Buttermilk pound cake and a hello after a while

Hi all!

Wow. Over a month without a word. I'm sorry guys. I'm sorry I haven't said hi in a while but mostly I'm sorry I don't even have time to bake. But hey! the term is over in 2 weeks and I'm planning on doing some spring break baking! 

How have you been? I'd love to tell you a bunch of stories, but I really can't write for too long. I'll tell you that I went to my first conference ever up at the base of Mount Rainier. It was full of snow, white, beautiful, cold and fun. We listened to a lot of interesting talks, had a snowball fight, went on a little hike and made smores. Not bad huh? 

The rest of my time has been pretty much grading, going to class, studying and doing lab work. Sounds terrible but it's not all that horrible when you like what you do. I also like sweets, very much. So I made buttermilk poundcake, because I love buttermilk and because poundcake is perfect to power up your study. 

The recipe is from the New York Times, but I found it at Elissa's blog. I halved the recipe because I wasn't using a bundt cake pan, instead I used a shell shaped one and two ramekins for individual cakes. The cake is moist, crumbly, tangy and delicious. Make it, takes no time, it's good for you! (well, maybe not). 

Buttermilk Pound Cake

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder 

2 large eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 350 F

Cream together butter and sugar. Add the eggs and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Alternate the addition of dry ingredients and buttermilk to the wet mix, starting and ending with the dry mix. (I did 1/3 dry mix, 1/2 buttermilk and so on). 

Bake for an hour and then let the cake rest. This cake is even better the day after baked, I promise it's worth the wait!

This post is part of 'Sweets for a saturday #8'

Seeded soda bread buns

Lately I'm all about new whole grains and seeds. Quinoa, millet, barley, buckwheat... you name it, I've probably tried it. Poppy seeds? we already know I have a severe addiction to them. Sesame seeds? they are healthy, tasty and easy to combine with pretty much anything.

Baking bread is dangerous. Once you start, you can't stop. I've been making all kinds of yeasted bread but I hadn't tried soda bread yet. I know I know, living in New England, soda bread is a must. So I went for it, with lots of seeds and whole grains. And I didn't get disappointed!

The recipe comes from the queen of things healthy, Heidi. I made a few changes to the original. I had no spelt flour and no pumpkin seeds, so I used whole wheat and a combination of what I had in my pantry. I split the dough in 10 pieces to make buns instead of a big bread.

What I like best about this bread is not only that it's flavorful and hearty, but it's also really really fast to make. No waiting for anything to rise. Just mix the ingredients and the buttermilk and baking soda do the rest for you!

Printable recipe

1 3/4 cups (250 g) whole wheat flour

2 cups (250 g) unbleached all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 3/4 cup (400 mL) buttermilk

2 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds

2 1/2 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 1/2 tablespoons sunflower seeds

2 1/2 tablespoons ground flax seeds

Preheat your oven to 400 F

Sift the flours and baking soda in a bowl. Make a well in the center of the flours and add the buttermilk. Add the mix of seeds but save about 3 tablespoons. Mix with a wooden spoon or your hands until combined. Transfer to a floured surface and knead for a couple minutes. Split the dough in 10 buns or make a big bread round. Score the top and sprinkle with the remaining seed mixture. 

Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until the top is crusted and the buns sound hollow when tapped. 

Makes for a great manchego, aurugula and tomato sandwich! Enjoy!

Hazelnut chocolate swirl bread

Lately I've been thinking about food a lot. Well, that's not really surprising. But I've been having serious conversations with myself about it. Ugh, that sounds weird. Let's start again. Lately I've been having deep, elaborate thoughts about cooking, baking and food itself. About how what I put in my mouth affects my moods, my body and my health. That's more like it. 

I look back a couple years ago and realize I've changed a lot the way I eat. I've never been one for packaged stuff like Ding-dongs or Twinkies, in fact I find them really gross. Nor am I miss butter-y girl either. I don't cook with butter and I try to reduce amounts of it in baked goods. You could say I don't like greasy stuff, even if I really enjoy well made fries. But still, a year ago, you could find me devouring, quite often, all the baked goods that my roommate brought from the bakery she worked at. Indeed they were fine pastries, cakes and cookies, but the sugar levels were sort of scary.

I'm done with sugar comas. I enjoy dried fruits more than I enjoy candy (although I do eat gummy bears every so often), I like raw sugar much better than the refined one and I'm definitely not into buttercream frosting. I also use and abuse whole grains on a daily basis and try to stay away from anything pre-made or pre-packaged, even the bread. Call me a freak if you wish.

This bread is the result of those two years of changes. Of how much I enjoy a freshly baked loaf of home made bread, be it sweet or not. This bread has the perfect amount of sweetness, the creaminess of the chocolate and the crunch from the hazelnuts. The  hard crust prevents it from drying and keeps all the flavor inside. A great substitute for those of you who could die for a toast with nutella. The perfect sunday morning breakfast.

