“Food imaginatively and lovingly prepared, and eaten in good company, warms the being.”
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
As a CSN Preferred Blogger, I was offered the option of another product review or giveaway. I chose the latter which I’d like to pass to my US/Canada readers. The giveaway is valid for US and Canada residents only, as CSN can only ship for free there, though if you have a US/Canada address or would like to gift something to a friend or relative there, do feel free to enter. CSN’s product categories cover everything from cookware, office furniture, bunk bed-office combinations and fitness equipment to gaming chairs, grills, greenhouses and much much more.
To win this ‘One-time-use $75 Gift Certificate’ all you need to do is to visit CSN Stores and tell me which product you would buy if you won this giveaway. Do leave a valid email address in your comment before midnight 01 March 2011. The winner will be chosen via Random.org and announced thereafter. He/she will have 48 hours to respond, else a new one will be drawn.
Now, back to writing about what I like best, BAKING!! Was baking chocolate granola for the nth time the other day, and the teen suggested using blueberries. Something went TING in my head, and I suddenly remembered my stash of dried blueberries that had arrived from the UK not so long ago. It was cake baking day too, so I decided to bake my fave recipe buttermilk pound cake with a twist of lime and blueberries.Blueberries & lime – a combination made in heaven, makes for beautiful pairing.The buttermilk in the pound cake gives it a beautiful, light crumb. The cake tastes very nice warm, and is great the next day as well. The dried blueberries rehydrate with the lime and buttermilk and add glory to the cake. This is one basic cake I make ALL the time, the recipe lives in my head.It’s an amazingly versatile recipe and takes any number of flavour combinations willingly. Versions I’ve tried before include lime buttermilk cake with a lime glazing, orange chocolate-chip, coffee chocolate-chip, plain chocolate, and even a chocolate-vanilla marble cake. See, I told you I make this very often, or at least used to until the teen began dieting…… She now checks the ingredients before taking a bite, and exhales a loud “ewwww!!!” if she as much as hears the word b u t t e r ! Drama in everyday life, so it’s been a while since I made this … 2-3 weeks actually. I did a tangerine yogurt cake yesterday {read low fat, oil not butter}, and will hopefully post that soon.
Blueberries Lime Buttermilk Pound Cake
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour {or 100% plain flour for a lighter crumb}
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup vanilla sugar
2 eggs
100ml buttermilk {or substitute recipe below}
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Juice of 2 limes {or 1 lemon}
Zest of 2 limes {or 1 lemon}
2/3 cup dried blueberries To make buttermilk substitute at home:
Take 100ml milk at room temperature and add 1 tsp of white vinegar. Let it stand 5-10 minutes. When it curdles, it’s ready to use. Method:
Grease and flour the sides of a 8″ ring tin, or a 6″ round tin. Line the bottom. { I play safe line the sides too}.
Preheat the oven to 170C.
Mix the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl with a whisk. Reserve.
Beat the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat in eggs, followed by the vanilla extract, lime juice and zest.
With the beater on low speed, add the flour mix and buttermilk alternately in three lots. Gently fold in the dried blueberries.
Bake for 50-60 minutes till golden brown on top, and the tester comes out clean.
Serve warm or at room temperature.
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥
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As I write this post, my heart and thoughts are with the people of New Zealand which has been devastated by the most horrific earthquake. It just seems to unfair, so tragic … the scale of loss unbelievable.
