Blueberry Crumb Cake

We just returned from an incredibly inspiring trip to Tanzania, which I will write about soon. In the meantime, please enjoy this delicious, perfect summer dessert. 

You may know that I am a HUGE lover of all things coffee-cake-y and streusel-y. Throw in some plump, sweet blueberries and I’m a happy girl. Make this for your next gathering or just as a treat for yourself. It couldn’t be easier to throw together and it keeps well.

Happy Summer Baking!

Blueberry Crumb Cake (Ina Garten)

Ingredients:

Streusel:

1/4 C granulated sugar

1/3 C light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 t ground cinnamon

1/8 t ground nutmeg

1/4 lb (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1-1/3 C all-purpose flour

Cake:

6 TB unsalted butter, room temp (3/4 stick)

3/4 C granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs, room temp

1 t pure vanilla extract

1/2 t grated lemon zest

2/3 C sour cream

1-1/4 C all-purpose flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t baking soda

1/2 t kosher salt

1 C fresh blueberries

Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling

Directions:

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9” round baking pan.

Streusel:

Combine granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

Cake:

Cream butter and sugar in bowl of electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment on high speed for 4-5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add eggs 1 at a time, then add vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers, crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with Confectioners’ sugar.

Print here.

Appetite Brings 4 Day Food Event to Red Bank (via Jersey Bites)

Strap on your seat belts Food Fanatics, The Count Basie Theater has got an exciting  4 Day event coming in September that you don’t want to miss (And we’ve got tickets to give away, Woo Hoo!!)APPETITE: A Gastronomic Experience™ features a different…

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The Celebrity Chef Experience at Home!

Sometimes when I watch one of the many cooking shows on TV, I think “if only I could have Chef (insert your favorite TV chef’s name here) whip up that meal for me at home!” Mainly I think this while watching Ina Garten cook fabulous meals at her gorgeous home in the Hamptons (Ina, if you’re reading this…)

Well, now having a celebrity chef in your kitchen is within reach. Chef Justin Antiorio, of Hell’s Kitchen season 10 fame, and a New Jersey native, has put together a program to bring his special blend of culinary talent and fun personality to private homes.  Chef Justin offers an exquisite four course culinary experience for dinner parties and special occasions. He will develop a menu to suit your event and taste, arrive for your event with all of the details you discussed in order and personally introduce each course to round out the experience.

From his education at the Institute of Culinary Education to working at such well known restaurants as Highlawn Pavillion and the 21 Club to working with star chefs Marcus Samuelsson, Gabriele Hamilton, and of course, Gordon Ramsay, has given him a well-rounded outlook on the food world. Chef Justin says his Hell’s Kitchen experience taught him a lot about working with different personalities (very useful in real life!). 

Asking him to describe his culinary style, Justin free associated:

·       Contemporary American

·       Fresh, local

·       Chef’s table

·       Customer enjoys being there

Definitely things I look for when dining in or out!

Chef Justin has provided his famous pretzel crusted crab cake recipe for our readers so you can try it out while thinking about inviting him to your home for a truly exciting and delicious culinary experience!

Visit his web site for more information.

RECIPE in a FLASH: Fresh Corn Salad

Here in the New Jersey/New York area, we are just hitting our stride with sweet local corn. We go to the Paterson Farmer’s Market almost every Saturday or Sunday to buy corn from upstate NY farmers. Then we grill it in the husk and savor it’s crisp, delicious flavor “a la natural.” Meaning, this corn is so good, it needs no enhancements.

When we have leftovers, we use it in a salad to accompany a main dish. Last week, we made Ina Garten’s “Fresh Corn Salad” and used it as a side for a wonderful Pork Milanese. 

The recipe directs you to boil the corn, but we always grill our corn because we love the nutty flavor grilling imparts.  I liked the fact that it also calls for fresh basil, which is abundant in our gardens this time of year.

It’s quick, easy, and delicious! Enjoy!

