Apple blueberry bars and 2024 resolutions

My dear and lovely readers, I hope you are all well and having a very nice year so far. It has been a very, very long time since I last posted something on this blog, so I would be surprised if anyone stopped by, but anyway I would like to talk to you today about New Year’s resolutions (in April – I know, I know). 😊

In the beginning of 2023 I made a list of resolutions for that year and I kept it very small to avoid frustrations: I wanted to finish writing my e-book (in Portuguese) and publish it (did it on June 2), to exercise more often (still to be improved in 2024, but I started and it was very good for me) and to treat myself more kindly than I used to (this is a work in progress so it is on the 2024 list as well).

To my surprise, the e-book has sold many copies, I have received several emails and messages from people who bought it saying they loved it, also received photos of some of the recipes being prepared at my readers’ homes… It was one of the best things I had in my whole life.

By early January this year I decided to write again the list of resolutions, and again I would keep it small: one of them was to keep blogging, at least once a month, even though blogs cannot compete nowadays with Instagram and TikTok (I must be honest and say that I don’t even know how to use the latter, I’m too old for that). So far I have managed to keep that promise for my blog in Portuguese (I even posted twice back in February), therefore I will do the same with this blog in English.

I’ll start with these delicious apple blueberry bars, that were meant to be blueberry bars only, but when I checked my freezer, I saw that my blueberry stash was not as big as I thought. One look at my counter and the beautiful apples I had brought home a couple of days before almost smiled at me, begging to be used: they were the perfect pair for the blueberries and the bars turned out wonderful.

 

Apple blueberry bars

own recipe

 

Crust and topping:

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour

1/3 cup (46g) fine corn flour/corn meal (not corn starch) – if you cannot find it, replace with all purpose flour

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon fine salt

1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (total of 78g) granulated sugar

¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

 

Filling:

2 medium Gala apples (total of 250g)

1 cup (150g) blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)

¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon corn starch

pinch of salt

½ tablespoon lime or lemon juice

 

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly brush a 20cm (8in) square baking pan with butter, line it with foil leaving an overhang in two opposite sides and butter the foil as well. Set aside.

 

In a medium bowl whisk together the all purpose flour, corn flour, cinnamon, salt and sugar. Add the butter and whisk it in using a fork until you get coarse breadcrumbs texture. Transfer 2/3 of this mixture to the prepared pan and spread it evenly on the bottom. Press the mixture down onto the bottom of the pan (using your fingertips or a small measuring cup) to make the crust of the bars. Freeze the base and the remaining mixture for 10 minutes while you prep the fruit.

 

Core the apples, remove the seeds and cut into 1cm (little less than ½ inch) cubes. Transfer to a medium bowl, add the blueberries, sugar, corn starch, salt and lime/lemon juice and mix to combine.

Remove the pan and bowl from the freezer. Spread the fruit evenly over the base and sprinkle over the remaining mixture – you can squeeze portions of the mixture in your hand to create different sizes of crumbles if you like.

 

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely over a wire rack before slicing and serving.

 

Makes 16

 

Blueberry clafoutis

On a blueberry state of mind after themuffins I posted last week, I bring you a delicious and simple to make clafoutis with these wonderful berries: if you are on the bottom half of the globe like I am, the temperature is perfect for warm desserts as this one. 

I am a sucker for clafoutis, both sweet and savory, for I believe it is such a versatile recipe that can be tailored to whatever you have at hand. A handful of ingredients, most of them staples of every kitchen, plus fruits or vegetables to boot – sounds perfect to me!

I love blueberries and cinnamon together, I think they are a perfect pair, but this clafoutis is also delicious with cardamom instead – freshly ground is best.

Blueberry clafoutis

own recipe

 

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup (66g) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

pinch of salt

pinch of ground cinnamon

¼ cup (60ml) whole milk, room temperature

¼ cup (60ml) heavy cream

¾ cup (100g) blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)

1 tablespoon demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter two 1-cup (240ml) capacity ovenproof shallow dishes.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar until creamy and pale, like eggnog. Whisk in the vanilla. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the flour, salt and cinnamon, until mixture is smooth. Fold in mil and cream. Divide mixture between the prepared dishes and sprinkle with the blueberries. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar.

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Serve immediately.

Serves 2

Blueberry, coconut and white chocolate muffins

From a very early age my mother taught me how wonderful fruits are: apples, oranges, watermelon, strawberries, pears… We were a modest family, but there were always different fruits over the counter or in the fridge – my favorites as a kid were strawberries.

