The Baking Itch

So yesterday morning one of the representatives that I work with brought with him some pumpkin bars that his wife had made and sent with him. As many know, I have been able to cut certain foods out of my lifestyle, sweets not being one of them. I have, though, been able to cut back on how much of them I eat! So while this post isn’t going to be about how I completely indulged on pumpkin bars, it will be about how I indulged on a different sweet.

Anyways, these pumpkin bars gave me the sudden urge to want to bake and there were two things I was looking to bake. It was either going to be a Blueberry Buckle Cake or it was going to be pumpkin bread. Now I am totally into fall right now, the Pumpkin Spice Latte’s, the smell of the cinnamon brooms walking into Fresh Market, and the jealousy of the cooler states where wearing scarves, and boots would not cause one to sweat profusely. But my husband and I did decide on the Blueberry Buckle cake from Two Peas and their Pod.

Now, I don’t bake often for the main reason that I CAN NOT trust myself with baked goods…it doesn’t work. It’s like telling yourself, I am going to Panera Bread for a soup and salad, and I will not look at their AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS pastry, bread, bagel set up. Yet once you walk through the doors, smell the glorious smell, you decide that you are just obligated to purchase a baked good, I mean bread is in the name of the restaurant folks, come on!

So I decided I was going to bake the cake yet I didn’t have any of the ingredients and I didn’t have the baking pan I needed. So what does a girl do when she needs something yet doesn’t have it – she goes shopping, and shopping on my lunch break I went. I went to Publix then popped over to Fresh Market where I also scored Pumpkin Spice Milk bottled in an old fashion milk jug…LOVE IT!

When I got off work and we had dinner, we got to cookin! I was in charge of the hand mixer (I am not in the awesomely cool baking realm enough to own a stand mixer…yet) and my husband was in charge of alternating the dry and wet ingredients and what is the outcome of two cooks in one small apartment kitchen…

THIS…

This was delicious. So good that I couldn’t and definitely didn’t wait 10 minutes to let it cool. Was it burning my tongue and mouth a little bit, yes, was it completely, and totally worth it, you’re darn right it was!

So, I will end the post with a huge thank you to Two Peas and their Pod for sharing this delicious recipe! I do want to mention though, I did make a slight change in the amount of butter used in the batter (I used 2 tbsps of butter, and 2 tbsps of unsweetened applesauce) and the type of flour for the batter (1 ½ cups all purpose, ½ whole-wheat). I was trying to make myself feel better…after all; we ate half the cake in about 5 minutes

Recipe from Two Peas and their Pod

Blueberry Buckle Cake

Yield: Serves 8-10

ingredients:

For the topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

For the batter: 2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan and set aside.

2. To make the topping: In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Rub in the butter using your finger tips until the mixture is crumbly. Set the topping aside.

3. To make the batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the egg and vanilla, mix until smooth. Alternately add the buttermilk and the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, ending with flour. Stir only enough to blend. Gently fold in the blueberries.

4. Pour the batter evenly into prepared cake pan. Sprinkle the topping over the batter and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the buckle cool for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides with a knife. Holding the cake pan in your left hand, gently tip the cake out onto your right hand, remove the pan, and gently place the cake onto a serving dish.

Recipe slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour