1:1 berry cobber

i'm officially moved, settled and trying to get my act together and start blogging again.

in hopes that you will forgive me for being away for so long i'm offering up this recipe that is a seemingly impossible combination of easy and delicious. seriously, you usually have to pick between one or the other, but this baby blows that theory right out of the water.

i've been doing my best to take advantage of all the berries that are coming into season right now by going to pick them myself. there's just something about coming home with red fingers and scraped ankles and pounds and pounds of berries. 

this recipe calls for 2 1/2 to 3 cups of berries, which is about the same amount of batter used, hence the 1:1 title. i used a combination of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and a handful of cherries. i just realized cherries might not technically be a berry? can anyone confirm or deny this? they do end in "erry", but i'm not convinced.

basically, you stick a few tablespoons on butter in the pan while your oven is preheating and let it get warm and melty. whip up the batter, stick in the berries, cover with pecans and brown sugar and you're done! seriously, how easy is that?

warning: when you take this pan out of the oven you will be tempted to dig right in. seriously, it smells that good. when i ran my knife around the edge of the pan and caught a rogue berry i thought it would be smart to pop it in my mouth. boy, i was wrong. molten hot berry lava, as it turns out, equals major mouth burning.

but, if you have the self control to ignore it and let it cool you will have a summery, seasonal and scrumptious dessert on your hands. i quickly threw together some whipped cream to dollop on top, it's the boyfriend's favorite, but you could easily use cool whip, ice cream, or just let the cake fly solo. 

to close, thank you for bearing with me during my brief hiatus. now that i'm settled i'm really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things blog-wise. i've missed you all!

1:1 berry cobbler

adapted from eating out loud

serves 9 

ingredients

2 tablespoons butter

3/4 cup all purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 to 3 cups chopped fruit

1/4 cup pecans (optional)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1. preheat oven to 375 degrees. add butter to 8x8 baking pan and place in oven during preheat. keep an eye on it and make sure to take it out once the butter is completely melted.

2. coarsely chop fruit and set aside.

3. in a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. add milk and continue to whisk until batter has no lumps.

4. in baking pan with melted butter, pour batter in but do not stir! the butter will pool around the sides and top - this is totally okay.

5. place berries evenly over batter and sprinkle with nuts and brown sugar. bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown and tests done.

nutritional information:

calories: 219, fat: 7.14g, cholesterol: 7mg, sodium: 133mg, carbs: 37g, fiber: 2.18g, sugars: 25g, protein: 2.84g.

as always, thank you for reading & happy baking!

amanda

guilt free lava cake for one

man, i always forget what a pain the moving process is. between spending twenty hours in the car last weekend (preliminary apartment hunting) and packing up everything i own (craigslist gets the rest!) i have barely had enough time to sleep, much less blog. 

to make up for my lengthly absence i come bearing lava cake. that's right, chocolate-y goodness that's a brownie on the outside and warm pudding on the inside. i don't even like pudding and i've already made this cake twice this week - it's that good. 

on top of all that, this is also a recipe for one - perfect for when the mood strikes you, but won't leave you with a baker's dozen on the kitchen counter tempting you.

this is a shockingly simple recipe for how elaborate the final product seems to be. you just need one small bowl for dry ingredients and another vessel of some kind for wet. 

i baked my cake in a 7 ounce ramekin, which is a fancy word for a small heat proof bowl. for as much as i use the ramekins i have - seriously, ice cream, microwaving anything and everything, sauce-making, snack-holding, etc. - they do not get nearly enough praise in my kitchen. if you don't have a set of these i highly recommend picking up one or fifteen. you can thank me later!

when you take your cake out of the oven you want the sides and top to be fairly set, but definitely not cooked through. i found that to take around 15 minutes in my oven, but in the name of honesty i will say the first time i made this it i left it in far too long (i got a brownie) and the second far too short (pudding soup). not that i minded eating either, but the goal is an even split between the two extremes.

though i know from personal experience how tempting it is to dig right into your lava cake while it's in a piping hot ramekin, it isn't a good idea. seriously, i think i no longer have a fingerprint on my ring finger. what you want to do is grab a larger plate or dish and invert your ramekin onto that. you will look and feel like a total professional, promise.

now, i give you permission to sit down with your very own lava cake and enjoy every last bite. and, in case you forgot, the beauty of a cake for one is that no one will be around to judge you as you lick the plate.


guilt free lava cake for one


yields 1 cake

ingredients:

2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 heaping tablespoon dutch-processed cocoa
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons skim milk
1 tablespoon non-fat yogurt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

directions:

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

3. mix milk, yogurt, and vanilla in separate bowl.

4. pour wet ingredients into bowl of dry ingredients and stir until combined.

5. grease a 7 ounce ramekin with cooking spray. pour batter into ramekin and bake for 12-16 minutes or until edges and top of cake are set.

