Category: Breakfast

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Rhubarb custard crumb cake

This recipe is based on Nicola Lamb, #17 on her Kitchen Projects substack. I’ve put the ingredients into American measurements for those without  the handy kitchen scale so common in British kitchens!

There are 4 components to this cake: roasted rhubarb, pastry cream, crumbs, and cake. Nicola recommends making the rhubarb & pastry cream the day before making the cake.

Roasted rhubarb:
300g – about 10-12 oz. rhubarb, rinsed, trimmed and cut into 3-4 inch lengths
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water or orange juice
grated zest of half an orange (which can provide the juice)

Pastry cream:
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
scant 1/4 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla bean paste

Crumbs:
7 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cake:
1 stick plus 2 teaspoons butter, room temperature
scant 1/4 cup sugar
scant 1/4 brown sugar
2 eggs, room temperature (you can sub 1 egg + the 3 whites separated from the yolks for the custard)
1 cup flour, very lightly scooped into the cup
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
1/4 cup sour cream

Rhubarb: Heat the oven to 350° Toss together the rhubarb, sugar, orange juice and zest, and transfer to a shallow baking dish (like a pie plate) where it will fit in one layer. Roast for about 15 minutes until the rhubarb is tender but not mushy. Cool, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Pastry cream: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk until just steaming. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together in heat proof bowl. Pour the hot milk into the egg mixture in a steady stream while whisking. Scrape back into the saucepan and heat, stirring, until thickened. Try not to let it boil, but if it starts, stir vigorously. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla. Rinse the bowl, and transfer the cream into it. Gently press a sheet of plastic wrap or waxed paper onto the surface of the cream, and refrigerate overnight with the rhubarb.

Crumbs: Melt the butter. Mix the sugar, flour, salt, and spices in a bowl,  pour in the butter, and stir with a fork until it forms crumbs. Refrigerate while you make the cake.

Cake & assembly: Heat the oven to 350° Line a 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper.  Cream the butter and sugars together either by hand or in a mixer. Add the eggs – it will look curdled but don’t worry about it at this point. Combine the flour, baking soda and powder, and salt in a small bowl, and mix into the butter-sugar-egg mixture. Remove form the mixer and fold in the sour cream with a spatula.

Spread the batter into the baking pan and smooth it. Dollop the pastry cream on top, and arrange the rhubarb on top of that. Crumble the crumbs over the top, trying to leave some of the cream and rhubarb showing (mine didn’t, much).

Bake for 40-50 minutes – Nicola says until there’s “only the slightest hint of wobble in the center”. Cool for 1-2 hours if you want it to cut neatly, and not squish.

Rhubarb-orange soda made from the rhubarb roasting syrup
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Banana Streusel Muffins

We had instant summer here in Wisconsin this week, and that meant I bought the bananas too ripe to last. We really only had one day when it got up close to 80° and today it’s chilly and rainy, but still, on Thursday morning there were 7 getting-almost-too-ripe bananas in the  fruit bowl, so I made these muffins.

For the streusel:

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 tablespoons butter (half a stick)

For the muffins:

  • 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 small)
  • grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups flour (I used unbleached white but some whole wheat would probably be good)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt, or a nice pinch of kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar

To make the streusel, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Slice in the butter and use a pastry blender or your fingers to cut in the butter until you have large crumbs.

Heat the oven to 375° and grease or line a 12-well muffin tin with papers.

Mash the bananas, and transfer them to a 2-cup spouted measuring cup. Add the lemon zest, and the sour cream, egg, and melted butter, and mix.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the center, and add the banana, sour cream, butter mixture. Mix just until all the flour is moistened – a few lumps are OK.

Divide the batter into the muffin tin (I got 9 large muffins, but YMMV), and top each muffin with about 2 tablespoons of the streusel.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes until firm and brown.

Based on a 1997 State Fair Baking Contest recipe in the NYT; Originally posted April 2021

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Fancy Schmancy Cherry Muffins

In September of 2020, we took a pandemic-style trip to Door County – stayed in an AirBnb with a private entrance & no shared spaces, ate all our meals carryout, did nothing indoors – and we never had cherry pancakes for breakfast while we were there. So the first Sunday we were back, we had cherry pancakes at home. Which left me with about a cup of thawed-out pie cherries, and these muffins are the result. Not a replacement for my Better-Than-Stella’s-Cherry-Muffins, simply an alternative.

