Blueberry Lime Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Based on the success of my last cream cheese pound cake, I strengthened my resolve to make this one, a blueberry lime cake that I've had bookmarked forever. The cake is quite similar to the earlier one except that it is perfumed with delicate, floral lime zest and bursting with teeny blueberries.
The batter is thick and sturdy the way pound cake batter should be. You can see the baking powder in action almost as soon as the batter mixes. It bakes up easily in an hour, and after it cools, if you can wait that long, it gets drizzled with a simple lime glaze that roll down the cake in a zigzag pattern, gussying up cake that otherwise slightly resembles a giant blueberry doughnut. This is the kind of comforting rainy day cake that reminds you that just because it's November doesn't mean you can't eat likes it's still summer, which by the way, I'm sure it still is summer somewhere in the world.



Blueberry Lime Cream Cheese Pound Cake
makes 1 12-inch bundt cake
serves between 12 and 16th

for the cake:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon table salt
• 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
  
• 2 teaspoons grated lime zest
• 8-oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 2-1/2 cups room-temperature blueberries, washed and drained on paper towels

for the glaze:

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice, or more if needed

1. Position a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 12 cup bundt pan.
2. Make the cake: sift the flour, baking powder, salt, into a medium bowl. stir the sugar with the lime zest until zest is evenly dispersed and perfumes the sugar.
3. With a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese together until smooth, about 1 minute. add the lime sugar mixture an beat on medium until light and fluffy, 1-2 minutes. With the mixer sill running, add the whole eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. beat in the egg yolk. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Stop the mixer one last time to scrape the bowl and then beat at medium speed until the batter is smooth and light, about20 seconds. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
   
4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan,spreading it evenly with the spatula. Run a knife through the batter or tap the pan lightly to eliminate any air pockets. bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean, 50-55 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes and then invert onto the rack, remove the pan and let cool completely.
5. To glaze the cake: In a spouted measuring cup, whisk the icing sugar with the lime juice until smooth. the glaze should be thin enough to pour. If not, add more lime juice, 1 teaspoon at a time. Put a baking sheet under the rack to catch drips and drizzle the glaze over tops and sides of the cake. Let the glaze set fully before transferring to a cake plate and serving.

adapted from: Fine Cooking magazine

Cherry Almond Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This is officially my consummate pound cake. All the other pound cakes I've made pale in comparison. I shall write sonnets about this cake. This will be my afternoon tea-casual brunch- last minute dinner-party-everyday-cake. Everyone needs a cake like this in their arsenal.
Fact: Cream cheese makes everything delicious and this cake is no exception to this rule of life. The cream cheese in this recipe contributes a fine, even crumbed texture and a moist interior as well as a subtly tangy flavour that balances what would otherwise be all sweetness and no bite.
the almond extract contributes a subtle, well-rounded flavour that complements the inherent nuttiness of the cream cheese and underscores the sweetness of the dried cherries. You could leave the cherries out if you wanted....this is The Consummate Pound Cake and it doesn't rely on gimmicks, but hey, why not gild the lily with plump dried cherries that add chewy spots of brightness to a delectable cake. Add a dusting of powdered sugar, and you are ready for any occasion that requires an afternoon tea-casual brunch- last minute dinner-party-everyday-cake.


Cherry Almond Cream Cheese Pound Cake

makes one 10-inch Bundt cake

• 1/4 cup-1/2 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped, if desired
• 3 cups all-purpose or cake flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 5 large eggs
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

1. If desired plump cherries in 2 tablespoons kirsch or hot water for 20 minutes. (I skipped this step as my dried cherries were pretty soft already.)
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl. Whisk to blend and set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and cream cheese at medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar and beat at medium speed until well blended and light, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. Add the flour mixture at low speed, mixing just until blended. add the cherries (and any remaining liquid), and mix until blended. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
5. bake the cake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes.
6. Unmold the cake onto the rack and let cool completely.
7. Dust the cake lightly with confectioners sugar right before serving.
8. Store at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Adapted from: The Cake Book By Tish Boyle

Blueberry Pudding Cake with Cream Cheese Ice Cream

I came to study in the Maritimes about a year ago and one of the first things I learned was of the existence of the wild blueberry. I first tried them on a whim last year and have been waiting for them to come back into season ever since.

Despite being tiny, they have such an intense flavour compared to cultivated blueberries it is really amazing. My waiting was finally rewarded when I saw the first cartons of blueberries in the markets. I decided to splurge and bought myself a carton of the teeny fruits, with the intent of using them on a blueberry baking spree.

I was in an indulgent comfort food mood, since I just finished up some classes this summer, so I decided to make this blueberry pudding cake because I was intrigued by the concept and wanted a full on blueberry dessert. You could use cultivated blueberries for this recipe too but if you can get them wild blueberries are amazing in this recipe.

A blueberry pudding cake is similar to a lemon pudding cake in that there is a sauce layer on the bottom and a moist fluffy sponge cake layer on top. However Unlike its citrus (or chocolate!) compatriots, this cake does not owe it’s separation to the mixing method, rather you simply layer the ingredients in the pan so the sauce bubbles underneath while the cake bakes on top.

The first step to making this is to toss blueberries with sugar in a baking pan. This probably won’t be a problem with cultivated blueberries but if you use wilds you must take a bit of time to do some de-stemming. Picking the microscopic stems out of the tiny berries is a pain but so worth it in the end.

