Yuzu Blueberry Poundcake

I know almost nothing about Japanese desserts, except that I've had green tea ice cream. And I have no clue if that's even traditional. So I was really interested in seeing what the new cookbook, Kyotofu, might have to offer.

The book is divided based on the Japanese ingredient included in each of the recipes - soy, miso, green tea, sesame, rice, and yuzu.

I have no clue how traditional any of the recipes are, but I have a suspicion that some are more traditionally American with a Japanese twist - like the chocolate chunk cookies that included some kinako, which is a flour made from toasted soybeans.

After browsing around the book for a while, I decided to make a recipe using an ingredient I happened to have, rather than investing time into finding something else. I could have made a green tea recipe, since I'm well-stocked with both tea and matcha.

But then I saw the poundcake. The description said it was light and gently sweet, and the photo showed a cake cut in a wedge from a round cake rather than a normal loaf cake as you'd expect with an American pound cake.

But then when I read the recipe, it called for a 9x5 loaf pan. What?

This is a particular pet peeve of mine - when photos in a book don't represent what the recipe instructions say. But I carried on, anyway, because I liked the ingredients in the recipe.

I ended up with a sort of squat cake - it might have been better in a smaller loaf pan (8x4) or in an 8-inch round pan, as might have been used for the photo.

This also took a lot longer to bake than the recipe called for. At first, I thought it might have been the difference between the loaf pan and what was depicted in the photo. But then I realized that the book said to use either fresh or frozen berries, but didn't suggest thawing the berries (which would have made the batter purple/blue) or increasing the baking time for the cake.

In the end it was a good cake, flavor-wise. Next time I might make it in a round pan or as cupcakes, and for sure I'll try it with fresh berries. A far as the yuzu juice, I had it on hand, so it went into the batter. But if you don't have it, I'd suggest simply using lemon juice - it's only a tablespoon, so I doubt at that quantity no one would be able to tell the difference between lemon and yuzu in the cake.

As far as the rest of the book, I was curious whether the mismatched photo was a one-time error, or of other photos were also more creative than realistic. I found a few more, including a recipe that was supposed to be made in muffin tins and unmolded that was shown in a glass, a tart recipe that was shown as individual tarts rather than one large one described in the recipe, cookies that were supposed to be cut with a round cutter rather than the scalloped rectangular cutter used for the cookies in the photo, and a round cheesecake that was depicted as being cut into a square.

Okay, with that last one, you could take a round cheesecake and cut it into small squares to serve it - but why would you?

I didn't scrutinize every photo to nitpick details - but those were the obvious ones that caught my eye.
These photo mismatches aren't a total dealbreaker for enjoying the book, since the recipes themselves look solid. But I do wish that instructions were given - even as an option - for making the recipes as they were shown in the photos. If it's just a matter of cutting something (like the cookies), it's really no big deal. But if it's a matter of baking mini tarts instead of a large one, or a round cake instead of a loaf - well, that makes a difference with baking time.

The photos are indeed pretty, and the recipes sound interesting. I plan on making a few more using some of the ingredients that are new to me. And I'm looking forward to that, as soon as I can hunt those ingredients down.

Meanwhile, have a piece of cake.

Yuzu Blueberry Pound Cake
Adapted from Kyotofu by Nicole Bermensolo

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest (from one lemon)
1 tablespoon yuzu juice (lemon juice would be fine)
1/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups (150 grams) all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x5 loaf pan with baking spray

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until it's light and fluffy.

While the mixer is running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, then add the lemon zest.

Add the yuzu juice, sour cream, and vegetable oil and continue mixing until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add this mixture to the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix until just combined, scraping down the stand mixer bowl to make sure everything is evenly mixed.

Gently mix in the blueberries by hand.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a spatula. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean - it actually took mine over an hour to finish baking - that might be because I used frozen berries and they were chilly when they were in the batter. Consider that, if you make this.

Pineapple Yogurt Loaf Cake

Sometimes I get an idea in my head and I can't shake it. Like I had this idea to make a quick bread using Greek yogurt and self-rising flour.

Except I didn't have any self rising flour.

But that's easy. I always have baking soda and baking powder.

This all started when the nice folks at Yoplait sent me some of their blended Greek yogurt and a recipe for frozen blueberry breakfast bars.

The bars sounded good. Besides breakfast, I thought they'd be great for an afternoon snack or even dessert. But once the weather gets cold, I'm really not that interested in eating frozen foods. So I set the recipe aside.

