Blueberry - Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Coffee Crumb Cakes are Awesome. Enough said! The crumbs aren't even that difficult to make. :)
For an 8" cake, here's what you'll need.

For the Cake

Bowl 1

• 1 and 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tbsp baking soda
• 1/4 tbsp salt

Bowl 2

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

And then a cup of Blue Berries (or) Raspberries

For the Topping

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• lemon zest
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (chunk 'em up)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Grease and flour a spring-foam pan. (Spring Foam Pan is one where you can pop out the base of the cake pan). A regular pan works too, but then keep a constant watch on the cake as it bakes and take it off the oven as soon as the cake is 95%up done. You end burning the base of the cake, otherwise.
3. Mix bowl 1 ingredients and set aside
4. Mix and beat bowl 2 ingredients. Pour bowl 1 ingredients into bowl 2 and mix well until smooth.
5. Pour into the prepared pan
6. Now, arrange the blue berries on the batter in a pattern and set aside.  

To make the crumbs, chunk up the butter into small cubes. Add in the flour and sugar in proportions mentioned atop and use a fork to mix them roughly. When you use the fork to do this, the process is very uncomfortable, but it gives the crumbs the semi-mixed texture.

Sift this mixture on top of the cake and then place the pan in the oven



Bake for 35-40 mins or until the crumbs begin to turn brown

 

Voila! It's done and serve warm or at room temperature

Brussel Sprouts with Dill Weed Dip

After trying SV's recipe of Brussel Sprouts the Indian way, I tried to go the easier route and make a simple + flavorful version of it last week. What you'll need is a bag of frozen brussel sprouts (or fresh, if you like it like that) and some lemon & pepper.

• Preheat the oven to 350 F.
• Quarter or halve the sprouts and toss them with 2 tbsp olive oil and salt in a big bowl. 
• Layer a baking tray with parchment pepper and spread out the sprouts on the tray. 
• Sprinkle some ground paper on top of the sprouts (or lemon pepper powder) and place them in the middle rack of the oven. 
• Bake until brown (about 25 mins) and turn them around and bake for another 5 mins so that all sides are equally brown. Once baked, take them out and let them cool. 
• Sprinkle some lemon juice (if you did not use lemon pepper powder).

For the dip, take a cup of yoghurt and add minced garlic, salt and chopped dill weed. That gets you a dip that tastes similar to the ones you get at Greek restaurants. Tastes yum !

Veg Frittatas

Waking up and running right out the door is a regular in my home. What comes with it is a bad breakfast habit. So, in an attempt to not starve, and at the same time not wake up early just to make breakfast... I made some Veg Frittatas today (and hope they last me a couple of days) !

It's rather quick and easy to make. You can stick to the non spicy version, if you'd like.

Saute

2 tbsp Olive Oil

1/2 cup white onions chopped

1/2 cup green peppers chopped

1/2 cup red peppers chopped

1 zucchini chopped

 with salt, pepper, and chilli powder (optional, do not use if you don't want them spicy)

Whisk together 7-8 eggs, add some herbs/oregano and keep aside

Saute - Paper Cups - Fill with Eggs - Top with Cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Use muffin paper cups or a small square sheets of parchment paper to layer the muffin trays in the shape of a cup
3. Toss in the sauteed veggies into each of the muffin cups (this will hold the cups in place)
4. Fill the remaining area with egg, top with some cheese and bake for 10-12 minutes or until the eggs are set
5. Serve warm or cold. You may store it in the Refrigerator in an air tight glass container and consume over a few days.

Onions, Garlic & Shallot Muffins

Some more Indian twists !

Shallots, are chinna vengaiyam (for those of you from South India). It's a diminutive member of the onion family and grows in clusters like garlic with a papery skin. To prepare a shallot, cut the ends, remove the papery skin, slit length wise and mince like you would cut up a small onion.

