Blueberry Boy Bait - A Cake Wreck

Thinking I was being cute and clever, I wanted to whip up dessert for a date. He was making dinner, and I was going to bring the baked goods. All was going according to plan: the batter was poured into the pan, pan safely in the oven, and me cleaning up the kitchen. I sat down to finish up watching American Idol, when my mom noticed the smell of scorching sugar wafting in from the kitchen. I was horrified to find that I had accidentally bumped the oven up to 500 degrees while I was cleaning, a stark difference from the 325 degrees it is supposed to bake at.

Once I scraped/cut off all the burnt parts, it tasted like normal, but I'm not going to post the recipe until I can successfully make these again.

Blueberry Banana Snack Cakes

Vacation is just lovely, especially when you spend it baking in the sun. Until, of course, you realize you're 26 years old and still can't manage to apply enough sunscreen to avoid a wicked sunburn. God help my future offspring.

It's been a relaxing few days in Florida. It went from freezing to beautiful while I've been here. When I woke up this morning, I figured it was my day to bake because Nani Bird had cut out a recipe and left all the ingredients and utensils on the counter for me.

The cakes turned out really moist, and I think that they would also turn out really well as mini loaves. While I could not live without my KitchenAid stand mixer, I think that this recipe is probably best made with a hand mixer. While they look just like the blueberry muffins that Katie made, they really do taste more like banana bread with a dash of blueberry.

Blueberry Banana Snack Cake

1 1/4 cups sugar

2/3 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teapoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (thawed)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large mixing bowl, combine sugar, butter, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until creamy (1 to 2 minutes). Add bananas; continue beating until well mixed (1 minute). Add flour, baking soda and salt. Beat at low speed until moistened (1 to 2 minutes). By hand, stir in blueberries. Fill paper-lined cups about 3/4 full. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Blueberry Muffins

Classics are called classics for a reason. They are those go-to recipes that always come out just right, resulting in a baked good that can please just about every palette out there, from the pickiest to the most refined eaters.

My last baking attempt was vegan chocolate chip cookie sandwiches, as I tried to bake outside of the "classic" category. I went out and bought fancy ingredients (Xantham gum?) and spent hours concocting the dairyless baked goods, debuting them at my friend's Super Bowl party. Every time I watched someone take a bite, I could tell that they had to try very hard to chew and swallow the treats, forcing out an "Mmm, so good!" to make me feel good about myself. A little advice, friends: Next time, be honest with me. I am a big girl. I can take it. :o)

This week I decided to bake something I knew would taste perfect. These little blueberry muffins are perfect for a Sunday morning! Or a Sunday afternoon snack. Or a Sunday evening dessert. Or a Monday morning breakfast... Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

adapted from here

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or defrosted frozen
1 tbs. flour
3 tbs. sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper liner and grease rims with butter. I used silicone muffin cups, so no greasing was required.

Cream butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Sift dry ingredients and add alternately with yogurt. Mash 1/2 cup blueberries and mix into batter. Toss remaining blueberries with 1 tbs. flour and fold into batter by hand. Fill muffin cups to top. Sprinkle the top of the muffins with brown sugar before placing into oven. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes.