Eggless Boy Bait / Blueberry Coffee Cake

A 15 year old teenager from Chicago named Renny Powell submitted a blueberry coffee cake in 1954 to the Pillsbury $100,000 Recipe and Baking Contest, which happens to be the precursor to today's Pillsbury Bake - Off contest, The girl scored second place in the youth division for her creation, which she called boy bait.  She found that the teenage boys found it irresistible and so decided to attribute this blueberry coffee cake, a special adjective. I found the name not so odd after I tasted it since one can bait anyone they wish with this tempting cake or one need not be a teenager to be lured in. 😋 I am the proof since I truly detest eating blueberries as such but I have baked and enjoyed this cake many times over the years though I never got around to sit and post it until today. These images are at least a couple of years old.
Cook's Country magazine tweaked the original recipe 'to improve it' as they say. They swapped the shortening and granulated sugar used in the original recipe with butter and a combination of granulated and brown sugars. And they topped the cake with a light, sweet sugar - cinnamon topping instead of streusel. I replaced half the butter with oil and used only half the quantity of the sugar mentioned. I don't like overtly sweet stuff and so the 1/2 cup sugar in the cake plus the sugar topping was enough for me. I swapped the 3 eggs in the recipe with plain yogurt. I used a springform pan to bake this. Still, the final coffee cake is a tender and sweet one with a 'melt in mouth' kind texture. This 'easy to make' rich cake is an addictive one and one would add it to their repertoire if they try this berry packed cake once. 

Ingredients:
2 cups + 1 tsp. all purpose flour (divided)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter + 1/2 cup oil (or use 1 cup butter / 2 sticks butter instead.)
3/4 cup sugar * 
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup yogurt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup blue berries (fresh or frozen)**
For topping:
1/2 cup blueberries (fresh / frozen) **
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

* The original recipe uses 1 cup sugar. I used only 1/2 cup and I think 3/4 cup makes it sweet enough.
** Don't thaw if using frozen blueberries.

Directions:
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan or a square pan. 
* Combine 2 cups flour, baking powder and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.
* Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  
Next add oil, 1/2 cup yogurt and vanilla and beat to mix. Next fold in 1/3 of the flour mixture, half of milk, another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the rest of the milk, then the remaining flour and finally the remaining yogurt, mixing well after each addition.
* Toss the blueberries with a tsp. of flour. Fold 1/2 cup blueberries gently into the batter. If using frozen berries directly add them to the batter without thawing.
* Pour the batter into the prepared pan and scatter the remaining berries over the top of the batter. Combine 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top evenly.
* Bake until a tooth pick inserted at the center comes out clean, about 45 - 50 minutes.
* Let it cool completely before slicing.

It goes to Bakeathon  and Blogging Marathon #95 under the theme 'cake recipes' events.


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Tomato Rice & Creamy Blueberry Smoothie

Call it whether biryani / pulao / bhath / rice depending upon the cooking method and ingredients used, I prepare several versions of tomato rice. I have already posted a couple of them. This particular dish is really a simple one with south Indian tadka touch and a favorite one at our home.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups Basmati rice
2 tomatoes
2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp skinned black gram / urad dal
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 cardamom
Few curry leaves
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
2 onions
1.5 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp amchur powder
1 tsp coriander powder
Salt to taste
1 Tbsp toasted cashews for garnish

Method:
* Grind tomatoes finely. Add water to it and approximately make about 3 cups of juice.
* Wash the rice thoroughly and drain. Add the tomato juice and turmeric powder to the rice and pressure cook.
* Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and uraddal. When they start to brown add cardamom, curry leaves and onions. Saute onions until they turn translucent.
* Then add salt, coriander powder, chili powder and amchur powder to the pan and fry for a minute.
* Next add the rice cooked in tomato juice and mix well.
* Turn off the stove and let the rice sit for a few minutes before serving. Garnish with cashews.

Check here to know what other marathoners are cooking during BM#18.

Creamy Blueberry Smoothie:
The last weeks of spring gave us a glimpse of how summer is going to be this year. The whole US is under heat wave for weeks now and there seems to be no respite. We are trying to cool ourselves with shakes, smoothies and such.
Here is an yummy and cool smoothie perfect for these sultry days. Frozen blueberries and banana combined with yummy ice cream and vanilla yogurt result in a creamy and filling smoothie.

I blended together a cup of frozen blueberries, a small banana, 1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt and 1/2 cup of  ice cream. Add a sweetener if preferred.

Sending this to Priya's "Veggie / Fruit A Month" event hosted this month by Harini-Jaya with the theme Blue berries.

