Blue on Blue

It should come as no surprise that I read a lot of food blogs...a lot.  I love seeing what other bloggers are cooking, where they find inspiration, read their stories, and see how they style their photos.  It inspires me...whether it's to try an ingredient I've never used or try my hand at their recipe.

One of the blogs that I read is Thibeault's Table.  I also follow them on Facebook.  Ann posts drool-worthy photos on both outlets and I love that on her blog header is the quote, 'Recipes are meant to be shared...'  It's true.  Think of all the recipes passed down generation to generation, from family to family, amongst friends, and now, over the expanse of the internet through blogs like yours truly, like Ann's, and like so many others.

Today's recipe comes from a post where Ann shared her favourite blueberry recipes.  I made the Blueberry Upside Down Cake and it was delicious!  Once again, the cake went into work with me and I came home with an empty pan.

For the record...I didn't change a damn thing on this recipe.  I used fresh blueberries and added the optional cinnamon, because I love cinnamon.

Blueberry Upside Down Cake
From Thibeault's Table, recipe from Canadian Living Magazine August 1983

1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
3/4 cup milk

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a 9 inch square cake pan with parchment, allowing paper to hang over edges.  Combine melted butter and brown sugar, then spread evenly over bottom of pan.  Spread blueberries over brown sugar mixture, then sprinkle lemon juice over berries.

Cream butter, gradually adding sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Alternately add dry ingredients and milk to creamed butter and sugar.  Spread batter evenly over blueberries.  Bake 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes in pan before turning cake onto plate.

Where this post title led me today...

...which will naturally lead me to this...

Late Night Baking Session No. 562

The number is totally random.  It could be baking session number 562, 1289, or 48 for all I know.  It's my version of an inside joke (really inside), or my (sad) attempt at being funny.  I'll sometimes post a Facebook status when I get the urge to bake at night.  These are also sometimes known as 'Midnight Baking Sessions.'  The updates usually include a photo of what the late hour produces or provides a tease of what's to come.  There were a lots of those sessions around the holidays when I'd come home from the day job and decide to tackle just one more batch of biscotti.

Wednesday night turned into a late night baking session, after a lovely day off where I had lunch with the Girls, drank a latte with the best design ever, ran errands, and even made it to the gym!  It's those kind of days that get me itching to do some baking.  Like good foreplay leading into good sex.  All the right moves to put me in the mood---to find my hands covered in flour.  Wait...we're talking about baking, right?? RIGHT!

I bought a few Cara Cara oranges on the last grocery trip.  Yes, marketing by Mother Nature strikes again.  Not just any oranges, no Navels or Valencias here!  Cara Cara!  You know I was fascinated by the idea of a blushing pink surprise inside that bright orange peel.  I didn't want to hide the fruit.  It needed a showcase!  I considered a loaf cake with a layer of fruit on top, but after perusing some of the blogs I normally read, I saw a post for an apple upside down cake.  That's it!  Cake, fruit, caramelized sugar.  A little recipe searching and sorting and I decided on a David Lebovitz recipe.  If you haven't read his book, 'The Sweet Life in Paris,' you should.  He's funny, charming, and the book is filled with killer recipes.

His Upside Down Cake Recipe is just the kind of recipe I love, easy and adaptable.  The cake is amazing, moist, yet stands up to the caramelized top.  I used a 9-inch cake pan (even when making the caramel on the stovetop---tongs are helpful!) and vanilla paste instead of vanilla extract.  With the paste, you get the vanilla bean speckles.  I love that!

Find David's recipe here.  And go bake a cake.

Fresh out of the oven...Cara Cara Orange Upside Down Cake

Best latte art ever...meow!