Some fruits are kind of recent in my life, such as raspberries and blueberries – these have become popular and easier to find in Brazil over the past years. I love raspberries – went picking them once with a dear friend in Surrey, England, back in 2007 – but blueberries I believe benefit from heat: after being cooked or baked, for example, they become more flavorsome: it is like they turn into little pockets of jam.

Blueberries and white chocolate are beautiful together, the flavors complement each other in a perfect way. I wanted to give these muffins a bit of a tropical flair, therefore the double addition of coconut, both desiccated and in milk form. The muffins turned out delicious, moist and tender, and I found out that coconut and blueberries can be truly great friends too.

 

Blueberry, coconut and white chocolate muffins

own recipe

 

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour

¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar

¼ cup (25g) desiccated unsweetened coconut

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon table salt

½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature

½ cup (120ml) coconut milk

½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup (140g) blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)

2/3 cup (110g) white chocolate chips or small chunks

 

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a 12-cavity muffin pan with paper cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, coconut, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk, coconut milk, butter, egg and vanilla. Pour this mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with a fork until ingredients are incorporated – do not overmix, or your muffins will turn out tough; muffin batter is lumpy, and not smooth like cake batter. Fork in the blueberries and the chocolate.

Divide the batter evenly among the paper cups (they will be rather full) and bake for about 20 minutes or until muffins are risen and golden, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12

Banana and blueberry crumble

I do not mean to sound like a broken record (again), but things have been a bit slow on this blog and that usually happens when things are everything but slow on this side of the screen. Too much work, all sorts of other things going on… And on top of that I have had almost no energy to cook or bake, let alone photograph and type posts.

Many times in the past I read my favorite food bloggers write about burnout syndrome and I think that maybe the time has come for me, too: I don’t know for sure and my mind sometimes is a blur, to be honest. I have just come back from a wonderful trip to NYC in which I had fabulous food in all sorts of ways, and I thought this would give me inspiration to go back to the kitchen, but honestly, that has not kicked in yet.

Anyway, on a sweeter note: I have baked this crumble several times in the past year and a half and it has become one of my favorites, so here is the recipe.

Banana and blueberry crumble
own recipe

¾ cup + 2 tablespoons (125g) all purpose flour
¼ cup (50g) demerara sugar
¼ teaspoon baking poder
pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
¼ cup (22g) rolled oats
¼ cup (25g) flaked almonds
4 bananas, about 140g/5oz each
1 cup (120g) blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Set aside four 1-cup (240m) heatproof ramekins – if you prefer, bake the crumble in one 1-liter heatproof baking dish.

Crumble topping: in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add the butter and rub the ingredients together with your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Using a fork, stir in the oats and almonds. Freeze the mixture for 5 minutes while you prepare the fruit.

Cut the banana in round slices and divide among the ramekins. Sprinkle with the blueberries. Cover the fruit with the crumble topping and bake for 25-30 minutes or until topping is golden and blueberries are bubbling. Serve warm with ice cream or heavy cream.

The crumble topping can be kept tightly sealed in a plastic bag in the freezer for 1 month – whenever you feel like having a crumble for dessert, sprinkle the mixture over the fruit of your choice and bake – do not unthaw before using.

Serves 4

Orange, blueberry and olive oil muffins and a lactose problem

I know how rare it is nowadays to post recipes on the blog on two consecutive days, and I am still running around like a headless chicken trying to do everything I have to do lately, but since next week will be even busier than the week ending today I decided to go crazy and bring you these muffins: again a speedy recipe, but a very delicious one. These muffins are golden and really moist, very tender and perfumed with orange zest.

I am a complete sucker for citrus as you all know and in these muffins the orange flavor compliments the blueberries in the most wonderful way. The addition of olive oil is a nice surprise, not to mention that this became my go-to muffin recipe after I was diagnosed as lactose intolerant, a month ago or so: I have made it using lactose-free milk with good results (next time I will try making them using almond milk).

Orange, blueberry and olive oil muffins
own recipe

¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 oranges
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg, room temperature
½ cup (120ml) whole milk, room temperature
1/3 cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup (140g) blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with 8 paper cases. Fill the empty cavities halfway through with water (this will prevent the pan from warping).

In a large bowl, place sugar and orange zest and rub them together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Whisk in the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, olive oil and vanilla until smooth. Pour over dry ingredients and stir lightly with a fork just until combined – do not overmix or your muffins will be tough; muffin batter is not smooth as cake batter.
Stir in the berries. Divide the batter among the paper cases, then bake for about 20 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully remove the muffins from the pan and transfer to the rack. Cool completely or serve warm.

Makes 8

Orange berry financiers to start 2017

Happy New Year, everyone!

