Monday morning, pre-dawn breakfast baking! It’s going to be a long week. I have some big work deadlines that need to be finished bit by bit this week before Friday, it’s to be HOT again this week. And I forgot to buy my usual breakfast food at the shops over the weekend. So, as I am always awake before dawn, I decided to bake this Red Currant Crumble-Top Coffee Cake. Sweet and tart and delicious. Don’t have red currant, this recipe can also be made with fresh or frozen blueberries, raspberries, cranberries or stone fruit like peaches, plums or apricots, cut to 1/2 inch or less pieces (note: if going for the fruit vs berries option, I would cut the fruit and then par-freeze before mixing in to the batter.
fruits-and-berries
My mom really likes apricots and the season is so short that I decided to make this little tart this weekend. The difference between this tart and some of my others is that I found, and sprinkled on, some saffron sugar. It’s got a lovely and unique sweet flavor and adds just a little bit of a golden color to the streusel. If you can’t find saffron sugar, turbinado would also work to add a level of richness.
Here is a challenge for Y’all….. I am certain that even if you have zero baking skills, that you can make this dessert and you’re friends will be impressed. No, really! This Raspberry Lemon Cream Tart involves no actual baking (well, ok, my version, I made the crust, but it can be make with a Keebler “Ready Crust”. If you can stir ingredients a few things together, you can make this. You could also make it with blackberries, or blueberries, or currants.
Starting off the week with some Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins. Except that I didn’t have any actual strawberries, just strawberry jam. What to do? I made some cheesecake filling (cream cheese, egg yolk and sugar), chilled it and then added some of the jam. Result: muffin-y outside, creamy strawberry cheesecake filling. Delicious! And a new trick when berries aren’t at hand!
I know that you might be getting sick of me saying this (although I don’t think that I say it all that often), but sometimes I make a recipe that just turns out perfect. This is one of those recipes.
I have this tendency to buy 3-4 bananas when I know that I can’t eat all of them before they get too rip (I am more of a less-on-the-ripe-side banana girl) so by the time two weeks rolls around, I have 2 or even more bananas to “use up”. That means a lot of banana bread. This time, I decided to make something different and made these Banana Blondies. They are delicious. Moist, a little chewy, super-banana-y. I added walnuts to the mix but skip them if you aren’t a fan. Other “mix in” options are toffee bits, chocolate chips or other nuts. Swirling in a but of Nutella might also work!





