Discovery

Central Florida may want for charm most days, but there are some things that make living here pretty cool.  

Like a space shuttle launch at sunset.  

And when its landing path is right over your house.

Boom!

Blueberry Cakes

Knowing a friend likes sour-cream-blueberry donuts from the local donut purveyor, I decided to do a variation on them for his birthday.  I modified a pound cake recipe into cupcakes, topped them with my usual buttercream, and arranged some white chocolate ribbons on top.

1 c. butter, softened

2 1/2 c. sugar

6 eggs, separated

1 c. sour cream (I use the light stuff, to maintain some pretense of healthfulness)

1/4 t. baking soda

3 c. flour

1 t. vanilla

1 t. almond extract (I omitted to make these nut-allergy-friendly, but would really like to try it next time)

2 c. blueberries (I use frozen)

Stir baking soda into sour cream in a small bowl.  In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar, add egg yolks, one at a time.  Beat until fluffy.  Add flour alternately with sour cream mixture, mix well.  Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form and fold into batter.  Add blueberries (if using frozen, keep them in the freezer until you add them or else you'll have blue batter - I mean, unless that's your thing.  In that case, blue it up!)

Heat oven to 350 degF.  Fill cupcake papers 75-80% full, and bake 35-40 minutes (yes, it's a long time).   Makes 24 full cupcakes and 2 4-inch round cakes, a huge yield.

As far as blueberry cakes go, I have another recipe I like a little better, but I wanted the effect of the sour cream in these cupcakes.  Here's that one, from a Junior League cookbook from my hometown:

1 1/2 c. butter, softened

1 1/2 c. sugar

4 eggs

1 t. vanilla

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

1 pint blueberries

powdered sugar

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, add vanilla.  Sift together baking powder and flour, add gradually to butter mixture.  Beat for a moment at high speed to make it fluffy.  Fold in blueberries.  Pour into greased and floured 9-inch springform pan, and bake 70 minutes.  Serve on a pool of blueberry sauce, with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Kitchen Konfessions

I've yet to find a pancake recipe that surpasses Bisquick.

There!  I said it.

I've munched pancakes all around the globe, and yet, I haven't found any that I like better than what I make at home with Bisquick.  Okay, truth be told, I do fancy it up a bit - I use the extra-fluffy recipe, with its triple-action acid-base chemistry1, to produce a magically voluminous cake.  And I fry them in a little more oil than most so they get a ring of crunchity goodness around the edge, a trick I picked up on an elementary-school-era sleepover with a friend.  And maybe a handful of pecans or some banana slices here and there.  But other pancakes are just anemic and blah.

Now those are pancakes!

1  3 NaHCO3 (s) + C6H8O7 (aq)  -->  3 CO2 (g) + 3 H2O (l) +  Na3C6H5O7 (aq)

and

NaHCO3 (s) + 2 Na2H2P2O7 (aq)  -->  2 CO2 (g) + H2O (l) + 2 Na2HPO4 (aq)

and probably a little

2 NaHCO3 (s)  -->  CO2 (g) + H2O (l) + Na2CO3 (aq)

Ah, Spring

We're on spring break, and we've had shockingly beautiful weather, real chamber-of-commerce kinds of days. And perhaps it's a bit ungrateful for me to say that I am not quite ready for summer. I'm reluctant to give up my wool and my turtlenecks, even though we have had a decent run of winter. But I'm not quite ready for the summer pattern just yet. That said, we've had a string of days lately that start out pleasantly cool but quickly climb into the 80s under clear skies.

A friend and I spent a lovely day out in town yesterday, at Leu Gardens for a portion of it. The garden admission is waived on Mondays before noon, so it was crowded with retirees, mothers with strollers, and an army of SLR-bearing photographers. Not that we weren't part of it...