time go?  Wednesday again -- so it's time for the Hodgepodge with Joyce and friends at From This Side of the Pond.  No Hodgepodge last week, due to exciting happenings in Joyce's life, so it's been a couple of weeks.  Time has flown!  But head on over, get the questions, and then answer them on your own blog (or in the comments if you don't have a blog).  Then go back over to Joyce's to link up!   Here are this week's questions:

1. April is National Jazz Appreciation Month. Are you a fan? If so what's a favorite you'd recommend to someone new to jazz listening?

Not really a jazz fan.  I don't mind it as background music sometimes.  I haven't listened to enough of it to have any favorites.

2. Mandolin, ukulele, harp, accordion or banjo...which would you be most interested in learning to play? Or do you already play one of the instruments listed?

I don't play any instrument at all, period.  I enjoy listening to all of those instruments on the list, with my favorite probably being the harp, and truly admire people who can play them.  I doubt I could learn to play any of them, especially not the accordion.  Too much to think about.

3. Do you judge a book by its cover? Elaborate. You may answer in either/both the literal or figurative sense of the word.

I try not to judge a book by its cover, especially in the figurative sense of the word with regard to people.  And I hope they do the same with me.

With actual books, I might be more apt to judge a book by its cover. I do know that sometimes the cover design is not necessarily what the author has in mind, but often the author does have some input.  So if a cover is off-putting to me, I'm probably not going to buy the book, though if I'm in a bookstore or library I would pick the book up and leaf through it before making a decision.

4. According to a recent study the ten most nutritious foods are-almonds, cherimoya (supposed to taste like a cross between a pineapple/banana), ocean perch, flatfish (such as flounder and halibut), chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, swiss chard, pork fat (shocking! but I don't think they mean bacon), beet greens, and red snapper. Are any of these foods a regular part of your diet? Any you've never ever tasted? Which would you be most inclined to add to your diet?

Of all those, I think the only one that's a regular, nearly daily part of my diet is almonds.  I think the only one I've never at least tasted is cherimoya, which I've never even heard of.  I'd like to try that and maybe even add it to my diet if it wasn't too pricey, because it does sound like a nice flavor.  I've been trying to add more fish to our diet, which has been less expensive recently since it was on sale often during Lent.  I'd like to add more Swiss chard (I especially like the rainbow chard) and chia seeds to our diet.

(What do you think they are talking about when they say pork fat?  Lard?)

5. Besides a major holiday what is the most recent thing you've celebrated with your people? Tell us how.

My oldest daughter's birthday.  She and her hubby and four kiddos came for supper on Sunday night.  I served Chicken Chili Lasagna

along with guacamole, tortilla chips, and fruit salad.  The salad was just layers of [mostly] thawed frozen fruit including mango chunks, watermelon balls, and a mix of strawberries, pineapple and blackberries.  The kids loved it and only a few pieces of fruit were left in the large glass bowl at the end of the meal.  My daughter baked her own birthday cake, as she had planned a special coconut cake at Easter and they were all sick.  So she just baked it for her birthday instead!

They had an interesting time transporting the cake over here.  They live on a dirt road and it's a mess this time of year.  But the cake, on its cake stand and swathed in foil, survived unscathed and was incredibly delicious.  We provided ice cream: vanilla bean and maple walnut.

In between the main course and dessert, the birthday girl opened her gifts from us.  We also watched a slideshow of pictures from a family long weekend in 2012.  Something like this happens so seldom (since our youngest and her family live way out West) and the kids were tickled to relive the memories of that time in a lakeside cabin. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

So looking forward to a short getaway later this month.  We need it!

So ends another Hodgepodge.  Happy Wednesday, all!

Lovely lemon dessert

This dessert recipe is one I've made many times over the years.  It would make a really nice Easter dessert because it is pretty, somewhat light, and has the bright flavor of lemon.  I made it yesterday, though, for a potluck lunch at church where a ministry team of teenagers would be eating with us.  Here's the recipe if you are interested:

LEMON AMBROSIA CAKE

1 (18.25 oz) lemon cake mix, plus the eggs and oil it calls for
1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 cup sugar
2 (3.5 oz.) packages cook-and-serve lemon pudding and pie filling, plus egg yolks, water and sugar called for
2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup flaked coconut

     Bake the cake as directed in a 13x9x2” pan.  Combine the pineapple and sugar in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and boil 5 minutes.
    Pour pineapple mixture over the hot cake.  Cool pineapple-topped cake in pan on rack.
     Cook the lemon pudding mixes as directed, with the egg yolks and water called for.  Pour the cooked pudding over the cake and chill until firm.
     Whip the cream until medium-stiff peaks form, gradually adding the confectioners sugar (which serves as a stabilizer).  Beat in the vanilla.  Spread the whipped cream over the pudding.  Sprinkle the coconut over the whipped cream and refrigerate the cake until ready to serve.
 Yield:  12 servings.

