My 100th post - Buttermilk Berry Muffins

Hurray !!! this is my 100th post. I never dreamt of posting so many recipes in less than 3 months time. And there is one more reason to celebrate - my blog has 10,000+ hits now. So, this is a double dose of happiness to me. I would like to thank all my readers, friends,blogger pals and family members who encourage me with their words and comments that keeps me going.

I started baking just a few months ago and my husband gifted me a muffin tray this week.He is the one who encouraged me to start this blog. He is the food critic, official tester and taster of all the dishes in this blog.  This is the first set of muffins I baked in the new tray. My little daughter is very fond of berries, so I thought of starting with a berry muffin recipe.  She loved the muffins so much that she asked for more after finishing 2 muffins within minutes.

So, here are the berry-licious muffins from me to you...and a big THANK YOU...

These muffins are very soft and easy to make...

Dry Ingredients:
All purpose Flour - 2.5 cups
Granulated White Sugar - 3/4 cup (I used a little above 1/2 cup)
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Lemon or orange zest - I used zest of a medium size orange.
Mixed berries - 1.5 cups (I used raspberries and blueberries)

Wet Ingredients:
Egg - 1 large
Buttermilk* - 1 cup
Oil - 1/2 cup
Pure vanilla extract - 1 tsp

* - To make instant buttermilk for baking, add 1 tbsp of lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup of milk at room temperature. Keep aside for 5 to 10 mins and then it is ready to use.

The above measurement yields 12 regular size muffins.

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 190C / 375F. Line a 12 cup muffin tray with muffin cases and keep aside.
2. In the first bowl, add the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine well. Gently fold in the berries.
3. In the second bowl, lightly beat the egg and then add buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract. Mix well with a whisk.
4. Pour the contents of the second bowl to the first bowl and gently combine them with a spatula. Mix till the ingredients are just combined and taking care not to break the berries. Do not over mix.
5. Scoop the muffin mix to the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 mins or when a toothpick/skewer inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool for 10-15 mins

Recipe Source: Joy of Baking.

Sending this to Friday Potluck #4 @ Show and Tell

Sending this to Healing Foods - Berries hosted by Smitha, an event series started by Siri.

Blueberry cake

Cakes are for celebrations and I have two reasons to celebrate. My blog is a 1 month old baby now and I'm hitting a half century with this post. I am surprised that I could post 50 recipes in just a month. This was made possible by the encouragement of my friends and my husband. Thank you all...Your feedback keeps me going...
I love blueberry muffins and we buy them regularly. When my husband was living alone in UK, he used to have a muffin and tea/coffee for breakfast. I do not have a muffin tray, so I made a cake with it.
So, here is the recipe...

Ingredients:

Self raising flour - 1.5 cups
Fresh blueberries - 1 cup (I used a little more than a cup)
Caster sugar - 3/4 cup
Whole Milk - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/3 cup
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Eggs - 2


Preparation:

1. In a mixing bowl, beat egg and sugar. Add milk, oil, and vanilla extract and whisk well.
2. Add sifted flour to this and mix well.
3. Toss the blueberries with a little flour. This helps to avoid sinking of the blueberries to the bottom of the tin while baking. ( I learned it the hard way. The berries sank and I had to google it to find the reason. )Fold in the blueberries to the cake mix.
4. Pour the mix to the greased cake tin.
5. Preheat oven to 180C and bake the cake for 35-40 minutes or till a skewer inserted comes out clean. (I used a loaf tin and my oven took 45 mins)
6. Let it cool.

The cake tasted very fruity and yummy though the berries were concentrated at the bottom.

Strawberry Cake

June has 30 days and this is my 30th post for this month. So, let's celebrate it with a cake...A very easy fruity cake made of strawberries. I never intended to make a cake with strawberry, but there were so many in my fridge and I wanted to make use of them before they become unusable. My strawberry crazy little girl usually eats them as such. She has got a bad cold now and doesn't feel like eating them.So to spend the ones in fridge, I started looking for recipes. The most simple one I got was a cake recipe from the Singing Chef blog. And here it is..

Ingredients:

Self raising flour - 1 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Strawberries chopped - 1 cup
Caster sugar - 1/2 cup
Whole Milk - 1/2 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Egg - 1

Preparation:

1. In a mixing bowl, beat egg and sugar. Add milk, oil, and vanilla extract and whisk well.
2. Add sifted flour to this and mix well.
3. Fold in the strawberries to the mixture.
4. Pour the mix to the greased cake tin.
5. Preheat oven to 180C and bake the cake for 30-35 minutes or till a skewer inserted comes out clean. (I used a loaf tin and my oven took 45 mins)
6. Cool on a wire rack.

Recipe Source: http://chefatwork.blogspot.com I subsituted plain flour and baking powder with self raising flour.

Sending this to Healing Foods - Berries hosted by Smitha, an event series started by Siri.

Strawberry milkshake

Hi All, this is the last post of this month. I am overwhelmed by the 800+  hits on my blog in less than a week's time. So, here is a sweet treat for you...
My daughter is crazy about strawberries. This is her favourite drink and I hope you too would like it.

Ingredients:
Cold milk - 200 ml
Nesquik strawberry flavour milkshake mix - 1 tbsp
Fresh strawberries - 4-5
Sugar - 2 tsp or more
Vanilla icecream or fresh cream - for topping (optional)

Preparation:
1. Add nesquik to the cold milk and shake well in a shaker. Pour into a glass.
2. Make a puree of strawberry and sugar (using a blender/mixer). Add this puree to the glass. It forms reddish pink layer on top of the milk.
3. Top it with vanilla ice cream or fresh cream.

Enjoy !!! Nesquik gives it a very creamy texture and gives a good flavour. Instead of using it, add more berries.

Sending this to Healing Foods - Berries hosted by Smitha, an event series started by Siri.