Makes about 13 muffins

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour (feel free to sub in other types, gluten free, etc.)
1/2 cup grated almond paste
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sour cream
5 tablespoons coconut oil (again, feel free to sub in other types, melted butter, vegetable oil, etc.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup King Arthur cherry jammy bits, or dried cherries
1 scant cup tart cherries, thawed and well-drained if frozen, well-drained if jarred

sliced almonds and granulated sugar for sprinkling on top

Heat the oven to 375°, and line the wells of a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners, or grease them. You may need a custard cup or other container to make muffin #13,

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the grated almond paste, and toss, and then add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar, and toss again. Make a well in the center, and add the eggs, milk, sour cream, and extracts. Mix, but only until all the dry ingredients are moistened – the batter will still be quite lumpy – then fold in the bits or dried cherries, and tart cherries.

Portion the batter into the pan(s) – a muffin scoop is helpful here – and sprinkle the almonds and sugar on top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until raised and firm.

orginally posted October 2020

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Buttermilk-whole-wheat-cinnamon-fig-filled-scones

Mark says they should be called Deb’s fig newton scones. Well, maybe.

Raw scones

Ingredients:

Scones:
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup granulated or brown sugar (light or dark)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
one large egg
about 3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup fig preserves (I used Italian fig bar filling (no nuts or brandy in mine), made from figs, honey, dates, and cinnamon)

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon buttermilk

Method:
Measure the flours, baking powder and soda, cinnamon, and salt into the bowl of a food processor or a large mixing bowl. Slice the butter over the top and either pulse in the food processor, or use a pastry blender or your fingers to cut the butter into the dry ingredients, until you have a sandy mixture.

Crack the egg into a spouted 1-cup measure, and beat lightly, then add the buttermilk to the 1-cup line, and add the vanilla. If you’ve been using a food processor, empty the contents into a bowl, make a well in the center, and pour in the liquid. If your dry mixture is in the bowl, no need to transfer. Mix with a fork until a soft dough forms. Knead the dough together in the bowl, and add a little more buttermilk if necessary to help it hold together.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, gather it into a ball and divide it in half. Form each half into a ball, and working with one at a time, cut the ball in half and pat each half into a 6-7 inch circle. Spread one circle with half the fig preserves, and top with the second circle. Pat together lightly, then cut the into 6 wedges and arrange on an ungreased baking sheet. Repeat with the second ball of dough and the rest of the fig filling.

Bake at 375° for about 20-25 minutes until puffed, firm, and lightly browned.

While the scones are baking mix the glaze ingredients, adding a bit of water to get a pourable consistency.  Drizzle the glaze over the scones while they are still warm.

Makes 1 dozen scones.

Originally posted February 2020

Baked and glazed scones
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Zucchini Muffins (or bread)

or, “How come I’ve never posted a zucchini muffins recipe? in over 10 years of blogging ….” Maybe it’s because I’m never sure if there are 2 c’s or 2 n’s in zucchini.

2 zucchini

Makes 12-14 muffins or one large loaf.

3 cups grated zucchini, lightly packed measure
1/2 cup or 1 stick unsalted butter, melted & cooled
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg or allspice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose unbleached flour, or 2 cups AP and 1 cup whole wheat
optional: 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chopped nuts, raisins, etc)

Grate the zucchini and set it aside in a colander or strainer.

grated zucchini

Heat the oven to 375° (or 350° for a loaf). Line a 12-well muffin tin with papers, or grease it with softened butter, making sure to get the top of the pan. For a loaf of zucchini bread, grease a loaf pan. I especially like the tea bread size, 12 x 4 inches, longer and narrower than a regular 9 x 5 loaf – it seems to work best for sweet loaves like this.

Measure the oil into a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and honey and melted butter. Mix well until emulsified, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Pour in the vanilla, and mix lightly. Add the flour, and top it the zucchini, squeezing some of the moisture out of it as you transfer it by handfuls to the mixing bowl. Fold in the flour and zucchini, then add the chocolate chips, if using. Mix everything until there’s no dry flour or big clumps of zucchini, but try not to over-mix.

