the easiest cake ever

Yes, another vacation post, but this is a good one! Earlier this spring I made a very simple and very delicious strawberry cake. A few weeks later, I made another. I was looking to make a very simple and quick cake for company and after an internet search, I found myself looking at this recipe. It was called the easiest cake ever, so really how can you go wrong? If you think that easy means that it also skimps on taste, you are dead wrong. This cake is delicious! I used strawberries because it was the end of May and ripe local berries were in season. But this cake would be delicious with blackberries, boysenberries, raspberries, nectarines, peaches and even plums! It requires only 1 bowl so the clean up is easy too. Really, what are you waiting for?


easiest cake ever
(adapted from Not Derby Pie)
1 c flour
1 t baking powder
zest of 1 lemon
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c canola oil
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c strawberries (or any soft fruit)
1 T raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and lemon zest. Add in the sugar, eggs, vanilla and oil and mix to combine. Butter and flour an 8 or 9 inch cake pan and add in batter. Batter will be quite thick, so use a spoon to smooth out the top. Drop in strawberries, pressing them into the batter. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hr or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean.

strawberry lemonade slushie

On a hot summer day, when I was a kid, I'd line up at the local variety store with throngs of others and wait for a Slush Puppy. The counter person would turn back the handle and out would pour a sticky, icy, day-glo concoction. It was happiness in a cup and I'd always get blue (what flavour was blue??) and it would stain my tongue and give me a brain freeze. It was perfect.

Summer has come to Vancouver with a vengance and all I've been wanting is a bit of cooling off. A slushie would hit the spot, so I looked into my freezer to see what kind of makings I had. A can of frozen lemonade leftover from a party? Check? Frozen strawberries? Ice? Check and check. The result? Holy brain freeze territory! It was sweet, it was icy and it was the easiest and tastiest way to beat the heat of summer. Want a more grown-up drink? Add in 6 oz of white rum and you've got yourself a pretty simple & tasty daqueri.

strawberry lemonade slushie
1/2 a container of frozen lemonade concentrate
juice of 1 lemon or lime
1 1/2 c frozen strawberries
ice water
ice cubes

Spoon out half the lemonade into a tall pitcher. Add in the strawberries and lemon juice. Top with water. Use an immersion blender to blend it all into slush, adding more water if necessary. Add in a few ice cubes and crush those up too (and rum, if that's the way you roll). Pour into 4 glasses. Let the brain freeze begin!

birthday cake for the birthday girl

I love birthdays. It doesn't have to be my own, any birthday will do, as I'm not picky in the least. Birthdays equal fun times, friends, family, laughter and best of all, cake. Presents are nice too, but cake, well, you can't beat cake. Today is my birthday and you better believe that I've baked myself a nice cake. It may look a little crufty around the edges but a nice soft blob of whipping cream will hide the dark cruft nicely. When dinnertime rolls around, you can bet that I'll be cutting myself a nice fat slice. After reading Molly's book, A Homemade Life, I knew that her Winning Hearts & Minds cake would make it to my birthday table. I'm not going to post the recipe here since you can read it on Orangette, or better yet, get yourself a copy of her book. Judging by scent alone, this cake is going to be great!

But I don't want you to leave this post empty handed. I want to give you all a nice bit of cake, so I am posting a recipe I made for my mother-in-law's birthday a couple of weeks ago. It looks a bit rustic, but don't let that stop you from taking a second helping. The original recipe called for an 11 inch cake tin but all I had was an 8 inch one. I poured as much batter that would fit into the tin & then made one muffin (a tester!). I was worried about a spill over with all that batter packed into such a small tin, but despite some over-zealous bubbling, things turned out well.

This cake is perfect for a casual celebration. It's quick to whip up and it's utterly unfussy in the best way. This cake is bursting with strawberries (but you could easily sub in raspberries, blackberries or blueberries) and there is a sprinkle of raw sugar and a kiss of salt over top for a surprise crunch. It's not too sweet so that you can easily convince yourself that this makes the most ideal breakfast in the world....even when especially when topped with whipping cream and homemade strawberry sauce. As for the salt, I couldn't really taste it at all, so it's up to you to bump up the salt, or leave it out entirely. So celebrate your birthday or someone else's with cake, it's easy to find a reason to celebrate.

salt-kissed strawberry cake
(adapted from 101 Cookbooks)
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 c brown sugar
zest of 1 large orange
1/2 t salt
2 eggs
1 c yogurt
1/4 c butter, melted and cooled a bit
1 c of strawberries, roughly chopped (more if you like)
3 T large grain raw sugar
1 t kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Butter and flour an 11 inch cake tin.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and zest and set aside. In another bowl, beat together the eggs and then stir in the yogurt and butter. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix lightly until combined.

3. Pour* batter into prepared tin and drop strawberries into the cake. Smush them a bit to let the juices run if you wish. Sprinkle the tops with the raw sugar and a light dusting of the salt. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden. Serve with whipping cream and strawberry sauce. Or eat plain.

* Batter will not be runny by any means. Pour is more like "plop".

thin pancakes with strawberry-orange sauce

Growing up we ate pancakes quite often, and not just for breakfast. We were one of those lucky households that ate pancakes for breakfast, lunch or dinner and I thank my parents fondly for making that happen. However, our pancakes were not like the North American pancakes served on my friend's breakfast plates. Instead of fluffy, airy and from a box, ours were made from simple ingredients and were thin and floppy. If we were lucky, there would be a lacy, crispy edge around each pancake and that was the part I'd eat first completely unadorned...no syrup just yet. Once I had nibbled around the crispy edges, the insides were eaten with jam, with cottage cheese and with 100% pure maple syrup (we were Canadian, after all). While my brother and I loved these pancakes, these were made for my dad through and through. My dad was from Eastern Europe and this was the kind of only kind of pancake he was familiar with. Anything else was just filler.

When my husband and I went to Lithuania two years ago on a visit to my Fatherland, I got a taste of these pancakes again. Served with jams, soft cheese curds, and whipped cream, they were decadent and delicious. And a few weekend mornings ago, I got to thinking about those thin Eastern European pancakes and decided to try my hand at them. When my mom made these, she would throw all the ingredients into her trusty Osterizer blender and let it whirl, but this time I just mixed it by hand. I couldn't tell a difference, they were just like I remembered them. Delicious.

Instead of serving these with syrup or jam, I decided to use up those still lingering frozen strawberries into a sweet-tart sauce to accompany the pancakes. I made the sauce first and then let it cool while I made the pancakes. This was the icing on the already perfect cake. Any leftover sauce is perfect for swirling into yogurt or plopping into a bowl of Scottish oatmeal.

thin pancakes with strawberry-orange sauce
4 eggs
1 c flour
1 T sugar
1 t salt
1 c milk
1 T vegetable oil + extra for frying

sauce:
250 g strawberries, roughly chopped (I used frozen)
juice of 1/2 orange + zest
2 T sugar
1/2 T cornstarch whisked with a bit of cold water

1. Whisk together the eggs, flour, sugar and salt together. Pour in milk and the oil and blend well until batter is smooth and runny. Set aside.

2. Start your sauce by adding chopped strawberries, orange juice and zest and sugar into a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and let the sauce reduce slightly. Turn down the heat and add in the cornstarch slurry and stir until combined. Let it cook further for another few minutes and then remove from heat.

3. Put oil in a large frying pan and slowly add in batter. When the top becomes dry, flip. Repeat with remaining batter until you have a lovely stack of thin pancakes. Divvy up the haul and generously pour strawberry sauce over top.

strawberry muffins topped with cinnamon sugar

My freezer is full of berries from our berry picking adventures of last summer. Despite how much I seem to add to smoothies or baked goods, it's taking a while for the stash to disappear. Not that I'm complaining much, but soon enough there will be more berry picking to come and I kinda want my freezer space back.

These muffins are light and cakey and would make a perfect item for a lazy weekend brunch. Quick to put together and very delicious, they helped to make a tiny a dent into my strawberry stash. With a strong cup of coffee and half a grapefruit, these muffins made my weekday breakfast into something really special.

As Easter weekend is coming up (uh, starts tomorrow!), here's a few brunch ideas from my archives that might get you baking!

Hot cross buns with cinnamon icing
Ham & cheese spoon bread
Feather light drop biscuits
Bill's coconut bread
Breakfast pizza
Apple crumb coffee cake
Orange crumb cake
Blackberry muffins with crumble topping
Raspberry drop scones
Berry smash muffins

Elsewhere, visit Under the Highchair for more Easter brunch ideas, Coconut & Lime's ham & dill deviled eggs, Hungry Bruno's savory cilantro cake or this fantastic looking lime coconut cake from Pinch my Salt. Enjoy the long holiday weekend!

strawberry muffins topped with cinnamon sugar
(recipe adapted from Eggs on Sunday)
2 c all-purpose flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t ground nutmeg
1 t ground cinnamon
2/3 c sugar
zest of 1 orange
2 eggs
1 c yogurt
1 t vanilla
6 T unsalted butter, melted
1 c diced strawberries (frozen is fine)
cinnamon sugar, for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease muffin tins or use paper liners. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices together. In a small bowl, mix together the zest and sugar with your hands until fragrant.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and zest until fragrant. Add in the eggs, yogurt, butter and vanilla and beat until creamy. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until a batter forms. Do not over mix. Gently fold in the strawberries until evenly distributed.

3. Add batter to prepared muffin tins, filling each cup to 3/4 full. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake for about 20 minutes or until cake tester comes clean and the tops are lightly golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

condiment city: strawberry salsa & burgers with simple guacamole

Summer seems to be the perfect time to endulge in a little condiment action. With all those picnics and bbqs it seems that mustards, ketchups, salsas and relishes abound. A squirt here and a plop there. Once tomato season rears it's head, I plan on trying my hand at a tomato ketchup and I'm definitely interested in trying out the deliciously simple english brown mustard posted at bread & honey.