And time passed. And I became obsessed with this idea of a quick bread with just a few ingredients. I mean, I've seen quick bread and biscuit recipes that are nothing more than yogurt and self-rising flour.

But I wanted a bit more than that. A few ingredients rather than two.

The first loaf was a complete train wreck. And when I say complete, I mean complete. It was gummy and nasty and inedible.

And then I was on a mission. I wanted to make a yogurt cake, and I wanted it to be good. I added more ingredients. I got closer. Then I removed some. Added some others. It was getting better, but still not blog-worthy. More yogurt, less yogurt. Milk. No milk. No eggs, one egg, two eggs, three ...

Finally, I got a loaf cake I liked. It's close to pound cake, but a little lighter. With bits of pineapple from the yogurt. A little sweet, but not too much. Moist, but not gooey. It rose nicely, but didn't dome at all, so maybe next time I'll add just a teeny bit more baking powder - I'll be trying 2 teaspoons. If you live closer to sea level than I do, for sure I suggest that for sure you add more leavening.

So, here's what I ended up with:

Pineapple Yogurt Loaf Cake

1 cup sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup, 8 tablespoons) unsalted butter at room temperature
3 eggs
2 5.3-ounce containers Yoplait Greek Pineapple Yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat the oven to 325 degrees and spray a 9x5 baking pan with baking spray - I used a ceramic pan, but metal should be fine.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a medium bowl using a hand mixer.

Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the yogurt and beat until well blended.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until blended, then add the flour to the wet ingredients and beat until combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake at 325 degrees until the cake bounces back when lightly touched on top, and a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean - about 65 minutes.

Let the cake cool for a minute or two in the pan, the remove the cake from the pan and allow it to cool completely on a rack.

Soooo.... are you curious about the blueberry bars? Here's the recipe I was given. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds pretty good. Maybe I'll make it ... when the weather warms up.

Frozen Blueberry Breakfast Bars
Recipe courtesy of Yoplait. Used with permission.
Get your yogurt and granola in a frozen bar that you can "grab and go" for breakfast or for a snack any time of day.

Prep Time: 15 Min
Start to Finish: 3 Hr 25 Min

2 1/2 cups Cascadian Farm organic oats & honey granola
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 containers (5.3 oz each) Yoplait Greek blueberry* yogurt
1/4 cup fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons Cascadian Farm organic oats & honey granola, coarsely crushed

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, mix 2 1/2 cups granola and the melted butter. Firmly press in bottom of ungreased 8-inch square pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on cooling rack. Freeze about 5 minutes or until cold.

Spoon yogurt over crust; gently spread to cover. Sprinkle with blueberries and crushed granola. Freeze about 3 hours or until firm.

Remove from freezer 10 minutes before cutting. To make bars, cut into 5 rows by 2 rows. Wrap each bar tightly in plastic wrap. Store in freezer.

These bars can be stored tightly wrapped in the freezer up to 2 weeks.

*You can use any flavor of the Yoplait Greek yogurt for this recipe.

Blueberry Cake-Pie-Cheesecake Bars

I love a challenge, so when I found out that Lucky Leaf was holding a contest for recipes using their products, I jumped right in.

And promptly fell off.

If you're not familiar with the company, Lucky Leaf makes all kinds of canned fruit products, including pie fillings and some unusual canned fruits that you don't normally see - like canned tart cherries, apricot pie filling, and pineapple pie filling.

My first cake was a disaster. I think I know where it went wrong, and it had nothing to do with the lovely tart cherries I bought. The cake part of the recipe was out of whack.

So ... I moved on to blueberry pie filling. And I completely re-did the cake part of the recipe. And then I decided I needed something more than blueberries sitting on top of a cake. That would be just weird, right, just a layer of berries?

So I cobbled together a cheesecake-like topping and put a thin layer of that on top. It's really thin. I've seen frosting slathered on thicker. But that's what I was after. Thin layer of cake, layer of blueberry pie filling, and then a cheesecake-like topping.

I considered dolloping on the cheesecake stuff and the blueberry pie filling randomly, then doing swirls, but I decided to go with layers. Maybe next time it will be dollops and swirls. We'll see.

So, back to the contest. I was going to enter it, but with the first cake disaster and the need to buy more stuff, and the late-night baking, and the need to cool this completely before I cut it ... well, I missed the contest deadline completely.

But so what? It's good cake.

Sometimes my best recipes happen when other people ask me to make things. Or when I enter a contest. That's when I pull out all the creativity stops and I make things that I probably wouldn't make if it was just dinner.

