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Lemon Zest

Lemon, Ricotta & Thyme Mini-Loaves

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This month’s Cake Slice Bakers challenge is Lemon, Ricotta & Thyme Mini-Loaves from The New Way to Cake by Benjamina Ebuehi. I’ve always wanted to try thyme in a sweet recipe and this looks like the perfect recipe for it.

Lemon Thyme Mini Loaves

First problem: no fresh thyme in three grocery stores I went to. Plenty of oregano and dill, but no thyme. I was going to order it for curbside pick up from Central Market, but the first available pick up date was April 24 – a six day wait! Since my cake is due on the 20th, no fresh thyme for me.

Instead of a tablespoon of fresh thyme, I used a scant teaspoon of dried thyme rubbed between my palms to bring out that wonderful aroma. Thyme actually has a slight lemony scent and I couldn’t wait to try this combination.

Lemon Thyme Mini Loaves

This recipe for Lemon, Ricotta & Thyme Mini-Loaves makes 8 mini-loaves. Raise your hand if you have 8 mini-loaf pans. Right, that’s what I thought – me neither.

I ended up making them in little meatloaf mini-pans. They’re quite a bit larger than mini-loaf pans, so I only got 5 loaves out of the batter. That’s OK. They’re really cute and are a great size for giving as gifts.

They puffed up so nicely (2 teaspoons of baking powder will do that) and have such a soft, almost velvety texture. I used rather large lemons, so there was a lot of zest. The flavor, though, is really nice and lightly lemony.

Lemon Thyme Mini Loaves

The ricotta (over by the cream cheese in my store) gives these loaves that delicious, velvety texture. I love baking with ricotta because it’s so creamy and different.

Don’t be afraid of using thyme or any other savory herb in a sweet recipe. As long as you don’t go overboard with the herb, it can really add a great flavor. These would be fantastic even without the thyme.

Lemon Thyme Mini Loaves

I love the way Benjamina uses herbs, flowers, and spices in her recipes. They’re really different and delicious without having a couple of inches of buttercream on top. Her cookbook is quickly becoming one of my favorite cake books.

Lemon Thyme Mini Loaves

Lemon, Ricotta & Thyme Mini-Loaves

Yield: 8 mini-loaves
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

A lightly lemony little loaf with just the right amount of thyme to enhance the flavor.

Ingredients

  • 1 C granulated sugar
  • Zest of two lemons
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh thyme
  • 1/2 C sunflower or vegetable oil
  • 1 C ricotta
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • For the glaze:
  • 1 1/4 C powdered sugar
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • 8 fresh thyme springs (for garnish)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease eight mini-loaf pans and line each bottom with a strip of parchment paper.
  2. Place the sugar and zest into a large bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the zest into the sugar to release essential lemon oils. Stir in the chopped thyme.
  3. Add the oil, ricotta and eggs and whisk until smooth. Gently stir in the flour, baking powder and salt just until mixed.
  4. Divide the batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake for 27 to 30 minutes, or until the loaves are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Leave in the pans to cool for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Cool completely.
  5. For the glaze: Put powdered sugar to a medium bowl and add enough lemon juice to make a thick-but-pourable glaze. Spoon glaze onto the loaves, letting it drip over the edges. Top with a sprig of thyme if you'd like.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

If you can't find fresh thyme, use about 1 scant teaspoon of dried thyme, rubbed between your palms to bring out the aroma.

I didn't have sunflower or vegetable oil, so used canola.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 222Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 28mgSodium: 94mgCarbohydrates: 33gFiber: 1gSugar: 22gProtein: 4g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Benjamina Ebuehi (The New Way to Cake)
Category: Cakes
 
 

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The New Way To Cake by Benjamina Ebuehi. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th – never before – we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

 
 

It is a new year and a new book – The New Way To Cake – and our choices for April 2020 were ~

Carrot Cake with Masala Chai

 
Lemon, Ricotta and Thyme Mini-Loaves 

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

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Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Buh-bye strawberry season. The last batch of strawberries was indicative of the season coming to a close. They aren’t as sweet and had more white on the tops than the June and July strawberries. Don’t get me wrong; they’re still good, but not quite perfection.

So I have a bunch in the little plastic container that need to be used and I came across this old Pinterest pin for Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake from BakingWithBlondie.com. It looks scrumptious. (I don’t think I’ve ever used the word scrumptious before.)

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake is soft and delicious with chunks of those closing-season strawberries scattered all throughout. No fancy ingredients unless you call Greek yogurt fancy. The lemon zest and lemon juice add just the perfect amount of light citrus flavor – oh, and don’t forget the tart-sweet lemon drizzle.

