We’ve had some absolutely stunning weather here in Minneapolis over the past week. It makes me utterly giddy. I hope you’re in for some good weather and fun times this weekend. I have grand plans to take my new book
to a coffee shop and sit outside in the sun for several hours. I’m also looking forward to seeing a friend for brunch Sunday and finally getting to experience Tilia! Here are some great posts from around the web…
This looks like a perfect vegetarian sandwich.
Chocolate for breakfast? Don’t mind if I do.
For the love of sausages.
Things like this make me excited for our first CSA this summer.
Is our taste for breakfast cereal changing?
This cookie combination sounds divine.
Would you ever bake a cake for a family wedding?
Street food: in the U.K., a little theatre brings in the punters.
And…the world’s best street food.
(Photo courtesy of Tide and Thyme.)
Is it safe to claim the title of Queen of Lemon Cakes yet? I think my love of lemony cakes has been well established and I hope I’ve turned a few of you onto to the magic that is citrus-y baked goods in the process.
I saw this recipe in the May issue of Bon Appétit as I was flying back from Michigan one sleepy morning. Of course I knew I’d have to make it. There have been cakes with butter, cakes with cream, but not yet a lemon cake made with thick Greek yoghurt and oil. I had to try it and happily it didn’t disappoint. In fact, it’s a gorgeous cake, specked with lemon zest and packed full of flavour.
French Yoghurt Cake
from Bon Appétit, May, 2012
Ingredients
- Oil, to grease pan
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp kosher/coarse salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
- 3/4 cup Greek yoghurt
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease pan with vegetable oil. Dust with flour; tap out excess.
- Whisk 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
- Using your fingers, rub the lemon zest into the sugar in a large bowl until sugar is moist and fragrant. Add yoghurt, oil, eggs, and vanilla extract; whisk to blend. Fold in dry ingredients with a rubber spatula just to blend. Don’t over mix.
- Pour the batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until top of cake is golden brown and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 50–55 minutes.
- Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert onto rack and let it cool completely. Best bit: Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.
This granola is everything I love about granola: big chunks of nuts and gooey, chewy dried fruit, alongside smaller, easy-to-chew oats and seeds all bound up in a deep, rich honey coating and toasted to a dark, cinnamon-y perfection.
I don’t know about you but granola is one of my very favourite things to eat for breakfast. I love having a bowl of it with milk and it’s also amazing with yoghurt. Either way I almost always chop a banana on top of it. It provides that sweet kick I often crave first thing in the morning and yet it’s refreshing with milk or yoghurt and eating all those oats and nuts is wonderful. Texturally it’s spot on.
I adore whole almonds in cereal – I often add them to oatmeal or warm spiced breakfast quinoa – I just love the texture and crunch of them whole with their skins. I can’t be messing around with the slivered variety – I just don’t see the point of them. Cranberries are a great flavour to combine with almonds and I also added dried cherries here which work marvelously.
Here’s the very best thing about making granola if you never have – it’s all about delving into the depths of your kitchen cupboards and using up bits and bobs of what you have. What I happened to have surplus of on hand, you see here. So long as you have rolled oats for a base and some kind of nut and dried fruit you’re good to go! Just get inventive.
In terms of texture, you can also play around. I happen to love big chunks of things in my granola – like the whole almonds – but if you don’t then chop everything. Just pick flavours and textures you love and do your thing. Enjoy!
Almond and Cranberry Granola
adapted from Alice Currah
Notes: if you prefer a less chunky granola then be sure to chop the nuts up well. If you’re using those big, juicy organic dried cherries/cranberries then you might want to hold them back and only add them to the mix about half way through baking – otherwise they will be pretty dang crunchy.
Ingredients
- 3 cups/ 255 grams rolled oats (not the instant kind)
- 1/2 cup/ 43 grams wheat flakes
- 1/2 cup/ 72 grams sunflower seeds
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 3/4 cup/ 94 grams almonds (I like to leave half of them whole and roughly chop the rest)
- 1/4 cup/ 30 grams mix of chopped pecans and whole hazelnuts
- 3/4 cup/ 113 grams dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup/ 38 grams dried cherries
- 1/4 cup/ 56 grams vegetable oil
- 1/3 cup/ 7.3 grams brown sugar
- 1/4 cup/ 85 grams honey
- 2 tablespoons water
Directions
- Preheat oven to 300F/ 150C.
- Combine rolled oats, wheat flakes, sunflower seeds, cinnamon, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts, cranberries, and cherries in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl combine vegetable oil, brown sugar, honey, and water and whisk gently to combine.
- Add the honey mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with your hands until all the oats are evenly coated. Transfer wet granola evenly on to two large cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
- Cook for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow granola to completely cool before serving. Don’t worry if the granola doesn’t seem super crunchy after coming out of the oven. It will crisp up once completely cooled. Keeps in a tightly fastened container in a cool, dry place for a few weeks.