I wish each and every one of you all the best in 2017 – lots of love, joy and happiness.

I am back at work, after having a week off to enjoy Christmas and spend time with my family. It was a calm week, filled with good food, TV shows and movies, hot days – which are a nightmare for me, but hey, it is summer, after all – and loads of rest, including strategic naps after lunch. ;)

I did not bake much, however: I felt paralyzed with heat and was not brave enough to turn on the oven. I made a chocolate cake for my nephew – he asked for one after watching an episode of Peppa Pig – and it was pretty much it. But I bring you a recipe I made many weeks ago and that tasted delicious: these financiers made with orange and berries. The berries become little pools of jelly when baked and their flavor pairs beautifully with the orange.

These financiers are everything I want 2017 to be: beautiful, delicate, perfumed and delicious: fingers crossed that I get my wish. ;)

Orange berry financiers
adapted from the always delicious Simply Bill

¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
¾ cup (75g) almond meal (finely ground almonds)
1/3 cup (46g) all purpose flour
pinch of salt
5 egg whites
100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (35g) blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)
¼ cup (30g) raspberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)
icing sugar, extra, for dusting

In a large bowl, place the orange zest and the sugar and rub them together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Whisk in the almond meal, flour and salt. Stir in the egg whites, butter, and vanilla until batter is smooth. Fold in the berries – if you prefer, leave some to be placed on top of the financiers before baking them. Cover batter and refrigerate the batter for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter and flour ten 100ml capacity mini cake or muffin pans.
Pour the batter in the pans. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden – a skewer inserted in the center should come out clean. Remove from the oven and cool in the pans over a wire rack for 2 minutes. Carefully unmold onto the rack and to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Financiers are best served the day they’re made, but can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days. If days are too hot, keep refrigerated to avoid the berries going moldy.

Makes 10

Lime, coconut, poppy seed and blueberry cake and recipes stuck in my head

Some recipes get stuck in my head for a really long time: I see them once, twice, five times, and don’t make them for a number of reasons. Then, after a good while, I see them again and I don’t even remember if I actually made them already or if they are still part of my (very lengthy) mental to do list – I guess that is natural after ten years of blogging. ;)

I saw this cake on Good Food Magazine many months ago, and then saw it again a couple more times. I loved the idea of mixing blueberries and coconut, but each time I saw the recipe I did not have one of the two ingredients. Months went by and I found a handful of blueberries in my freezer, but it was half the amount requested in the recipe: I decided to spin the recipe a bit, added lime zest and poppy seeds, and instead of mixing the berries into the batter, I sprinkled them on top of the cake before baking it. The result as a very moist and tender cake, with a beautiful touch of citrus and with tiny pockets of blueberry deliciousness here and there – I don’t mean to brag, but my twists to the recipe worked like a charm (and I can cross that recipe off my mental to do list). ;)

Lime, coconut, poppy seed and blueberry cake
adapted from the great Good Food magazine

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
pinch of salt
½ cup (50g) unsweetened desiccated coconut
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 2 limes
1 cup (240ml) canola oil
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
175ml whole milk, room temperature
½ cup (70g) fresh or frozen (unthawed) blueberries

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°C. Generously butter and flour an 8-cup capacity Bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, poppy seeds and coconut. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine sugar and zest and rub them together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Whisk in the oil, eggs and vanilla. Alternately, fold in the flour in three additions and the milk in two additions, starting and ending with the flour.
Transfer the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the berries. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 20 minutes, then carefully unmold onto a wire rack. Cool completely.

Serves 8-10

Cream cheese and blueberry cake

I have been busy at the kitchen again – thank heavens! – but I haven’t found the time to sit down and write posts – so, my apologies for those of you who have stopped by lately only to stare at the red wine cake for ages. :S

And a special hug to Ellen, a lovely and dear reader who makes the recipes and always sends me the sweetest and warmest comments. <3


A couple of weeks ago I was going through beautiful recipes online and found Emiko’s mascarpone and blackberry cake – it looked so beautiful! I felt like grabbing a slice from the screen, but since that is (still) not possible I went to the kitchen and made my version of her cake, changing a few things: there was a tub of cream cheese in my fridge begging to be used and a bag of blueberries in the freezer. The result was wonderful and pleased everyone who had a chance of snacking on it.

Cream cheese and blueberry cake
slightly adapted from Emiko Davies’ gorgeous blog

Blueberry compote:
1 cup (140g) blueberries – I used frozen, unthawed
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Cake:
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon table salt
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
180g cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ teaspoons Cointreau (optional)

Start by making the compote: place the blueberries and sugar in a small saucepan and warm until the berries soften and the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes – stir occasionally. Squash the berries with the back of a spoon as you stir. Cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 5 ½ cup-capacity loaf pan, line it with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, rub the sugar and orange zest together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Add the butter and cream cheese and cream until light and fluffy – scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and the Cointreau (if using). On low speed, add the flour mixture mixing only until incorporated – do not overmix.