Scoop the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until browned and firm. Bake the loaf 35-50 minutes at 350°

Zucchini Muffins 2019
2024 update

Originally posted July 2019; updated July 2024

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Outrageous Rhubarb Coffee Cake

Very young rhubarb at Allen Centennial Garden

The first time I made this recipe, I did not read carefully enough and added the brown sugar and nuts that are supposed to be sprinkled on top to the batter! The cake still tasted fine, but to make sure you don’t make the same mistake, I’ve separated the batter, sprinkle on top, and pour-over syrup ingredients.

Ingredients

1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups chopped rhubarb
2 3/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Sprinkle on top:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Topping:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup half & half
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 350°.
  2. Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.
  3. In a bowl, mix buttermilk, melted butter, egg, and vanilla.
  4. Stir in the rhubarb.
  5. In a large bowl, mix flour, white sugar, baking soda, and salt.
  6. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ad stir until just combined.
  7. Spread batter into pan.
  8. Sprinkle brown sugar and chopped nuts on top.
  9. Bake 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.
  10. Meanwhile, combine all the topping ingredients except the vanilla in a saucepan, and stir over medium heat until smooth. Bring to a boil and let it bubble for just a few minutes until slightly thickened. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla.
  11. When the cake comes out of the oven, poke deep holes over the surface with a fork or skewer.
  12. Drizzle the warm sauce over the cake holes.
  13. Cool and serve. Refrigerate the leftovers.

Originally posted June 2019

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Morning Glory Muffins

Obviously this picture was taken when I was in my enchanted-with-Instagram-filters-phase, which Insta tells me was October 26th, 2014.

Anyways this is my version of the notorious – at least for a time in probably the 1980s – Morning Glory Muffins. The most delicious versions are fairly high in sugar and fat. There are also lowfat healthier and less-tasty versions.

My version is a compromise.

Makes 12-14 muffins

  • 1/2-3/4 cup raisons – brown or yellow – or use King Arthur fruit cake blend, with yellow raisons, currants, diced pineapple, cranberries, and dates
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup vegetable oil OR 10 tablespoons of melted butter
  • 2 cups grated carrots – I like them peeled before grating
  • 1 large apple, peeled or un-peeled, grated or diced
  • 1/3-1/2 cup nuts – toasted walnuts are very nice
  • 1/2 cup coconut – I prefer sweetened, but unsweetened works
  • 1/2 cup yogurt (vanilla or plain) or buttermilk or a combination, or the non-dairy milk or yogurt of your choice
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • good-sized pinch of Kosher salt
  • 2 cups of unbleached flour OR 1 cup unbleached flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour OR 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour and 1/2 cup wheat germ or bran cereal

Heat the oven to 375° and grease a 12-well muffin tin, or line it with paper liners. You may need an extra custard cup or silcone pan or two.

Optional – Put the raisons into a small heat proof bowl, and pour boiling water over to soften them.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, and add the sugar and oil.

Add the carrots, apples, nuts, and coconut, and mix.

Stir in the yogurt.

Measure the baking powder and soda and vanilla into the bowl, add the salt, and give it a stir.

Add the flour, and drain the raisins and add them, and fold it all together until there are no dry spots.

Scoop the batter into the prepared pan(s), and bake for about 25-30 minutes until they’re raised and firm.

Eat plain, or with butter or cream cheese and/or honey. These muffins are known as grab & go car food, but I prefer to eat them seated, even at my desk.

Adapted from a recipe written on the back of a notebook I had in library school (1989-1991) that John, aged two or three, scribbled on

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Apricot & White Chocolate Chip Scones

Mark and I split an apricot & white chocolate scone at Colectivo a few Saturdays ago. It was good, but we agreed that we’d have preferred a scone with lots of chopped apricots, like theirs had, but instead of a white frosting that didn’t taste particularly of white chocolate, white chocolate chips IN the scone would be better.

So I made some on Sunday morning.

They’re a little bit like this King Arthur Flour recipe, but less butter and cream cheese, more like my cinnamon scone recipe.