6. let cake cool for 1 minute then invert onto larger plate or bowl. enjoy!


nutritional information:


calories: 171, fat: 1.24g, sodium: 185mg, carbs: 39g, fiber: 4.5g, sugars: 19g, protein: 5.72g.




thanks for reading & happy baking!


amanda

slimmed down zebra cake with chocolate frosting (a reader request!)

because one of my favorite parts of having this blog is getting to interact with all you out there in internet-land, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that when one of my readers emailed me asking for my help in slimming down a zebra cake i jumped at the chance.

this was my first time attempting this recipe and i think there is definitely room for improvement, especially in the stripes, but i will - as always! - share my mistakes with you so that only one of us has to make them. 

i cut this cake down from over 400 calories a slice to around 250 calories and i've gotta say, i'm pretty proud of myself. i substituted some of the vegetable oil for drained applesauce, which is a great ingredient to swap out for fats, and i made a few adjustments to the eggs and sugar quantities. 

the secret to putting the "zebra" in zebra cake is splitting the batter in half once it's completely mixed, which is way more convenient than making two batters. cocoa powder gets added to one while the other remains plain.

the rings are formed by dropping alternating dollops of chocolate and plain batter on top of each other. i did around two tablespoons per dollop, which i think led to my aesthetic downfall, and will definitely opt for a 1/4 cup size next time. i think it will make it look more like the animal print i so love and less like i'm trying to see how old a tree is.

so, my dear readers, you can totally stop here and have a delicious and gorgeous cake. maybe a light dusting of powdered sugar? something simple and elegant? 

or..you could go a different route. like i did. okay, let me rewind a bit. i was in the middle of basking in the pride of cutting the calories of this cake pretty much in half when i decided that frosting was in order. yup, gooey, decadent, dark chocolate frosting. so far from simple and elegant. i just couldn't help myself.

feel free to take either approach to this cake. you can use the excuse, like i did, that covering the top in frosting makes the cake more mysterious and alluring because you don't have any clue how beautiful the inside is until you cut into it. or you could be logical and enjoy 214 calories of marbled (or, in your case, probably more zebra-y) goodness.

skinny zebra cake

yields 12 slices

adapted from az cookbook

for the cake:

2 eggs

2 egg whites

3/4 cup granulated

1/3 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup drained applesauce

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 tablespoons cocoa (the darker, the better!)

1 cup low fat buttermilk

for the icing:

3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa
2-3 tablespoons skim milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease 9" pan with oil or parchment. (i used a springform pan and it worked perfectly!)

2. in the bowl of a stand mixer, combine eggs, egg whites, and sugar until creamy and light in color. add buttermilk, vanilla, oil, and applesauce and beat until blended.

3. in a separate bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder. gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until the batter is smooth and fully incorporated.

4. scoop 2 cups of batter into bowl used for dry ingredients and set aside. in mixer, sift cocoa into remaining plain batter and mix.

5. using two 1/4 cup measurers, one for each flavor batter, scoop alternating flavors into the center of the baking pan, one on top of the next. do not wait until the previous circle has spread and do not tilt the pan - the mixture will spread by itself! keep working until no batter is left.

6. bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean!

7. while cake is cooling place room temperature butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until smooth and soft. add 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and combine with butter. add cocoa and 1 tablespoon of milk and combine. add remaining powdered sugar and mix until creamy. add vanilla and combine. to adjust consistency of frosting, add milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time.

8. spread frosting evenly over cooled cake and chill in fridge until set.


nutritional information:


calories: 250, fat: 8.8g, cholesterol: 41mg, sodium: 156mg, carbs: 37g, fiber: 2g, sugars: 20g, protein: 5.13g. 

vegan almond-flax coffee cake

last week at work one of my coworkers snuck into my office and let me know that, no pressure, he wouldn't be upset if i whipped up some vegan goodies. well, with me it's ask and you shall receive, so i decided to figure out a coffee cake recipe that would be a crowd pleaser with vegans & non-vegans alike.

i'm generally a bargain hunter and rarely very brand loyal when it comes to staples like sugar or butter, but when it comes to vegan baking earth balance non-dairy margarine is really the best of the best. it creams and whips beautifully, which has been a problem with off-brands, and it's awesome for icings. the only other thing that i think is worth splurging on are extracts. i find that mccormick and generic brands leave an artificial aftertaste that is a little off-putting to me. moral of the story: be cheap when you need to be, but splurge on the good stuff when you can!

i used an 8" round for this little project but found that the pan was a little over-filled, so i would actually recommend a 9". if you have a springform grab that, it will definitely make removal much easier. also, don't forget to flour your pan!

the delicate almond flavor in this cake is well-balanced by the hearty and nutty flax meal. it isn't overly sweet, which is perfect for a cake served in the morning hours, but the crumble and drizzle do give it a little crunch and sweetness that really helps bring it all together and make it treat-worthy. 

vegan almond-flax coffee cake

yields 16 servings

ingredients

for the cake:

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon vinegar

3/4 cup vegan margarine 

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

3 tablespoons flax meal mixed with 6 tablespoons warm water

1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 cup cake flour

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

for the crumble:

1/4 cup almond meal

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon vegan margarine, melted

for the icing:

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 - 1 tablespoon almond milk

1. combine almond milk and vinegar in a small bowl & let curdle. combine flax meal and water in another small bowl and let soak.

2. preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.

3. lightly grease and flour a 9" round or square pan.

4. in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together margarine, sugar, and almond extract until light and fluffy. add flax meal paste and beat until smooth.

5. in a separate bowl whisk together salt, baking powder, and flours. 

6. alternate adding flour mixture and vinegar mixture to mixer bowl until well combined. pour batter in to prepared pan and knock on counter several times to remove any bubbles.

7. melt margarine in microwave safe bowl and add remaining ingredients. cut & mix with fork until there are even pebble-sized crumbles throughout.

8. spread crumbles over cake batter and pat down lightly. 

9. bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. let cool completely.

10. once cake is cool, stir together all icing ingredients and drizzle over cake. let set and dry.

nutritional information

calories: 258, fat: 10.25g, sodium: 184 mg, carbs: 39.5g, fiber: 1g, sugars: 25, protein: 2.34g.

thanks for reading & happy baking!

amanda