Pour the cake into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Top with the blueberries, keeping most of the juice (so the cake don’t get soggy). Swirl the berries through the cake with a butter knife. Smooth out the top without mixing too much.
Bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Serves 8

Berry-berry streusel bars and another fan of "The Hunger Games"

My sister, a.k.a. my movie buddy, did not watch The Hunger Games when it was released last year, so I asked her to do it last week so we could watch Catching Fire together. She did and loved it, and then loved the sequel, too, and when I arrived home there was a text message from her on my phone: “can I borrow the books?” :) I can totally relate since last year, after watching the first movie, I got hooked on the books, too and couldn’t put them aside.

As the movie production went ahead, it was a delight to hear that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jena Malone were attached to the project, and while I wasn’t very sure about Sam Claflin playing Finnick Odair back then all I can say now is <3 <3 <3. :D

I’ll admit I was wrong about these bars, too: I’d ignored them forever because I’d made several different jam bars already. But with no fruits at home other than frozen berries and bananas, no chocolate either – the horror, the horror – and a bag of oats begging to be used I gave in and baked the bars, only to learn how delicious they were and how silly I’d been till then.


Berry-berry streusel bars
slightly adapted from the huge The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh

Crust:
180g rolled oats
1 ½ cups (210g) all purpose flour
1 cup (175g) firmly packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Filling:
125g frozen blueberries, out of the freezer for 30 minutes
125g frozen raspberries, out of the freezer for 30 minutes
2/3 cup raspberry jam (I used half raspberry, half cherry)
5 teaspoons all purpose flour
finely grated zest of 2 large limes

Crust: preheat oven to 190°C/375°F. Butter a 20x30cm (12x8in) baking pan, line it with foil leaving an overhand on two opposite sides, and butter the foil as well.
Combine first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Add butter; rub with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Press half of crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake crust until light brown, about 15 minutes. Cool slightly.

Filling: mix blueberries, raspberries, jam, flour and lime zest in bowl. Spread filling over crust. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over. Bake until topping is golden, about 35 minutes. Cool in pan. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 24

Blueberry and coconut cake, female directors, a beautiful movie and a versatile actor

I believe that the movie industry would be a better place if more women stepped behind the camera: there aren’t many female directors out there, which is a shame. Jane Campion wowed the world twenty years ago with one of my all time favorite movies, and I’m forever in her debt for introducing me to Mark Ruffalo *sigh*. :) Nora Ephron added romance to our lives, Vera Farmiga discussed religion, Kathryn Bigelow makes movies many men would like to make, and Lynne Ramsay gave us one of the best movies of 2011 (with certainly the best acting of that year, the glorious Tilda).

A couple of days ago I watched the beautiful After the Wedding and then I could see how fantastic Susanne Bier is (In a Better World is one of the best movies I have seen in the last ten years, maybe fifteen). Never dull or boring, After the Wedding is a delight to watch – it is well written and well played by a very good cast, and what a breath of fresh air it is to watch actors with crooked teeth, facial hair, lines around their eyes – more “human” than most of people from Hollywood. If that still hasn’t convinced you to watch After the Wedding, Mads Mikkelsen *sigh* plays the lead and delivers another great performance, something completely different from Le Chiffre, Hannibal Lecter, Draco or Ivan (the guy is a chameleon, isn’t he?). Oh, and ladies: there are a couple of scenes in which he is shirtless. Just saying. ;)

Now that I have spent all my convincing cards on the movie I don’t have much left to say to convince you to make this cake; I’ll give you this: it is super tender, it is delicious, and coconut and blueberry are great together – I hope that is enough. :D

Blueberry and coconut cake
slightly adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks (I bought mine here)

200g all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup (2 sticks/226g) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
4 large eggs
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (25g) sweetened flaked coconut
150g blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed), dusted with 1 heaping teaspoon all purpose flour
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x7cm (8x2.8in) cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla. On low speed, beat in the dry ingredients and coconut and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the blueberries.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 45 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Carefully unmold, remove the paper, then turn the cake onto a serving plate. Sift with icing sugar to serve.