3 cups unbleached flour
1/3 cup sugar
pinch salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
4 tablespoons butter (half a stick)
4 oz. cream cheese (half an 8 oz. bar)
1 egg
about 2/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
a little extra buttermilk for brushing the tops, and coarse or granulated sugar for sprinkling on top

Heat the oven to 400°.

Place the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in the work bowl of a food processor, or your stand mixer, or a mixing bowl. Pulse 2-3 times, or stir a bit, to blend the dry ingredients. Slice the butter and cream cheese into chunks and put them on top of the flour. If using a food processor, pulse; mix with the paddle blade of the mixer; or use a pastry blender to cut the butter & cream cheese into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse meal.

If using a food processor, dump the mixture into a mixing bowl. If using a mixer remove the bowl, and if you’re blending by hand you’re all set. Add the apricots and chocolate chips to the flour mixture, and toss together.

Break the egg into a 1 cup measure with a spout, beat with a fork, and add enough buttermilk milk to make 1 cup. Add the extracts to the egg and buttermilk milk and pour the liquid into the bowl. Mix with a fork, and keep stirring until it clumps, and there are no pockets of dry flour, adding extra buttermilk or water as necessary.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until you have a homogeneous dough. Divide the dough in half, and flatten each half into a disk. Brush the top of the disks with a little more buttermilk, and sprinkle with sugar. Use a knife to divide each disk into 6 wedges and place on an ungreased baking sheet, and bake until firm and nicely browned – about 20 minutes. You can also make the dough into one bigger disk for 8 larger scones, but I like the small ones.

Originally posted in 2018 – but the picture is from 2012, and the cinnamon scone recipe is from the ’90s – so I’ve obviously been baking scones for a long time

Apricot Scones. It doesn’t look as if these have any white chocolate in them.
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Blueberry Muffins

We had an AFS student from Germany the 2013-14 school year, and her parents and little sister came to pick her up in July. They’ll travel for about 2 weeks in the US before going home. Their last morning here, I made blueberry muffins for breakfast. They asked for the recipe, and it made me realize I have never really done my blueberry muffin recipe. It’s changed over the years influenced by this and this, but usually with butter rather than oil, and cinnamon, and the crumbcake method, of cutting the butter in first, a little richer than my “everyday” muffins.

And now, 10 years later (January 2024) I tried out a whole wheat version that is proving quite popular.

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups of flour
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 stick, 8 TBLS, 4 oz. butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup 2% milk
  • 2 cups blueberries, fresh or UN-thawed frozen (1 pint basket)

Heat the oven to 375°. Grease the wells of a 12-well muffin tin, or line with paper liners. Measure the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl – or the bowl of your stand mixer. Slice in the butter. Cut the butter into the flour mixture, with the paddle attachment of your mixer, or a pastry blender, or your fingers, until you have what looks like coarse meal. Remove 12 TBLS about 8 TBLS – half a cup – of the crumbs and set aside for topping. Make a well in the center for the dry ingredients, and break in the egg, and our in the milk. If you were using the mixer before, do this part by hand with a rubber (silicone, really, probably) spatula. When all the dry goods are wetted down, add the blueberries, and mix gently just till everything is combined. Scoop the batter into the muffin tin, dividing evenly (A muffin scoop is great for this). Top each muffin with a sprinkle of the reserved crumbs. Bake 15 – 20 minutes until raised, firm and lightly browned.

Originally published June 2014 – edited Feb. 2019

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Recipe for a curiously satisfying breakfast

  • 1/3 cup rolled oats
  • 2 medjool dates
  • 1 large banana

Optional additions: small spoonful of brown sugar, splash of 2% milk, a jar of good peanut butter

Put the oats in a small saucepan with 2/3 cups water and a pinch of salt. Pit the dates, cut them into small pieces, drop them into the pan with the oats and water, and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat, stir, and cook for about 3 minutes. Peel and slice about half the banana into the pan, stir again, and cook for about another 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the oatmeal stand for a few minutes – cover optional.

Add the optional toppings, and eat with a large spoon, straight out of the pan.

Eat the remaining half of the banana with the peanut butter.

Originally published February 2018

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