Lemon Raspberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake

I used my heart shaped bundt pan for the first time and I am so happy everything turned out nice.  

For Valentine's Day, I thought it would be a romantic treat for the whole family to have a heart shaped cake studded with red berries.  Frozen raspberries were perfect for this cake.  

Bundt cakes have a dense, tight crumb.  It is great with tea, coffee or a tall glass of milk.  The batter was very thick.  Fresh raspberries would not be able to stand up to the batter while mixing, so the frozen berries were perfect.  Even if the berries were all bashed up, it would still be lovely.  

I had my reservations about removing the cake from the pan.  Would it stick?  

Whew!  I gently ran butter knife around the cake and slowly coaxed it out.  Luckily, it all came out in one piece.  I used melted butter to grease the pan.  This recipe is from Smitten Kitchen.  I love her recipes, but often it is very high in butter and sugar.  I usually decrease the sugar and butter to our milder, lighter palate. 

Wow!  The icing on the cake really makes it look so pretty.  I only made half of the glaze.  I thought that it was sweet enough.  You can taste the slight tangy bite from the lemon glaze and tart raspberries.  

Lemon Raspberry Buttermilk Bundt Cake

Cake

2 1/2 cups (355 grams) plus 2 tablespoons (20 grams) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt or table salt
1 cup (8 ounces or 225 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used 3/4 cup) 
1 3/4 cups (340 grams) granulated sugar (I cut down to 1 cup)
Zest of 1 lemon (used 1/2 tsp lemon extract instead)
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup (175 ml) buttermilk (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice and fill with milk to 3/4 cup)
3 cups (350 to 450 grams) mixed berries (I used 3 cups frozen raspberries)

Glaze (I halved the amount of glaze:  1 cup powdered sugar, juice of half lemon & 1.5 tsp butter)  
2 cups (240 grams) powdered or confections’ sugar 
Juice of 1 lemon (half gram)
1 tablespoon (15 grams) unsalted butter, very, very soft

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Generously grease a 10-cup Bundt non-stick pan with butter or a nonstick spray.  If using nonstick spray, dust the pan with flour to ensure no sticking.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk or sift 2 1/2 cups flour (save the additional 2 Tbsp flour for the berries at a later step), baking powder and salt together.   

In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest (or extract) until light and impossibly fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Then, with the mixer on a low speed, add your eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between each addition. Beat in vanilla, briefly. 

Add 1/3 flour mixture to batter, beating until just combined, followed by half the buttermilk, another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining buttermilk and remaining flour mixture. Scrape down from time to time and don’t mix any more than you need to.

Toss the berries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. With a silicon spatula, gently fold the berries into the cake batter. The batter will be very thick and this will seem impossible without squishing the berries a little, but just do your best and remember that squished berries do indeed make for a pretty batter.  Spread cake batter — you might find it easier to plop it in the pan in large spoonfuls, because it’s so thick — in the prepared baking pan and spread the top smooth. 

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, rotating the cake 180 degrees after 30 (to make sure it browns evenly). The cake is done as soon as a tester comes out clean of batter. 

Set cake pan on a wire rack to cool for 30 minutes, before inverting the cake onto a serving platter to cool the rest of the way. Cool completely. Once cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon juice and butter until smooth and very, very thick. (If you’d like it thinner, add more juice, but I like the thick drippiness of it, seen above.) Spread carefully over top of cake, letting it trickle down the sides when and where it wishes. Serve at once or keep it covered at room temperature for 3 to 4 days.

- Adapted from Smitten Kitchen:  Triple Berry Summer Buttermilk Bundt

This cake did not last long! It was a little on the tart side due to the raspberries and lemon glaze.  The kiddies prefer things that are not too sweet and slightly tart.  If you prefer sweeter, use the full amount of sugar or use a blend of sweeter berries.  

Enjoy!

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Vanilla Christmas Mini Donuts

Over the past few weeks, I have baked over 350 Christmas mini donuts!  This month, I have brought a batch of 70 mini donuts to a few Christmas parties.  They are bite sized, very cute and easy for little kiddies to eat.  Even if the children do not like them, there is very little to waste. Each pan only takes about 5 minutes to bake and they cool very quick.

Yesterday, my son had a small gift exchange and we had to bring 22 small gifts for his classmates. I wrapped about 30 small packages of 3 mini donuts with clear plastic wrap, tied with a ribbon. The extra gifts went to the principal, staff and teachers.

I love buying different kinds of sprinkles for decorating. Who doesn't like a splash of colour in their baking?