Serves 8-10

Lemon and blueberry cornmeal cake

Even though I’ve been very focused on my inventory project (two years now, wow) I still love to go around the supermarket aisles to see if there’s anything new I haven’t tried yet – my husband says that if we went grocery shopping at the same time with the same list on our hands he’d be finished in half the time (and he’s right). :D

Weeks ago I discovered a new brand of corn products, a Brazilian one, and those products are made of non-transgenic corn. I found that such a wonderful thing that I couldn’t resist and brought home a bag of corn flour, which was used to make Clarice’s beautiful cake. Since the cake turned out so good, I was inspired to bake again with that corn flour, this time using a recipe that originally called for polenta. The cake turned out delicious and really tender, with the blueberries popping like small bubbles of jam at every bite – I found the cake so good on its own I skipped the icing entirely.

Lemon and blueberry cornmeal cake
slightly adapted from here

225g unsalted butter, very soft
225g granulated sugar
4 large eggs
finely grated zest of 2 large lemons
4 tablespoons lemon juice
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
100g corn flour (not corn starch)
150g all purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
200g blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan and line it with baking paper, buttering the paper as well*.
Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla. Fold in the corn flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, salt and lemon juice to make a smooth batter. Carefully fold in half the blueberries. Spoon mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface. Scatter over remaining blueberries.
Bake for about 40minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar and cut into squares to serve.

* I used a pan with a removable bottom, so I just buttered and floured it – I did not use baking paper to line it

Serves 20

Apple and blueberry crumble cake + a movie that could be about my own life

My dear friend Valentina introduced me to Nigel Slater years ago and I instantly became a fan: his simple way of cooking produces absolutely delicious food and he does it in a way that anyone watching him feel they can do it, too – to me, it’s like watching Nigella around the kitchen: it’s never intimidating. They have similar names and similar styles, and they both call themselves cooks, not chefs.

Months ago I watched “Toast”, which is based upon Nigel Slater’s memoirs, and I believe I’d never cried and laughed so hard before while watching a movie. The cast is divine: Helena Bonham Carter is every bit talented as she is crazy, and the once little and adorable Freddie Highmore has become a fine young actor. There were moments in the movie that I felt like I was watching a movie about my own life, so many similarities... It was pretty intense, yet I felt light after watching it – empty Kleenex boxes aside. :)

Every time someone finds out I have a food blog they ask me if I have watched “Julie & Julia” (I have) - that seems to be the ultimate foodie movie out there (maybe it’s the Meryl Streep effect). However, I can relate a lot more to “Toast” since, like Nigel, I grew up without a mother, with a father that couldn’t care less and an evil stepmother – the difference is that his mother could barely boil an egg while my mother was an excellent cook. :)

This moist and delicious cake is an adaptation of a recipe from Nigel Slater’s book on fruit, the gorgeous “Tender II”: it is one of the very best cookbooks I own.

Apple and blueberry crumble cake
slightly adapted from the marvelous “Tender II” (I bought mine here)

Crumble:
50g unsalted butter, cold and diced
50g all purpose flour
60g granulated sugar
2 heaping tablespoons rolled oats
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cake:
1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and cored
juice of ½ lemon
150g unsalted butter, softened
75g granulated sugar
75g light brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
85g all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
100g almond meal
120g blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed)


Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 22.5x12.5cm (9x5in) loaf pan, line it with baking paper leaving an overhang on the two opposite long sides and butter the paper as well.
Make the crumble: in a small bowl, rub together the butter and flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, oats and cinnamon. Refrigerate until needed.

Cake: thinly slice the apple and place in a medium bowl. Drizzle with the lemon juice to stop the apple slices from turning brown. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt over the mixture and fold in. Fold in the almond meal. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Arrange the apple slices and the blueberries on top of the batter, and push some of the fruit down onto the batter. Sprinkle with the crumble and bake for about 1 hour or until golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out slightly moist. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Carefully remove the cake from the pan using the baking paper as aid.

Serves 6-8

Banana and blueberry muffins

Every time I have a surplus of ripe bananas at home and I can't find a way of using them immediately I place them in the freezer - they last long there and can be used in most baking recipes after being thawed. However, when there is only one frozen banana to be used things get a bit more complicated, since most recipes call for 2-3 bananas, or even more (that was when I had to drop the idea of making Rose's banana cake with white chocolate frosting). These muffins were the solution I needed: the recipe called for only 1 large banana (exactly what I had at hand) and the blueberries make them even more interesting, delicious and nutritious.

Banana and blueberry muffins
slightly adapted from here

225g all purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 large ripe banana, peeled and mashed
1/3 cup (80ml) canola oil
2/3 cup (160ml) whole milk
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (unthawed), tossed with 1 teaspoon all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C. Line a 12-cup muffin pan – 1/3-cup capacity cavities – with paper cases.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and mix well. In a small bowl, whisk together with a fork the banana, oil, milk, egg and vanilla. Pour into the dry ingredients and stir with a fork until just combined. Don't over-mix. Fold in the blueberries.
Fill each paper liner ¾ full and bake for about 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through (test with a toothpick).