 This cake has been a family favorite for years.  I copied it years ago off the radio cooking show, Gus Saunders' Yankee Kitchen. Although the dessert is easy to make, it is somewhat time-consuming because the cake needs to cool and then chill in between the different steps of the recipe.  I'll run through those with pictures and captions.  (All photos were taken with my Kindle and so the quality is not of the best, but you will get the idea, I'm sure.)

Mix the cake with eggs, oil, and water as the package directs.  I used coconut oil because that's what I had.  Bake the cake as usual.

When the cake is done, put the undrained pineapple in a saucepan with a cup or less of sugar; bring to a boil.  Boil for 5 minutes and pour over the hot cake.  Let cool completely.

When the cake is cooled, cook the 2 packages of lemon pudding as the package directs.  The kind I used called for egg yolks and water, and I think some sugar too.  When  a recipe calls for 2 egg yolks, I always substitute a whole egg (unless there is a meringue involved to use up the whites).  Spread the pudding over the cooled cake.  Place the dessert in the refrigerator until the pudding is cold.  You can even chill it overnight at this point.

Whip cream with confectioners sugar and vanilla.

Spread whipped cream over the chilled pudding layer.

Sprinkle coconut  over the whipped cream.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Cut in squares of desired size to serve.  Enjoy!

Hope your family enjoys this recipe if you try it!

Cranberry Coffeecake

Wow.  Just wow, is all I can say.  Try this coffeecake; if you like cranberry baked goods, you will not be disappointed.  (At least I hope you won't.)  I cobbled this together from two different recipes and was so pleased with the results.  I'd seen a recipe on line that looked good, but I wanted my cranberry coffeecake to taste like one I remembered from my younger years.  My mother's friend Evelyn had shared the cake (made in a small tube pan) and the recipe.  Hers did not have the orange component to it that this one does, though it was delicious.  However, I like the added zing of orange flavor.

I prefer to make cakes in a 13x9 pan rather than a tube pan, but since Evelyn's recipe called for a small tube pan I needed to increase the quantities.  1 1/2 times the recipe worked perfectly.  Her recipe also called for almond flavoring but I changed it to vanilla, to go better with the orange component I was adding.

Jellied cranberry sauce was the only kind I had on hand and it worked very well.  I didn't have any oranges, so I went with the orange extract in the cranberry sauce and it worked out perfectly.

CRANBERRY COFFEE CAKE
3/4 cup margarine or butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream
15-16-ounce can cranberry sauce (either jellied or whole berry will work)
2 Tblsp. grated orange rind OR 2 scant tsp. pure orange extract

Cream together the margarine and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add unbeaten eggs one at a time, beating after each, at medium speed.  Beat in vanilla.  Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.

Grease or spray a 13x9-inch pan.  Pour half of the batter into the pan.

Stir together the cranberry sauce (I used a fork to break it up as I stirred) and the orange rind OR extract.  Spread half of this mixture carefully over the batter in the pan.  Then layer on the remaining batter and then the remaining cranberry sauce mixture.  Use a knife to gently swirl the cranberry sauce into the batter.

Bake the coffeecake for 50 to 60 minutes at 350º or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely before glazing.

GLAZE:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tblsp. orange juice (more if needed)
1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries

Combine the powdered sugar and the orange juice, adding more juice a teaspoon at a time if needed to make a glaze of drizzling consistency.  Drizzle the glaze evenly over the cooled cake.  Sprinkle the chopped dried cranberries evenly over the drizzled glaze.  Allow glaze to set up before cutting cake.
Makes 1 13x9-inch coffee cake.  Servings depend upon how large one cuts the squares.

I picked up more cranberry sauce today.  My hubby liked this coffee cake so much that I need to make at least one more during the Christmas season.  It would also be perfect for Christmas breakfast.

Gluten-free Chocolate Cupcakes

(Photo from Taste of Home)

I tried a new cupcake recipe yesterday!  We are headed into "birthday season" in our family as there are a number of family birthdays in March, April, and May.  Last year I made up a gluten free yellow cake mix into cupcakes and frosted them with lemon frosting.  Then I froze them all and, each time there was a family birthday party to attend, I brought along one frozen cupcake in a little sandwich bag.  By the time cake and ice cream were served, I had my own little cake to accompany ice cream. 