I made a slight variation of my mini donut recipe.  I omitted the nutmeg and used buttermilk instead.  When I ran out of buttermilk, I used 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 3/4 cup milk.  These made the mini donuts very fluffy and moist.  I filled the batter into a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 12 round circular tip.   It took a mere minutes to pipe the batter in 4 mini donut pans.  

Vanilla Christmas Mini Donuts 

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar (I use 1/3 cup brown sugar & 1/3 cup white)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk or 3/4 milk with 1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons melted butter 

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a mini donut pan. 
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, eggs, and vanilla. Beat together.  Add melted butter.  MIx until well blended.

Fill each donut cup approximately 1/2 full. Bake about 5 minutes in the preheated oven, until donuts spring back when touched. Allow to cool slightly before removing from pan. 

Decorate with melted chocolate or candy melts and sprinkles, as desired.
- Adapted from Allrecipes.com: Fluffy Cake Doughnuts

Enjoy!

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Simple White (or Pink) "Easy as Cake Mix" Cupcakes

Last week, my husband took our children out for an evening at "Dads & Tots".  It is a free local program that gives fathers (uncles, or grandfathers) a chance to take their children for a fun playdate evening with pizza and snacks for dinner.  While they were gone, I missed them horribly.  So much, I made a batch of really easy and simple cupcakes as a surprise when they got home.  

This is a variation of my Easy Vanilla Cupcake and whips up very quick, much like a cake mix.  I think real buttermilk helps give the cupcake its soft and fluffy texture.  Regular milk can be used too.  If desired, white vanilla cupcakes be easily changed to a different flavor with a different extract and food colouring.   I only had enough batter to fill 12 muffin cups half full but they still rose nicely!  

For fun, I tried strawberry extract and made them pink with a few drops of red food colouring.  Oops... I guess I was a little too heavy handed and they turned out "too pink" with a very artificial strawberry flavour...but it was so much fun to experiment!! 

Out of curiosity, I tried regular non-hydrogenated soft margarine (pink cupcake) instead of softened butter with great results (e.g. .Fleischmann's, Becel).  Results using "light" soft tub margarine (vanilla cupcake) turned out slightly gummy but still OK, if that is all you have on hand.  Regardless, the cupcakes did not last very long!   

I topped them with a fluffy, cooked flour frosting, flavoured with strawberry extract.  

Simple White "Easy as Cake Mix" Cupcakes

makes 12 large cupcakes or 1- 9" round single layer cake

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened, (or non-hydrogenated soft margarine, regular or light)

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp vanilla (I used 2 tsp strawberry extract, I will use less next time)

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup milk or buttermilk (or 1/2 cup milk, mixed with 1 1/2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice)

few drops food colouring, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper liners or grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan.  

Pour buttermilk in a measuring cup and add vanilla (or other flavour extract) and salt.  

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg. Combine flour and baking powder.  Add alternating amounts of the flour mixture and the buttermilk-vanilla.  Mix until well combined and batter is smooth.

Add a few drops of food colouring, if desired.

For cupcakes, bake 13 to 15 minutes.  For 9-inch pan, bake about 20-25 minutes.  Cake is done when it springs back to the touch or when cake tester (toothpick) comes out clean. 

- Adapted from Easy Vanilla Cupcakes

Enjoy!

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Basic Yellow Cake

Here is my classic recipe for a"basic yellow cake".  I grew up eating Chinese-style bakery cakes, so my normal cake was a Vanilla Chiffon Sponge Cake.  However, this cake is a wonderful change from the feathery light chiffon sponges. This recipe is still very fluffy and tender. 

I used this recipe to make a White Forest Cake for Father's Day.  As you can see, there isn't much left over from dessert!   By the time I served the last piece, my son asked for seconds! 

This is a very easy recipe with basic ingredients.  I use this recipe in place of boxed yellow cake mix.  It is a versatile cake that can be easily paired with chocolate frosting or whipped cream (and cherry pie filling). 

I have tried different recipes for basic yellow cake and I still go back to my old Betty Crocker Cookbook's Starlight Yellow Cake.  The original recipe calls for shortening, but nowadays, butter is preferred.  When pressed for time, I use soft non-hydrogenated margarine for cookies and cakes instead of waiting for butter to soften.  Of course, some recipes have no substitutions for butter, but no one can tell the difference with this cake.   

I reduced the sugar to 1 cup and it is still very sweet, especially if a filling or frosting is used.  Because of this change, I should have reduced the milk, as the cake was not firm enough to withstand the weight of a triple layer cake.  Maybe next time, I will try to cut down to 3/4 cup sugar and 1 cup buttermilk if I use a buttercream frosting.

