Sweet & Simple Bake #2 - Vanilla Apple Cake.... Errr, I mean Vanilla Blueberry Cake :)

Alright folks, here it is - my attempt at this month's truly scrumtious Sweet & Simple Bake. This recipe is generally a simple recipe, but the end product is worth it's weight in gold! I am telling you, one bite of this thing and you are not going to want to share. I made some alterations to the recipe, some intentional, some not so much, but I will get to that later. Thanks ladies for another worthwhile experiment and I look forward to the next :)

Ingredients:

250g/9oz unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

250g/9oz golden caster sugar (or normal caster sugar)

4 eggs, beaten

250g/9oz self-raising flour

1 vanilla pod, split, seeds removed and reserved (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

3 small Bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into wedges (or any other type of cooking apple, if not apple of your choice)

2 tbsp Demerara sugar

¼ tsp ground cinnamon

*My ingredients:

1 cup + 2 tbsp butter

1 1/3 cup sugar

4 eggs, beaten

1 tbsp vanilla

2 1/3 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

...Reasons for changes:

more vanilla - just because I love vanilla and always add more than the recipe calls fore :)

extra flour - when I done my conversions I wrote down 2 full cups instead of just the 1 needed

milk - to offset the extra flour

blueberries - I didn't have any apples on hand, but had a load of fresh berries

more cinnamon - same as vanilla

Sorry for all the changes SSB, but desperate times call for desperate measure LOL

Steps:

-Heat the oven to 350°F.

-Spray 8-inch springform pan, then line the base with baking paper.

-Beat the sugar and butter together until the mixture turns pale and fluffy.

-Beat eggs with vanilla.

-To butter mixture add eggs, flour, baking powder, and milk. Beat together quickly to make a smooth batter.

-Pour into the prepared pan. (I had enougb batter left over to make 6 muffins as well).

-Sprinkle the berries on top of the batter, pressing in with the bottom of a measuring cup.

-Sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon over top.

-Bake for 1 hour 5 mins, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean and the sponge is risen and golden.

-Leave to cool for a few mins, then release the tin and cool the cake completely on a wire rack.

#15) Blueberry Cheese Coffee Cake

I know, I know.... You are all getting tired of my blueberry concoctions, but the berries are almost all used up, I promise. HaHa. This recipe came from The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook. The book was was a b-day gift from bf, and seeing as he is coming to visit tonight, I thought I would make a sweet treat from it. I chose this one because bf's two faves, besides me of course LOL, are cheesecake and blueberries. This coffee cake has a subtle layer of cream cheese infused with loads of blueberries in the middle, so I figured it was a safe bet. It was a little more labour-intensive than my lastest posts, but I figured he was worth the extra effort :).

The cake is made in three sepearate steps:

1. Crumb Topping

1 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used 3/4 tbsp)

1/3 cup butter, melted

-In a small bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Drizzle with butter and stir until moistened. Set aside.

2. Cream Cheese Filling

1 pkg (light) cream cheese (250 g)

1/4 sugar

1 egg

1tsp lemon rind (I used lemon juice)

-Beat together cream cheese and sugar. Beat in egg and lemon until smooth. Set aside.

3. Cake

1/3 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup (fat-free) sour cream

1 1/2 cups blueberries (I used a little more than 2 cups)

-Beat butter with sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla.

-In seperate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

-Add flour and sour cream to butter mixture alternately, beginning and ending with flour mixture. (flour, sour cream, flour, sour cream, flour) Mixture will be thick.

-Spread into greased 9-inch springform pan (I used 10-inch, hence the extra berries).

-Sprinkle half of berries on top. Cover gently with cream cheese mixture. Spinkle with remaining berries. Sprinkle evenly with crumb topping.

-Bake for 1 1/4 hours at 350°F. Let cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes.

#13) Banana Blueberry Bread

OMG! One week into my Education degree and I am already exhausted.... But I guess we wouldn't be good teachers in the end if our profs didn't make us work hard for it, right? That being said, my studies don't leave me much time for baking (*tear*), so when I whipped this delicious sweet treat together I done it as quickly as possible. But don't worry, the taste of this sweet bread will not tattle to anyone that you didn't slave away to make such a wonderful treat :)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar, separated

2 eggs, beaten

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup blueberries (fresh work best; frozen will change your baking time)

Steps:

-Preheat oven to 350°F.

-Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

-Beat butter and 1/2 cup brown sugar. Add eggs, mashed banana, and vanilla. Stir together.

-Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture. Stir junt until moitened. (Over-mixing will produce a dry bread)

-Spray loaf pan with non-stick spray oil.

-Add 1/4 batter to bottom of pan. Sprnkle 1/3 cup blueberries over top. Cover with another 1/4 of the batter. Repeat until berries and batter are gone. (It will be necessary to spread the batter, as it is quite thick. I used a butter knife and gently pulled on the batter layers to cover the berries. Easy enough!)

-Sprinkle the remaining brown sugar over top and place in pre-heated oven.

-Bake for approximately 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean.

#3) Perfect Pancakes

My blender is one counter-top appliance I simply can NOT live without. I immediately fell in love with how easy it makes life. I now have some recipes specifically written for blenders, but I have also adapted some of my faves to work with it as well. This recipe is a perfect example of one my "blender makeovers". A sweet treat for breakfast, who could ask for more? :)

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk (soy milk works fine)
4 tbsp melted butter (I used vegetable oil this time and it was fine)
1/2 tsp vanilla

*Add-ins - chocolate chips, lemon zest, pecans, sliced banana, let your imagination go wild! (From 1/4 - 1/2 cup, depending on taste)

Steps:

-Add flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt to blender. Pulse until mixed.
-Add eggs, milk, butter/oil, and vanilla to flour mixture. Pulse until combined.
-Add-ins. Pulse just until incorporated.