Plum and Blueberry Yoghurt Cake

When Caroline announced that this month's AlphaBakes letter is 'Y',I immediately thought of yoghurt. I love baking with yoghurt and tend to use it in muffins and banana bread. I found this great recipe online for a Peach and Blueberry Greek Yoghurt Cake so I decided to give it a go. Plums were on sale in the supermarket so I used plums instead of peaches and it worked beautifully. I'm sure nectarines or even pears would work well too. The cake is really colourful and visually appealing. The sponge is light and the added fruit on top makes it feel almost healthy. 

I'm sending this to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes this month and myself on alternate months. The letter is Y for yoghurt. 

It's also going to Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too

 sponge base 

 adding lovely fresh fruit on top 

 

 look at all the lovely colours 

Recipe from Julia's Album
The only changes I made was to reduce the amount of sugar, replace the peaches with plums and adding in some brown sugar before baking.

185g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
56g butter, softened
180g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
125mls Greek yogurt
4 plum, sliced
170g blueberries

3-4 teaspoons light brown sugar (optional) 

• Preheat oven to 180C. 
• Grease and line a 23cm diameter springform tin.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl. 
• In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter and sugar together for a few minutes.
• Add in the eggs, one at a time and mix well.
• Add in the yoghurt and vanilla extract.
• Stir in the flour mixture and continue mixing. 
• Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.
• Arrange the plum slices in a circular fashion on top.
• Sprinkle the bluberries on top.
• If using, sprinkle a few teaspoons of light brown sugar on top before baking. 
• Bake for approximately 45 - 50 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Allow to cool completely in the tin before releasing and serving. 

Blueberry and white chocolate buttermilk scones

This is one of those amazing recipes that started as a bit of an experiment and ended beautifully. I have been quite busy lately and have been neglecting my blog. I do miss baking and blogging and participating in blogging challenges but sometimes life just gets in the way. I didn't get a chance to enter anything last month apart from Alphabakes so I wanted to make sure I got a few entries in this month. The inspiration for this recipe is the We Should Cocoa Challenge hosted by Choclette from Tin and Thyme. The theme this month is blueberries. I started thinking about how to pair chocolate and blueberries. Initially I thought of a blueberry sponge cupcake with white chocolate frosting but decided it was too boring. I debated about cookies but I couldn't find any dried blueberries when I went shopping. I then stumbled upon a recipe for buttermilk scones and thought aha! I don't bake scones often and I've certainly never tried baking this type of scone so I thought I'd go for it! 

I adapted a recipe slightly from Butter Baking which in turn was adapted from Tartine. I wasn't sure how to incorporate the blueberries and white chocolate but I did know that scone mixture should not be handled extensively otherwise the scones are hard and dry. I decided to tip out the scone mixture onto a silicone mat and kneaded it gently. I pressed it into a large rectangle shape then poured the white chocolate chips and blueberries on top. I then rolled the dough so the filling was in the middle. I cut large rectangles and then cut them into triangles. The scones were brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with caster sugar before baking. Every scone had ample filling of blueberries and white chocolate and the blueberries stayed in the middle. 

The scones turned out better than I expected. They look a lot better than those sold at a certain coffee chain! They have a lovely crispy edge and a soft centre. The blueberries and white chocolate work well together and the scones are not overly sweet at all. The sugar on top gives it a lovely crunch. It's best served warm with a cup of tea but it was still delicious the day after.

 add cubed butter to flour mixture  

 I spread out the dough and patted it into a rectangluar shape

 poured the fresh blueberries and white chocolate on top

 fold in half and cut into rectangles and then triangles

 brush with melted butter and sprinkle with caster sugar before baking 

 Loved the crispy bits 

 Warmed up slightly for breakfast the next day - love the oozing blueberries! 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month...

We Should Cocoa hosted by Choclette from Tin and Thyme. The theme this month is blueberries.

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from The Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Summertime Special. Berries in any form definitely spell summer for me.

Simple and in Season hosted by Ren. Blueberries are definitely in season at the moment.

Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too

Tasty Tuesdays hosted by Vicki from Honest Mum.

Recipe adapted from Butter Baking 

Makes 18 scones
For the scones
680g plain flour
100g caster sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
250g butter, cubed
375mls buttermilk
100g white chocolate chips
200g fresh blueberries
For the topping before baking 
30g butter, melted
30g caster sugar for sprinkling

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Place the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonte of soda in the bowl of an electric mixer.
• Add the cubed butter (250g).
• Mix on a low speed until the butter is incorporated into the flour mixture. 
• Add in the buttermilk.
• You should have a soft dough at this point.
• Tip it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently. Try not to overmix or handle the dough too much.
• Spread the rough into a large rectangle.
• Pour the white chocolate chips and fresh blueberries on top. 
• Fold the dough in half starting with the bottom end, folding upwards.
• Cut into large rectangles and then cut into triangles (see photo above).
• Place the triangles on a lined baking tray.
• Brush with melted butter and sprinkle caster sugar on top. 
• Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
• Allow to cool for 5 minutes on the tray.
• Best served warm but will keep in an airtight container for a day or two. 

Blueberry Pancakes with maple syrup

Happy weekend everyone! I love weekends for many reasons and I'm sure most of you will agree that generally it represents time to relax and unwind and if you're lucky to have a lie in. Most of all it's about the food. When we have a free weekend at home, we like to cook our own brunch and our favourites are waffles, pancakes or poached eggs on muffins. Easter seems like such a long time ago now but I still remember these pancakes which we had on Easter Monday. J wanted blueberry pancakes so I found a recipe online from Sally's Baking Addiction and it turned out beautifully. It was light, fluffy and full of blueberries. I served it with more fresh blueberries, fresh strawberries and lashings of maple syrup.  It made for a really filling brunch and I'm pretty sure there's at least one of my five a day in there! 