Basic Yellow Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened (I used soft non-hydrogenated margarine)

1 1/2 cups sugar (I used 1 cup sugar and it was plenty sweet)

3 eggs

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt (I used 1/2 tsp)

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/4 cups milk (I used 1% buttermilk)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Grease bottom and sides of rectangular pan, 13 x 9 inches, 2 round pans 9 x 1 1/2 inches, or 3 round pans, 8 x 1 1/2 inches with butter and lightly flour.

Beat all ingredients with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly.

Beat on high speed 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally; pour into pan(s).

Bake rectangle 35 to 40 minutes, 9-inch rounds 25 to 30 minutes, 8-inch rounds 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center.

Cool rectangle in pan on wire rack; cool rounds 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire rack.

Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Frost as desired.

- From Betty Crocker's Cookbook: Everything You Need To Know To Cook Today

 

Enjoy!

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Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

For the longest time, my kids did not like pancakes!  Until I found the perfect buttermilk pancake recipe.  They loved the light and fluffy texture only real buttermilk gives.  I always thought that a reasonable buttermilk substitution was to add vinegar or lemon juice to milk.  However, there was actually huge difference in taste and texture.  The pancakes turned out softer, lighter, fluffier and very tender.  After all these years of baking, I have concluded that there is no substitute for real buttermilk!

Now that I got the kiddies to finally eat pancakes, I wanted to make them with whole wheat flour.  So I used a combination of whole wheat flour and wheat germ to lighten the texture.  With this recipe, I made 35 pancakes, using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake.  Yes, it makes a lot but I freeze about half the batch on a parchment lined tray in a single layer and then it goes into a freezer bag.  I always have pancakes on hand for quick breakfasts.  30 seconds in the microwave to thaw and heat a few pancakes and I'm done. 

Pancakes used to be so tedious to make in a frying pan.  I took a chance and ordered a reversible grill/griddle that spans over 2 heating elements on my stove.  I bought this Nordicware brand from my local kitchen specialty store about 5 years ago and I still use it on a regular basis.  It's so much fun to flip 8 pancakes at a time!

 Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup wheat germ
3 tablespoons white sugar (I used coconut sugar)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 cups buttermilk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together buttermilk and eggs. Keep the two mixtures separate until you are ready to cook.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. You can flick water across the surface and if it beads up and sizzles, it's ready!

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture, and then mix in melted butter last. Using a wooden spoon or fork to blend. Stir until it's just blended together. Do not over stir! Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Adapted from Allrecipes.com: Buttermilk Pancakes II

Please pass the butter and maple syrup! 

For more breakfast ideas, check out Breakfast Ideas Monday.

Enjoy! 

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Honey Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

I told my kids that the brown spots on ripening bananas were "brown sugar spots".  The more spots, the sweeter they are... and that's how I got my kiddies to eat bananas as they ripened.  So if I want to make banana bread or banana muffins, I have to hide my ripe bananas or else they would be all gone!

I had 4 bananas that were ripe for baking.  I was inspired by my friend's gorgeous Banana Chocolate and Peanut Butter Muffins!  Alas, I am allergic to chocolate and hubby and the kids are allergic to peanuts.  Instead of chocolate and peanut butter,  I used different ingredients.  My last batch of whole wheat blueberry bran muffins turned out really good and moist, so I'll go whole wheat again.

I used a basic whole wheat banana bread recipe and made my modifications from there.  I wanted to use whole wheat flour, wheat germ, ground flaxseed, buttermilk, honey and coconut oil.  For more information about coconut oil, visit Dr. Oz's article on the Benefits of Coconut Oil.  

The result?  A very pleasant, not too sweet, moist and healthy banana muffin that my family enjoyed.  I will make this one again.  

If you are expecting a super fluffy, sugary sweet and intense banana flavoured muffin/cupcake, this is not it.  I told hubby that the muffin has the taste of honey whole wheat bread with a kiss of banana.  I find that the banana flavour intensifies when they are super ripe and a lot of sugar is added.  

Honey Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

½ cup wheat germ

2 Tbsp ground flax seed

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 large egg

1/3 cup honey

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ cup canola oil, melted butter or coconut oil, melted (I used coconut oil)

4 bananas, mashed (between 1-2 cups)

Preheat oven to 400F

Mix all dry ingredients together.  Add egg, honey, buttermilk and vanilla to the dry ingredients.   Add bananas and melted coconut oil.  Mix until the ingredients are well blended together. 

  

Scoop batter in 12 muffin tins, each about ¾ full. 

Bake about 12-15min until done. Check the muffins around 10-12 minutes. Mine were done at 12 minutes.   

- Adapted from 100 Days of Real Food:  Whole Wheat Banana Bread

 Enjoy!

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