A couple of days ago, I spotted this recipe: Gluten-Free Chocolate Cupcakes in a Healthy Cooking magazine and decided to try it.  Yesterday I baked these cupcakes and they turned out very well!

One thing I particularly liked about this recipe is that it takes no xanthan gum and no special gluten free flours; it uses oat flour which is easily made in one's own blender.  I had a bag of organic oat flour which a friend had found at a bargain, so I just used some of that, but when it runs out I will go the oats in the blender route.

Some reviewers mentioned that the cupcakes were crumbly, but I didn't think they were all that bad.  And the flavor was very good.  I gilded the lily by making a small batch of the following frosting:

EASY PERFECT MILK CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tblsp. half & half cream (I used the fat-free kind)

Beat the softened butter in a medium bowl. Slowly beat in the remaining ingredients until combined, then beat on high until frosting reaches desired consistency.  The recipe as printed generously frosts a  9-inch cake, so I made about a third of a recipe (just using a spoon; I didn't bother with a mixer) which was just the perfect amount for a dozen cupcakes.

Mr. T and I shared a cupcake and I consigned the rest to the freezer.  Bring on the birthdays!

Chocolate Cake ... and other random thoughts

 I just don't seem to have time to write a coherent blog post these days, so will just share a few random thoughts and a very good cake recipe.

Wednesday was Mr. T's birthday and so I baked him a cake.  Chocolate is his favorite, and the easiest, best chocolate cake I know of is Never-Fail Chocolate Cake from COOK & TELL, my favorite recipe newsletter. This cake recipe is also found in the cookbook of the same name, by Karyl Bannister. Here’s the recipe.

NEVER-FAIL CHOCOLATE CAKE

1 cup sugar
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup milk
1 stick butter or margarine
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Butter a 9-inch square cake pan.

Combine the sugar, chocolate, and milk in a large saucepan and bring to boil over medium heat. Add the butter, remove from the heat, and cool briefly. Beat in the remaining ingredients. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean. Cool in pan on rack -- or remove from the pan if desired. Frost, or top with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Makes 1 9-inch cake. (For a larger cake, the recipe may be doubled and baked in a 13x9-inch pan.)

I like a milk chocolate frosting with this. This cake is very fudgy, and a dark or fudge frosting might be too much. (But that is certainly up to you.) I adapted a frosting recipe I found on the internet some years ago.

EASY PERFECT MILK CHOCOLATE FROSTING
1/2 cup softened butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups powdered sugar
3 Tblsp. half & half cream (I used the fat-free kind)

Beat the softened butter in a medium bowl. Slowly beat in the remaining ingredients until combined, then beat on high until frosting reaches desired consistency. (The recipe didn’t say how much frosting it would make. It doesn't seem like enough for a 13x9-inch cake, so when I double the cake recipe I add another cup of powdered sugar and another tablespoon of cream, and leave the other ingredients the same.  The recipe as printed generously frosts a  9-inch cake.)

Maybe your family will enjoy this celebratory cake too! (With school starting for many students, this might be a nice dessert for the kickoff of the school year -- or the beginning of fall, if you can wait that long to try this.)

A few other thoughts:

*  I will never forget the winter when I tried a new chocolate cake recipe almost every week.  My husband loves chocolate cake ... almost as much as he loves ice cream.  And that's saying something!

*  Didn't summer seem to fly by even more quickly than usual?  I can't believe it is September already.  I love fall -- it's my very favorite season -- but it just doesn't seem as if summer should be over yet.

*  August went by in a blur with something going on almost every weekend.  The first weekend was free but after that things got busy.  We were able to get together with dear old friends (who now live in England) for lunch one weekend.  The last weekend in August, family from Alabama was in town and we enjoyed breakfast out with them.  We also hosted a gathering here for other local family to spend time with this couple.

*  On August 15 our newest grandson was born in Utah, far from his intended birthplace of Idaho.  He arrived at 35 weeks, while his family was on vacation -- and this particular place in Utah was where he needed to be as a premie!  God directed them in their vacation plans so that this new little one would be in the right place to get the necessary care.  He's home now and doing well, but we continue to marvel at God's care for the details of our lives.

