"To prevent leakage and for best results, we strongly recommend using a tube pan made of one piece of metal (rather than a two-piece angel food cake pan, which has a removable bottom)."

Well, I didn't have a one-piece tube pan. So I lined my two-piece angel food cake pan with parchment paper instead:

Prepared pan for Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Coffeecake from Baking Illustrated

Next, I prepared the streusels for the top and inside of the cake:

Pecan streusel for Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Coffeecake from Baking Illustrated

Then I prepared part of the batter, which contained copious amounts of butter and sour cream:

Flour, butter and sour cream for batter for Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Coffeecake from Baking Illust

And the other part of the batter, which contained 4 eggs and more sour cream:

Egg and sour cream mixture for batter for Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Coffeecake from Baking Illustra

...then mixed them together:

Batter for Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Coffeecake from Baking Illustrated

Now, the fun part... layering!

Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Coffeecake from Baking Illustrated

After I was done, I put it in the oven. The tricky transition from cake-out-of-the-oven to pretty presentation is (gasp) double inversion. Here we are with inversion #1:

Inverted Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Coffeecake from Baking Illustrated

So far, so good. Time to invert it again... beautiful!

Re-inverted Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Coffeecake from Baking Illustrated

Time to dig in!

Slice of Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Coffeecake from Baking Illustrated

The Recipe:

Lemon-Blueberry Sour Cream Coffeecake (Serves 16)
Source: Baking Illustrated, pg. 340

Ingredients:

Streusel:

• 3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
  
• 3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
  
• 1/2 cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) dark brown sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 1 cup pecans, chopped

Cake:

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups (11 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
  
• 1 1/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar
  
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 cup frozen blueberries
  

Directions

1. For the streusel: Place the flour, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, and the cinnamon in a food processor and process to combine. Transfer 1 1/4 cups of flour/sugar mixture to small bowl and stir in remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar; set aside (this will be the streusel for the inside of the cake). Add the butter and pecans to the remaining dry ingredients in the food processor bowl. Process the mixture until the nuts and butter have been broken down into small pebbly pieces. Set aside. (The streusel with the butter and nuts will be for the top o the cake).

2. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a tube pan (10-inch diameter, 10-cup capacity). Combine eggs, 1 cup of the sour cream, and vanilla in a medium bowl.

3. In the bowl of a standing mixer, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt at low speed, about 30 seconds. Add the butter and remaining 1/2 cup of sour cream and mix at low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to medium speed and beat 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Decrease the mixer speed to medium-low and slowly incorporate the egg mixture in 3 additions, beating for 20 seconds after each and scraping the sides of bowl as necessary. Increase speed to medium-high and beat for 1 minute (the batter should increase in volume and become aerated and pale in color).

4. Toss 1 cup frozen blueberries with 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest in small bowl. Add 2 cups of the batter to the prepared pan. With an offset metal spatula or rubber spatula, smooth the surface of the batter. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup of blueberries and 3/4 cup streusel filling (without butter or nuts). Drop 2 cups of the batter over the streusel and blueberries, spread evenly, and then add the remaining blueberries and streusel filling. top with remaining batter and then the streusel topping (with the butter and nuts).

5. Bake until the cake feels firm to the touch and a toothpick or thin skewer inserted into center comes out clean (although there may be bits of sugar from the streusel clinging to the tester), 50 to 60 minutes. Cool cake in pan on for 30 minutes. Place a rimmed baking sheet over the top of the cake and invert the cake onto the pan (the cake should now be upside down, with the streusel on the bottom). Remove the tube pan, place a wire rack on the cake, and reinvert so the streusel is facing up. Cool for 2 hours and serve or cool completely and wrap the cake in aluminum foil.
   

- I used a two-piece angel food cake pan but lined the bottom with parchment paper to prevent leakage. Cake turned out fine.
- I made the inside streusel without a food processor by simply whisking the ingredients together. Similarly, I made the butter and nut streusel by finely chopping pecans and butter before whisking them in with the flour, sugar and cinnamon.
- I had to bake my cake for an hour and a half--not 50-60 minutes--before it was done.
- There's a chance I didn't grease the pan enough, because the bottom two layers of batter, blueberries and streusel look rather squished in the final slice pictured above...
- There weren't enough blueberries in this cake for my liking. For a similar and equally--if not more--delicious recipe, try Dorie Greenspan's Blueberry Crumb Cake.
- The cake tastes WAY better on the second day, in accordance with BI's assessment: "We were pleased to find that if stored well, this cake actually improves with age."

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It's been a while. Here's a quick update: I am back from Vietnam, safe and sound. I do not have Japanese Encephalitis, my biggest Vietnam trip fear. It's a scary thing to get, people--the mosquito-borne disease does not have a cure, and the majority people who contract it either die (30%) or suffer brain damage (another 30%). OK, maybe it's a one in a million thing, but still.

Another update: I just started using my Twitter account that I got a year and a half ago.

For all updates less than 140 characters, I will be using Twitter. Anything more lengthy is still fair game for the blog.