Not only do I get more creative when I'm working on a contest entry, some of my most popular posts here weren't things I would have written about if someone else hadn't nudged me write them. We'll see how this one fares.

Blueberry Cake-Pie-Cheesecake Bars

For the cake:
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups (9 ounces) all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the pie filling:
1 21-ounce can blueberry pie filling

For the cheese topping:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 pan with baking spray.

To make the cake:
Combine all the cake ingredients in a large bowl. Yes, all at once. Beat until well combined. You don't need to beat the heck out of it, but just until it's combined and not lumpy-bumpy.

Pour the cake mixture into the pan and bake at 350 degrees until the cake bounces back when lightly pressed on top - about 25 minutes. It doesn't need to be browned on top, but it should be cooked through. A toothpick inserted in the center might be a little moist, but it shouldn't be batter-wet.

To make the cheese topping:
While the cake is baking, make the cheese topping. Beat the cream cheese until it is smooth, then add the sugar and beat well. Add the egg, creme fraiche (or sour cream) and lemon juice and beat until well combined and smooth. Set aside until the cake is ready.

When the cake is ready, remove it from the oven. Add the blueberry pie filling and even it out as much as possible. Dollop on the cheese topping and smooth the top.

Return the cake to the oven and bake at 350 degrees until the cheese mixture is just set. It can be a little jiggly, but it shouldn't be loose and sloshy.

Let the cake, in its pan, cool on a rack until room temperature, then refrigerate.

Serve cool, or at room temperature.

Almond Puff Loaf

I found this recipe on the King Arthur Flour website and had to give it a try. I love almond flavoring, but even more important, I was intrigued by the combination of a bottom crust that was similar to pie crust, topped with a choux-type pastry.

According to the website, this recipe has been around for a long time, but I was pretty sure I'd never seen anything like it. I've seen all the parts of it; I just never saw them all combined like this.

I left the almonds off, but I can see how they'd add a nice crunch.

Since the dough isn't very sweet, you can easily control the sweetness by changing the toppings. Instead of a sweet jam, I think this would be great with something like an apple butter or even an almond paste. Lemon curd would be nice, but maybe replace the almond extract with vanilla. Pastry cream would be good, too, with or without the jam.

Almond Puff Loaf
Adapted from a recipe on the King Arthur Flour website

First Layer
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into pats or cubes
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt (only if you're using unsalted butter)

Second Layer
1 cup water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup all purpose flour
3 large eggs, at room temp
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon salt (only if you're using unsalted butter)

Topping

jam or preserves, about 1/3 cup per pastry
1/2 to 2/3 cup sliced almonds (I didn't use any. It's your call)

Icing
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 teaspoons water

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

First layer
Combine the butter, flour, and salt, working the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture is crumbly. Stir stir in the water. The dough will become cohesive, but not smooth.

Divide the dough in half. Shape each piece of the dough into a rough log. Pat the logs (I used a small pastry roller) into 11 x 3 rectangles on the baking sheet, leaving at least 4 inches between them, and 2 inches on each side.

Note: 11 inches seemed a bit long since I placed them vertically on the sheet, so mine were about 10 inches long and a bit wider than 3 inches. I should have put them horizonally, and I could have made them longer and thinner. Oh well.

Second layer

In a medium-sized saucepan, bring the water and butter to a boil. Stir until the butter melts, then add the flour (and salt, if you're using it) all at once. Stir the mixture with a spoon till it thickens, begins to steam, and leaves the sides of the pan. This happens quickly.

Move the dough to a mixing bowl and beat it at medium speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute, to cool it down a bit.

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Keep beating until the dough loses its slimy look, and each egg is totally absorbed, then mix in the almond extract.

Divide the batter in half. Spread half the batter over each of the dough strips on the pan, covering them completely. When the batter completely covers the entire bottom layer, smooth it out as best you can.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until it's a deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and transfer the pastries to a wire rack.

Topping
Spread each warm pastry with about 1/3 cup of jam or preserves. I used cherry-blackberry, but any flavor that works with almond would be fine.

Sprinkle the almonds on top of the jam. (I didn't use any, but they would be nice) By this time the pastry will have started to soften and deflate a bit. That's what they're supposed to do.

Icing

Stir together the sugar, vanilla, and water to form a thick but pourable icing. Drizzle the icing over the pastries.

Note: when I make this sort if drizzle, I often add another flavor to it. Depending on the pastry and filling flavors, I might add a bit of almond, maple, or even use coffee instead of the water.

Slice into squares or strips to serve.