I baked this one along with a cinnamon swirl bread soon to come. I plan on baking many more breads in the future, I'm even toying with the idea of a 'one bread a week' sort of thing. I'm also moving towards more elaborate pastries, cookies and others. I feel like I need to use more with fruits in season in my baked goods, along with almonds, hazelnuts, sesame seeds, honey and other natural sources of flavor. Stay tuned folks, nothing bad can come out of this!

The recipe is a remake from the cinnamon swirl raisin bread from the Bread Baker's apprentice. I left the same basic dough but took out the cinnamon and added chopped hazelnuts and chocolate. I also changed instant yeast for active dry yeast. Since the recipe yields two loaves, I made another one braided and with cinnamon, no raisins. Coming soon!

This bread was sent to the Bread Baking Day event of this month, breads with nuts! You can find it here

Print this recipe

3 1/2 cups bread flour (16 oz)
4 teaspoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
1 large egg beaten
2 tablespoons butter melted
1/2 cup buttermilk (you can substitute for whole milk)
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 cup hazelnuts, chopped
1 cup bittersweet chocolate, chopped

Dissolve the yeast in the 3/4 cups of water and add a teaspoon of the sugar. Let it sit until the yeast 'wakes up' and doubles in volume. In the meantime, combine flour and sugar in a bowl and separately, melt the butter. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the yeast, mix until combined. Add the egg, buttermilk and butter and mix until the ingredients come together to form a ball. Place the ball in a floured surface and knead for about ten minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl and let it rise overnight in the fridge or for about 2 hr at room temperature (proofing in the fridge gives depth of flavor).

Once doubled, split the dough in half. Roll each ball into a rectangle about half an inch thick. Spread the hazelnuts and chocolate and roll the dough like a swiss roll. Starting on the longest side of the rectangle. Tuck the ends of the dough underneath the rest and place it in a loaf pan. Let it rise for an hour. Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle with more hazelnuts.

Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes rotating the pan half way through the baking time. The bread is done when it makes a hollow sound if thumped.

Raspberry buttermilk cake

It is raspberry season. Only for that reason, you should make this cake. But I'm gonna give you two more. First, it's delicious. Second, you can put it together in the blink of an eye.

Last weekend it was my friend E's birthday. He lives outside of town and I actually hadn't planned on seeing him on the birthday day. But him and B convinced me (it didn't take much) Saturday evening, that I should swing by on Sunday. Obviously, I could not go to see him on his birthday without a cake. But last weekend was mad hot and in this weather, cake frosting is not an option.

The best solution is a one pan fruity cake, no layers, no frosting and no ganaches. Sounds like a boring cake right? I promise it's not. Get yourself some fresh raspberries and some buttermilk and whip it up. Halve the recipe and you'll get a great cake for that afternoon coffee. 

Adapted from Gourmet via Smitten Kitchen

Printable recipe

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 stick of butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar*

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

6 oz (1 package) fresh raspberries

*I doubled Deb's recipe but I chose not to double the amount of sugar, it just seemed like too much to me.

Preheat oven to 400 F

Mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda. Set aside. In a bowl, cream together butter and sugar, add the vanilla extract and the eggs and mix until combined. At low speed, mix the dry mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Pour batter in a 9 inch round cake pan. 

Scatter the raspberries. Now, the raspberries that had the round part showing up, sank inside the cake. The ones that were placed upside down, with the O part showing up, stayed at the same place and so did the ones that i placed sided (because they were a little smashed). Knowing this, feel free to spread them as you wish. 

Bake for aproximately 30 min or until a cake tester or skewer comes out clean. 

 

Yay! featured in foodgawker again! http://foodgawker.com/post/2010/06/07/63011/

Avocado poppy seed pound cake

After seeing this, do I need to convince you that you should totally run to the store, buy an avocado and make this pound cake? That you should do it, right now? yeah, I didn't think so.

It's soft, moist and crunchy all at the same time. The outside is fluffier than sponge cake, the inside is gooey. The avocado and the buttermilk give it depth of flavor. And it's not only pretty and tasty, it's good for you!

Why? Let's talk avocados.

These guys are not only tasty but also healthy. They decrease bad cholesterol and increase the good one. And ladies, they promote skin and hair health. What are you waiting for, make this pound cake!

Quite easy if you ask me... you mash 3/4 of an avocado with a tiny bit of butter, add even less sugar, some flour and some lovely buttermilk. Because I love poppy seeds,  I added a couple tablespoons of them. The original recipe comes from Joy and she doesn't add them, so you can omit them if you want. Just make this! 

Yes, I'm aware you need the recipe...

Printable recipe

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
3/4 of an avocado (aproximately)

Note: I halved Joy's recipe and made some modifications, more buttermilk and half the sugar. It worked perfectly!

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar until fluffly and then mix in the avocado. The mixture will be creamy.
Add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Add alternatively, the dry mixture and the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry. Finally stir in the poppy seeds and combine with a spatula. Pour the batter in a loaf pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden and a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

These pound cake freezes and thaws perfectly and makes a great breakfast treat. Just freeze it cut and pop in the microwave for about 2 min before eating. Enjoy!