As always, thanks for reading!

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One of the benefits to being unemployed (although technically I have a part-time job doing graphic and web design) is that I am free to travel anywhere at at any time, for any duration. I had an amazing time in Colorado (8 days) in June, and on Monday I am leaving to go to Vietnam for a month. I was told not to drink non-bottled water or eat any of the ice over there, and not to buy food from vendors or cart pushers who come knocking on your door at night, all for good health and sanitary reasons. And to beware of thieves who will cut your purse from the bottom or side if you're not paying attention so that they can steal your cash or other belongings. And to slip a $5 or $10 in my passport to airport security so that I don't get charged taxes for bringing electronics into the country. And that it will be very hot and humid.

All of that aside, it should be a fun trip, and I'm pretty excited about it. The last time I went was when I was 7, and I don't remember much except for that I got food poisoning, tasted some exotic fruits, got bitten a lot by mosquitoes, didn't have access to a flushing toilet most of the time, and that everything was super cheap. All of these will probably hold true for my trip 17 years later, but I'm hoping that I will have some other, more memorable experiences as well. If Internet access is available and cheap or free, I'll try to post photos and/or stories. If not, I'll have to update my blog when I get back!

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LIFE-CHANGING:

Open a Banana Like A Monkey

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The actual variation on sugar cookies from Baking Illustrated calls for lime zest, but I didn't have that. Excuse my non-flattering photo of the results:

Sugar Cookies with Lemon Zest from Baking Illustrated

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Every morning as of late, I have a hot, hearty bowl of deluxe oatmeal that takes 3 minutes to prepare. Here's how to start your day with an awesome breakfast that's healthy and delicious.

Apple cinnamon oatmeal with raisins and walnuts

I make it by microwaving a packet of apple cinnamon oatmeal* with a handful or raisins (currants work just as well) and milk for 2-3 minutes. Then I sprinkle on a handful of chopped walnuts and stir it all together. Add to this a cup of black coffee, and you have my favorite pairing for breakfast or brunch!

* Trader Joes and Quaker Oats make similar products:

Trader Joe's vs. Quaker Oats

...with the only noticeable difference in taste coming from the Trader Joe's brand having one less gram of sugar per packet than the Quaker Oats brand:

Nutrition Facts: Trader Joe's vs. Quaker Oats Apples & Cinnamon Oatmeal

How much is a gram of sugar? I believe it's the equivalent of one packet of sugar, or about this much, based on my digital scale:

1 gram of sugar

I can't believe I just posted about what I eat for breakfast. Um, I'll just categorize this under 'recipe' instead of 'mindless blather'...

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Although I have been running three to four times a week for the last two months, I had never run in a timed race prior to last weekend. For my first race, I signed up for a 5K just to see how things would go, but the results were posted tonight and I was so excited to see that I ended up placing 7th for women in my age group and 21st out of 259 women... wooooo!! My average pace was 9.35 minutes per mile, or about 6.4 mph.

I thought running with a huge group of people was a lot of fun, definitely a lot more exciting than running solo in a park full of territorial geese and navigating around goose poop, which is how I normally roll.

In the photo below, on the left you'll see the obligatory Runner Crosses Finish Line photo, and on the right you'll see the many hands attacking me shortly after I finished as evidence of how efficiently the race was coordinated:

Running my first race (a 5K)

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This printable coupon expires July 12, 2009 for buy one get one free smoothies at Jamba Juice.

[via techbargains.com. And my aunt, who asked me to look it up... haha]

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Sour Cream Fudge Layer Cake from Baking Illustrated

Of the 35 cake recipes you will find in Baking Illustrated (not including variations), roughly a third are chocolate cakes.

Varying in the intensity of chocolate flavor, richness, texture, presentation and ease of preparation, they include: Chocolate Sheet Cake, Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake, German Chocolate Cake, Sour Cream Fudge Layer Cake, Devil's Food Cake, Génoise, Black Forest Cake, Flourless Chocolate Cake, Chocolate-Hazelnut Cake, Fallen Chocolate Cakes, and Hot-Fudge Pudding Cake.

Deciding what kind of cake to make was difficult, but I knew I wanted a moist, fudgy cake that was easy to prepare. When I read the description for Sour Cream Fudge Layer Cake I was sold:

"Sour cream gives this cake its smooth, rich chocolate taste with a dense yet melting texture, almost like fudge. An equally intense chocolate icing stands up to the rich cake."

Now I had a harder problem to tackle: baking a successful chocolate cake at high altitude.

After consulting the three pages (18-20) in Baking Illustrated devoted to high-altitude baking, as well a sour cream-based chocolate cake recipe in High Altitude Baking from Colorado State University, I settled on some modifications to make for my high-altitude version of Baking Illustrated's Sour Cream Fudge Layer Cake. They were:

       - adding 3 Tbsp. flour
       - adding 1/4 cup sour cream
       - subtracting 1/4 cup sugar
       - adding 1 egg
       - subtracting 1/4 tsp. baking soda
       - adding 25 degrees to the original baking temperature
       - using a 9x13 baking pan instead of two circular 9-inch pans

While researching how to bake cakes at high altitude, I saw that most references suggest to make a recipe first before changing the amount of certain ingredients one by one. I didn't have the patience, money, or appetite to eat chocolate cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so I decided to implement all of the above and crossed my fingers.

