Blackberry-Swirl Pound Cake

What to do with all those berries you picked over the summer...

I suggest this pound cake from Everyday Food (I know, I know, I'm one of martha's cooking zombies but, I don't think I've made a recipe out of this magazine yet that I didn't love). I suppose you could use any berry, I just happened to pick a lot of blackberries this year. Even though the blueberries were delicious, too! Yum.

Besides being tasty, I think this cake is pretty to look at. And I'm shallow about food so, that's important.

You will need:

• 1 stick of butter (at room temp)
• 6 oz. of blackberries or 1 1/3 c.
• 1 1/4 c. + 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 1/2 t. coarse salt
• 1/4 t. baking powder
• 2 eggs lightly beaten
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 1/2 c. sour cream (at room temp)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease your pan/line with parchment. I used some cute loaf papers.

Puree the blackberries with 2 T sugar.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and 1 1/4 c. sugar for about 5 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat to combine. Add the flour mix in alternating portions with the sour cream, set mixer on a low setting.

Transfer half the batter to your pan and dot with 1/2 c of the blackberry puree. Repeat with the remaining batter.

I used some chopsticks to swirl the blackberry puree around.

Bake until golden brown, about 1 1/4 hours. Let it cool for 30 minutes or so.

p.s. this cake is not for the dieters of the world. luckily i am not one of them.

martha vs. food network

Easter Sunday + MIL's birthday = two batches of cupcakes. I made the first batch using a martha stewart recipe and a fun decorating kit I got from work. This was also my first experience using frosting bags and tips. I'm completely addicted. It's simple but, makes gorgeous cupcakes!


MS's recipe fell a little flat (literally) -easily covered with frosting but, a little disappointing nonetheless. Probably an error on my end. Luckily it didn't affect the taste!

In the second batch, I had to make some adjustments to the recipe. Pastry flour seems to be difficult to find around here. The cupcakes were more like bread than cakes. This combined with the walnuts probably explains why I was told the cupcakes tasted "healthy." Hm. I haven't decided whether that's a good thing or not. Picky Mr. K approved so, I would use either of these recipes again. Enjoy the photos/cupcake porn!

apple -butternut squash soup review

I have a great love for the butternut squash. So, in the winter I try to put it in as many dishess possible. I was pretty excited to try this recipe that I found in last year's Martha Stewart Holiday issue. The front cover informs me that it is special and also collectible. Ooo!

The good thing about soup is that even though this one has a fairly long prep time -about an hour- you can always make it ahead of time.

if you want to try it you'll need:
1 tablespoon butter - 1 med. diced onion - - 2 teaspoons coarse salt -
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, & chopped
4 red apples peeled, cored, & chopped - optional garnish: finely dice a 5th apple & toss with lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin - - 1/2 tsp. ground coriander -
1/2 tsp. ground ginger - - 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper -
- 1/4 ground black pepper -
2 c. veg stock - - 2 1/2 c. water -
jalapeno chile & sour cream for garnish

melt the buttern in a large sauce pan and cook your onion over medium heat about four minutes. Add the squash and cook about 10 minutes.

Add the apples, salt and all the rest of your spices to the pan. Add the stock and water ( I used "not chicken" broth cubes ). Bring to a boil and the reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Puree the mixture and return to the pan. Heat over low. The recipe says you can thin with water but, I left it nice and thick. Add your garnish if you like.

I liked this soup, it's perfect for warm nights or to take to work for a filling lunch. If I make it again I will add less cayenne pepper. For me, it overpowered the flavor of the apples. In fact, I may omit it altogether.

Mr. K weighs in : good, a little too spicy, would like it to be "a hair" thicker but, otherwise tasty