Blueberry Tea Cake

I'm back with something sweet to offer my neglected friends.  I took a couple of weeks off to enjoy some summer!  We had lots of fun houseguests, people popping in and out, birthday parties and bonfires...ahhhh, 'twas fun indeed.  I made this cake twice during my time off!  It was so light and fresh tasting, perfect for a summer dessert or afternoon tea.  No one could resist a slice!  It's a simple, homey cake, moist and choc full of fresh blueberries.  It has a hint of lemon and it's slathered with a decadent cream cheese frosting.  Really delightful!

Blueberry Tea Cake
Origin: (slightly adapted) Bill Granger via Leite's Culinaria

Notes:  This cake comes from Aussie chef Bill Granger, who uses terms like "scant" (just short of the prescribed amount) and "heaping" (just a bit more than the prescribed amount), just go with it, his hazy measurements worked for me!  The recipe calls for superfine sugar (not icing sugar), you can easily make your own by placing granulated sugar in a food processor or blender and processing it until finely ground but not powdery.  This recipe yields an uncomplicated 9 x 13, single layer cake.  The cake kept well for at least 4 days, popping leftovers into the fridge when it wasn't being devoured. 

Ingredients:

Cake 

3/4 cup sour cream, heaping 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the baking dish 

1 1/2 cups superfine sugar, heaping

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

3 large eggs 

2 cups fresh blueberries 

3 cups all-purpose flour, scant 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Frosting  

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (1 block) 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

juice from 1/4 lemon 
16 ounces powdered/icing sugar (I used 4-5 cups, I just kept adding sugar until I got the frosting consistency that I wanted)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a  9 x 13 inch baking pan and line it with parchment paper, allowing the excess paper to hang over the edge of the pan.

Combine the sour cream and baking soda in a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes.  In a separate bowl whisk together the flour and baking powder, set aside.  Place the blueberries in a separate bowl and toss with a spoonful of the flour mixture, just to coat the berries.


In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and creamy.  Add the lemon zest and vanilla and beat until combined.  Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, then add the sour cream mixture and beat just until combined.

Add the remaining flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined.  Gently fold the flour-coated blueberries into the batter, being mindful not to overmix. 

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then carefully remove the cake to a wire rack to cool completely, either by using the parchment paper as handles or by inverting the cake onto a wire rack and then inverting it again.

When the cake is completely cool, frost with cream cheese frosting.  

To make the frosting, beat all of the ingredients except the sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually mix in the sugar and beat until smooth. Use immediately.

Bubbly & Pear Cupcakes

Happy New Year!  I really wanted to wish everyone a happy and healthy 2011, so I baked some cupcakes!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart for tuning in and seeing what's cooking here at Impeccable Taste.  I am having a such great time cooking and creating for this blog!  Now I realize most of you won't get to try my cupcakes, but having this recipe in your arsenal for future use is even better that eating one lousy (but delicious) cupcake.  I have been making these cupcakes for years and they are really divine.  They are a little different, which I love, and they are moist and yummy and so festive.  If you have a reason to celebrate, you have a reason to make these!

Bubbly & Pear Cupcakes
Origin: Yum Sugar

Notes:  You can use any type of sparkling white wine, Prosecco or Champagne for this recipe.  I've used all types over the years from super cheap bottles to more expensive ones as I did this time (because I'm bringing them to a New Year's party).  They always turn out super moist (even if you over bake them a bit like I did this time).  I usually make mini cupcakes with this recipe, but I've made regular sized cupcakes with good results too.  I altered the original icing recipe slightly to increase the quantity because I had over 75 mini cupcakes to frost.


Ingredients:

Cupcakes
2 3/4 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 firm but ripe pears, peeled, cored and grated (I used 5 really small pears, about 2 cups total grated)
1 cup champagne

Frosting
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened (1/2 cup butter)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar (sifted) (4-5 cups)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons champagne (4 tablespoons, just add a spoonful at a time until you get your desired consistency for frosting)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In mixer (or large bowl), cream butter and sugar until lightened and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, making sure each one is full incorporated before adding next.  Slowly add in flour mixture, 1/3 at a time, making sure it is fully incorporated but do not over mix.

Stir in vanilla and champagne.  Stir in pears.

Line a cupcake tin with cupcake liners.  Scoop an even amount of batter into each cup.  Fill to just below the top of the paper cups.

Bake for about 16 minutes (start checking at 12 minutes, the minis took 14 minutes).  They should be done when the cupcakes start to turn golden around the edges.  You can check them by inserting a toothpick into the middle of a cupcake and if it comes out clean with no goop attached, they're done.

Cool in the pan for 2 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

Makes 24 regular cupcakes or up to 96 mini cupcakes.

To make the frosting, beat cream cheese and butter together. Add vanilla, sifted powdered sugar and champagne and beat until smooth (add icing sugar and Champagne alternately to desired consistency).

When cupcakes are completely cooled, top with frosting. I also added edible silver dust this time for the occasion.

