Lemon and buttermilk bars

Guess what I just did? For the first time in weeks, maybe even months, I sat down and made a proper shopping list for our weekly grocery shopping trip tomorrow. Back in the day when I was eating healthily, I only went to the grocery store once a week. I planned the meals for every day of the weak and on Friday evening after work I headed off to tick off all those things on my shopping list. And then carried a huge backpack and two bags full of food the whole 40 minute walk home. That experience has made me appreciate having a personal chauffeur and grocery carrier with me on my shopping trips these days. Makes things much easier. Said person also wants to pick out the biggest chicken to roast, and the biggest carrots and parsnips to go with the roast. Guys are so funny sometimes.

But more importantly, creating a shopping list means life is starting to get back into the routines I love so much. I know I'm a really boring person, but I need stability in my life. And even though all the changes in my life have been really positive, I have noticed I have been incredibly stressed about it all. But now life slowly seems to settle down. The biggest things that have made me nervous are all behind. The new job is not a complete disaster. I'm still adapting and learning so much new things each day, and it's tough, but for the most part I enjoy it very much. And the whole thing with the new house has again moved a nudge in the right direction. I'm starting to adapt to living in a mancave, and have learned to accept that there is no way I will be able to clean this house to the standard I would like. But living here will only be temporary. Trying to find a way around and between all the boxes is getting more tolerable as there is almost an end in sight. Walking home from work the other day I was suddenly feeling incredibly calm and happy, something I can't remember feeling for such a long time. About six months ago, before there was a new job or house in sight, I remember thinking I really wish the next phase in my life would be something I could entitle "the calm years" in my hypothetical autobiography. And I realise saying it will probably mean there will be a major disaster looming somewhere around the corner, but for now I feel like life is good. And I think I will finally be able to make a little bit of time for cooking and blogging again. 

So, on a Friday night, what do you do when you have a craving for something sweet, half a cup of buttermilk in the fridge and two lemons? Google "lemon buttermilk" of course. And after sifting through the hits, you will end up with the perfect recipe, requiring only ingredients you have at home avoiding the tedious business of having to actually put your shoes on and walk all the way across the street to the grocery store (I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts, as there will be no grocery shop in sight once we move). Anyhows, even better if the whole recipe can be made using only one bowl and an electric mixer. The recipe is from Williams-Sonoma and I have modified it only slightly.

Lemon and buttermilk bars (serves 8):
85g unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup (60 ml) plus 2/3 cup (160 ml) granulated sugar
2/3 (160 ml) cup plus 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp. salt
2 eggs
finely grated zest from two lemons
1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (I used two lemons worth)
1/2 cup (120ml) buttermilk
Icing sugar for dusting

The howto:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F/gas mark 4. Using an electric mixer whip butter and 1/4 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and salt, and mix on low speed. Press onto the bottom of a buttered pan (8 in (20 cm) square, I didn't have one so I used a 20 cm round one, and ended up with a little bit of filling left over). Bake the crust for 15-18 minutes.

While the crust is baking, prepare the filling. Grate the lemons and squeeze the juice out of them. Using the electric mixer, whip together the eggs and 2/3 cups of sugar. Add zest, lemon juice, buttermilk and mix until smooth. Pour onto the crust and bake for 25-30 minutes, until the filling has set. Let cool, dust with icing sugar and cut into squares of sections.

The verdict:
I haven't been baking very much lately, not only because most of my kitchen stuff is packed away in boxes and the bachelor pad kitchen lacks the most basic kitchen necessities, but also because the bachelor pad oven is a nightmare. I just can't bake anything in it without burning it. It's an oven which has a mind of it's own, and I'm pretty sure the inside temperature doesn't correlate in any way with what it says on the dial. Last week I baked a rather disastrous rhubarb and strawberry cake (but it turned out super delicious. I used this recipe here but added strawberries, and you can see the picture here). The cake was burned on the top (i.e. the bottom of the cake) and not baked all the way through. It was eaten nonetheless, and it was delicious and moist, but not presentable in any way. This time I decided I won't take any chances, so after the cake had been baking for the time stated in the recipe, but the filling was still jiggly, I covered it with foil to avoid it from getting too dark. I assume using a regular oven keeping to the right temperature, you won't need to extend the baking time. But the main point is, finally I managed to bake something without burning it in the oven from hell!

