Sunday, July 24, 2005

Brown Sugar Pound Cake and Blueberry Bread


The following two recipes are excellent desserts, and very easy to make. The Brown Sugar Pound cake was originally on http://www.texascooking.com/ and provided to King Arthur's Baking Circle http://www.bakingcircle.com/ by bmwatl, an esteemed BC member. The Blueberry Cake was provided to King Arthur Baking Circle by C. Stevens.

Brown Sugar Pound Cake - Smooth and dense in texture, this cake has a wonderful caramel flavor.


Cake Ingredients

1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
5 large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour or sugar a 10-inch tube pan, a 12-cup Bundt pan, or two 9" x 5" bread pans. If using bread pans, divide evenly between the two.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

At medium speed with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars for 4 or 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy. With the mixer running at low speed, add the oil and beat until incorporated; then, beat in the eggs, one at a time(*). At low speed, add the flour mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat only until ingredients are blended; do not overbeat. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Pour into your prepared pan(s), and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Remove cake from oven and check doneness with a cake tester, metal skewer, or toothpick. If tester does not come out clean, bake for an additional 10 minutes, then test again. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and allow to cool completely. Frost with Brown Sugar Frosting or Brown Sugar Icing.

Brown Sugar Frosting

1 pound light brown sugar (16-ounce package
or about 2-1/4 cups plus 2 teaspoons
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 5-ounce can of evaporated milk
dash of salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Hint: When making a cake recipe that calls for several eggs to be added one at a time, break open all eggs in a separate bowl, slightly beat , then pour into the cake mixture a little at a time.
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Blueberry Bread (*** )


Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pint blueberries (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup chopped nuts of choice – optional
2 eggs -- beaten
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
3 tablespoons vegetable oil


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x5 loaf pan or three mini-pans (about 6 x 3).

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the blueberries, the lemon powder and nuts if you choose to use them. In a small bowl or large measuring cup, combine the eggs, milk and oil; add to dry ingredients and mix until moistened. Transfer mixture to prepared pan(s). Bake large loaf about 55 minutes, smaller loaves 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan 15 minutes; remove from pan and cool on a rack.

You can use dried blueberries pre-soaked in water for a while, but fresh blueberries are best

(***) This recipe has been slightly modified from the original recipe. The original recipe can be found at http://www.shaboomskitchen.com

2 comments:

Lori said...

Wow, that's an impressive mold, Bryan. What kind of pan did you use?

Bryan said...

It's from Williams-Sonoma