Last week I grilled up some hamburgers for dinner and instead of slapping on some cheese or mayonnaise, I whipped up a super simple guacamole for our burgers. Just a mashed avocado, a generous squeeze of lime juice, chili powder, hot sauce and a bit of chipotle powder. Yum! Fresh delicious and way better than the $16 hamburgers we ate recently at a local restaurant.

For burgers, I like them simple. Not a lot of complex flavours or anything that is highly seasoned as I like to taste the meat. For the burgers, I just added some salt, pepper and dash of Worcestershire sauce. Using a spoon to mix about the meat (you don't want to over mix), I then quickly formed them into patties and grilled them on the bbq. After toasting the buns, I added a big smear of the guacamole, along with diced onions, a tomato slice, and some mustard. It was burger perfection!


This past weekend, I went strawberry picking at a local u-pick farm. While the farm we went to wasn't organic, they do use controlled pest management and only spray as a last resort. The berries were amazing and I managed to pick just over 17 pounds worth. When I got home with my haul, I wanted to make something immediately but didn't want to have to turn on the oven since it was so hot outside. So I tried my hand at a strawberry salsa to top some cod that I would be barbecuing later on. I had some leftover slices of tomatoes and diced onions from the burgers the night before, so I added that into the salsa. It was pretty simple to whip up and it had that refreshing mix of sweet and hot flavours that I love. It was super fresh and the berries were super red and colourful.


strawberry salsa
1 c diced strawberries
1/2 diced tomato
1/2 diced red onion
1 finely diced jalapeno
juice & zest of 1 lime
a handful of fresh chives, chopped
a handful of fresh parsley & cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Toss lightly and serve over fish or chicken.

canada day muffins!

Happy Canada Day! I've been up early getting started so that I can relax before our friends arrive for a little Canada Day bbq and fireworks watching from our balcony. I've got a mixed bean salad marinating in the fridge, 2 different kinds of ice cream (coconut chocolate chip & mexican chocolate) ready to start churning (we do it old school in our teal Ice Queen), and another salad that will involve potatoes, cukes and dill. Plus, our fridge is full of beer and I've got tonic water & club soda to marry with the gin for some icy cocktails. I love holidays!

I also love breakfast and I'm sitting here with coffee in my hand realizing that I've had nothing to eat yet today and it's already 1pm. Oops! I should have been more prepared. I should have made some muffins. More importantly, I should have made a batch of Berry Smash muffins. I made some earlier in the week and they were simple to make....I whipped up the batter the night before, poured the mixture into muffin tins and put it into the fridge. The next morning I woke up, popped it into the oven and 15 minutes later sat down to fresh, delicious strawberry muffins. Damn, I wish I had that same forethought last night!


berry smash muffins
1 2/3 c fresh strawberries
2/3 c sugar
1/3 c vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 425. In a large bowl, smash with a fork the fresh berries. Add in the sugar, oil and eggs and combine. Add in the remaining ingredients until moistened.

2. Grease up muffin tins and fill with batter. Bake for 15 minutes.

sicko

There was a time when I got sick constantly. It probably didn't help matters that I lived with a roommate who had a disease that left her immune system weak and was always having colds & sniffles or that we lived in a damp basement suite or even that I was living a rock n' roll lifestyle. No really! I was working days at a record store and I played bass in a power-pop-punk band at night. Being sick was just something I dealt with every few months. But when I moved out on my own and got a career and finally started living my life with just a sprinkling how adults are supposed to live, then the sickness stopped. Now, I can proudly boast that I get sick once every two years which I think is a pretty nice record.

Unfortunately, that 2 year window closed on me a couple of days ago. On Monday I went to bed with a sore throat and a bit of random coughing. The next 2 days were worse with aches and pains that left me with just enough stamina to hit the forward button whenever the theme song or credits would play on Season Four of the Gilmore Girls DVD. I was hurtin'. Needless to say there was not much cooking being done in this household. The only real treat I could muster up was my morning breakfast smoothie. Really, there are no hard to find ingredients or complex instructions in this one. Which surprises me as to why there are smoothie blends found in grocery store freezer sections. Are people really struggling with the concept of a smoothie? Fruit + Yogurt + Juice + Spinning Blades = Smoothie. It's not a complex equation. Here's my top secret "recipe":

pretty in pink smoothie
frozen strawberries*
orange juice
vanilla yogurt

1. Take a handful of frozen strawberries and put them into a blender. If you are lucky, you will have a beautiful actual vintage model beehive style Osterizer found at Value Village for $4.

2. Add a few generous spoonfulls of yogurt overtop the strawberries. I use a delicious organic vanilla yogurt from Vancouver Island that is so tasty that it actually converted me to liking yogurt in the first place.

3. Then, pour some orange juice over everything and hit blend. You may need to add more orange juice if everything churns to a crawl.

Pour into a fun glass and drink with a straw (or not).

* If I make this for Cornelius, I add a frozen banana too. I hate bananas, so I don't add it in mine.