I absolutely loved this tart. Or bars if you prefer to call them that. It's like a lemon meringue pie without the meringue so it's much quicker and easier to make. It's very sweet though, so this is only for the true carboholics. The flavour of the lemon comes through very nicely, and the crust caramelises around the edges of the pie tin. I absolutely love that all you need is one bowl and an electric mixer, the dough for the crust will come out of the bowl cleanly, so you can just continue making the filling in the same bowl. Minimum dishes, minimum time needed in the kitchen and maximum yummy flavour.

Blueberry buttermilk scones and moving boxes

Happy Mother's Day to all the mumsy people out there! Unfortunately I won't be able to cook my Mum a proper Mother's Day brunch, but hopefully I will get the chance to do that soon enough. Until then, Mum I want you to know I was thinking of you when I was eating these scones!

I'm hard at work using up stuff from my pantry in anticipation of the move. And after the move, there will be the Culinary Consultant's kitchen to clean out in anticipation of potential move number two. It seems likely I will spend the next few months carrying moving boxes from place A to place B and then from place B to place C. With the inevitable outcome that for the next few months, I will only have access to a fraction of my clothes, none of my kitchen stuff and no space for crafting. And the little baking and cooking I will be able to do, will be done amongst moving boxes. And could someone tell me how I managed to collect all this stuff, especially as I had decided I wouldn't buy any unnecessary things. The thought that will get me through this is that should everything go as planned, there is an entire craft room in the foreseeable future. Along with a huge kitchen, conservatory and garden. But it's still early days, and for now, all I can do is hope and keep my fingers crossed that everything is going as planned.

So this time on my list of things to use up was blueberries and buttermilk. And what else could that mean than blueberry scones. I have not had much success with scones in the past, apart from my easy cheese scones. But sweet scones usually end up in a complete mess, like the time when I forgot to turn on the oven and was wondering why the scones didn't bake at all. Well, this time I did remember to turn on the oven. I used this recipe from Martha Stewart. I made a few minor substitutions, like using the flour I happened to have around, and substituting dark sugar for caster sugar. I also thought making 12 scones out of this batch would make them too small to my taste, so I made 10.

Blueberry buttermilk scones (makes 10-12):
2 cups flour (the original recipe said 1 1/2 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup cake flour, I used 3/4 cup brown wheat and 1 1/4 all purpose)
3 tbsp granulated sugar (I used dark brown sugar)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
115 g butter (cold)
1 cup blueberries
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
(1 egg for the egg wash plus sugar for sprinkling on top)

The howto:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (375 degrees F). Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add butter and use your fingers to mix it in until the dough is the consistency of course sand (or use a pastry cutter). Add blueberries. In another bowl, mix buttermilk, egg and vanilla and add to the dough. Don't over mix. Very quickly knead once or twice to incorporate all ingredients, form into a disc and cut into 10 or 12 pieces. If you want to, you can brush the scones with egg wash and sprinkle sugar on top (I didn't as I was short of eggs, which is very unusual in this house). Bake for 20 minutes, and transfer onto a rack to cool.

The verdict:
These scones have a really great crumbly texture. I thought that the brown flour might make them less crumbly but I think it worked really well, and the scones didn't taste healthy at all. However, I like my scones really sweet, so I would possibly add a bit more sugar next time. This might also be a consequence of switching caster sugar for brown sugar, but I do like the caramel-y flavour of dark sugar. The buttermilk keeps the scones wonderfully moist. My blueberries were absolutely gigantic, and they made lovely juicy little surprises in the scones. This will definitely be my go-to recipe for scones, and I will keep the brown flour as a permanent part of the recipe.

Card of the day:
Obviously the card of the day had to be a Mother's day card. Well, two in fact, one for my Mum and one for my Grandma. The first one, I stamped flowers and swirls using Tim Holtz distress inks, then embossed with a swirly embossing folder. The butterflies are also stamped using distress ink and fussy cut using scissors. I cut the form for the sentiment using scissors and stamped swirls and "Happy Mother's Day" in Finnish. I sponged ink onto the edges of the card and the sentiment and finished with a bit of bakery's twine.

The second card is for my Gradma and is a combination of water coloured flowers and distress ink applied using ink blending foam through a paper doily.