Next you make a lemon scented cake batter that is as smooth and satiny as a dog’s ear, and spread it over the berries in the pan, smoothing as you go. Then comes the strange part, boiling up a syrup of water sugar and lemon juice and then pouring it over the cake before baking. I was a bit trepidatious at this point but when the cake came out of the oven I breathed a sigh of relief. It came out perfectly.

Tender moist cake served warm with its own sauce, it’s easy and pure comfort food.

But I needed more!

I decided to make a cream cheese ice cream to go with my blueberry cake.

This cream cheese ice cream is so simple to make. It is whipped up in the blender and then churned in the ice cream machine. I think it is one of the better ice creams I have made lately. This ice cream tastes exactly like cheesecake, the texture is smooth, creamy and thick and it tastes slightly tangy because of the cream cheese. This ice cream complemented my pudding cake very well, when the tangy ice cream melts into the warm blueberry sauce, it tastes like a blueberry cheesecake.

I would definitely make both of these recipes over and over again.

This cake can be made ahead of time but it doesn’t keep too well, after more than a day, because the blueberries begin to get absorbed by the sponge cake. It is good either warm or cold but I prefer this cake warm.

The wild blueberries were tamed and they tasted good!

Blueberry Pudding Cake

Makes 8 servings

Time: 1-1/2 hours, including 50 minutes baking time

• 3 cups wild or cultivated blueberries
  
• 2/3 cup sugar, divided
• ¾ cup water
• ¼ cup lemon juice

Cake topping

• ½ cup butter
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• pinch salt
• ½ cup milk

1. In a greased 8-inch glass baking dish, toss blueberries with 1/3 cup of the sugar; set aside .(can be done ahead of time)
2. Make cake topping: In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in lemon zest and vanilla.
3. Ina separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with milk, making 3 additions of flour mixture and 2 of milk. Scrape over blueberries, smoothing top. Set aside.
4. In a small saucepan, bring water, lemon juice and remaining sugar to boil; pour over batter. Bake in centre of 350 degree F oven until bubbly around edges and cake is firm to touch, 50-55 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving. (Make ahead: Set aside for up to 8 hours; reheat if desired)

Adapted from: Canadian Living Magazine August 2008

Cream Cheese Ice Cream

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup heavy cream
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Combine cream cheese, milk, lemon juice, sugar and salt in a blender and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in cream and vanilla. Chill completely.
2. Freeze mixture inn ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden.
3. Let ice cream soften for 5 minutes before serving.

This ice cream can be made up to 1 week ahead.

From: The Gourmet Cookbook ed. Ruth Reichel

Snowy Coconut Cupcake Forests

I love coconut however it’s not something anyone else in my family really likes so I don’t often bake with it. But since I moved out, I enjoy getting the opportunity to be experimental in the kitchen. These cupcakes are actually my first time using coconut milk. I knew I was supposed to shake the can before opening up the coconut milk, but I was still slightly horrified to discover the thick layer of congealed coconut oil on the surface of the coconut milk, however a quick whisk brought everything back together.

Theses cupcakes are good! The raw batter was velvety smooth though flecked with the shreds of coconut. It was also liberally flavoured with vanilla and came together in under an hour.
The cupcakes took longer to bake than stated in the original instructions but they rose into perfect little domes and left my apartment fragrant with the aroma of coconut and vanilla. The original recipe also was supposed to make about 20 cupcakes, But my batch only yielded fourteen which was more than enough for me since I made relatively tall cupcakes.

The naked cupcakes were a nice pale yellow cake. I found them dense, yet moist, tender and fluffy, like the texture of a pound cake. The taste reminded me of those toasted coconut donuts you can sometimes get at coffee shops. But the coconut cream cheese frosting really made these cupcakes decadent.
This frosting was my second attempt at a cream cheese frosting, it was not too sweet, and offered a tangy complement to the sweetened toasted coconut.
Rather than pipe on the frosting, I spread it on and then dipped the cupcakes in lightly toasted coconut to create tasty off-white snowballs
And since these little cakes reminded me of a snowy landscape so they are completed with the addition of those plastic deer cupcake toppers, because forest creatures love cupcakes too.
I love how some of these photos resemble landscapes.


the recipe:

Coconut Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Dairy
Makes 14-20 cupcakes, depending on how full the muffin tins are.
Time: about 1-1/2 hours for the batter

Cupcakes
• ¾ cup butter
• 1-1/4 cups sugar
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ cup sweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place paper muffin liners in muffin pans.
2. Cream butter with sugar until light and fluffy, scraping sides of mixer to incorporate. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, mix together the coconut milk and the vanilla.
4. Add a third of the dry ingredient into the egg mixture, then half of the coconut milk mixture. Continue alternating wet and dry ingredients, ending with the dry. Stop mixing just as ingredients become incorporated. Do not overbeat.
5. Gently fold in shredded coconut. Scoop into cupcake liners, about 2/3 thirds full. Bake 18-22 minutes, rotating pan after first 15 minutes to ensure even baking. Cupcakes are done when tooth pick inserted in centre comes out clean and the cakes spring back when lightly pressed. Let the cupcakes cool for a minute or two in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 oz cream cheese
• ½ cup butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups icing sugar

Cream together cream cheese and butter. Add vanilla. Sift in the icing sugar, and beat to combine.

Assembly:

1. Spread a layer of cream cheese frosting on the cooled cupcakes and dipped into a bowl of toasted coconut.

Cupcake recipe from: Halifax Chronicle Herald Sept 17 2008
Cream cheese icing from: Canadian Home and Country Spring 2008