British Madeira Loaf Cake...on your marks, get set, BAKE!

My husband is British (a Geordie) so we watch a lot of British TV, mostly comedies and crime dramas or murder mystery-type shows (stay away from Midsomer...deadliest place in all of fictional Britain!). His Geordie accent has faded through the years, but you can hear some awesome Geordie accents here, here, and here. I love the accent, wye aye, of course, but it's canny impossible to imitate! When he first moved to America, people had no idea he was from England and usually guessed Australia, which is funny to me because the Geordie accent sounds nothing like an Australian accent. But, I digress...

One of our favorite food-related shows (British or not) is The Great British Bake Off...on your marks, get set, BAKE! No Geordie accents there, but lots of fun bakes and kitchen mayhem in the tent. I decided that I might try to bake some of the recipes from the show as we watch each week (although I'm already a week behind in posting this!). In the first episode, one of the bakes was a Madeira loaf cake. I love anything with almonds and lemons, so I decided to try it.

I was planning to follow the Madeira loaf cake recipe from this BBC Good Food recipe, but I had to make some small changes because I had no all-purpose flour (how on earth did that happen?!) or self-rising flour that the recipe called for...so I had to create my own regular flour using cake flour and bread flour; then I had to make self-rising flour by adding baking powder, and salt. A poster in the comment section on this site recommended converting bread flour and cake flour to all-purpose by using 6.25% of the total weight bread flour to the rest cake flour, so that's what I did, and then had to add leavening ingredients to create self-rising flour. Way more complicated than if I had the correct flour, but a fun experiment in substitutions and the awesomeness of the internet.

In addition to the issues with the flour, I also doubled the recipe, so I could slice and freeze one loaf, used more zest, a bit more egg, and added a bit of muscovado brown sugar, so I am including my slightly altered recipe here. Go here for the original.

gorgeous loaf - light and tender

The recipe is interesting because it doesn't call for any liquid! Most cake recipes call for milk or sour cream to offset the dry ingredients. This one didn't though, so it was a very easy cake to make...no 'starting and ending with the dry ingredients' business. Sadly, neither of my loaves rose properly in the center and I didn't get the required open crackle dome top. I think this could be because of the changes I made to the recipe, all of the issues with making my own flour, or because I baked two loaves side by side and perhaps there wasn't enough airflow in the oven. However, even though it was lacking the signature crackle, the cake was delicious - a hint of the ground almonds and a hint of lemon. It reminded me of a light pound cake with a dense but really tender crumb. It would be a perfect addition for a tea party, or even to just make ahead, freeze and then thaw a slice or two for company. Twenty seconds in the microwave brings a slice back to life, warm and fresh.

Ingredients
375g cake flour

25g bread flour
3 3/4 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
(alternately, use 400g of self-rising flour instead of the 4 ingredients above)

100g ground almonds


350g butter, softened
350g (minus 1 T) caster sugar or superfine sugar
1 T muscovado brown sugar
6.5 eggs
zest from 3 small lemons
2t vanilla extract
a splash or two of milk, if needed

Method
Preheat the oven to 325º and prepare two loaf pans by greasing with softened butter. I also used a strip of parchment paper on the bottom of the pans. Set the pans aside.

mise en place - so simple!

Combine the first four dry ingredients (cake flour, bread flour, baking powder, salt) in a large bowl and mix thoroughly; add the ground almonds, mix well, and set aside.

Using the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream together the softened butter, caster sugar, and muscovado brown sugar. Beat for about 5 minutes until very pale in color and increased in volume (see picture).

but butter and sugars, pale and fluffy

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. This will add the volume to your cake.

adding the eggs and more mixing

look how pretty! Light, fluffy...

Next, add the lemon zest and the vanilla. I'm using my own homemade vanilla :)  When I've made vanilla more recently, I've added more pods to the bottles than in my original post that I linked to. It "cooks up" into vanilla much faster and has a more aromatic essence to it - I definitely recommend going in strong with the beans.

adding the vanilla and lemon zest

Next, mix the ground almonds and flour mixture together, then add slowly to the butter/sugar/egg mixture.

mixing the flours and ground almonds together

beating in the dry ingredients

The batter will be thick, but should be loose enough to drop off a spoon. If it's too thick, put the mixer on low speed and mix in a few splashes of whole milk until it thins out slightly.

Spoon half the batter (I weighed mine to try to get the loaves as equal as possible) into each of your loaf pans; smooth the top of the batter.