Ingredients

•   5 ears of corn, shucked

•   1/2 cup small-diced red onion (1 small onion)

•   3 tablespoons cider vinegar

•   3 tablespoons good olive oil

•   1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

•   1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

•   1/2 cup julienned fresh basil leaves

Directions

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the corn for 3 minutes until the starchiness is just gone. Drain and immerse it in ice water to stop the cooking and to set the color. When the corn is cool, cut the kernels off the cob, cutting close to the cob.

Toss the kernels in a large bowl with the red onions, vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Just before serving, toss in the fresh basil. Taste for seasonings and serve cold or at room temperature.

 Print recipe here!

A Cavalcade of Cakes!

I know I was delinquent in not posting last week so I will make it up to you this week by supplying not one, not two, but three fabulous cake recipes! By the way, because one cannot live by cake alone (so they tell me), right now I am happily munching on a BearNaked Grain-ola Bar. Have you tried these? My local Costco has the fruit & nut (raisins, cranberries, almonds, and pecans) variety; it's quite good and will tide me over until dinner.

Last Saturday/Sunday, I baked the luscious Lemon Yogurt Cake from Ina Garten and the delicious Dimply Plum Cake from Dorie Greenspan (two of my favorite bakers). I wasn't really planning on two cakes last weekend, but when I went to the farmer's market in Paterson (currently celebrating 75 years in operation - the surrounding areas taking advantage of "farm to table" years before it was trendy), one of the farmers had baskets of gorgeous purple plums and I just had to have them. And today, I made Nectarine Golden Cake from the September issue of Gourmet. These cakes were all very different but all wonderful (there are very few cakes I would not find wonderful).

The nectarine cake is cooling right now and a little later this evening, I'll be savoring it. Let me know what you're baking this weekend. Bake on, my friends!

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Barefoot Contessa at Home

1-1/2 C all-purpose flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 t kosher salt

1 C plain whole-milk yogurt

1-1/3 C sugar, divided

3 extra-large eggs

2 t grated lemon zest (2 lemons)

1/2 t pure vanilla extract

1/2 C vegetable oil

1/3 C freshly squeezed lemon juice

Glaze:

1 C confectioner's sugar

2 TB freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 8-1/2 x 4-1/4 x 2-1/2 loaf pan. Line bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 C sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk dry ingredients into the wet. With rubber spatula, fold vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in center of loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 C lemon juice and remaining 1/3 C sugar in small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine confectioner's sugar and lemon juice and pour over cake.

Dimply Plum Cake

Dorie Greenspan, Baking From My Home to Yours

1-1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

Scant 1/4 t ground cardamom (optional)

5 TB unsalted butter at room temp

3/4 C packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/3 C flavorless oil such as canola or safflower

Grated zest of 1 orange

1-1/2 t pure vanilla extract

8 purple or red plums (in the Fall, use Italian prune plums), halved and pitted

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 350. Butter an 8 inch square baking pan, dust the inside with flour, tape out the excess and put the pan on a baking sheet.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom, if you're using it, together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for one minute after each addition. On medium speed, beat in the oil, orange zest, and vanilla. The batter will look very light and smooth, almost satiny. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated.

Run a spatula around the bowl and under the batter, just to make sure there are no dry spots, then scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Arrange the plums cut side up in the batter - I usually make 4 rows of 4 plum halves each - jiggling the plums a tad just so they settle comfortably into the batter.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until the top is honey brown and puffed around the plums and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 15 minutes - during which time the plums' juice will return to the fruit - then run a knife around the sides of the pan and un-mold the cake. Invert and cool right side up.

Nectarine Golden Cake

Gourmet, September 2009

1 C all-purpose flour

2 t baking powder

Rounded 1/4 t salt

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

3/4 C plus 1/2 T sugar, divided

2 large eggs

1 t pure vanilla extract

1/8 t pure almond extract

2 nectarines, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges

1/2 t grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 with rack in middle. Lightly butter 9 inch springform pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat butter and 3/4 C sugar with electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in extracts. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just combined.

Spread batter evenly in pan, then scatter nectarines over top. Stir together nutmeg and remaining 1/2 T sugar and sprinkle over top. Bake until cake is golden-brown and top is firm but tender when lightly touched (cake will rise over fruit), 45-50 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove sides of pan and cool to warm.