blueberry cornmeal butter cake (smitten kitchen)

My boyfriend's mom recently bought me the Smitten Kitchen cookbook by Deb Perelman that I've been eyeing at the bookstore. It was a graduation gift along with a Sur La Table gift card! So, almost immediately after getting the cookbook, I flipped through and decided to make something easily shareable that was meant to be cut into small-ish pieces.

The blueberry cornmeal butter cake was perfect, as it yielded 16 squares of cake and there's on average 10-15 people in my office on any given day. Plus, since it has blueberry and a crumble top (things I love to add in my baking,) I just couldn't resist.

Although the recipe called for a lot of ingredients, most I already had. The unusual ingredients were 1/3 cup of sour cream, 1/4 tsp lemon zest, and 2 cups of blueberries. I realize that some people probably don't have cornmeal lying around, but I like to make homemade pizza and put cornmeal down on the baking sheet, hence I have plenty of cornmeal!

Also, the great part of this recipe is that you don't have to chill the dough or set anything funky aside. I think it's great when you can turn on the oven, make the recipe, then start baking immediately.

This cake was pretty light, so I ate a piece for breakfast the morning after I made it. But it would also work great for a summertime dessert.

One day, I'd love to have my own cookbook or book of travel photos and stories or a memoir of the great love story that my boyfriend and I share. Therefore, I won't post the recipe, but instead encourage you to buy the Smitten Kitchen cookbook or rent it from the library and make photocopies. The recipe, so far as I could tell, wasn't on the Smitten Kitchen blog. This makes sense, because some people would never go get the book if the recipe was online. But I would because seriously, this book is beautiful!

It's really starting to feel like summer now that I'm baking so many more new recipes. Yay!

sunday night homemade pizza

Although I am a Chicagoan and deep dish pizza is always my pizza of choice, it's nice to relax at home and make homemade pizza. Sundays are a big day of baking in my house, so why not add some pizza dough to the mixings?

Around 4:00 pm, my boyfriend, James, and I started making pizza dough:

1.25-2 cups bread flour

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 envelope of instant dry yeast

1 tsp kosher salt

3/4 cup water, warm

2 tsp olive oil

1. Combine the yeast, sugar, and water and stir. Let sit for at least 10 minutes on a warm space (windowsill on a sunny day or on top of an oven on 200 degrees) while the yeast activates.

2. Combine bread floor, salt, and 1 tsp olive oil in the mixer bowl. Using the dough hook mixer attachment on your KitchenAid mixer, keep on speed 2, and mix. Slowly add the yeast mixture. Add a little bit of flour if your dough is too sticky. Add a little bit of water if dough it too dry.

3. Rub the other 1 tsp of olive oil around in a medium bowl. Put the dough into the bowl, knead out any air, then let sit for at least an hour. When the dough has doubled in size, it's ready to bake!

The pizza dough recipe above makes one 14 inch pizza. For 1 pizza, you will need:

1 ball of pizza dough

2-3 cups of crushed tomatoes (more if you like)

1 tbs oregano

1 pinch salt

1 large bag of mozzarella shredded cheese

Toppings optional:

1/4 onion, chopped fine

3/4 cup sausage cut into fourths

1. Optional: Sautée the onion in a fry pan in a little bit of olive oil- just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. After 3-4 minutes, add the sausage. Cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes.

2. Spread a little bit of cornmeal or olive oil onto the 14 inch baking sheet so that the pizza won't stick too much. Spread the pizza dough onto the baking sheet so that it is even all around.

3. Spread the crushed tomatoes evenly on top of the dough. Sprinkle oregano evenly on the tomato sauce. Spread 3/4 of the mozzarella cheese on top the sauce. 

4. Optional: Add the sausage and onion onto 1/2 of the pizza. Then sprinkle more cheese on top.

5. Cook at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

6. Let cool for at least 5 minutes before cutting the pizza. Then, enjoy!

I like to cut my pizza into big squares and enjoy it with a beer. I found it to be the perfect dinner to wrap up my weekend!

monday morning blueberry banana bread

Blueberry banana bread, cooling in the pan

I like to make banana bread once a week when my bananas are nice and ripe. There's not many people in my office who like to cook or bake, so I like to bring in a treat on Monday mornings that we can all enjoy. And of course, I always make a little extra for me and my boyfriend!

The recipe that I used was very easy, so long as you have a KitchenAid mixer! I found this particular recipe on allrecipes.com. Here it is:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 
  

• Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, cream the shortening and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Beat in bananas. Gradually add the dry ingredients, beating just until combined. Fold in blueberries.
  2. Pour into three greased 5-3/4-in. x 3-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

  
  

  The recipe said that it would make 3 loafs but I made one very full loaf and 4 medium sized muffins. The muffins I ate for breakfast with my boyfriend, James. And loaf came to work with me. Everyone loved it!

  
  

  

  Blueberry Banana Muffins

first batch of cookies and a photo shoot

Here's how the photo-shoot turned out!

My boyfriend, James, and I love chocolate chip cookies. I don't ever try anything fancy when it comes to these cookies because the recipe on the package always comes out perfectly. Here's the one I follow from the Trader Joe's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips bag:

Mr. Mixer at work

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup softened butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

1 package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine flour, salt and baking soda and set aside. Combine brown sugar, sugar, softened butter, and vanilla and beat until creamy. Add eggs and beat. Add dry ingredients and mix. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop mixture by rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets. Bake!

I cannot even explain how much easier baking is with Mr. Mixer! I cut down a lot of time and arm pain and it was just plain fun! Because my grandma bought me Mr. Mixer, I wanted to send her an extra special thank you note. So James and I set up a photo-shoot of me and Mr. Mixer using Instagram. Then we sent it the photo on a postcard, using Postagram, which is now on it's way to my grandma in Georgia!