Bake at 325º for 25 minutes, rotate pans, bake for additional 30 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean. Rotating the pans (i.e. taking them out of the oven briefly) may also be a reason for the non-crackling tops...you could try to not rotate them and see if that improves the crackling situation.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then gently remove the loaves from the pans to a wire rack and cool completely. Slice and enjoy with a cuppa!

almost, nearly wanted to crack...so close, but nope!

a close-up of my non-cracked tops :(

the crust is a gorgeous golden brown color

and the inside has a light and tender crumb

yummy!

Bye for now...

Rose's Alpha Bakers: Black & Blueberry Pie

Another week (the 7th), another recipe from my bake-through adventure with Rose's Alpha Bakers. Up this week is the Black & Blueberry Pie, from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Baking Bible.

There is something about making pies that I love. I don't know if it's all of the different steps involved or the rolling out of the dough. Or maybe it's the fact that you can combine, basically, flour and butter and a little liquid, fill it with something yummy, and it's transformed in the oven. I guess I should keep making pies until I figure it out!

gorgeous...pies, pies, pies!

time for a slice

I ended up making more of a blue & blackberry pie (heavier on the blues) because 1) blackberries are super expensive in New England in the dead of winter, and 2) I had 4 cups of frozen blueberries leftover from a huge box of organic Maine wild blueberries that I got delivered with my Boston Organics service last summer. I had a wonderful summer full of blueberries and baked goods full of blueberries, including these amazing Blueberry Muffins with a Cinnamon Crumb Topping (recipe posted) which I made several times.

organic wild blueberries, a taste of Maine

Overall, the pie was very good, especially with vanilla ice cream. I've never made a cream cheese crust before, but it was delicious! It was super flaky and tender. As a whole pie, it looked gorgeous with my "berry" steam holes on the top crust and the little leaf cutouts. My pie filling, however, was way too liquidy! I'm glad I wasn't serving it at a party or it would have been a huge disappointment (although the taste was great, so hopefully no one would have minded). It barely held up taking it out of the pie plate.

I waited the instructed 2-hours before cutting into it, but am guessing that using mostly blueberries and/or frozen berries is probably what made it so liquidy. I probably should have cooked it longer but was worried the top was becoming too brown. The pie was also a bit on the sweet side, which again, is probably because I used more blueberries than blackberries. It would have been nice to have a recipe adjustment for all (or mostly) blueberries and for using frozen berries.

I'm going to pour out the liquidy juice, puree and strain it, and make some sort of cocktail with it...I bet it will be amazing! {update...} Yum, my first Black & Blueberry Pie Cocktail! I spooned some of the pie juices into one of my 1920s style champagne glasses, topped it up with prosecco and voila...deliciousness!

take a few tablespoons of black & blueberry pie juice and
a couple of blueberries, then add prosecco...

...and YUM! A sparkling, blueberry-flavored drink.

Here are my pie photos...

mise en place for the crust

I prefer to make pie crusts by hand so I used a bowl and the countertop.

First, the dry ingredients are whisked together. Next, the cream cheese is added and, using your fingertips (be sure they're covered in flour the whole time), it's incorporated until it's the size of coarse meal.

the different stages of the cream cheese incorporation

After the cream cheese was fully blended, I added the butter, then dumped everything onto the countertop. I used my pastry blender and bench scrapper to incorporate the butter until it was broken down into pea-sized pieces. During this part, I didn't use my hands or their heat would melt the butter which would ruin the flakiness of the final pie crust.

starting to cut the butter into the pastry

nearly there...

...that looks good!

The liquid ingredients - vodka (which I substituted for cider vinegar) and heavy cream - are drizzled over the dry ingredients.

adding the cream and vodka

Then I used my bench scrapper to "cut" the liquid ingredients into the dough. When it was starting to come together, I used my hands to quickly knead it all together (again, don't use your hands too much or the butter will melt).

cutting in the liquid ingredients

starting to knead it all together...nearly there

Finally done and the dough has completely come together. The dough is cut into two equal pieces (for the top and bottom crusts), placed between plastic wrap, then refrigerated so the dough can rest. At this point, I like to give it a little bit of a roll before putting in the fridge. I find it's easier to roll this way.

my top and bottom crusts

slightly rolled out, then popped into the fridge to rest

after it's rested and chilled, the dough is ready to roll

using the top piece of plastic wrap, I eased it into the pie plate

cleaned up the edges, then back into the fridge to chill while
I make the filling

mise en place for the pie filling

so juicy!
I might just eat these right now...no one would notice, right?

