Tag Archives: sour cream

Bakery Miscellaneous

Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

Yesterday’s abundance of sour cream and several cups of frozen summer blueberries in the fridge and the freezer led me to this great recipe on the “allrecipes” web site. The cake did an on-point job in meeting my needs: enough to serve eight after eating two pieces after supper and saving a 3-slice hunk of it for breakfast the next day. I knew when I sliced the cake tonight that it would be even better the next day, after the streusel mixture set. Normally I don’t have any luck with streusel toppings but it helped that this streusel swirls into the middle and the top layers of batter. An overnight rest made for a fabulously chewable streusel cake with coffee yesterday

I used my stand mixture up to the point of folding in the berries. My berries were flash-frozen from the summer so I sprinkled them with a T. of flour before adding to the batter to prevent dreaded ‘purple stain batter’ syndrome! Other than that, make strictly as is. Don’t over bake; an hour and 2 minutes was perfect. I covered it lightly with a dish towel and inverted it onto my serving plate after 45 minutes.  The only thing to really watch, other than having everything in place before you begin, is to allow your butter to soften to just the right texture before beginning.  As soon as the cold is off of it is just right.

The powdered sugar goes on in a fine mist. Combined with the snowflakes on the serving plate and the powdered sugar, it almost felt winterish in the kitchen on blueberry streusel day. It’s definitely worth a trip to your freezer to see if you have summer berries lurking there!

Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1-5/8 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9-inch Bundt pan.

In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the batter just until blended. Fold in blueberries.

Spoon half of the batter into the prepared pan. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle half of this mixture over the batter in the pan. Spoon remaining batter over the top, and then sprinkle the remaining pecan mixture over. Use a knife or thin spatula to swirl the streusel layers into the cake.

Bake for 55 to 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted into the crown of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Invert onto a serving plate, and tap firmly to remove from the pan. Dust with confectioners’ sugar just before serving.

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Recipes - Breads & Biscuits

Sour Cream Cranberry Biscuits

These biscuits have been food whispering to me since I saw the post on my sister’s Facebook page months ago, and this afternoon, waiting on the snow fall, seemed a perfect day for biscuit baking. Nothing seems as comforting as mixing up a batch of biscuits and inhaling that warming aroma when it’s freezing outside; to me that spells winter baking at its best.

With crunchy tops and edges and a soft inside these are great “as is” or they would make fine appetizers using a smaller biscuit cutter.  I used my 2-1/2″ cutter today as I plan to slice them for supper for stuffing with pieces of fried country ham.  Sour cream and honey give them their softness and orange zest and cranberries a fruity tang.  Fresh cranberries weren’t an option today so I used dried and found they added just enough chewiness to balance the otherwise soft texture.  Do brush their tops with melted butter when they are still warm from the oven.

The dough is soft and sticky so flour your counter, your hands, and your rolling pin.  I cut the butter in with my fingers until it was well incorporated with the dry ingredients.  The dough doesn’t require much kneading before rolling out but you will have to dust it with flour several times until it becomes smooth and elastic.  18 minutes at 425 was just right for browned tops and bottoms. Still no snow fall but we DO have biscuits!

Sour Cream & Cranberry Biscuits

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 teaspoons orange zest
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup honey
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh cranberries

Directions Preheat oven to 425. In medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Cut in the butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add orange zest, buttermilk, honey and sour cream. Sir well with wooden spoon to blend. Fold in the cranberries. Turn out onto a well-floured surface and add enough flour to enable kneading the dough then roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with 2” biscuit cutter and place on sprayed baking sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes until nicely browned. Brush biscuit tops with melted butter. Yield: 14 biscuits.

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Recipes - Appetizers

Caramelized Onion Spinach Dip

Caramelized Onion Spinach Dip 2

My plan was to not cook today, and I almost didn’t, but, I was thinking about dips and appetizers for setting out at Super Bowl Viewing 2015 on Sunday afternoon, (NOT at my house because there is no television in my house and football is something I really don’t get).  Knowing many folks will be watching the game gave me the idea to hunt up recipes for some dips and appetizers for considering  in the next few days.  I have no complaints at all with today’s Caramelized Onion Spinach Dip so things were just a little cooking and a lot okay!

The dip is a winner if you are desirous of a little ‘away from the stove’ time as you need only to give 10-12 minutes to caramelizing the onions and the cooking is done!  Do use your cast iron skillet, and be vigilant so you don’t burn them; you want them soft and golden brown, not burned!  And use a large wooden spoon to stir and scrape up the browned bits stuck to the skillet and mix those in with the onions for they are the sweet bite in this recipe. The sour cream provides the dip’s smoothness and the vinegar just a desirable hint of tang.  When the football fans in your kitchen taste the onions’ sweet pop of burnt sugar released through their caramelization, those fans will be cheering more than just the game!  Win-Win!

Thaw your spinach well before beginning, then caramelize the onions, and prepare your veggies only when you are ready to serve.  With almost 3 cups of dip, you will get mileage out of this for a party with several people, as an appetizer.  I did enjoy some of this with vegetables and crackers when I first prepared it, at lunch, but liked it much more this evening with my supper.  It is definitely a “day ahead dish’ and perfect for having one more thing checked off your list. Cover tightly, sit in the fridge overnight, allowing the flavors to mellow and marry and the dip itself to thicken.  When you are ready for serving, arrange your veggies and crackers, and the game is ON, baby!

 

Caramelized Onion Spinach Dip

Ingredients

3 T. olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
Sea salt and black pepper
1- 16 oz. container sour cream
1-10 oz. pkg. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess liquid
1 T. white wine vinegar
Prepared raw vegetables or toasted crackers, for serving

Directions

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring often, until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl and let cool 15 minutes. Add the sour cream, spinach, vinegar, ¾ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper to the onions and mix to combine. Serve with the vegetables and crackers.

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