                                       

     

 wet ingredients, dry ingredients and fresh blueberries 

 adding the fresh blueberries 

 serve with maple syrup 

Recipe adapted slightly from Sally's Baking Addiction

250g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
250g low fat natural yoghurt
300ml milk
60ml Clarks Carob fruit syrup
2 eggs
45g melted butter
300g fresh blueberries

• In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients - plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground cinnamon. 
• In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, carob fruit syrup, yoghurt and melted butter. 
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix gently until it forms a smooth batter. 
• Finally stir in the blueberries. 
• Heat a frying pan with cooking spray or oil or butter. 
• Add a ladleful of batter to the hot pan and cook until the edges look dry and there are bubbles in the mixture.
• Flip the pancake in one go and cook until it is browned on both sides. 
• Keep the pancakes warm in a pre-heated oven about 150C until all the pancakes are cooked.
• Serve with fresh berries and maple syrup. 

Banana and Berry Lemon Muffins

The sun is shining and the daffodils are blooming. Spring has definitely arrived. These muffins are perfect for spring as it's full of berries, banana and lemon. They are moist and fruity and you definitely get some of your five a day in this. I adapted a muffin recipe from BBC good Food and used up leftover fruit that I had. It was also a good chance to try out the lemon extract paste from Taylor & Colledge. They kindly sent me a range of their new flavour pastes to try. The range includes vanilla bean, lavender, lemon, coconut, almond and peppermint. They come in a handy tube and it's very easy to use with no mess. The lemon one smells really nice and lemony and the paste is a good consistency - not too thick and not too thin. These are a great way to add flavour to your bakes. 

I'm sending these muffins to AlphaBakes hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes and myself on alternate months. The letter ths month is B for banana and blueberries.

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring. 

Credit Crunch Munch guest hosted by Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. The challenge is run by Camilla from Fab Food 4 All and Helen from Fuss Free Flavours. This is quite a frugal recipe as it uses up store cupboard ingredients and leftover fruit. I didn't buy anything new for this recipe. If you don't have the lemon paste, a bit of fresh lemon juice and zest will suffice or you can omit it.

No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. I used up lots of leftover fruit and yellowing bananas for this recipe. 

  

 adding lemon paste 

 adding berries 

 sprinkle some chopped strawberries before baking

Makes 12 muffins

250g flour
115g brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
3 ripe bananas
125mls vegetable oil
60mls milk
60mls honey
2 eggs, lightly beaten
85g blueberries
220g strawberries - keep aside about 6 or 7 strawberries to put on top of the muffin before baking
1/2 teaspoon lemon paste

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda and set aside.
• In a large bowl, roughly mash the bananas with a fork.
• Add the vegetable oil, milk, honey and eggs.
• Add in the flour mixture followed by the lemon paste.
• Stir gently until just combined - be careful not to overmix.
• Add in the strawberries and blueberries.
• Divide the mixture into 12 muffin cases
• Sprinkle the tops with the reserved, chopped strawberries and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Disclaimer: I was sent a range of flavour pastes from Taylor & Colledge for review purposes. A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are my own. This is not a sponsored post. 

Mini Fruit Tarts

This is my second pastry offering at my afternoon tea. They were a bit of a rush job and I didn't get as many photos as I wanted. I also ran out of time and only managed to glaze the strawberry tarts. I used Eric Lanlard's recipe for a sweet shortcrust pastry and also used the same creme patissiere as for the mini eclairs. The tarts were blind baked then filled with creme patissiere and topped with fresh fruit. They were really tasty little bites and my guests were impressed that I made my own pastry. 

As before, I'm sending this to the Pastry Challenge hosted by Jen from Jen's Food and Lisa from United Cakedom.

 rub flour and butter together then add in the sugar. Make a well in the centre..

 ... add in the egg and knead until you form a soft dough. Place in the fridge for about 30 mins 

 I couldn't find my other pastry cutters and only had 1 size with a straight edge! 

 ready to blind bake the pastry 

 mini fruit tarts 

Banana, blueberry and apple muffins

As usual I had a brown banana in the kitchen begging to be baked. I also found a slightly soft apple and some blueberries so I decided to incorporate everything into a muffin. These are great for lunch boxes or breakfast on the go. We kept them in the freezer and defrosted them for breakfast during the week which was really handy. The muffins are quite dense and cake-like and it was full of blueberries! I made sure to add extra blueberries on top just before baking and as you can see they didn't sink to the bottom!

I'm sending this to the No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary. I used up a brown banana and an apple going spare in this recipe.

 banana and grated apple mixture; milk, vegetable oil and honey mixture 

 adding in lovely blueberries 

press a few blueberries on top before baking 

 bursting with flavour 

Recipe adapted slightly from BBC Food 

250g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

50g caster sugar
1 ripe banana, mashed

1 ripe apple, peeled, cored and grated

250g blueberries (set aside a generous amount to place on top of the muffin before baking) 

3 tablespoons honey 

60mls vegetable oil
1 laarge egg
185mls milk

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and ground cinnamon. Add in the sugar. 
• Add in the mashed banana, grated apple and about 200g of the blueberries. 
• In a separate bowl or jug, mix the vegetable oil, milk and honey.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the large bowl and stir gently to mix through.
• Be careful not to overmix or to break up the blueberries. 
• Spoon into muffin cases.
• Place lots of fresh blueberries on top of each muffin - don't press too hard.
• Bake for approximately 20 -25 minutes or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.