It started off with Blueberry coffee Cake. This yummy cake came from the Whole Foods App. It tasted really nice, though my husband said it was heavy on the blueberries. I especially like the cardamom... it's a spice from my childhood and I always think good thoughts when I taste it :).
This coffee cake relies on a healthy portion of blueberries for sweetness, almonds for richness and yogurt for moistness.
Blueberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Nonstick cooking spray
2 tablespoons plus 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, divided
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt or bluberry yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups fresh or frozen, thawed and drained blueberries, divided
1/3 cup sliced almonds
Method
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray; set aside. Put 2 tablespoons of the whole wheat pastry flour, sugar, butter, cinnamon and cardamom in a medium bowl and mix together with a fork or your fingers until well combined and mixture is in large clumps; set streusel aside.
Put remaining 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl and stir to combine; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, vanilla and eggs then pour into bowl with dry ingredients and stir until combined. Gently fold in 1 cup of the blueberries.
Spoon batter into prepared pan and sprinkle reserved streusel over the top. Scatter remaining 1 cup blueberries over the streusel then top with almonds and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center cake comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Once cooled, loosen edges of cake and transfer to a plate. Cut into slices and serve.
Nutrition
Per serving (about 3oz/81g-wt.): 150 calories (40 from fat), 4g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 40mg cholesterol, 210mg sodium, 23g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 9g sugar), 5g protein
I didn't have a 9 inch pan and put it in an 8 inch... it didn't seem to make a difference. I also used Blueberry Chobani non-fat yogurt, since I already had that and didn't want to buy plain. It tasted great to me :).
Lunch was homemade hummus with carrots and fresh cherries on the side.
Dinner was Swiss Chard with cashews, basmati rice, grilled tofu for me and grill chicken breast for the rest of the fam. The swiss chard recipe was really easy and good. Though for future reference, I'd recommend doing all the prep work BEFORE the guests arrive [yes Mike, you were right!], I ended up pretty frantic at the end trying to throw it all together and entertain.
Greens with Cashews:
10 ounces (or 8 cups loosely packed) swiss chard, spinach or kale
2 tbl vegetable oil
1 1/2 c chopped onions [ the first time I used it I think this was too much onion- cut it down to a 1/2 c and it was much better]
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 small fresh chili [I left this out, and didn't miss the flavor]
1/3 c toasted cashews (toast cashews in a single flayer on an unoiled baking tray at 350 degrees for 3-5 minutes until fragrant and golden brown)
2 tbl fresh lime juice
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 c reduced fat or regular coconut milk
1 tsp curry powder
Rinse, stem and coarsely chop the greens and set aside. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, garlic, and chile. Cook on medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, combine the cashews, lime juice, and salt in a blender or food processor and puree until fairly smooth. Gradually blend in the coconut milk. A few remaining little cashew chunks are fine. Set aside.
Add the curry powder to the saucepan and saute for 1 minute. Add the greens, cover and cook on medium high heat until just tender, stirring oftgen. This will take just 2 to
3 minutes for the spinach or Swiss chard, and about 6 minutes for the kale. Pour in the cashew mixture, stirring to evenly coast the greens. Serve warm or at room temperature.
For dessert tonight I made frosted carrot cupcakes, again from Moosewood with cream cheese frosting. they turned out AWESOME!! Not super sweet. The frosting adds a nice balance and they leave you full, instead of in sugar shock- kind of a nice change!! :) Obviously not the healthiest, though it does call for Olive Oil instead of butter or vegetable oil, and that's healthier right? :P Honestly the hardest part of this was grating the carrots and that's really not THAT hard...
Frosted Carrot Cupcakes:
Wet Ingredients:
1 c peeled and finely grated carrots, packed
1 c unsweetened crushed pineapple
1 c brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 c olive oil (note: the book suggests using regular olive oil, "which has a very subtle, mildly fruity flavor, extra-virgin olive oil may be too assertive).
1/2 c unsweetened grated coconut ( I used Bob Red Mill's shredded coconut)
1 tsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger root
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Dry ingredients:
2 c unbleached white flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Vanilla Cream cheese frosting ( I ended up doubling the recipe)
2 tbl unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 c cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 confectioner's sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a standard 12 cup muffin tin or fill with paper liners.
Combine the wet ingredients in a large bowl (reserve the pineapple juice for another use or just drink it :)) Using a large spoon mix the wet ingredients together until well blended. In another bowl sift together the dry ingredients [though I didn't do this part- I just threw them into the wet ingredients]. Stir them into the wet ingredients and mix just until all of the flour is moistened and incorporated.
Pour the batter in twelve equal portions into the prepared muffin cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes for 3-4 minutes then remove from tin [I left my cupcakes in the oven 35 minutes and then removed from tin immediately] and allow to sit on a rack for about 20 minutes.
To prepare frosting, cream together the butter and cream cheese in a food processor bowl or with an electric mixer. Add the confectioners' sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth. When the cupcakes have cooled, frost them.
I made some basmati rice in the rice cooker and then Mike took a chunk of extra firm tofu (WildWood's organic extra protein extra firm- really yummy), marinated in:
3 parts soy sauce,
1 part white vinager,
1 part honey,
garlic powder
a touch of lime.
It added a nice flavor. He also used that to brush on some asparagus spears that he also grilled. A perfect dinner!!!
And finally, a recipe I forgot to publish yesterday- as Jaime calls them "Hippie Cookies"
They are Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies and I got the recipe from the back of the Gold Medal Organic All-Purpose Flour bag. They are really nice, balanced flavor. I didn't have semi-sweet chocolate chips so I used a semi-sweet chocolate baking bar and chopped that up. It worked really well!!!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies:
1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
1 c butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 c oats (I used rolled- the recipe called for quick)
1 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 c semi sweet chocolate chips
Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended, or mix with spoon. Add oats, flour, baking soda and salt; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.
On an ungreased cookie sheet drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart. Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly, remove from cookie sheet to cooling racks.
Enjoy- and Happy Independence Day!!!!
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