 

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Rhubarb buttermilk pound cake

Back home people are off to celebrate Vappu (Walpurgis Night). In Finland Vappu is one of the major holidays. People gather on the 30th of April and first of May for picnics in the parks and drink oodles of champagne (or any other alcoholic beverage, at least later in the evening). Particularly students tend to party hardy on Vappu. It's also pretty much tradition that the weather is very unpredictable during this outdoor event. I have distinct memories of icy wind and sleet and of trying to grab a bottle with fingers numb from the pain. When I was a child the family Vappu tradition was to go and see the huge bonfire in one of the villages close to where I lived. We would get balloons (you know those nice foil balloons, not the boring regular ones) and we would eat sausages and potato salad and a special donut type Vappu pastry called Tippaleipä (funnel cake). Which I will make some day. But not today. Today I will settle for a nice rhubarb bundt cake and think of all my friends who are partying and enjoying the day off tomorrow. I will, however, be enjoying a morning without a hangover, which might be the envy of some. But unfortunately I will still have to go to work.

This cake is not my fault. This cake is what happens when your best friend moves to another country, and donates the contents of her fridge and freezer to you. And I have a very small freezer, so I had to use up most of the things she gave me. I threw a mixed lot of pork, tomato passata, beans, sugarsnaps, dried mushrooms, barley and chickpeas in a slow cooker. I love my slow cooker, you can throw anything in there, and it comes out an undefined mushy consistency and you just eat it without asking too many questions. All sorts of sins have been hidden in a slow cooked tomato passata based stew. As I will also be moving in exactly one month, I really have to work hard to empty out my kitchen. Especially as I'm moving into a house with a kitchen even more stocked to the brim than mine. And that kitchen also needs to be emptied before the upcoming Big Move. But more about that later.

What this rant is really about is a bag of frozen rhubarb. When I was growing up, we had a rhubarb plant growing in our garden. And I wasn't too appreciative of rhubarb in those days. It was quite a substantial plant, and produced more rhubarb than we consumed, so my mum was happy to give some away to anybody who asked. These days, I would be so happy to have that rhubarb plant at hand. But for now I have to stick to store bought rhubarb, and it tends to be quite expensive except in high season, so any rhubarb outside of that short timespan is precious. So of course I had to use it right up. The other day I picked up a jar of buttermilk from the grocery store with no specific plan in mind. Seems like there was a bigger plan in action that day, as that buttermilk turned out to be a perfect companion with my gift of rhubarb. And the spoils from my friend's freezer also contained lemons (who knew you could freeze lemons, but apparently you can!) So I threw rhubarb and buttermilk into google, and out came this. I didn't make any big alterations to the recipe, except I only made 2/3 of the original recipe, hence the somewhat whacky measures for some things and I didn't change the amounts of some ingredients like the lemon zest, baking powder or lemon oil (yes, I'm inconsistent and you should not do what I did but use the original recipe instead unless you are a crazy kitchen rebel). The amount of ingredients listed below are what I used, for the full sized cake, see the original recipe.

Rhubarb buttermilk bundt cake:
150 g butter at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 1/2 tbsp caster sugar
zest of one lemon (somewhat increased from the original recipe, but hey, I like lemon)
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (I used 1 cup all purpose and 3/4 cups brown because that's what I had on hand)
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp lemon oil (like the original recipe, I didn't have any so I used lemon extract)
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 cups rhubarb cut into small pieces

Glaze
juice from 1 lemon
1 tbsp very soft butter
1.5-2 cups icing sugar

The howto:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (original recipe says 175 degrees C/350 degrees F) and butter a bundt cake tin. Using an electric whisk, cream the butter, caster sugar and lemon zest until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and keep whisking. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. Add the lemon oil to the butter and sugar cream, and then the buttermilk and flour in small, alternating, batches. Don't over mix. Finally, gently fold in the rhubarb (which according to the original recipe should first be tossed with a few tbsp flour). Transfer batter into the bundt pan and bake for about 30 minutes, then rotate your tin in the oven and bake for another approximately 20-25 minutes. Let cool for about 30 minutes. While the cake is cooling, mix the ingredients for the glaze. After cooling the cake, remove from tin and drizzle the glaze on top.

The verdict:
I'm not traditionally a big fan of bundt cakes. But this one has both rhubarb and buttermilk, so I thought there is probably not too much risk that it would turn out dry. And I was indeed right! This is the most decadently moist bundt cake I have ever had. It was absolute perfection. I hate recipes that say the cake was even better the next day, because who has time to wait. But I have to be blunt, this cake really was even better the next day when the moisture had seeped all through the cake and it had cooled completely. Not saying it was bad right after baking either, but it was just somehow more balanced the next day. So this is definitely something you can make ahead of time. 