Makes 12

Spiced blueberry rolls + some comedy after the drama

After watching several drama shows in a row a girl needs something to make her laugh, right? I have found the perfect way to do that by watching “Parks and Recreation”: I haven’t finished the first season yet but I’m completely hooked! Amy Poehler is absolutely hilarious – I start laughing just by looking at her – and the other actors are great, too, my favorites being Nick Offerman and Aziz Ansari. There are days when there’s nothing better than sitting down with something freshly baked – liked these delicious blueberry rolls – to watch “Parks and Recreation”; one just has to be careful not to choke – eating and laughing at the same time can be really dangerous, and I speak from experience. :D

Spiced blueberry rolls
slightly adapted from one of the most beautiful and delicious cookbooks I own

Dough:
225ml whole milk
75g unsalted butter
300g all purpose flour
125g whole wheat flour
70g granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
pinch of salt
2 ½ teaspoons dried yeast
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
75g unsalted butter, softened
75g granulated sugar + about 2 teaspoons extra, for sprinkling over the rolls
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
200g fresh or frozen (unthawed) blueberries

Dough: in a small saucepan, heat milk and butter together until milk almost boils and butter melts almost completely. Cool to lukewarm.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flours, sugar, zest, salt and yeast. Make a well in the center, add the egg, vanilla and the milk mixture and, using the dough hook, mix in medium-low speed until a smooth dough forms, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a lightly buttered large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and prove for about 1 hour.
Filling: with an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and cinnamon together until smooth. Set aside.
Lightly butter a 20x30cm (12x8in) baking pan. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until you get a 30x50cm (12x20in) rectangle. Spread the filling evenly over the dough then sprinkle with the blueberries. Roll it like a cylinder, beginning with the longer side. Cut into 8 slices then arrange them about 2.5cm (1in) apart onto the prepared pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to prove for about 1 ½ hours (if you’re using frozen berries prove your rolls for 2 hours); in the meantime, preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
Sprinkle the rolls with the extra granulated sugar and bake for about 20 minutes or until risen and golden brown.

Makes 8

Blueberry crumb muffins

I was reading the trivias on IMDb – which is something I love doing – when I got to the trivia for “A Simple Plan” – which is a movie I deeply adore – and read the following: “Between 1994 and 1996, Ben Stiller was set to direct this film with Nicolas Cage to star”; a couple of minutes of shock later I thought of what a wonderful idea it was to replace both gentlemen, and what a dreadful movie “A Simple Plan” would have been on the hands of those two.

And speaking of wonderful ideas, adding a streusel topping to blueberry muffins is definitely one of them. :)

Blueberry crumb muffins
slightly adapted from the absolutely gorgeous and delicious Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to Yours

Streusel topping:
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
½ cup (50g) almond meal
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon light brown sugar, packed
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 ½ tablespoons (35g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Muffins:
1/3 cup (80ml) canola oil
¼ cup (60ml) whole milk
finely grated zest + juice of ½ large lemon
1 large egg, room temperature
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (160g) all purpose flour
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
½ tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
¾ cup (100g) blueberries, fresh or frozen – I used fresh
1 tablespoon all purpose flour, extra, for dusting the berries

Position a rack in the center of the oven; preheat to 200°C/400°. Generously butter 8 cavities of a 12-hole muffin pan – 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity each.
Make the streusel: combine all the ingredients in a small bowl, mixing with a fork until crumbs form. Refrigerate while you make the batter.
In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, milk, lemon zest and juice, egg and vanilla.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the liquids. Stir with a just until combined; do not overmix. Lightly dust the berries with the extra flour, then fold them into the batter. Divide the batter among the prepared muffins pans and generously sprinkle with the streusel, lightly packing it with your hands so the crumbs adhere to the batter. Fill the empty cavities halfway up with water.
Bake for 10 minutes; decrease oven temperature to 190°C/375°F and continue baking until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean, about 15 minutes more.
Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; carefully remove muffins from pan to wire rack and cool completely.

