Sour Cream Chocolate Coffee Cake for Weekend Mornings

I’m having more time than usual with Boyfriend and I thought in case we’re going to be hiking, or running like mad men around the block, a burst of sugar in the morning could only help us in terms of energy.

This is were this coffee cake comes in. Not only does it have a full 12 oz of chocolate chips but it’s got over 2 cups of sugar in it (including the topping) and the hearty carbs in the cake part of the coffee cake will surly be a help when we’re out and about. At least that’s what I read happens to carbs and sugars when you’re active.

This is my first time experimenting with it in such a way. Usually, I go to my sofa and watch a good episode of  Buffy, The Vampire Slayer. Either way, I think I’ll be happy.

Onto to recipe, which was taken from The Cherry On Top blog. I followed the recipe completely because I’ve never been one to experiment with coffee cakes, and in fact have only made 3 total.

 

Cake

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, separated
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
• 3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon table salt

Filling and Topping

• 2 cups or 12 ounces semi- or bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan. If not nonstick coated, cover the bottom with a rectangle of parchment paper. Set pan aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together into a separate bowl. Alternately mix in sour cream and then dry ingredients into butter mixture until both are used up and the batter is smooth and very thick. In a medium bowl, beat eggs whites until stiff, then fold into batter.

In a small dish, whisk together sugar and cinnamon for filling and topping.

Spread half the cake batter in the bottom of prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of cinnamon-sugar mixture and 1 cup of chocolate chips. Dollop remaining cake batter over filling in spoonfuls. Use a rubber or offset spatula to gently spread it over the filling and smooth the top.

Sprinkle batter with remaining cinnamon-sugar and remaining chocolate chips. With the palm of your hand, ever-so-gently press the chocolate chips a bit into the batter. No need to submerge them, you just want to make sure they adhere bit.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, rotating halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

That’s not overcooked cake, I just overdid it on the cinnamon.

 

Blueberry Orange Muffins on Weekends

So it’s not the weekend. It’s 3 (or 4, depending on which part of the world you live in) days from it, actually. And I’ve been a lazy bum, eating, hanging out with friends, and swimming so sadly this post and delicious recipe didn’t make it to you in time.

Basically, these are the most amazing blueberry muffins I’ve had. I’m a little obsessed with blueberries lately (as if you hadn’t noticed), and I think all the latest muffin recipes I try are the #1 best. But I’m saving these in my “favorite recipes” folder in my laptop. That’s a big deal.

I think I only have 5 recipes in there. And only 1 other dessert.

the blurriness is due to my inability to stay patient

Lovely Muffins

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup rolled oats, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup blueberries
• Zest of 1 orange
• Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees F and lining a muffin pan with some liners.

Then go ahead and combine the dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients – butter, yogurt, egg and vanilla.

Combine the wet to dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula so you’re not overworking the dough. Overworked muffin dough gets really tough, and that’s not a lovely muffin at all!

Stir in the blueberries and orange zest. Fresh blueberries are always best because they can pop in the batter in the oven and create a lovely and juicy center. Scoop  into the muffin tray and sprinkle some raw sugar.

I find nothing more soothing than zesting citrus

…and nothing prettier than ripe blueberries

Place in oven for about 15 minutes. Mine took exactly 15 minutes, but up to 19 is OK depending on how hot your oven gets.

Roasted Poppers

I’ve been craving Jalepeno Poppers for a while now. Since I’ve started to eat better I haven’t had the heart to stop by Jack in the Box and get their’s for a month now. I usually ate them twice a month, or more (sadly), so I decided this weekend I had to get my fix. One way or the other.

The idea behind these is easy enough to come up with and grasp. I wanted stuffed jalepeno’s and I wanted a lot of cheese. The problem is that most recipes call for the cream cheese stuffing, which I detest, so I added my own stuffing with the proper cheeses.

• 5 jalepeno’s, sliced in half, and seeds removed
• 3-4 rings of your favorite dry salami, cubed into small pieces
• 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Line a jelly roll pan with aluminum foil. Place the chili halves in two rows, 5 each. Add the shredded pepper jack as a first layer. Then add 5 cubes or so to each chili on top of the cheese. Lastly, add the cheddar and try to pack it in so it doesn’t fall over the chili’s but rather is the top hat for the concoction.

Place in the oven for about 20 minutes until the cheese is golden and melted. Honestly, depending on the pepper’s heat it’ll either be spicy, deadly, or perfect. Enjoy.

Indian Roasted Potatoes

I was flipping through Nigella’s Kitchen, and I saw that  it’s been a good long while since I’ve made my favorites from her collection. I’m usually inspired by her recipes and while I’ve made her Indian Roasted Potatoes in their original state before, I’ve decided to take my own spin on her classic.

• 2 lbs yellow potatoes (washed and cut into cubes)
• 2 tbsp olive oils
• 2 tsp nigella seeds
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp curry powder
• salt
• half a garlic head
• 1 lime
• 1 medium leek

Line a 13 x 9 inch pan with foil, and preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Take a simple ziplock bag and add the oil and spices.

Add the potatoes to the bag. Close the bag and shake and roll it around to coat all of the potatoes in the aromatic mixture.  Dump the whole thing onto the roasting dish you’ve prepared along with the garlic (you can bruise the garlic, or leave it whole with skins intact, regardless,  it’ll be delicious), season with salt to taste, and place into the oven for about 50 minutes.

If you’ve never worked with leeks before, they’re the easiest way to get an onion flavor into the dish, with great green color, and no stinging juices in the air. First, you take off about 1/2 the white roots, leaving the rest of the white part in-tact.  Then you cut off the bulk of the green, tough, and dry bits. You should be left with about 4-5 inches of greenery. You take the first layer and chuck in the garbage.

Leeks are dirty because they grown in the ground, don’t worry, just have the faucet ready as you strip each layer down and rinse it at you go. Then you line them up and cut into 1/4 inch rings.

Place the leeks in a bowl with the juice of one lime and let marinade till the potatoes are ready.

When it’s time to take the potatoes out stir in the leeks and leave in oven with the temperature off for 10 minutes. Stir once more before serving!

 

 

For Dessert I made my lovely Blondies (also from Nigella’s Kitchen, and which I’ve already blogged about in previous months).

 

Obsessions

I think it’s sorta getting ridiculous, this obsession of mine.

I know I’m not the only one that thoroughly enjoys the kitchen, and somehow finds comfort in grocery shopping, but really, I spend half my time at home sitting in front of the internet looking up recipes and information that I can use in the kitchen.

Currently, I’m looking at making my own cheese without a cheese press. So far I have two recipes, Queso Blanco and Mozerella. Those recipes will be follow as soon as I try them out myself and see if I can tweak them any.