The texture and taste are like a very light, fluffy pound cake.  For not having vanilla in it, it’s an awesome vanilla cake base.  I really like this cake.  Took it to work, set it in the break room, turned around and it was gone!

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Moist, soft and tender – this is a terrific strawberry cake.  A nice farewell to those summer strawberries.

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Yield: 10-12 slices
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Beautiful blonde cake sprinkled with sweet strawberries and topped with a zingy lemon drizzle.

Ingredients

  • 1 C (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • 1 3/4 C sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided (1 tbsp, and 2 tbsp)
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 1/2 C flour, divided (2 1/4 C, and 1/4 C)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 8 oz. Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)
  • 11-12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced
  • 1 C powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Spray and flour a 10" Bundt pan.
  2. In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (4-5 minutes on medium-high). Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and incorporate well. Add 1 tbsp of the lemon juice and mix for about 30 seconds.
  3. While the butter is mixing, in a medium bowl sift together 2 1/4 cups of the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture about 1 cup at a time, alternating with the Greek yogurt and ending with the flour. Mix just until blended (don't over mix). Remove the bowl from the mixer stand.
  4. Put the diced strawberries into a medium bowl and toss with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour until coated. Fold the strawberries into the batter until distributed throughout. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 60 to 70 minutes (checking at 60 minutes) until a toothpick comes out clean.
  5. Cool in the pan for about 20-25 minutes, then gently slide a knife around the sides and middle to loosen. Turn out onto a rack and cool completely.
  6. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the powdered sugar, whisking until smooth. Drizzle the mixture over the cake. Store, covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Have your lemon zested and juiced, and the strawberries diced before you begin the cake.

Don't skip the step where you sift the flour, soda and salt together (i.e., don't just dump them together in a bowl - use a sifter)

Be gentle with the batter.  It's light and fluffy and if you over mix it, the cake will end up tougher than it should be.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 378Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 178mgCarbohydrates: 85gFiber: 7gSugar: 55gProtein: 8g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Baking with Blondie
Category: Cakes

Blueberry Muffins (Cooking for Two)

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One of my favorite breakfasts is Blueberry Muffins. When I was in high school, my Mom worked, took care of us, got up early to get my Dad off to the early shift, then would make me breakfast before I went to school.

One day I told her to go back to bed and not worry about my breakfast – Carnation Instant Breakfast (remember that?) was good enough for me.

Every once in awhile, though, Mom would make blueberry muffins from scratch and leave them in a warm oven for my breakfast. That was a real treat and every morning I checked the oven just in case! I’ve never found a blueberry muffin I like as well as that one until these came along.

These Blueberry Muffins are light and barely sweet and the lemon zest adds a freshness along with the burst of fresh blueberry. There’s a little crunch from the lemon sugar sprinkled on top that really completes the muffin. They’re terrific.

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I made them twice because the first time I forgot to put my memory disk in the camera and didn’t realize it until I’d shot about fifteen pictures! Not to worry – I was ready and willing to make them again because they’re wonderful.

They’re as close to the perfect Blueberry Muffin as I’ve found in a long time. And, oh that lemon zest. I just might have to make them again tomorrow.

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Sugar Crunch

Yield: 4-5
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Inactive Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 42 minutes

Outstanding muffins. So easy to make and the lemon zest takes them over the top.

Ingredients

  • Topping:
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • Muffins
  • 3/4 C all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 C sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/4 C 2% milk
  • 1 large egg, , room temperature
  • 1/4 tsp finely grated lemon zest
  • 3 tbsp butter, , melted and slightly cooled
  • 1/2 C . fresh blueberries

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and prepare 4 to 5 cups in a muffin tin by spraying with Pam and then a light coating of flour.
  2. Stir the sugar and lemon zest together in a small cup and set aside.
  3. For the muffins, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, egg, and lemon zest together until smooth. Gently fold wet mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined (about 6 folding strokes). Fold in the melted butter and blueberries, gently.
  4. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle each with the lemon sugar. Bake until muffins are lightly browned or until a toothpick comes out clean, about 22-24 minutes, rotating the muffin tin halfway through baking.
  5. Let muffins cool in the tin on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin and let cool for another 5 minutes.

Notes

The original recipe called for either 1/4 C. whole milk or 1/4 C. low-fat plain yogurt. It worked perfectly with the 2% milk I had on hand, but use what you have.

When folding the butter and blueberries in, be very gentle for more tender muffins.

I made 4 muffins the first time and they were really big, so the second time I made 5 muffins and they came out more normally sized.

If you make 4 muffins, put an empty cup between the filled ones so they won't merge while baking!

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5 Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 292Total Fat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 63mgSodium: 335mgCarbohydrates: 42gFiber: 1gSugar: 22gProtein: 5g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© sblades
Category: Breads/Muffins