Accidentally healthy strawberry muffins

Life's some sort of huge irony sometimes. For real. Picture me 10 years ago. I was the kind of bookworm 

who'd get perfect grades in class. Except for gymnastics. That one I passed with a C.

I admit I didn't make any kind of effort to make my teacher like me just a hint. The guy was a misogynist, I was a rebellious teenager (sort of). And quite honestly, I didn't get the point of running when nobody's chasing you.

Now look at me... hitting the gym 4 times a week, just starting with my running program. (Nothing fancy, just trying to do some cardio). And more importantly, craving healthy food.

Don't get me wrong! I love chocolate, ice cream and gummy bears, but I must confess I find myself enjoying those 'healthy' things most of my friends run away from. Read 'cardboard' high fiber cereal, celery sticks and giant amounts of fruit. And of course, I'm a big fan of whole wheat.

My friend S is more of the opinion that if you make things healthy, they are for sure not gonna taste as good as if you smothered them in butter. These muffins though, might have made her change her mind.

I had 2 kg of strawberries in the fridge. No kidding, 2 kg bought for ridiculously 4$. And even in my fruit craving peak, there was no way I was gonna eat them all. So I made muffins. Half way through the process I realized I didn't have enough all purpose flour. Then the health accident happened, I added whole wheat flour to them. Oh yeah, and switched milk for buttermilk. And granulated sugar for brown.

And this happened...

I didn't tell S about the 'healthy' component until she'd eaten one of them. Her exact words were:  'wow, they don't taste healthy at all'. That's what I call: Score!

So whether  you are of the healthy kind or not, just make them! Enjoy that tangy taste of buttermilk and the fresh strawberry softness and forget about the fact that the might actually be good for you.

Fresh strawberry muffins

Printable recipe

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

2 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 F

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract and mix well. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Add flour mixture to butter mixture. Gently fold in strawberries. Spoon batter into muffin pans. Bake for about 20 min or until a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean. 

Best ever lemon poppy seed muffins

Put together lemon, poppy seeds and buttermilk. Bake it. Get muffin perfection. All in less than an hour and with only one bowl. What else can you ask for?

Remember that delicious apple walnut bread I made a couple weeks ago? I had some buttermilk left from the recipe and I was certainly not gonna throw it away. Thank goodness Joy had this recipe waiting for me. 

These muffins are soft and moist and tender and crunchy and perfect. The lemon flavor is not overpowering and the poppy seeds add that special something. And once more buttermilk proves to be the secret ingredient that brings this recipe together in greatness. 

Before I give you the recipe though... I have a little announcement! I've just decided to include printable recipes in each post so it's easier for you to print the recipe in a nice format without pictures. I hope you enjoy the new feature! I'll update old recipes with the printable recipe as soon as I can (the two  previous ones already have it).

 

Printable recipe

(adapted from Joy the Baker)

2/3 cup granulated sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Preheat your oven to 350 F

In a bowl beat together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, butter, sugar and lemon juice. Do not freak out! it will look kind of like it curdled but it's ok, it will come out just fine!

Stir in the flour, baking powder and baking soda and mix with a spatula until combined. Do not overmix. Fold in the poppy seeds.

Note: don't forget the baking soda! the combination of buttermilk (acidic) and baking soda, makes this muffins extra fluffy and tender.

Divide batter into muffin cups. (I used souffle cups, they sort of overflowed but that created nice muffin tops). Bake for about 30 min or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Healthy and delicious apple walnut bread

I know what you're thinking. If it's healthy it can't be delicious.

Well, you're wrong! This bread is seriously addictive. For real. I promise.

The healthy and tasty ingredients include whole wheat flour, apples and walnuts. Not bad right? But then there's the secret ingredient. And I won't tell you because it's a secret. Just kidding. What makes this bread extra special is the buttermilk. It gives it a little twist and a richer flavor and something that I just can't put in words.

So, seriously, I don't know how to make you understand that you have to make this. You just have to because it's quick and easy and delicious. You don't even need a mixer, so come on. Make it. Pretty please.

The apples give this bread its incredible moistness and tenderness. The trick is to grate parte of the apples and chop the rest. The grated part gets mixed into the dough and makes it soft. The diced pieces are the surprise you find when you bite into it. And then the walnuts. Some in the mix, so you get a crunch in each bite. Some on top for a pretty and tasty crust.

The recipes is adapted from one of my favorite bloggers,  Joy the Baker.

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup grated apples
1/2 cup coarsely chopped apples
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

 
Preheat the oven to 350 F
In a bowl, mix flours, cinnamon, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. In a separate bowl beat the eggs and stir in the buttermilk. Add the vanilla extract and the cooled butter. Mix well until the mixture looks homogeneous (the buttermilk is a little thick and you want to make sure everything's combined). Slowly, add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Fold in the grated and chopped apples and 1/2 cup of the walnuts. Don't overmix. Add the batter to a greased and floured loaf pan. Level it and spread the rest of the walnuts on top.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Let it cool completely before slicing. This bread is so moist it can last OK up to a week. I'm sure it won't last that long though.