I love lemon zest! After mixing the dry ingredients,
the zest and then lemon juice are added.

even though it was only 15 degrees outside, it was a clear, sunny morning
when I made the pie. Here are the berries sitting in the sun.

the other ingredients were mixed together then the berries added...
stir gently!

the perfect amount of filling! Rose's recipes are always
perfect in this respect

I decorated the top crust with leaf cutouts, brushed with heavy cream and then sprinkled with sugar to give it some shine when baked.

ready to bake...so pretty :)

all done! Gorgeous. I think this is why I love pies -
so basic in parts, yet so amazing in sum.

the juices are bubbling through

here is a slice...a bit too juicy and the filling too "loose" for my liking

I had a bunch of dough scraps so I re-rolled the dough and made these little strips. The pink ones have the leftover juice from the berry mixture. The juice was so delicious! For the other ones, I brushed them with cream and sprinkled with sugar.

brushed with juice or cream and sprinkled with sugar

then baked...yum

a good shot of how flaky the pie crust was

Bye for now...

Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Crumb Topping

If it's the end of the summer in New England, then it's the season for Maine blueberries! Boston Organics - which delivers organic fruit and veggies to my door - was offering a 5-lb box of fresh, organic Maine blueberries...and of course I couldn't resist. I love blueberries. However...what was I to do with so many blueberries?

To start, I made the most delicious blueberry muffins with a cinnamon crumb topping!

just add coffee for a delicious breakfast

a light and tender crumb but bursting with flavor

I adapted my blueberry muffins recipe from this Food & Wine recipe. Their recipe seemed a little bland for me, so I added spices and some citrus zest...and the muffins were flavorful and with a very tender crumb.

The recipe has two parts: the cinnamon crumb topping and the muffins themselves. Both recipes are below.

Cinnamon Crumb Topping
1 c all-purpose flour
3 T light brown sugar
2 T granulated sugar
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t cinnamon
pinch salt
6 T unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl, mix well with a fork or small whisk. Add the melted butter and stir with a fork until the butter is mixed throughout and the topping forms small clumps. Set aside while you make the muffin batter.

mise en place for the cinnamon crumb topping

melted butter is added

and the topping is mixed until small clumps form

Blueberry Muffins
2 (to 2 1/2) c blueberries, rinsed and set aside to drain
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
2 1/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
pinch cardamom (cardamom is very strong, so I recommend only using a pinch or no more than 1/8 t or you'll taste it too strongly in the finished muffins)
2 T citrus zest (I used grapefruit because that happened to be the only citrus fruit I had. I'd recommend using lemon or orange zest.)
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 c canola oil
1/4 c (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted then added to the canola oil
3/4 c whole milk
1 t pure vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Line (or butter well, if not using liners) 18 muffin cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the white and brown sugars, and the citrus zest. Mix to combine. Add the eggs, and the canola oil and butter mixture. Mix well. Add in the milk and vanilla and whisk well (or use a rubber spatula) until everything is combined.

Add the dry ingredients to the sugar-egg-milk mixture and stir (use a large spoon) until just combined. Do NOT overmix and don't worry about the lumps (there will be lots of lumps...but seriously, don't worry at all). Overmixing will lead to tough and dense muffins. Finally, gently fold in the blueberries.

Using a large ice cream scooper or measuring cup, fill the 18 prepared cups. Fill each muffin cup to about 3/4 full; I used slightly more than 1/4 c of batter per muffin cup.

Spoon the cinnamon crumb topping evenly over the batter in each of the muffin cups. You don't want the topping to be in huge clumps, so break up the clumps with your fingers, if need be.

Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate your pans. Bake an additional 12-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with a few crumbs attached. Transfer the pans to a cooling rack for about 8 minutes. Then carefully remove each muffin and let cool completely on the cooling rack...although you may need to try one warm (just to be sure)!

The muffins are best the day they are made. However, I found that you can also freeze them in a plastic zipper baggie for about 1 week (that's as long as mine lasted!). Thaw overnight in the fridge and then let them return to room temperature before serving. Yum!

wow...5 lbs of blueberries!

hmmm...that is a LOT of berries! What was I thinking?

one of the changes I made to the original recipe was to use 1/2 canola oil and 1/2 butter

I also added some grapefruit zest

mixing the flour and spices

I added brown sugar for depth of flavor

and zest, which I thought would go well with blueberries

after the eggs and milk are added to the sugars, the dry ingredients are added
don't overmix the batter at this point!

...and don't mind the lumps! Look how lumpy my batter is. Trust me though, it won't matter.

fill with the batter and then add some of the crumb topping to each

golden brown fresh out of the oven...smells amazing

yippee...muffins for everyone!

Bye for now...