Blueberry Crumb Bars

So I'm actually in New York right now. Or, technically, as I'm writing this I'm back home, but yay for being able to write posts early and schedule it to post on the right date...haha. Anyway, my mom asked me to make something for her to bring into work for a work party, and I couldn't choose one thing so I chose two. This is the first of them (both of them are bars). It was really convenient to make blueberry crumb bars, because after Father's Day I had a big costco-sized container almost full of the remaining blueberries that JUST made 4 cups, and nobody in my family would finish that much before having to leave so I just used them for this recipe.
So I used fresh blueberries and grated my butter with a cheese grater haha. These were very beautiful bars--and they were also really good! I definitely want to make these again!

Blueberry Crumb Bars
Recipe from Jamie

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
zest of two lemons

4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
3 teaspoons cornstarch

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a 9×13 inch pan with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, salt, lemon zest and baking powder.

In a small bowl, whisk the egg and vanilla together until combined.

Use pastry cutter or your food processor (see not below for alternative method) to blend the flour mixture with the butter and egg/vanilla mixture. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan. In another bowl, stir together 1/2 sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Note: If you do not have a pastry cutter or a food processor, simply freeze your butter and use a box grated to grate the butter into the flour mixture. Use two forks or your fingers to fully incorporate.

Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup

I've never made pancakes before and was really scared to try it, but it turned out to be extremely easy. For Father's Day alongside the Raising Swirl Bread, I also made these pancakes that I found from Eat This Not That 2010 by David Zinczenko. I didn't try these pancakes but after making them, my parents told me (not only that they were good) but that this recipe was probably harder than a normal pancake recipe, and since this recipe was very easy, most other pancake recipes must be easy!

The syrup I made may have been a little wrong since I used fresh blueberries instead of frozen ones, but it still turned out well.

Pancakes with Blueberry SyrupRecipe from David Zinczenko's
Eat This Not That 2010
2 cups frozen wild blueberries
1 cup low fat cottage cheese or ricotta
1 cup Fage 0% yogurt
1 cup white whole wheat flour
½ cup water
¼ cup sugar
3 eggs
Juice of one lemon
½ tsp baking soda
Pinch of salt

Mix the blueberries, water, and sugar in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring often, for 10 minutes or until the blueberries begin to break apart.

Whisk together the yogurt, cottage cheese/ricotta, eggs, and lemon juice in a bowl. Mix the flour, baking soda, and salt in another bowl. Add the flour to the yogurt mixture and stir until just blended.

Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat. Coat with nonstick spray and add batter in large spoonfuls (about ¼ cup). Flip the pancakes when the tops begin to bubble, 3 to 5 minutes, and cook the second side until browned.
Serve with the warm blueberries.

Dorie Greenspan's Raisin Swirl Bread

For father's day this year I got to make another breakfast for my parents. I prepared pancakes with a blueberry syrup, store-bought breakfast sausages, and then made another yeast bread that I've been wanting to try out for a while.

For the bread recipe, I included the optional nutmeg, vanilla and cocoa. It turned out very delicious, and was really fun for me to make, but I probably could have done better (I didn't roll it up as tightly as I could have). I didn't really taste much of the chocolatey-cocoa flavor that others who have tried this recipe and included the cocoa have enjoyed. I tried the bread nearly at room temperature but still a little bit warm, and it was delicious!

Raisin Swirl Bread
Recipe from Dorie Greenspan's
Baking: From My Home to Yours
For the bread
1 packet active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar, plus a pinch
1 1/4 cups just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons or 60g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional)
Grated zest of 1/2 orange (optional)
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
3 3/4 to 4 cups all-purpose (plain) flour

For the swirl
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)
1 cup moist, plump raisins (dark or golden)
3 tablespoons (45 grams) unsalted butter, softened to a spreadable consistency

To make the bread
Put the yeast in a small bowl, toss in the pinch of sugar and stir in 1/4 cup of the warm milk. Let rest for 3 minutes, then stir - the yeast may not have dissolved completely and it may not have bubbled, but it should be soft.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the remaining 1 cup of milk, the butter and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and mix for a minute or two. Add the salt, egg and vanilla, if you are using it, as well as the zest and nutmeg, if you're using them, and mix for a minute. In all likelihood, the mixture will look unpleasantly curdly (it will look even worse when you add the yeast). Add the yeast mixture and beat on low-medium speed for 1 minute more.

Turn the mixer off and add 2 3/4 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed just until you work the flour into the liquids - you'll have a sticky mix. If you've got a dough hook, switch to it now. Add another 1 cup of flour, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the dough for a couple of minutes. If the dough does not come together and almost clean the sides of the bowl, add up to 1/4 cup more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Keep the mixer speed at medium and knead the dough for about 3 minutes, or until it is smooth and has a lovely buttery sheen. The dough will be very soft, much too soft to knead by hand.
Butter a large bowl, turn the dough into a bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Put the bowl in a warm place and let the dough rise until it is doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Scrape the dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap, wrap it and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm enough to be rolled easily. (At this point, you can instead refrigerate the dough overnight if that is more convenient).