*  On Labor Day we enjoyed a fun progressive dinner with other folks from our church.  We hosted the soup course here at our home.  My friend Ginny helped me out by bringing a wonderful lentil barley vegetable soup.  I also served Italian wedding soup and broccoli cheese soup.  It was a rainy evening but the fellowship was a blessing.

*  Mr. T had a bit of time off this week due to rainy weather, and has started a small (but major) remodeling project in our dining room.  He installed new windows yesterday!  This will be lovely, when finished.  He saved all of the old trim and is going to refinish it.  Before replacing it though, he will be repainting the walls and ceiling in this room.  So this project could easily take several weeks.  I can see, too, that with the new windows and their larger expanses of glass I am going to need valances.  (The old windows had 12 individual panes, six over six.  I had gotten rid of the curtains years ago to let more light in, but now we are going to need a little something for valances -- or possibly a cafe type treatment for the bottom half of the windows instead.  So that will be a project for me!  As if I needed another one ... but it will be fun.)

*  One of my summer projects has been a Bible study time with two of my granddaughters.  What a blessing it has been to teach them, using old Sunday School curriculum, important Bible lessons along with fun projects and little choruses.  I hope to continue this on Saturdays as the Lord allows.

*  Our garden has done quite well this year ... much  better than previous years.  We've been enjoying lettuce, Swiss chard, green beans, lot of tomatoes, and winter squash.  I think we will have a fair amount of squash to enjoy through the fall and winter months ... and that's a good thing because squash is one of our favorite vegetables.

* I'm so enjoying being able to participate in Building our Homes Together with Jesus, an inspiring blog hop over at Prairie Flower Farm.  To see my posts and links to those of others, click on "Building our Homes" in the label cloud here at the top right sidebar.  I think you will enjoy this eclectic mix of encouraging posts, many of them older ones that I have done, others that are newer.  I should add that I can't vouch for every one of the links as I haven't checked out every one of them myself.

*  Our ladies' Sunday School class has been studying the book of Ephesians using the Elizabeth George Bible study, Understanding Your Blessings in Christ.  It is excellent -- informative, encouraging, rebuking, and challenging.  I think I can say we have all grown through this study.

I'm sure I had much more I wanted to say, but this is plenty for now.  My Sunday School lesson, vacuuming, laundry, and Bible lesson preparation are all calling my name!

Microwave Lemon Curd

This past Friday I had been asked to bring a layer cake to a ladies' event at church. And I also was recently the recipient of a bag of Meyer lemons. I decided I would make lemon curd from the lemons, which really needed to be used, and use it between the cake layers.

I had never made lemon curd before, but did have a recipe. When I looked at the recipe, though, I noticed that it called for using a double boiler. I don't own one and wasn't in the right frame of mind to try and improvise one while preparing an unfamiliar recipe. Then I remembered that sometimes the microwave works well for recipes which would ordinarily require the use of a double boiler -- puddings and such. So I looked on line for a microwave lemon curd recipe.

And found this one: Microwave Lemon Curd

(Photo from AllRecipes)

It came out really well. I ended up making 2 batches because I had six lemons. My first batch came out just a little bit too thin, and no amount of microwaving would thicken it after that. But it was fine after a night in the fridge. My second batch only cooked about 5 minutes. When the time was up, I didn't stir it right away. I found out by accident that it would stay thicker that way. It was excellent.

(Jar of finished lemon curd and a Meyer lemon.)

For the cake, I made a white cake mix using whole eggs and mixed some lemon curd into the batter -- perhaps a half cup or 2/3 cup. I assembled the cake with lemon curd between the layers and a lemon frosting on the top and sides of the cake. It was very good!

Blueberry time

It's blueberry time again -- or maybe just past blueberry time, depending on where you live. But if you still have some fresh berries on hand or have stashed some in the freezer, be sure and try these tried-and-true recipes!

BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE

Coffee cake batter:
2 1/3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Cheese filling:
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 Tblsp. sugar
1 Tblsp. grated lemon peel (or substitute 1/2 tsp. pure lemon extract)

Streusel topping:
1 cup reserved crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (optional)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
To make batter, combine flour, sugar and salt in large bowl. Cut in
butter until crumbly. Reserve 1 cup of this crumb mixture and set
aside. Add baking powder, milk, eggs, and vanilla to dry mixture
remaining in bowl. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl
often. Pour evenly into greased 13x9” baking pan. Sprinkle blueberries
evenly over batter.

For cheese filling, blend all ingredients together
until smooth; spoon evenly over blueberries.

For topping, combine
reserved crumbs with brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts if using them.
Sprinkle over cheese layer.

