Tag: strawberry

Categories
Recipes

raspberry buttermilk cake

Oh, I love this cake. Discovered on Smitten Kitchen a while back, I’ve already made it several times this berry season. Deb calls it an everyday cake, and she’s right, it is the perfect cake for breakfast, for a BBQ, for a light dessert. And, it’s easy to throw together. I’d advise you to double the recipe and bake two if you plan to bring it somewhere—it’s so good you’ll want leftovers just for yourself when you get home.

Raspberry Buttermilk Cake, from Smitten Kitchen, originally adapted from Gourmet 
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries (or any other berry you please)

Preheat an oven to 400°F. Butter and flour an 8″ round pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixture, beat butter and 2/3 cup (146 grams) sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and zest. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk and mixing until just combined. Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Place the raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.

 

Bake until cake is golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Enjoy!

And a fabulous tip from Deb of Smitten Kitchen—if you don’t have buttermilk on hand, add 1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and let it sit for 10 minutes until it clabbers. Instant buttermilk!

-Emily

Categories
Recipes San Francisco

fresh strawberry milkshakes & other exciting news

First the milkshakes … we walked the dogs to the park on Saturday afternoon and after a brisk stroll on a sunny summer day, our friend-neighbor Nadr suggested strawberry milkshakes. (Side note: Can you believe that these three beasts all live on the same floor in tiny apartments and get along swimmingly?!?) Now, I’m not one to turn down a great idea like that and so we went back to my place and focused our efforts. I supplied the milk and food processor, Nadr supplied the strawberries and ice cream, Robin provided the charm (and Harry Potter audiobooks  – my new addiction).

Fresh Strawberry Milkshakes
1 pint fresh strawberries, stems removed
1 pint vanilla ice cream
2/3 cup milk

Combine strawberries, ice cream and milk in a blender or food processor. (A blender is probably a better choice, but none of us had a blender and milkshakes could not be denied so food processor it was). Give it a whirl, pour into glasses and enjoy! Tricky recipe, right? Fresh strawberries just make it!

And now for the exciting news … I am officially a published writer. It feels darn good! I wrote an article for GOOD Magazine about La Cocina and the wonderful work they do in San Francisco. You can read it and check out the photos here. I am so proud to see it “in print” and the piece has gotten a lot of social media buzz – great for La Cocina and great for me!

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

cream cheese pound cake, two ways

I made this cake for a dinner party we went to on Friday night. It was great and I decided to make it again for our mamas when they came down to celebrate Mother’s Day last Sunday.

A quick side note here: Jordan was an absolute champ both nights. Friday night he sweetly convinced me  – braving my baking righteousness – to bring the cake unbaked to Matt and Alexa’s to finish there. I had just assembled the ingredients and it was already 6:35 pm when I sheepishly admitted that the cake would need to bake for at least an hour. Good call Jordan! Sunday night he was also a dream. Jordan cooked an amazing dinner for 6 ladies, listened to them gab endlessly for hours and did all the dishes! I am a lucky, lucky girl!

Now onto the amazing cake! My new go-to pound cake (aside from the blood orange olive oil cake from a few weeks ago).

Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Strawberry Coulis or Passionfruit Glaze, adapted from Smitten Kitchen

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
4 oz  cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
zest of two lemons
3 large eggs
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 t salt

Preheat an oven to 325 degrees. Butter and flour a loaf pan (or butter a loaf pan and dust with granulated sugar- my preferred method borrowed from my friend Miykaelah).  

Beat the butter and cream cheese in a mixture until light and fluffy. Add the sugar and zest. Beat in the eggs one at a time until combined. Add the vanilla. Stir in the flour and salt until just combined. Pour into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan. If serving with strawberry coulis, you can serve the cake warm. If you plan to glaze the cake, let it cool to room temperature before glazing. 

Strawberry Coulis
1 cup fresh strawberries, stems removed
1/4 cup water
2 T sugar
1 T lemon juice 


In a blender or food processor, puree the berries, water, sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Strain though a fine mesh sieve and chill. Serve with several tablespoons poured over each slice of cake. 

Passionfruit Glaze
3 T passionfruit pulp
2/3 cup powdered sugar

We all know how much I love passionfruit. It is the most amazing tropical fruit I’ve ever eaten. I wrote a delightful piece about my love here. You can find passionfruit pulp in the freezer section of some latin markets. If you ever see one fresh, buy it (and immediately call me with the market coordinates)!

Whisk together the passionfruit pulp and powdered sugar until smooth. Pour over the cooled cake. Let sit at room temperature to harden. 

Passionfruit Sauce
1/4 cup passionfruit pulp
3 T simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water heated until the sugar dissolves)

Serve with several spoonfuls poured over each slice of passionfruit glazed cake for an extra passionfruity tartness. 

This cake is awesome with both fruit sauces. The strawberry is delightfully seasonal and fresh. The passionfruit is too good to describe, especially if your are as obsessed as I. Honestly, I’d recommend both. Maybe do half and half when you bake it at home. 

-Emily

 

 

Categories
Randomness San Francisco

our csa from eatwell farms …

… and the first strawberries of the season!!! I am so excited for the next few months of amazing spring and summer produce!

Aren’t they absolutely adorable! Don’t you just want to eat tons and tons of them!

And one other note: Our apologies for the lack of posts lately. We’re working on a few new projects and they’ve been consuming our culinary energy. Once the results are in, we will have some awesome insight for you guys!

Spring love to all of you!

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

strawberry lemonade sorbet

What do you do when life (aka my CSA fruit box at work) gives you lemons? Make lemon sorbet! What do you do when those lemons don’t yeild nearly enough juice to make sorbet? Steal a bag of frozen strawberries from your neighbor and make strawberry lemonade sorbet!

Strawberry Lemonade Sorbet
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 lb frozen strawberries, defrosted
zest of 4 lemons
8 lemons, juiced

Over low heat, heat sugar and water until the sugar is dissolved completely. Zest four of the lemons into a bowl. Juice the lemons into the same bowl. In a food processor, puree the strawberries until smooth. Add the strawberry puree to the lemon juice and zest. Add the simple syrup. Chill this mixture until cold.

Pour the strawberry lemonade mixture into your ice cream maker. Churn until it has a sorbet-y texture and lightens in color. Pour into a tupper and freeze until firm, or until you are ready to serve it. Garnish with mint.

I loved this sorbet! It was so summery and tart. Jordan would have preferred to cut its tartness with some vanilla ice cream, which isn’t a bad idea.

-Emily