Mixed Berry Coffee Cake

I'm not a huge dessert fan. Please don't hold it against me. I'd rather have another glass of wine or champagne than a cookie, but there are a few treats that lead me to make exceptions to that rule.  Like the chocolate bacon cheesecake I had this weekend (OMG!) or a killer chocolate banana bread pudding with homemade salted caramel ice cream.  

Or, this lovely mixed berry coffee cake that can be eaten for breakfast, brunch or dessert.  

I had it for all three...

I used my recipe for Blueberry Coffee Cake and tweaked it by adding a mixture of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.  I was going to put a layer of batter, a layer of fruit and then another layer of batter to make it pretty, but ended up just mixing it all up together in true Gourmess fashion.

You'll note the pink color of the batter didn't show once baked.  I made a quick topping of almond flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and butter and tossed it on top before baking for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

Warm out of the oven or cooled the next day, this was a really nice fall treat that made the most of the last batch of summer fruit in my freezer.

Yum!

xoxoxo

Summer Shortcake

I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate. 

--Julia Child

It was a beautiful weekend here on the East Coast and I had two big bowls of local, just-picked strawberries and blueberries that were begging to be turned into a lovely summer treat.


Chris's birthday is approaching (next week) and he usually prefers strawberry shortcake over birthday cake, so since we're going to be traveling for his birthday, I thought I'd take a lazy Sunday afternoon and start the celebrating a bit early. (Birthday celebrations always last a few weeks around here, anyway.) Besides, with cake in the house, every day is a day to celebrate!


In the past, I've made strawberry shortcake using a variety of recipes -- sometimes they come out more biscuit-like, other times, more like angel-food. For this one, I wanted to make the shortcake I grew up eating, so I asked my mom to email me the recipe for my grandmother's shortcake -- which, my dad thinks actually came from my great-grandmother, so that's about four generations of shortcake baking!



I was a bit confused at first--the recipe is referred to as a "Butter" cake, but there's no butter in the recipe, only oil. (Maybe the next time I make this, I will experiment and actually use butter instead and see how it turns out.) But, as I went through the easy steps and stirred the batter, I felt as if I my mom, my grandmother, "Mama," and  great-grandmother,"Granny," were all in the kitchen with me.  I could hear their voices and wondered how many times I ate this cake growing up without a second thought about its history. Neither Mama nor Granny are around to tell me now...

When the cake was finished baking and had cooled, I cut a piece into chunks, put them in a bowl, topped them whipped cream and the ripe, juicy berries (I could have just used strawberries, but it's almost July 4, so in went the blueberries, too), and then added a splash or two of milk so the cake would get nice and soggy...the way we always ate it growing up.

Chris was happy and I thought it tasted just like I remembered it.  One bite and I was nine years old again--sitting in the kitchen with grass-stained knees, eating shortcake with fresh-picked strawberries from the garden.  



Oh, to be a kid in the summer again...those days sure were sweet.

Mama's Plain Butter Cake

1/2 c. oil
3/4 c. sugar
2 1/4 cups flour (note: I used cake flour)
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2/3 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

To Do:

• Cream oil and sugar; blending thoroughly.  
• Mix the powders together in a separate bowl; beat the eggs and add to the powders. 
• Then add the sugar mixture alternately with the milk to the egg and flour mixture.
• Add the vanilla lastly.
• Bake in a buttered and floured baking dish for 25 min. at 375*

Happy Summer and Happy Birthday, Chris!

xoxoxo