Jennifer. 20. Seattle. California. College Student. Airplane Enthusiast. Coffee Addict. Traveler. Baker. Indie Music.Throughout my tumblr, you will encounter the elements that represent me and what I love to do. Enjoy my eclectic mix of music, recipes, and pictures -- I hope there is something you can gain from my diverse range of interests and hobbies! Feel free to leave comments or email me at jennifermichele.patterson@gmail.com. I'd love to get to know you!
Je suis une fille.
4th of July Berry Cupcakes
My first attempt at decorative cupcake making was not an easy feat. My friend and I were so excited to try this recipe on Oprah’s website but ended up accidentally making our own version instead. Had we been able to locate a considerable amount of reasonably priced red and blue M&M’s and perhaps had a little more patience, we could have achieved similar results as shown on Oprah’s site. However, we all know that baking doesn’t always work out how we want it to and sometimes our end result may come out as quite an interesting surprise.
Ingredients
- 24 vanilla cupcakes , baked in silver foil liners
- 2 cans (16 ounces each) vanilla frosting
- Yellow food coloring
- 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 cup each red and blue candy (M&M’s, Jelly Belly)
Spoon the remaining light brown frosting into a ziplock bag, press out the excess air and seal. Snip a small (1/8-inch) corner from the bag. For the lattice crust, pipe 4 or 5 lines across the top of a cupcake, about 1/2 inch apart. Pipe 4 or 5 more lines, on the diagonal. Pipe a beaded edge around the top of the cupcake. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes and frosting.
Want to make your own frosting? Try our recipe.
Vanilla Cocoa Frosting:
3 c. confectioners’ sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
4-5 tbsp. milk*
Whole Wheat Blueberry Crumble Bars
Okay, so I’ve become a little obsessed with baking lately. It’s summer; the season of no homework and fresh, plentiful Costco fruit (which my household of three have no chance of ever finishing.) I’ve made good use of my time by looking up recipes on pinterest and food gawker and trying them out. However, I keep stumbling onto smitten kitchen’s food blog.. which has so far impressed me with fabulous, delicious dessert recipes. After indulging in a few too many sweets this week, I decided to make these sound and feel healthier by adding some whole grain flour to the mix. It turned out great and I recommend you try it out too!
Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (if you don’t have this, then 3 cups of APF will suffice)
1 cup cold unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest and juice of one lemon
4 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the butter and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, stir together the sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.
I have heard this this recipe will work if you half it. I know 4 cups of blueberries may sound like a lot, so half it and see if that is more manageable. Good luck trying to cut in egg in half though :)
I got this recipe from Smitten Kitchen.
Lemon Blueberry Yogurt (& Sour Cream) Loaf
For the longest time, I have been hesitant to try the lemon blueberry combo that has created quite the sensation lately. However, the pictures of lemon blueberry cupcakes, crumble bars, and loaves on pinterest finally convinced me that this was something I had to try. And boy, am I sure glad I did. While you may be used to hearing this recipe be referred to as simply “Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf”, I ended up using both an equal mixture of light sour cream and light plain yogurt because I was running low on yogurt! However, the cake was spectacular with the sour cream and yogurt hybrid and I suggest that the decision is entirely up to you :)
- 1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt OR 1/2 sour cream + 1/2 yogurt if you are in a desperate situation like me :)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed
- 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of one 9 x 5-inch loaf pans; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing loaf to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet.
- While the loaf is cooling, make the lemon syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir together the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside.
- Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops and sides of the warm loaf. Brush the top and sides of the loaf with the lemon syrup. Let the syrup soak into the cake and brush again. Let the cake cool completely. (I omitted this step because I thought my cake was already too moist and citrus-y, but I regret it. It was not citrus-y enough so next time I will be sure to include this.)
- To make the lemon glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of the lemon juice. The mixture should be thick but pourable. Add up to another tablespoon of lemon juice if the mixture is too stiff. Pour the lemon glaze over the top of each loaf and let it drip down the sides. Let the lemon glaze harden, about 15 minutes, before serving.
Recipe from Sweet Pea’s Kitchen