I had one little technical difficulty with this cake. I had a really hard time removing the cake from the pan, as you can see from the pictures. But this was completely my own fault as I couldn't be bothered to butter the cake tin. I thought the non-stick coating would be enough to prevent it from sticking. Well, it wasn't. But that just gave me an excuse to drizzle the glaze on extra thickly. And everyone knows the glaze is always the best part anyways. I was actually going to add white chocolate drops into the cake as well, and I think they would have complemented the rhubarb really nicely, but at the same time, I like it that the cake wasn't too sweet and the rhubarb flavour came through really strongly. But I might try it some other time with the chocolate added in. And this cake batter would probably work really well for any sort of berry or fruit cake. I can imagine strawberries would be great, or maybe peaches or even pineapple. 

Card of the day:
As Vappu is the start of spring, I thought today's card should be something spring-y. Flowers, butterflies and pretty colours. I used Tim Holtz Distess inks Spun Sugar, Broken China and Bundled sage to stamp flowers and swirly patterns onto cream cardstock. I then embossed with a swirly embossing folder (using the rolling pin method, as I don't think I can buy my much awaited Big Shot until I have a craft room where I can actually put said thing). I cut out the scalloped ovals using scissors (I have this smart system where I have printed different shapes onto paper, and then using a permanent marker, traced the shapes onto a transparent sheet, cut that out and then used a pencil to trace the outline onto cardstock and then cut that out. Easy and convenient, right?). I stamped parts of the swirly stamp onto my scalloped ovals, embossed using clear embossing powder and then used ink blending foam to ink the edges of the scalloped ovals. I used Antique Linen distress ink to stamp the Hero Arts Flourish Background onto an oval of cream cardstock, and then Vintage Photo or Chipped Sapphire distress ink to stamp the butterfly. I used the foam to blend some distress inks around the edges of the butterfly ovals as well as the background. Finished with ribbons and bows, and matted with coloured cardstock before attaching to white cardstock. If these cards don't epitomise spring, I don't know what will.

Buttermilk lemon cake

I had a problem. After baking my amazing cinnamon buns I had some leftover buttermilk that needed to be used up pronto. Sure, I could have frozen it. But I could also look online for a yummy buttermilk cake recipe and bake it. Obviously one of these options would be more in line with trying to reduce my bum with the ultimate aim of being able to fit said bum into my jeans, but obviously I picked the other one. To be honest, I have been very worried about my declining number of blog posts. All I eat these days is chicken salad interspersed with the occasional salmon salad. Not very exciting to blog about. So I just *had* to bake something to blog about.

I googled buttermilk cake, and found a recipe for one here. I was looking for a recipe which contained ingredients that I would have at home. I'm sure buttermilk and raspberry cake would have been great as well, but I couldn't be bothered to walk to the store. I'm so incredibly sore from my first time at the gym in three weeks, and the thought of having to climb all 50 steps of stairs to my flat was somewhat overwhelming. The original recipe didn't have a glaze, but I love how coffee cakes are drizzled with glaze and it soaks into the top of the cake and makes it even more sweet.

Lemon buttermilk cake (serves 8):
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cups buttermilk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

For the glaze:
1 cup icing sugar
3 tbsp lemon juice

The howto:
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F). Butter or oil a loaf tin (I used my silicone one which doesn't need buttering). Mix oil, eggs, sugar, buttermilk, vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice. In another bowl, mix baking powder, salt and sifted flour, and mix it all into the liquids. Pour into the loaf tin and bake until a toothpick into the middle of the cake comes out clean (about 65-75 minutes). Let the cake cool for a while, and pour glaze over the cake.

The verdict:
This cake is super easy to make, and it is really moist and tasty. It would be perfectly fine without the glaze, but I just love lemon glaze. I love the lemon drizzle cake at Bill's, it's just so super moist and sweet. And this cake was very indulgent and absorbed all that lovely drizzle to make a crusty and super sweet topping. 

This cake is definitely best eaten after it has cooled. I tried cutting into it while it was still warm, and the result was not very pretty (as can be seen in the picture). But it cuts very nicely once it's cooled. And it's one of those adult cakes. You know, you have a slice with a cup of tea. Brownies or mud cake, that is something you can binge on, eat a whole batch straight from the baking dish with a spoon. But this is type of cake has to be eaten with dignity. And starting from the bottom of the slice, and working your way up so that you can finish off with the lovely glazed top. Just look at the picture on top, you can see how the glaze has absorbed into the cake making it all sweet and gooey. This cake is also approved by the culinary consultant, so it's just like I'm imagining that it's good. I urge you to try it, it only takes a few minutes and one bowl to whip up, so it's perfect for a sudden craving for something sweet.

