White Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting & Blueberry Pie Filling.

This is one of the only ways in which I truly enjoy cake.  And it's all thanks to my husband!  He's been making this cake ever since we started dating nearly seven years ago.  Come to think of it, I've never actually made this.  I always request he make it!

White Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting & Blueberry Pie Filling
(Recipe by Gary)
1 9x13 white cake (made from scratch or a box)
1 large can of blueberry pie filling (raspberry or cherry also work if you prefer)
1 package cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 stick butter
milk to achieve desired consistency

Bake cake according to recipe.  Allow to cool.  Make cream cheese frosting by beating together cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, and milk.  Frosting should be slightly thinner than most other cream cheese or butter cream frosting.  Adjust the powdered sugar and milk until you've reached desired consistency.  Spread over the top of the cake.  Next spread your pie filling over the top of the cream cheese layer.  Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving.

Note:  This cake will taste good with any consistency of cream cheese frosting!  Keep in mind if the frosting is too thin it will seep into the cake while if it's too thick it will be difficult to spread.  Use your judgement and enjoy!!

Oatmeal Cookie Cheesecake Bars Studded with Blueberries.

Earlier this month I was faced with ten pounds of blueberries to either eat fresh, bake with, or freeze. While searching for blueberry recipes I found lots of breads, muffins, and pancakes. And then I saw these. You know I'm interested in a recipe when I have it bookmarked and in my mouth in less than 24 hours!

Think oatmeal cookie meets blueberry studded cheesecake! Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and indulge! And, yes, these will be served in my house again.

Oatmeal Cookie Cheesecake Bars Studded with Blueberries

(Adapted from The Art of Two Tarts)

Oatmeal Cookie Crust & Topping:

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

3 cups oatmeal

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until combined. In a separate bowl, combine dry (remaining) ingredients and slowly add to butter/sugar/egg mixture. Separate cookie dough so that you have 3/4 for the crust and 1/4 for the topping. Press the crust portion evenly into a 9x13 baking dish. Reserve the topping portion for later.

Cheesecake Filling:

12 ounces cream cheese (softened)

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups blueberries

Beat the cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, lemon juice, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Spread cheesecake mixture evenly over the top of the prepared crust. Drop blueberry over the cheesecake filling. And finally, drop small clumps of reserved cookie dough as the final layer.

Bake for 50 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cool to room temperature and store in the refrigerator. Enjoy cold (and with ice cream).

Banana Berry Pound Cake.

I had some bananas sitting around that needed a home. They were past the days of eating with cereal or throwing in the blender for a smoothie.

Next best thing - baking! I took my standby banana bread recipe and turned it into a Banana Berry Pound Cake! Well, actually, two big loafs!

Banana Berry Pound Cake

2 sticks butter

2 1/2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 - 16 oz. carton of sour cream

2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups ripe mashed bananas

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups frozen (or fresh) sliced strawberries

1 1/2 cups frozen (or fresh) blueberries

1 cup frozen (or fresh) raspberries

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, vanilla, mashed bananas, sour cream, and baking soda. Combine. Add flour and salt. Mix well. Fold in berries. Divide between two large loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for about 75 minutes - or until baked through.

Cool slightly and serve with vanilla ice cream! Or cool completely and serve as is. Store in the refrigerator!

Blueberry Coffee Cake

This coffee cake is absolutely amazing. If you are on a diet - I would suggest making it for a get together so you won't have any leftovers because it definitely does not meet any healthy recipe standards! :) But that's okay every once in awhile...

You can find the original recipe at www.allrecipes.com



Blueberry Coffee Cake

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 5/8 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen will work)

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch bundt pan (I didn't have a bundt pan on hand so I used an 8x8 glass dish). Combine first set of ingredients. Add half of the mixture to the pan. Sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on first layer and add the rest of the batter. Bake for 55 - 60 minutes.

White Chocoloate Raspberry Scones.

A while back I saw a blueberry buttermilk scone recipe in a Martha Stewart Living recipe. I wanted to rip the recipe out, but it called for cutting in cold butter - something I am not that good at. So I took scones off of my "to bake" list.

Yesterday I went and picked raspberries. I made some freezer jam, froze whole berries, and kept some out for eating now. As I thought about the raspberries I remembered a white chocolate & raspberry scone I had eaten at a bakery a while back.

That was it. I browsed tastespotting to find a scone that did not require cutting in cold butter. This is what I found: BLUEBERRY SCONES. Melted butter? I can handle that!!!

White Chocolate Raspberry Scones

(adapted from the recipe linked above)

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 c. butter, melted (stick and a half)
2 eggs, beaten1/4 c. milk
1 cup fresh raspberries

1 cup white chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, sugar and baking powder in a large bowl and mix well.
In a small bowl, stir together butter, eggs and milk. Pour into flour mixture, and mix just until combined. Fold in raspberries and white chocolate.
Turn dough out on a floured surface. Form into a 9 inch circle and cut into 8 wedges. Transfer to cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Makes 8 large scones. Cut into small wedges for a smaller scone and/or to feed more people.

And, yes, I did make blueberry ones too. I used a full cup of blueberries in those.

Happy 4th of July!!

Blueberry Banana Bread.

I buy bananas most weeks with good intentions of eating them all up before they are too ripe. But it never happens.

Fortunetly, good things come out of ripe bananas! One of those things is this a tasty combination of banana, blueberry, and sweet bread.

Blueberry Banana Bread

(the original recipe is from a family cookbook)

3 c. flour ( I did 2 c. all-purpose flour and 1 c. whole wheat flour)

1 1/3 c. sugar

4 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 c. quik-cooking oats (I used old-fashioned oats)

2/3 c. oil

4 eggs/slightly beaten

2 c. banana

2 c. blueberries ( used frozen)

Combine dry ingredients; stir in oatmeal. Add oil, eggs, banana, and blueberries. Stir until just mixed. Pour into 2 greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.