Bake at 350º for 45 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly before cutting. Makes 1 13x9” coffeecake -- about 20 to 24 servings.

This is my favorite blueberry coffeecake recipe. The ricotta filling makes it deliciously different.

BLUEBERRY FRENCH TOAST

12 slices day-old white bread, crusts removed, cut in 1” cubes
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, cut in 1/2” cubes
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
12 eggs
2 cups milk
1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
SAUCE:
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 Tablespoon butter

Place half of the bread cubes in a greased 13X9X2" baking dish. Top
with all of the cream cheese cubes. Top with blueberries and remaining
bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk and syrup; mix
well. Pour over bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or
overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover
with foil and bake at 350° for 30 minutes; then uncover and bake 25 - 30 minutes more or until golden brown and the center is set.
For sauce:
In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch; add water. Bring to a boil
over medium heat; boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in
blueberries; reduce heat. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until berries
have burst. Stir in butter until melted. To serve, cut the French
toast into squares; serve with blueberry sauce ladled over each portion.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings

This is a wonderful breakfast or brunch dish for company! If you want to make a smaller amount, you can cut the recipe in half and bake
it in a 9” square dish.

MRS. EDITH SHAW'S BLUEBERRY CAKE
2 cups flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup butter or margarine
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 egg yolks
1 cup milk
2 egg whites
1 cup blueberries

Grease and lightly flour a 13x9x2-inch pan. Sift together flour and sugar into large mixing bowl. Cut in the butter until particles are the size of small peas. Measure 3/4 cup of this crumb mixture into a small bowl and set aside for topping.

Now add the baking powder, salt, egg yolks and milk to the remaining crumb mixture in the large mixing bowl. Beat at low speed for 3 minutes.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold the egg whites gently but thoroughly into the batter. Spread batter into prepared pan. Arrange the blueberries evenly over the batter. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over the blueberries. Bake at 350º for 40 to 50 minutes.

Serve cake warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

I found this recipe in a community cookbook I relied on as a new bride. There are many great recipes in that book, and this is one of my favorites.

AUNT DOT'S BERRY PUDDING
2 to 4 cups berries (raspberries, blueberries, etc.)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup flour
-------------------
1 cup sugar
1 Tblsp. cornstarch
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup boiling water

Place berries in a greased 9-inch square baking dish. In a mixing bowl, cream the 3/4 cup sugar and the butter; add milk. Stir in the sifted dry ingredients. Spread the batter over the berries in the pan.

Combine the 1 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Sprinkle over batter.

Pour boiling water over top, but do not stir. Bake at 375º for 45 to 60 minutes, or until batter tests done in center.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

I had completely forgotten about this dessert. I need to make this again! (That's the problem with only making desserts occasionally ... one wants to make "show-stoppers" and forgets about the more simply delicious old favorites. I think the aunt who gave me this recipe served dessert at most meals except breakfast, and she and my uncle were none the worse for it.)

DOWN EAST BLUEBERRY COBBLER
3 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest (optional but yummy)
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tblsp. butter
-----------------
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tblsp. sugar
2 Tblsp. cold butter
1/3 cup cream or evaporated milk

Heat oven to 425º. In a bowl, toss the berries with the next four ingredients (sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla). Place the mixture into a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie plate. Cut the butter into pieces and scatter over the berries.

Sift the 1 cup flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together into a mixing bowl. Cut in the 2 Tblsp. butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the cream and stir with a fork until the dough comes together. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface; knead 30 seconds or so. Roll the dough into a round slightly smaller than your pie plate and about 1/4 inch thick. Place the dough over the berries in the pie plate and cut several deep slashes in the top.

Bake the cobbler at 425º for 20-25 minutes, until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender. Cool on a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with powdered sugar sifted over the top.

Serves 4.

BERRY SAUCE FOR PANCAKES OR WAFFLES

1/2 cup sugar
1 Tblsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup water
2 cups blueberries, raspberries, OR cut-up strawberries

Combine the sugar and cornstarch in a 2-quart saucepan. Gradually stir in the water. Add the fruit and bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly. Serve warm. Makes about 2 cups.

This is a wonderful, versatile recipe that tastes so good on waffles in particular. It’s also good on pancakes or French toast and would probably be good on vanilla ice cream as well. You can make blueberry sauce, raspberry sauce, or strawberry sauce -- all are wonderful. Or you might like to use a mixture of these berries to make a mixed berry sauce. When I do this, I usually also add a few cranberries to the mixture.

