Diary of a Baker Mom: emerils

Friday, February 4, 2011

Blueberries....

Yeah! I finally got to the blueberries in the fridge! We tried to eat them raw (really we did :-)) but, they were just too tart for us. So, I figured it was my best chance to try some thing new. We recently went to Hobee's for lunch and got a piece of their famous Blueberry Coffee Cake. I felt that it had tasted better in the past and was a little too dry for my liking now. So...what better time to try to create a moister cake than now. :)

I found a recipe on the Food Network site - one of my favorite go-to places. The ratings were great and I learnt a lot from several of the reviewers who left tips after trying it themselves - including adding a Streusel Topping (that was from Emeril's). It baked up nicely, was moist and not too sweet or tart. It's definitely a party sized cake and would make great muffins too! My daughter didn't care much for the blueberries but, enjoyed the "cake" part. She asked if maybe we could put some thing else in their place...that's my girl, I thought. ;-) Maybe we'll try it with chocolate!

Blueberry Streusel Cake

Cooking with Kids

USING A KNIFE...
If you're looking for some thing to use as an introduction to teach proper knife skills, cutting and chopping with your child, I think Extra Firm Tofu (I use the one from Trader Joe's) works great! It is not too wet or jiggly to start and after a couple of power pushes (kids love that kinda stuff) on paper towels, it's just right. The knife goes though easily; without too much pressure they are able to learn the cutting movement and not be worried about the piece of food flying away.

Baking Tips

SOFT FUDGY BROWNIES - Remove the brownies from the oven approximately 4 minutes earlier than stated in the recipe. Allow them to cool in the pan before cutting. The remaining heat will be enough for them to finish baking.

NON-STICK PANS - Non stick pans are great and I use many of them for baking in various shapes and sizes. However, even though they are non-stick, for baking you have to be sure to coat them with spray or the "old time" method of butter and flouring. :) If you don't, chances are your cake is not going to make it out of your pan in one piece.

MUFFIN PANS - are an awesome invention! They are easiest to use when used with a liner (nowadays available in various sizes, shapes & colors). Liners provide a great convienience in that you can just pick up the muffin or cupcake and go. They do not require any pre-work, no messy spraying or coating with butter; drop in paper cup, spoon in the batter, bake and you have minimal clean up.