Pear and Cardamom Upside Down Cake

My girlfriends and I made this cake for an Indian themed, ladies only dinner party.  I am a major Indian food fan (and boy, did we feast well on dinner), however I have never been able to get into traditional Indian desserts.  Gulab Jamun anyone??  I just can't.  I do love Chai tea though, and it was on the menu.   I chose this cake as one of our dessert options because I thought the cardamom was reminiscent of those beautiful Indian flavours, it would go nicely with our Chai tea, and the fall pears were booming.  It's not a showstopper of a cake, it's kind of casual in a brown and mushy, snack cake sort of way.  But the flavour and light, fluffy, moist texture, more than compensates for it's lack of visual appeal. 

Pear and Cardamom Upside Down Cake

Origin, Mary Ellen Rae, LA Times 

Notes:  I've made this cake a few times, once without a stand mixer. With a wooden spoon, taking turns around the room, beating with some serious elbow grease, we got the butter nice and fluffy and the cake turned out great.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground cardamom (from about 6 to 8 pods) (I used pre-ground cardamom)
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature, divided
3/4 cup packed golden brown sugar
2 firm-ripe Anjou pears (I used Bartlett)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk, room temperature 

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Generously butter a 9 x 1 1/2 inch round cake pan.

Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together. Stir in the cardamom and set aside.

Melt 1/4 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir for 2 to 3 minutes, until the sugar has melted and combined with the butter. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan, spreading it to reach the sides.

Peel the pears, cut them in half and remove the core and stem. Cut each half into 1/4 inch thick slices. Arrange the pear slices in a slightly overlapping circle around the cake pan, starting at the outer rim. Finish with several slices in the center. Sprinkle the pears with the lemon juice. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

Beat the remaining 1/2 cup butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until soft and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl when needed. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat after each addition just until combined.

Gently spoon the cake batter on top of the pears, smoothing out to the edge of the pan and making sure the cake batter fills in around the pears.

Bake until the top is a deep golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Place the cake on a rack to cool for 5 minutes in the pan.

Run a small spatula or knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a cake plate, leaving the pan on the cake for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chocolate Bar Cheesecake

This weekend I had a fun task.  Prepare a romantic "motorbike" picnic for some friends.  The picnic items had to endure a motorcycle ride in a backpack. There were a couple of specific requests too, one of them...mini cheesecakes.  I was down with mini cheesecakes.  I didn't get any specifics with regards to toppings.  Fruit?  Chocolate?  So I decided I would make a classic cheesecake recipe and play around with the toppings, they were minis so I could do that.  I made 12 minis total (plenty for a picnic for 2).  I topped 6 of them with blueberry jam (warmed and strained smooth) and a couple of fresh blueberries.  The other 6 I decked out in chopped Mars Dark chocolate bars.  After the minis were set, I was left with a serious amount of batter and crust so I made an impromtu 8" leftover cheesecake.  Given the choice between fruit and chocolate for the topping...I chose chocolate, hands down.  I think it will be chocolate for me, always and forever.  This recipe made a perfect, true classic cheesecake.  Both the cake and the minis were insanely delicious.

Chocolate Bar Cheesecake
Origin: Adapted from this recipe


Notes:  The author of the original cheesecake recipe I used, provides many additional guidelines including using a water bath to bake the cheesecake.  Remember, I made 12 minis and a smaller version of the cake.  I baked both without the waterbath...the minis for 20 minutes and 45 minutes for the medium sized cake...it worked just fine.  Small cracks formed around the edges of the bigger cake just as it finished baking but it didn't bother me.  If I was serving this to guests I might arrange the chocolate bar topping into a pretty pattern or add some chocolate ganache to hide imperfections and add flair.  When working with the whole batch of crust and batter you will have enough graham crumbs to work up the sides of the pan for additional crust and the cake will be higher than pictured.  Visit this link for additional baking instructions.



Ingredients:

Crust
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup), melted
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cheesecake
4 8oz blocks cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Topping
3 cups chopped chocolate bar of your choice (I used 8 Mars Dark bars)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, very lightly grease or spray a 9" springform pan.  (Or you can make mini cheesecakes or play around with 12 minis and 1 smaller 8" cheesecake as I did.  Just adjust baking times, see notes above.)

Mix together crust ingredients and press the mixture into the bottom of the pan and 1 inch up the sides of the pan.  Bake for 7 minutes, cool completely on a wire rack.  Once cooled sprinkle 1 cup of chopped chocolate bar on top of the crust.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the sugar and cream until incorporated.  Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl, making sure each egg is incorporated before adding the next.  Add heavy cream and vanilla, mix until smooth.

Pour the batter over the prepared crust, (if making one large cheesecake, this is where you might want to consider checking this link for tips on a baking your cheesecake) bake for approximately 55 minutes (mine started to pull away from the sides of the pan and it cracked a little around the edges).  Place on a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place cooled cake in the fridge for at least 5 hours to set.  Let stand at room temperature for at least half an hour, top cake with remaining chocolate bar pieces, pressing into the cake slightly to adhere.  Serve cake at room temperature.