Fry & Cool

• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 finely chopped red onions
• 1-2 shallots minced
• 1 garlic pod - minced
• 1-2 green chilli - finely chopped (optional)

Bowl 1

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 and 1/3 tsp salt

Bowl 2

• 1 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil

Toss In for Flavor

• 1 tsp crumbled oregano
• 3 tbsp minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 tsp celery seed (optional)

Topping

• 1 and 1/4 grated cheese (preferably swiss)

 Method

1. Grease muffin tray with non-stick butter spray, preheat to 375 F
2. In a frying pan, over medium heat.. fry and cool the ingredients in the first list above
3. Stir together ingredients of Bowl 1 and set aside
4. Whisk together Bowl 2 ingredients until blended, add the onion mix from the pan.
5. Make a well in the center of the Flour mix in Bowl 1 and stir in Onion-Egg-Oil-Milk mixture until evenly moistened (Do not use electric blender, you'll waste a lot of batter)
6. The batter will be extremely lumpy, you may add very lil extra oil/ milk to make the mixing easier.
7. Add the toss ins to the mix and combine
8. Spoon the batter into the muffin tray, filling up to the brim. Top with cheese
9.  Bake until golden dry and springy to touch... about 20 mins.
10. Let the muffins cool on a wire rack for 5 mins, before serving.
11. Tastes great with Ketchup or Bombay Sandwich Chutney !

Almond & Lemon Zest Pound Cake

I've seen Chefs in a number of these cook shows reference the use of Orange Zest/ Lemon Zest in recipes. I've wondered how some scrapes of a lemon or orange can actually add any distinct taste to the dish you are trying to make.... and decided to try it out myself. And wow, it does add a unique flavor and surprises you by surfacing at times you'd least expect it to pop !

While a Pound cake is buttery, rich and delicious all by itself... but it tastes equally stunning and can take quite a number of variations. I added some almonds and finely grated lemon zest & lemon juice to it.

Bowl 1

• 1 and 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 salt

Bowl 2

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1 and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Add In

• 1/2 cup Sour Cream

For the Zest:

• Use a cheese / carrot grater and use the fine blades to scrape of the lemon shell to get finely grated zest. I'd leave out the white skin as it tends to make the taste sour.

1. Preheat the oven to 325F and grease a bread ban with non-stick butter spray or regular melted butter (unsalted)
2. Whisk together Bowl 1 ingredients and keep aside
3. Beat together bowl 2 (use an electric blender for smoother texture) until light and fluffy by adding the eggs one at a time.
4. Add in the Sour Cream in phases to incorporate into the mixture n blend well
5. Sprinkle the lemon zest and give it a light spin
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and shake it a lil, to even out the surface
7. I tossed in some sliced almonds on top as an addition
8. Bake until a cake tester inserted comes out clean, takes about 70 mins or longer if using a metal pan. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 mins.
9. Run a knife through the sides of the pan to pop the cake out of the pan on to a plate. Toss it to one side and let it cool for a few mins before slicing the cake. Serve warm @ room temperature.

Notes: A pound cake usually has very lil baking soda, no baking powder, some sour cream and bakes at a lower temperature for a longer duration. This is what gives the pound cake its slow cooked and buttery/ fluffy texture. A pound cake looks, tastes and feels very similar to a Sponge Cake.

Jam Filled Muffins

Remember those Jim-Jam biscuits from Britannia ? 

They used to be my favorite, along with Good Day and Marie Biscuits... the pleasure of digging into cold and delicious jam in between crispy layers of biscuit.. aah. Love those! So, I made my own version of Jam Filled Muffins one Saturday, reminiscing fond memories of Adyar Bakery @ Ashok Nagar :-).

Bowl 1

• 2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Bowl 2

• 6 tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
• 2 large Eggs
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 tsb Almond Extract
• 1 and 1/4 cups Sour Cream

Filling

• Mixed Fruit Jam/ Jelly/ Marmalade (Seedless)

1. Grease muffin trays with non stick spray and preheat oven to 375F
2. Stir together Bowl 1 ingredients and keep aside
3. Beat together Bowl 2 ingredients and add in Bowl 1 in phases and stir until just evenly moistened. The batter will be slightly lumpy, do not over mix.
4. Spoon the batter into the muffin trays to fill 'em half way
5. Drop a heap/ teaspoon full of Jam into the half filled muffin trays, then cover with batter until level with rim
6. Bake muffins until golden dry and springy to touch... 20-25 mins.
7. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for a few mins and serve!