Makes 8

Blueberry almond tart + Michael Shannon

I will always remember the 2012 Academy Awards as the year in which the people who should have won the statues weren’t even nominated: as happened to Tilda and Lynne Ramsay, Michael Shannon had, to me, the most striking performance as an actor last year but was forgotten by the Academy. I’ll also keep in mind that the people responsible for the nominations chose Jessica Chastain as a contestant for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – which is perfect – but signed her in with the wrong movie; I wonder if the person reading the instructions got confused, Jack Palance style. :D

I find subtlety to be an essential quality for an actor, and Michael Shannon has tons of it – I feel that his Curtis would have become a walking cliché in the hands of a less talented actor. Shannon had impressed me before in rather short but powerful performances, and after watching the absolutely amazing “Take Shelter” I have become officially a fan: I am pretty sure he’ll nail the part of General Zod, making the always great Terence Stamp proud, and there are two other movies on their way that sound really interesting, one of them reuniting Shannon and Jeff Nichols – I’ll be watching those, you bet. And if you, like me, find that Shannon’s bony, squared face gives him a sort of intimidating look, you should know that he can be oh, so adorable and funny. :)

***
This tart, though not as simple as making a cake, is worth every second of preparation: the almond filling is luscious and moreish, while the berries, after baked, taste like little bubbles of jam exploding in one’s mouth. Oh, so good.

Blueberry almond tart
slightly adapted from the very, very delicious and beautiful Good Things to Eat (mine was bought here)

Pastry:
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
¼ cup (35g) icing sugar, sifted if lumpy
pinch of salt
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (83g) cold unsalted butter, in cubes
1 egg
1 teaspoon ice water
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (112g) granulated sugar
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups (125g) almond meal
½ tablespoon all purpose flour
pinch of salt
125g blueberries
icing sugar, for dusting

Pastry: place the flour, icing sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and blitz to combine. Add the butter and pulse a few times until mixture resembled coarse breadcrumbs. Break the egg into a small bowl, add the water and vanilla and lightly whisk with a fork. With the motor running, gradually add the egg mixture and process just until a dough starts to form (you won’t probably use the whole egg mixture). Transfer to a lightly floured surface, form into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (can be frozen for a month with a double layer of foil on top of the plastic wrap).

Lightly butter a 30x10cm (12x4in) tart pan with a removable bottom. Roll the pastry into a 35x15cm (14x6in) rectangle. Line the pan with the pastry, removing the excess pastry. Prick the pastry all over with a fork and freeze for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F and place a large baking sheet in it. Line the base and sides of the pastry case with a piece of baking paper and fill with dried beans/baking weights. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the sides have set. Carefully remove the beans and the paper, reduce the oven to 180°C/350°F, then bake the pastry until dry in the bottom and is starting to turn pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave it on. Cool the pastry for 10 minutes.
Make the filling: in the large bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, and then scrape the sides of the bowl. Beat in the vanilla extract, almond meal, all purpose flour and salt.
Sprinkle a third of the blueberries on the bottom of the pastry shell. Cover with the almond filling, then sprinkle the rest of the berries on top. Bake until the filling is set and golden brown, about 40 minutes.
Dust with icing sugar to serve and serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6-8

Blueberry and passion fruit muffins

After watching the new trailer for “The Dark Knight Rises” I felt that a masterpiece is coming our way – I would expect nothing less from Christopher Nolan. I cannot wait to see Tom Hardy as the villain and loved the addition of Marion Cotillard to the casting – I actually think that she would be perfect as Catwoman with those feline eyes of her (sorry, Anne Hathaway). :)

I found the perfect blueberry muffin recipe a while ago but could not resist the idea of a blueberry muffin with passion fruit – these are delicious and the flavors go wonderfully well together, but next time I would simply add passion fruit pulp to Flo Braker’s recipe – those were better flavor and texture wise.

Blueberry and passion fruit muffins
slightly adapted from Donna Hay’s Entertaining

¾ cup + ½ tablespoon (110g) all purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
½ cup sour cream or plain yogurt
2 ½ (35g) tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
finely grated zest of ½ lemon
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup (80ml) passion fruit pulp, with seeds
½ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen – I used frozen, slightly thawed

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Generously butter eight cavities of a 1/3-cup (80ml) capacity muffin pan – fill the empty cavities halfway through with water.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and sugar. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, butter, lemon zest, egg, vanilla and passion fruit pulp. Add the sour cream mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a fork just until combined – do not overmix or your muffins will be tough. Add the blueberries, mix lightly, then divide batter among prepared pan – they should be ¾ full. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan, over a wire rack, for 10 minutes, then carefully unmold. Transfer to the rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 8

Vanilla bean and blueberry mini cheesecakes

My initial idea was to make Nigella’s peanut butter cheesecake – that was why I bought several packages of cream cheese after all. Peanut butter cheesecake with a milk chocolate glaze... Yum, yum. But I had a surprise after opening the peanut butter jar: it was almost empty; I was furious for a couple of seconds then remembered that I’d had several spoonfuls of peanut butter lately. Too many, I guess. So I went after another cheesecake recipe and found one on my currently favorite dessert bible. The blueberries were the icing on the cake (I apologize for the lame pun – I just couldn’t help it). ;)