To make the swirl and shape the loaf
Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and cocoa, if you're using it. Check that the raisins are nice and moist; if they're not, steam them for a minute, then dry them well.

Put the dough on a large work surface lightly dusted with flour, lightly dust the top of the dough and roll the dough into a rectangle about 12 x 18 inches.

Gently smear 2 tablespoons of the butter over the surface of the dough - this is most easily done with your fingers. Sprinkle over the sugar mixture and scatter over the raisins. Starting from a short side of the dough, roll the dough up jelly-roll fashion, making sure to roll the dough snugly. Fit the dough into the buttered pan, seam side down, and tuck the ends under the loaf.

Cover the pan loosely with wax paper and set in a warm place; let the dough rise until it comes just a little above the edges of the pan, about 45 minutes.

Getting ready to bake
When the dough has almost fully risen, centre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees Celsius). Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter, and brush the top of the loaf with the butter. Put the pan on the baking sheet and bake the bread for about 20 minutes. Cover loosely with a foil tent and bake for another 25 minutes or so, until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when the bottom of the pan is tapped. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes, then unmold. Invert the bread and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.

Red Velvet Cake

I've known my best friend, Kristin, since kindergarten. We have so much in common, one of them I'd say developed separately at the same time. While both of us were at our separate colleges we met up once during break and realized that both of us loved to collect recipes and so on, and that both of us followed baking blogs. So we've baked together a few times since.

This was one of those such times...our mutual friend Rachel had her birthday in April, and since we didn't get to celebrate with her and I know that Rachel LOVES red velvet cake, Kristin and I decided to get together and bake her a red velvet cake and surprise her with it. This is a great recipe, though I used 9-inch pans instead of 8-inch, and didn't completely let it cool before frosting it...so the cake kind of sunk in the middle. It's great being able to bake with Kristin and I look forward to doing it again soon! The cake, seriously, was delicious. I've tried red velvet only once before but hadn't thought it was anything special. This recipe is incredibly moist and the frosting is absolutely perfect. Kristin and I should definitely open up our own bakery when we're old and retired together haha.

Red Velvet Cake
Recipe from bakerella

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz. red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour two 8 inch cake pans.

Lightly stir eggs in a medium bowl with a wire whisk. Add remaining liquid ingredients and stir together with whisk until blended. Set aside.

Place all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl and stir together really good with another wire whisk.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix on medium-high for about a minute or until completely combined.

Pour into cake pans and then drop the pans on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

After about ten minutes, remove from pans and cool completely on a wire rack. I also cover in plastic wrap while the cakes cool.

Then make the frosting.



Cream Cheese Frosting
Recipe from bakerella

8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 cups confectioners’ sugar

Sift sugar and set aside.

Beat cream cheese and butter on high until creamy. Add vanilla.

Then, add the sugar in batches. Scrape down the sides in between each addition.

And frost away.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cookie Dough Frosting and a Failed Experiment

They look normal, right?
But look how much it sticks! And look at the holes in that cake!! The flavor was okay but it stuck completely to the wrapper and tasted like sponge cake. I guess I have a long way before I can start making recipes from scratch...but it might have been just because I overbaked it. I baked these cupcakes for 20 minutes, but I next time I'll try around 17 (with other changes to the recipe, and changes to the preparation like putting the jam closer to the top...and the sprinkles were okay as a failure-cupcake, but if I am gonna work on this longer, I don't want them!).

Surprisingly, after refridgerating these for a while and re-trying them, the wrapper came off completely...which was good, but the cake was a little too dense, so I probably DID overbake them.

Anyway, on to the main part of this post. I wanted to bake something for my mom to take to work, and I also wanted to try and find out exactly what made the Pinkabella Cookie-Dough Cupcakes the "best cupcake ever" (according to my brother). For the Chocolate Cupcake recipe, I used Ghiradelli's Grand Fudge Cake recipe again that I used for Steven's Panda Cake. For making it into cupcakes I baked them in a cupcake tin for 17 minutes. They came out soft but were definitely baked. That came out to about 18 cupcakes.



For the frosting, I didn't have as many mini chocolate chips as the recipe called for, and had to chop up a few larger ones.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Frosting
Recipe from jamieanne

1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mini chocolate chips

In a bowl mix together flour, baking soda and salt. In another bowl blend together the butter and sugars. Once fully blended, add the milk and vanilla. Then, gradually add the flour mixture to the wet mixture; stir well. Complete by folding in chocolate chips.


I didn't try them, but my brother said they were pretty good:
Still, nothing compared to Pinkabella's cupcakes:

I would definitely make sure I have lots of mini chocolate-chips on hand next time, or well, put about half a cup instead of a whole cup in there.