Here is what my batter looked like before the pan went into the oven:

Sour Cream Fudge Layer Cake from Baking Illustrated

While baking, the cake puffed up quite a bit and the top cracked, but as it cooled, it sank back down to the right height. I think this is due to having too high of an oven temperature, but I didn't notice any change in the taste or texture of the cake in the middle, so I'm fine with this. When it came out:

Sour Cream Fudge Layer Cake from Baking Illustrated

I decided to try two different toppings: a cream cheese frosting and the chocolate butter icing the book paired with this cake. The finished presentation:

Sour Cream Fudge Layer Cake from Baking Illustrated

The verdict on taste? Exactly the way I had hoped. After 15 minutes of cooling after being taken out of the oven, it was warm, gooey enough to melt in your mouth, yet retained the texture of a soft and moist cake. It also had an intense chocolate flavor that wasn't too sweet. I preferred the cake with the chocolate butter icing, but my friends liked the cream cheese frosting better.

The next day, after spending a night in the refrigerator, the cake tasted exactly like a moist, chewy brownie. However, after spending 15 seconds in the microwave, it became an awesome fudgey cake again. Looks like you can have your cake and eat your brownie too!

The recipe for this cake at 7,500 feet is as follows:

Sour Cream Fudge Layer Cake (from Baking Illustrated, pg. 362) - High altitude version for 7,500 ft. - SERVES 12

SOUR CREAM FUDGE CAKE

    1 ¼ cups + 3 Tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pans
    1 cup nonalkalized cocoa, such as Hershey’s
    2 teaspoons instant espresso or coffee powder
    1 cup boiling water
    ¾ cup sour cream
    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
    16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened but still cool
    1 ½ cups sugar
    3 large eggs, at room temperature
    ½ teaspoon baking soda
    ½ teaspoon salt
 
CHOCOLATE BUTTER ICING

    9 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
    8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
    1/3 cup light corn syrup

1. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans and cover the pan bottoms with rounds of parchment paper or waxed paper. Grease the parchment paper and dust the pans with flour, tapping out the excess.
  
2. Mix the cocoa and instant espresso powder in a small bowl; add the boiling water and mix until smooth. Cool to room temperature, then stir in the sour cream and vanilla.
  
3. Beat the butter in the bowl of a standing mixer at medium-high speed until smooth and shiny, about 30 seconds. Gradually sprinkle in the sugar; beat until the mixture is fluffy and almost white, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating 1 full minute after each addition.

4. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. With the mixer at the lowest speed, add about a third of the dry ingredients to the batter, followed immediately by about a third of the cocoa mixture; mix until the ingredients are almost incorporated into the batter. Repeat the process twice more. When the batter appears blended, stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Return the mixer to low speed; beat until the batter looks satiny, about 15 seconds longer.

5. Divide the batter evenly between the pans. With a rubber spatula, spread the batter to the pan sides and smooth the tops. Bake the cakes until they feel firm in the center when lightly pressed and a toothpick or thin skewer comes out clean or with just a crumb or two adhering, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pans to wire racks; cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the perimeter of each pan, invert the cakes on to the racks, and peel off the paper liners. Reinvert the cakes onto additional racks; cool completely before frosting.

6. FOR THE ICING: Melt the chocolate and butter in a medium bowl set over a pan of almost simmering water. Stir in the corn syrup. Set the bowl of chocolate mixture over a larger bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally, until the icing is just thick enough to spread. 

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If you're unemployed like me (best of luck to you), you've probably changed your coffee-drinking habits from fancy to frugal. I used to LOVE going to coffee shops for blended drinks, but lately I'm all for avoiding Starbucks and making my own at home. Here's a tasty solution that's a better friend to your wallet than your waistline, but a friend nonetheless. Here is how you make such a friend.

Ingredients for caramel iced coffee

For about $10, I think I could make at least 20 drinks and still have leftover ingredients. I'd peg the cost of each drink I make to be in the range of 30-40 cents, which means you're getting charged 900% more for a similar beverage at Starbucks.

Here is what you'll need to make one 8 oz. caramel iced coffee drink:

      • Instant coffee - 1 packet (as shown above) OR 1 heaping teaspoon (+ more, if you like your drink stronger)
      • Vanilla ice cream - Approximately 1 small scoop
      • Milk - 2 parts ice cream to 1 part milk for a shake-like consistency, or 1:1 for something more liquidy
      • Caramel sauce - One tablespoonful works for me, but if you like it sweet, don't hold back!

Stir the first three together in a cup, drizzle the caramel on top, and you'll get something like this:
 

Caramel iced coffee