Vanilla bean and blueberry mini cheesecakes
adapted from the wonderful Bon Appetit Desserts: The Cookbook for All Things Sweet and Wonderful

Crust:
1 cup (100g) graham cracker or digestive cookies crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
300g cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup (100g) sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds removed with the back of the knife
2 large eggs
½ cup (120ml) sour cream*
generous ½ cup fresh blueberries

Start by making the crust: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter four 1-cup (240ml) capacity mini cake pans (mine have removable bottoms).
Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in processor. Add melted butter; process until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pans. Place pans onto a baking sheet and bake until crust is set and deep golden, 6-8 minutes. Cool crust while making filling. Maintain oven temperature.
Now, the filling: place the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla seeds, eggs and sour cream in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Divide the filling evenly among pans. Sprinkle the filling with the blueberries. Bake until set around edges, and center moves slightly when pan is gently shaken, 25-30 minutes. Cool completely over a wire rack then refrigerate uncovered for 3-4 hour or overnight. Carefully unmold and serve.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I left mine on the counter overnight – on a cold night – and it was beautifully thick and silky the next morning)

Makes 4

Blueberry crumble and my love for crumbles

I’ve come to a conclusion: crumbles have become my favorite dessert. As much as I love ice cream and fruit tarts crumbles are now to me a synonym to feel-good-food. The flavors can vary from traditional to tropical, it doesn’t matter: crumbles make me happy. :)

I ate my first crumble in my late twenties and first made one myself in my early thirties, yet I feel that it could have easily become a childhood favorite had I been introduced to it earlier in life – it would have been perfect for all those afternoons watching "Seven Faces of Dr. Lao" over and over again. :D

Blueberry crumble
inspired by the gorgeous Tender, Volume 2: A Cook's Guide to the Fruit Garden

150g blueberries – I used frozen, unthawed
finely grated zest of ½ lemon
3 teaspoons granulated or caster (superfine) sugar
¼ teaspoon corn starch

Crumble topping:
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (50g) all purpose flour
2 ½ tablespoons (35g) unsalted butter, room temperature, chopped
1/3 cup (33g) almond meal (finely ground almonds)
2 ½ tablespoons granulated or caster (superfine) sugar

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Have ready two 200ml capacity ovenproof ramekins or cups.
In a small bowl, mix the blueberries, lemon zest, sugar and corn starch. Divide equally between the ramekins.
In a medium bowl, place flour and butter and, using your fingertips, rub the ingredients together until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the almond meal and sugar and mix. Sprinkle over the blueberries and bake for 30 minutes or until topping is golden and fruit is bubbling.
Serve with heavy cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves 2 – but I must confess that I ate both ramekins myself. ;)

Blueberry muffins with doughnut topping and Indiana Jones

Despite being responsible for bringing Ralph into my life I don’t like Steven Spielberg as a director; I find that most of his movies are immersed in a squishy atmosphere, it’s just not my cup of tea. But I have to say that I adore the Indiana Jones trilogy, each and every movie, the first being my favorite.

You might as well be thinking: “why is she talking about Indiana Jones?” – well, after several blueberry muffin disasters – some too heavy, others with no flavor at all – Flo Braker’s absolutely perfect recipe has became my holy grail of blueberry muffins. :D

Blueberry muffins with doughnut topping
from the delicious and wonderful Baking for All Occasions

Muffins:
1 ¾ cups + 1 tablespoon (255g) all purpose flour
½ cup (100g) superfine sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup (180ml) buttermilk*, well shaken
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (89g) unsalted butter, melted and tepid
2 large eggs
2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups (225g) fresh blueberries

Doughnut topping:
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Butter and flour a 12-cup standard muffin pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, butter, eggs, lemon zest and vanilla. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and lightly whisk with a fork – do not beat the batter, it’s not supposed to be smooth. Using a spatula, fold in the blueberries.
Fill the prepared pans with the batter (¾ full). Bake the muffins until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan, over a wire rack, for 10 minutes then carefully unmold them, transferring to a wire rack.
Make the topping: in a small bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. While the muffins are still warm, gently dip the tops in the melted butter and then roll into the cinnamon sugar to coat. Place on a wire rack.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

* homemade buttermilk: place 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a 240ml-capacity measuring cup and complete with whole milk. Wait 10 minutes for it to thicken, then use the whole mixture in your recipe

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe above, used 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans and got 8 muffins