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Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Quick and Simple Blueberry Almond Cake

It’s Blueberry Season! I know, many of you might say that it is almost always blueberry season, but for me, “real” blueberries — the sweet, tart, bursting with flavor despite only being a 1/4 of an inch big, one that you rake from the barrens in Maine — are the only blueberries that count. If you make this blueberry cake, seek out the little gems and if you can’t find the real Maine wild blueberries fresh, go for the frozen ones (Wymans are great) but avoid fresh cultivated ones that are about the size of grapes because they sink to the bottom of your loaf cake and make a mess.

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7. August 2026
Appetizers/Starters, Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Sweet Snacks

Apricot Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Happy Easter Weekend! I’ve got company this weekend (my mum is visiting!) which makes finding time for posting a little more complicated, but here are some delicious Apricot Chocolate Hot Cross Buns. Every year, I try to do something a little different with them, so this year, they were apricot and mini-chocolate chips, but add in your mix-ins of choice (cranberries, nuts, raisins, etc). I made them yesterday for Good Friday.

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4. April 2026
Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Sweet Snacks

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cocoa Crumble

These Raspberry Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cocoa Crumble turned out to be really, really yummy, with one caveat. They are great within a few hours coming out of the oven. The tangy raspberries play well with the chocolate chips and the crumble is a nice addition. But in a rare time that I say “eat them right away or make a half batch” they didn’t hold up well after a few hours. Mainly because the crumble got really hard, surprisingly quickly. So that was a disappointment. I suppose that you could also make them with regular (non-cocoa) crumble that doesn’t get rock hard, or just eat them very expeditiously.

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4. January 2026
Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Sweet Snacks

Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts with Sea Salt Caramel Glaze

The weather is definitely turning autumnish and we’re even expecting a Nor’easter here in Southern New England today and for the new 36 hours (remember: a nor’easter is not an indicators of snow; merely a strong wind event with the wind coming from an atypical wind directions … but I digress). So I went to the apple orchard one last time for the season yesterday which inspired me to make apple cider donuts today. And I have to say (no offense to the folks at Russell Orchards, mine were better. Here’s recipe:

And before I get a lot of questions again about “what is apple butter”, it has nothing to do with butter. It’s a old fashioned word for jam or a spread. You can buy it in the shops (not all of them, but I got this in a regular store), but if you can’t find it, take 3/4 cup apple sauce over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring all the time to drive off any additional liquid. It will darken in color to almost mahogany, become thicker and after 10 minutes, you should have the 1/2 cup that you need. Stir frequently otherwise it will scorch.

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12. October 2025