BLUEBERRY BREAD PUDDING
1 - 1/2 Tblsp. butter
3 eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tblsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
Cubed bread* to fill a 9-inch square baking dish (Do this first, then remove bread from the dish and set aside. You are going to be melting butter in this dish, so the bread can't be in there too.)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 cups fresh blueberries
Sugar to sprinkle on top of pudding

Place the butter in the 9-inch square baking dish and put it in the oven, while preheating the oven to 350º. When melted, swirl the butter around in the pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, milk, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla and spices. Add the bread cubes* and let the bread soak in the egg mixture for 10 minutes. Fold in the lemon zest and blueberries; pour into the prepared dish. Sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of sugar.

Bake pudding until set, puffed, and beginning to brown, about 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or cold, with or without cream or vanilla ice cream.

* I used cubed blueberry muffins!

This great recipe is from my favorite cooking newsletter, Cook & Tell. I happened upon this recipe (from the June 2001 issue; I love re-reading the back issues of C&T) just at the same time someone gave me a half dozen or so convenience-store blueberry muffins. It had occurred to me that these could be cubed up and substituted for bread in bread pudding. (My grandmother frequently did this with baked goods other than bread, so I thought I would try it.) Then I came upon the recipe for blueberry bread pudding. It turned out really well and was a great way to use up those gigantic muffins.

BLUEBERRY TOPSY-TURVY CAKE
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 - 1/2 cups blueberries
Juice of 1 lemon
----------------------------------
1 - 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Melt the butter in an 8- or 9-inch round or square cake pan. Add the sugars. Stir well. Cool 5 minutes, then spread the blueberries over the sugar mixture in pan. Squeeze the lemon juice over the top.

Sift together the dry ingredients and set aside. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter. Add the dry ingredients and the egg, milk, and vanilla. Stir until well blended, but do not overbeat. Pour batter over berries in pan.

Bake at 350º for 45-50 minutes, until cake springs back when touched. Cool 5 minutes. Then invert a serving plate over the pan; invert both plate and cake. Let stand 1 minute; remove pan. Serve cake warm with whipped cream.

I must admit I have never tried the above recipe. I copied it out of the Butt'ry Shelf Almanac, many years ago, but have never baked this that I know of. It's essentially a blueberry upside-down cake. I think it sounds scrumptious (especially with that touch of spice in the batter) and will be trying it if I'm able to get my hands on more fresh blueberries.

And there is my Blueberry Festival! Hope someone tries and enjoys these blueberry recipes!

Blueberry Almond Buckle

As mentioned before, my dad has had a bumper crop of berries from his blueberry bushes. As he shared the bounty, I tried blueberry recipes old and new. This one is slightly adapted from a recipe in Hannaford Supermarkets' Fresh magazine. I tried to link to the recipe, but was not able to, so am trusting they will not mind my using it.

Blueberry Almond Buckle

Topping:
6 Tblsp. melted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup flour

Cake:
1 -1/2 cups flour
1 -1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1- 1/2 cups fresh [or frozen, not defrosted] blueberries
1 Tblsp. flour
6 Tblsp. softened butter
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1/2 cup milk
Sliced almonds for top

For topping, stir together ingredients in a small bowl until crumbs form. Set aside.

Heat oven to 325º. Grease an 8-inch square baking dish with butter or cooking spray.

Sift together the 1 1/2 cups flour, the baking powder and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, toss together the blueberries and 1 Tblsp. flour; set aside.

In large bowl, beat together butter and sugar with electric mixer at medium speed for 1 minute. Beat in the eggs and extracts until blended, about 2 minutes. Add half the flour, and mix on low speed until just incorporated. Add milk, mixing on low speed until blended. Add remaining flour and mix on low speed until smooth. Batter will be thick. Use a spoon to stir in the blueberries. Spoon batter into the prepared baking dish and spread it evenly in the dish. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture evenly on top and sprinkle the sliced almonds evenly over crumbs.

Bake the blueberry buckle for 30 to 40 minutes at 325º, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan about 2 hours or until completely cool. Cut into squares and serve at room temperature.

The first time I served this, I added scoops of blueberry pomegranate frozen yogurt to the servings.

The second time, I served it with whipped topping -- the frozen yogurt was all gone. I sprinkled a few fresh blueberries on top, just for fun.

The blueberry buckle would also be good with vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt or real whipped cream. It is also good plain, of course!

It makes a great dessert but would also be good for breakfast!