Card of the day:
I have been really excited about card making lately. So I thought from time to time I would add a picture and short description of the cards I have been making. I made the card below for my sis when she was down with the flu a few weeks ago. I love the origami bow, the instructions for making that can be found here. Other than that, I used clear embossing ink and powder for the background, and sponged Tim Holtz Distress inks to bring out the sentiments and hearts. The bear is also coloured with Tim Holtz Distress ink, blended with water using a watercolour brush. I think it turned out quite cute. 

My blueberry mornings

I might previously have mentioned in passing my love of weekend morning brunch. Ok, I admit it's possible that pretty much every second post on this blog is about weekend brunch recipes. Well, this will be yet another recipe for something to indulge in while lazily flipping through the paper of doing whatever else it is you like to do on a Sunday morning. 


I have to admit though that this morning I got up really early instead of enjoying a lazy lie in. And the reason for that was completely self-flagellatory. If you knew what I ate last night, I bet you would be horrified (have you ever heard of "Better than sex cake"? If you have, then imagine "Better than multiple orgasms cake". It was something along those lines, and it also contained about two weeks worth of calories). Anyways, this morning I was up at the crack of dawn for a run. And while I was running, there was one phrase drumming through my head at every step. "You can't outrun a bad diet". So, technically speaking, I should be chewing on a leaf of lettuce for brekkie today. And for lunch and dinner. Not just for today, but for the next three weeks. But...


I realised it's been at least a few weeks since I last had pancakes, so it's about time I try another new pancake recipe. The only problem was to find the perfect recipe. Well, actually it's not a problem, it's what I love to do. Browse food blogs (aka food porn) and pick and mix my favourite recipes. Lately, I have been making a lot of banana and chocolate chip pancakes, so I thought blueberries would make a nice change. And I really wanted to try a buttermilk pancake recipe, because to be honest, I have never cooked anything with buttermilk! And although I fully admit this is not a particularly healthy recipe in itself, I was going to throw in a handful of white choc chips as well, but decided not to in the end. Going to stick with berries and maple syrup. And I think it was all for the best, as they turned out quite delicious and not too sweet. Perfect way to reward yourself for a morning run (although technically the run was to burn off yesterday's cheat meal, and now I have to try to figure out a way to burn this off tomorrow). But weekend mornings should be celebrated, after all, only 2/7ths of the mornings of your life will be weekend mornings. And I was lucky to have some help from a friend to destroy this batch of fluffy goodness.


I found this recipe on Pinterest (go have a look at my newly arranged boards, there is one just for Pancakes and French toast). It's from a blog called Sprinkle Some Sunshine, which looks very lovely. 


Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes from Sprinkle Some Sunshine (makes 10 pancakes):
1 egg
125 g (1 cup) all purpose flour (I used 25g whole wheat and 100g AP)
10g sugar (I used light muscovado)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
270 ml buttermilk
30 g (2 tbsp) melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
125 g fresh blueberries


Mix together all the dry ingredients. This can be done on the evening before, if you want to get a quick start for your brekkie. Beat egg with an electric whisk in another bow until frothy, add it with the buttermilk, butter and vanilla extract to the dry ingredients and mix. The batter will be thick. 


Spoon a few tablespoons of batter per pancake on the pan. Add blueberries onto the pancake. Cook until the batter is set and bubbles form. Gently flip over, and cook until golden brown. Serve with berries, maple syrup, honey, butter or any other topping of choice.


The verdict:
This is a really great pancake batter recipe. The pancakes turned out really light and fluffy. I'm definitely making these again. However, I think I should add just a tad more flour to the batter, it was a bit difficult to cook the pancakes as they spread out on the pan a bit too much. This would of course not have been problem if I wasn't trying to squeeze in as many pancakes as I can in my tiny little pan. Alas, I need to get a bigger pan, or one of those griddles for cooking the pancakes. That could help get beautiful, round pancakes. Now I am trying to cram three pancakes onto my small pan, and they spread until they run into each other, and then I have one giant pancake, which I have to cut into smaller pieces, and they never end up round and beautiful, but horrible disfigured blobs. Which of course doesn't affect the taste in any way, but you can't make those pretty stacks of perfectly round and beautiful pancakes which look so great on photos.