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Mini Blueberry Almond Tarts

Desserts are not served at the end of a meal in my home. The other adult won't touch them while the kids treat them as snacks and eat  during evenings. That's why these mini blueberry tarts appear in this blogging marathon under the 'Evening Snacks" theme.
I got this recipe from BettyCrocker website and these tarts are similar to the apple crostatas that I posted recently. With very minimal efforts, one can create these yummy tarts.
Check what other bloggers are cooking during this marathon.

Ingredients: (yield 6 mini tarts or one 9 inched tart)
One Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust (15 oz)
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup sugar
3/5 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp water
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 tsp granulated sugar (optional)

Method:
* Mix blueberries, sugar, cornstarch, water and almond extract in  a bowl.
* Preheat the oven to 400 deg F.
* Prepare the crust as directed on the box. Unroll on an ungreased cookie sheet if planning to make one big sized one. If planning to make mini tarts, unroll the crust and roll out slightly. Cut into four 5 inch rounds. Collect the scraps, roll again and cut into 5 inch rounds again. (Totally I got 6 rounds). Place the rounds on a baking sheet.
*  Spread half of the almonds over crust (or mini crusts) and press slightly onto crusts. Spoon blueberry mixture onto center of the crust(s)  to within 1&1/2 to 2 inches of edge of crust. Fold the edge of crust over the blueberry mixture, crimping the crust slightly. Sprinkle the sugar along the edges, if using.
* Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the crust is golden. Sprinkle the remaining almonds over blueberry mixture during the last five minutes of baking.

Note:
1. If baking as a single tart, the quantity of berries can be increased.
2. Don't be tempted to overfill the berries in the tart shells. The juices will ooze out and it would be a mess.

This goes to Priya's "Veggie / Fruit A Month" event hosted this month by Harini-Jaya with the theme Blue berries.

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Granola - Strawberry Smoothie & Blueberry Yogurt

Finally , the summer seems to be here and suddenly we are craving for cooler things. The two ideas, a smoothie and a yogurt posted today were prepared to beat yesterday's heat. They use the store bought granola bars and yogurt and suit my BM theme of "Food prepared using ready made stuff".
Check what the other marathoners are cooking during BM#17.

Ingredients: (2 - 3 servings)
1 cup or 6 oz strawberry yogurt / Plain yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup strawberries, halved
1 small banana
2 granola bars (I used Nature Valley' Oats n Honey bars.)
Sugar or any sweetener if using plain yogurt

Method:
* Place yogurt, milk, fruits, 3/4th of the granola bars and sweetener if using in a blender. Blend until smooth.
* Pour into glasses. Crumble the remaining bars and sprinkle in each glass. Garnish with strawberry slices if desired. Serve immediately.

Blueberry Yogurt

Another cool snack idea for these sultry days. Though I am not a yogurt - granola parfait eating person, a fruity yogurt sprinkled with a small quantity of nuts and crumbled granola bar is appealing to me. Here is blueberry Greek yogurt sprinkled with almond and crumbled granola.
Either get blueberry yogurt from the store or prepare your own. Using Greek yogurt is the shortcut version but straining the yogurt in the refrigerator for a few hours will also give the same results. For each cup of Greek yogurt, pulse about 2 Tbsp of blueberries coarsely. Add crushed berries and sweetener to the yogurt and stir. 4 - 6 fresh berries can be added as well. Sprinkle with nuts and granola bar pieces if desired and serve immediately.

This goes to Priya's "Veggie / Fruit A Month" event hosted this month by Harini-Jaya  with the theme Blue berries.

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Egg Less Blueberry Muffins

The little one at home tries to help out whenever I am baking since she happens to love the process. She exhibits the same enthusiasm while baking and relishing on those goodies. She feels very 'responsible' repeating the recipe instructions, putting together the ingredients and sieving the flour while helping herself with the edible stuff in front of her.
Though I try to stay away from butter / sugar calories, I happen to bake for the kids and especially based on her suggestions & interests. Most of the time, her vote is for chocolate chips and very rarely her preference changes. Today it happened to be berries and so these delectable, eggless blueberry muffins / cupcakes were made.

Ingredients for 12 muffins or a cake that fits 8x8 inch pan:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
6 Tbsp sugar (If making cupcakes / cake increase the quantity by 2 Tbsp)
1/2 to 3/4 cup blueberries
6 Tbsp melted butter / ghee
2 bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
2 -3 Tbsp milk if needed



Baking:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Place the liners in the muffin cups.
2. Sift the flour and baking powder. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Then mix in the banana, oil, vanilla. If the mixture is dry, add milk as needed to form a batter of dropping consistency. Stir in the blueberries and divide the batter among the muffin cups.
3. Bake for about 35 - 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes clean.

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