Raspberry Breakfast Cake

I'm a bit of a pinterest addict, I will admit. OK, maybe it's more like a full blown obsession.  But there are so many interesting things to find!  And I began to notice, as I meandered through, lots of photos of delicious looking blueberry cakes.  Like this one

blueberry breakfast cake 

 I began to dream of the cake, and what it would smell like baking, and how good and crumbly it would be, to have in the morning with a cup of nice tea.

But, even though the recipes I found were perfectly fine, I just had to tweak them and make something better. First I reduced the amount of sugar. You don't need that much, really! And instead of white flour, we are using wheat flour and almond meal.   And there's a secret ingredient: Trader Joe's meyer lemon curd (aka Food of the Gods).

Lemon Curd

Just for fun, today I'm making a Raspberry Breakfast Cake. Why? Because the grocery had some gorgeous red raspberries on sale, and they smelled divine!

raspberries

Ready? Let's get started!

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup raw sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbl lemon curd

Whip with a fork or whisk.

Add:
1/2 cup almond flour
1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder

Mix into the batter, alternating with
1/2 cup half & half

Stir in 2 cups of berries. (1 large or 2 small cartons works fine)

Pour into a greased and floured a 9" cake pan, and then sprinkle the top of the batter with more of the raw sugar and some sliced almonds (optional. Or dust the baked cooled cake with powdered sugar)
Bake at 350* for 40 minutes.

This recipe is also delicious with blueberries.  I think you could probably substitute any kind of berries or chopped apples or peaches or cherries....yum!  Keep it in the refrigerator, or freeze slices in ziplock bags. Perfect for a snack at work!

What are you making for breakfast?  Let me know if you try this recipe! I love comments :-D

Cherry Rolls Breakfast Recipe

Nothing beats the delicious warm smell of something scrumptious in the oven on a cold rainy day.
This wonderful breakfast treat is basically a biscuit dough, rolled around a fruit filling.  This recipe is modified from the Apple Roll recipe in my grandmother's old cookbook.

CHERRY ROLLS

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbl butter
3/4 cup half & half

1 pkg cream cheese, softened
24 oz jar of dark morello cherries
1/2 jar cherry preserves
1 tsp vanilla



Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together.  Rub in flour with a pastry cutter or fork. Stir in half & half.

Drain the cherries well, and mix with the preserves and vanilla.

Roll the dough out into a big rectangle. Spread the soft cream cheese on top.  Then evenly spread the fruit.  Roll up as best you can, and cut into 5 or 6 equal slices.  Place in a greased pie plate or deep cake pan.
Bake at 375* for 40 min. or until cooked in the middle and golden brown on the edges.

I used the morello cherries and cherry preserves from Trader Joe's, but you could substitute canned or frozen cherries, or cherry pie filling.





This recipe works equally well with chopped peaches and peach preserves, or apples with apple jelly.  I haven't tried it with blueberries yet, but I am guessing that would be yummy too.

I hope you try this recipe, and leave me a comment to say how it turned out! You won't need to worry about leftovers, but if you are cooking for one, these freeze well in individual plastic containers.  They make a great addition to your lunchbox. And the best part is that it's made with all natural ingredients.

Potato Leek soup on a dreary day

It's cloudy and cold and dreary here today, so I thought I would make a nice big pot of soup. I never use a recipe to cook  soup, but this is too good not to share.  So I'm writing it down for you as I go along.

Potato Leek Soup

1/2 stick butter
2 leeks
3 medium carrots
2 stalks celery
12 cups water
"better than bouillon" vegetable base
rosemary
sage
herbs de provence
12 cups diced potatoes

First prepare the leeks.  Cut off the very bottom, and a couple of inches from the tops.  Now remove the white part in one chunk, rinsing well, and dice into small cubes.  Start to peel the leek apart one layer at a time, discard the tough outer layer of greens.  Rinse thoroughly as you work, saving all of the lighter green parts.  Dice into small pieces.

Rinse and chop the carrots and celery.
Melt the butter in a large soup pot and add the chopped vegetables.
Cook over medium heat until the vegetables start to turn translucent and the flavors are well blended, about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the water, salt and pepper to taste, 2 spoons of the better than bouillon, 1 tsp dried sage leaves, 1 tsp herbs de provence, and 1 tsp dried rosemary (or a few sprigs of fresh rosemary if you have it).
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
Add the potatoes, bring back to a boil, then simmer 30 minutes more, or until potatoes are tender.

At this point, you can leave the soup as is and serve chunky style; or you can make a cream soup by blending  it with a hand held mixer, or in your blender.   Then stir in  a small carton of cream or half and half.  Reheat if necessary, but do not boil once the cream is added.  Serve with grated cheese.
Bon appetit!

This is where I party:
Delightful Order

Jam Cake Recipe

Jam Cake

I found this recipe in a falling apart old cookbook that belonged to my Grandma Haas.  What a wonderful book! Tattered and stained, missing it's cover...I don't know how old it is, but it comes from a simpler time.  No flashy, trendy recipes in here, these are the tried and true staples from a lost generation of frugal housewives.

 There are three recipes for Jam Cake, so it must have been quite popular in old timey Ohio.  I picked the simplest one.  The recipe calls for strawberry jam, but I used blackberry since that is what I had. I substituted butter for the shortening, and used raw sugar.

This cake is rich and scrumptious, spicy and fruity, and it makes your house smell like autumn is here to stay.
The other two recipes call for the addition of 1/2 cup each raisins and walnuts.  This cake definitely has enough character to support that, so I think I'll try it next time.
Cream cheese frosting is a must for this one!

Here is where I party:
At the Picket Fence

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