Elisa's Eye on the World

Busy Baking Bee

Yikes! I'm taking advantage of the cool July days and catching up on baking. Already done:

• Pizza Dough (1 used, 1 stowed)
• Pizza (gone already)
• Strawberry Muffins II (mostly stashed in freezer)
• Granola (stowed in air tight glass in the fridge, with a scoop)
• Blueberry Bread (sliced and stowed in fridge)

• Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for Sunday's bike ride/party

On deck baking and cooking projects:

• Burritos for dinner tonight
• Orzo salad with lots of our ready to eat peas
• Macaroni and cheese because it's all gone
• Caramalized onions, to have as a condiments

Fruit from the Freezer in February

While roasting vegetables for dinner last night, I pulled the ingredients for Blueberry Cake...with fruit I got at the farmer market and froze...it's February and time to make sure it's all gone before freezer burn sets in.

Here's an extreme close up of the finished cake which took the grey and cold out of the dark and stormy night.

Blueberry and Cherry Bread

Oh boy the house smells great, as the blueberry and cherry bread is minutes from doneness.

The berries were frozen in the summer and pulled out this morning. Perfect on a grey, wet and cold January morning.

Here it is cooling on the rack...unlike a deep loaf pan I'm going to let it cool "as is" as cut small cubes and put them in an air tight container. That way all the topping won't fall off!

This is one of my adaptations of the  Lemon Blueberry Bread in the well regarded "New Basics Cookbook."

Mollie's Pumpkin, Protein Powder 'n Chocolate Chip Bread

 
In Glass Bowl: eggs, pumpkin, canola, vanilla

In Big Bowl: flour, protein powder, sugar, baking powder, salt, semi-sweet chocolate chips

One of the keys to quick breads is thoroughly mixing the wet and dry ingredients before they are combined. This big wood spatula worked great; the dry stuff is more of a toss. Be careful not to be too enthusastic as ingredients will fly out of the bowl.

Variations are shown at the bottom. I almost always make the banana bread version, replacing vanilla for the almond extract.

The on line recipe is different from my first edition Sunlight with Menu. Most of the loaf is on the way to a trail work party with Hubs up north. I hope the gang (esp. Healin' L.) enjoys it!

Fresh Blueberry Cake with Crunchy Topping

  

Another box from the blueberry haul went into the making of this delicious quick bread. The crunchy topping is modified from the recipe: a bit of canola, some flour, a bit of sugar and some cinnamon.

 
The moment of truth with quick breads is getting them out of the pan. Success! Use your hands if it's flopping over and re-form it into a nice rectangular loaf while warm if necessary.

Original recipe from The New Basics Cookbook. I use canola instead of butter, usually forget the lemon zest because I am lazy, and modify the icky sweet and fatty topping using the same ingredients, same amount of flour but much less of everything else.

Double Batch of Blueberry Bread

Four cups of my own frozen blueberries from the farmer's market in August; a mixture of little and plump gems to mix into a double batch recipe of quick bread.

Wet ingredients in the big bowl: egg, canola, milk and sugar.  Dry ingredients mixed together in glass bowl: flour, salt, soda. Once everything is measured it really is a quick bread.

Topping of canola, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon was added to this traditional loaf and a rectangular shallow pan of batter.  Extra yummy on a damp January day with a glass of milk.

Blueberry Bread in November

This morning I pulled some plump blueberries from the freezer and made this "unusual" blueberry quick bread.

This recipe is usually baked in a tall loaf pan - but I decided to try it in a square shallow pan since frozen berries often result in a too doughy center. I also replaced 1/2 cup of flour with semolina flour to add more texture and flavor. The sugary topping suggested in the Silver Palate Cookbook was omitted - just because.

Double Batch of Carrot Muffins

Fresh from the oven, a double batch of Mollie Katzen "Carrot" muffins - although I substituted a mix of raisins and chopped pecans for the currants; and mixed OJ with fresh lemon juice so there was enough.

Blueberry Bread with Protein Powder

Instead of 2 cups all purpose flour, this loaf has 1 cup protein powder, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup bread flour, because that's what was on hand. The results were excellent with these "Jersey" blueberries.

Blueberry Bread with Small Berries

The first slice, the heel or baker's cut awaiting testing approval. The berries were from a small stand in front of Szmania's restaurant, an adjunct to the formal farmer's market. The berries are a small variety that reminds us of wild varieties from Maine. The recipe is from The Silver Palate's "New Basic" cookbook although I choose to lighten up the topping and omitted the lemon. The rest of the loaf was given a proper time for cooling before slicing and stowing

Blueberry Bread in February

The stash of frozen local blueberries is holding up, even after I made this tasty cake this morning. I left the loaf cool a good 15 minutes before removing from the pan. Frozen berries can be messy but these set nicely and the slices will be a nice mid-day treat. Now, I am caught up with my blogging:D.

Blueberry Bread Cross Section

A nice cross section of my Blueberry Tea Bread - modified from the Silver Palate recipe.

Banana Bread Cross Section

Fresh Banana Bread - a slice for tomorrow and the rest to the freezer; individually wrapped in waxed paper, and stowed in an airtight container. This loaf features protein powder and walnuts.

Blueberry Cake in November

I started my Thanksgiving weekend cooking with blueberry cake, drawing on berries frozen in the summer. If you have frozen berries let them defrost overnight in the fridge if time allows and add a few extra minutes baking time.

Blueberry, Banana, Walnut and Protein Powder Bread

There was 1 cup of smashed banana, and a cup of blueberries on hand. I combined them and essentially followed a Mollie Katzen recipe (where I exchange chopped walnuts for the chips, canola for butter and vanilla for almond extract).

D., sorry I did not make this during your visit!

Slicing Blueberry Cake for the Freezer

After baking quick breads with fresh fruit, I let them set in the refrigerator overnight before slicing for the freezer. Just like lasagna they firm nicely for easy wrapping in waxed paper and storage in freezer containers.

Oven Fresh Banana Bread

Over time, I've learned to removed the upper rack in the oven before baking quick bread. Also, let the loaf set before trying to remove it.

Banana Bread

I was never a fan of banana bread - but after discovering this Mollie Katzen recipe,  I was hooked -- and as she says, it freezes great.

Substitute the chocolate chips with equal amount of chopped walnuts to keep the slices more nutritional. Since I don't have almond extract, I just skip it- but always use real vanilla. Protein powder is available in the bulk bins of natural food stores- and well worth it. Also, following Mollie's advice, use canola in place of the butter to minimize the bad fat.

Tips: Since bananas very in size, it's sometimes hard to tell how many will be needed. Since in baking every measurement must be accurate, keep track by smashing them with a wooden spoon in a large glass bowl with measurements, like this one. Sometimes I mash them the night before, snap on the lid and bake in the morning if they are getting too ripe to sit on the counter.

If you enjoy baking, you might want to invested in a stoneware loaf pan. The loaf cooks more evenly and rises to the point where I take out the upper rack. Maybe that's the Rumford baking powder.

Don't hurry the cooling time so it comes out in one piece. Got Milk?