Tag: zoe bakes
Blue-tifulberry Muffins from Zoe Bakes

Blue-tifulberry Muffins from Zoe Bakes

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I know, I know…I already have a few showstopper blueberry muffin recipes on 3Jamigos but I just found another one!  From Zoe Bakes, her Blueberry Muffin with Crumble Topping.  The crumble and a touch of lemon sets this muffin apart.  They’re delicious and perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.  During blueberry season, which happens to be right now, I head to our farmer’s market to load up on the tiny blue orbs.  First, I eat some out of hand when I return from the market.  Then I save some for fruit salads or a favorite spinach salad with hazelnuts, and avocado dressed in a honey mustard vinaigrette.  A portion gets frozen to be enjoyed later in the year.  But ultimately, the berries end up in baked goodies- there’s Blueberry Boy Bait Cake, Blueberry Hand Pies, Blueberry Cornmeal Cobbler,  Blueberry Cornmeal Mochi Cake… I feel like Bubba Gump, you get the picture.  I’m blue without blueberries.  Search blueberries on 3jamigos.com and a plethora of recipes will pop up.

 Zoe of All Trades

If by chance you aren’t familiar with Zoe Francois, let me fangirl about her for a moment.  Zoe is based out of Minneapolis.  She started in a different career but ultimately pivoted to food, working as a pastry chef and co-writing cookbooks.  Her easy, friendly, personable style , million-dollar smile and great dessert recipes have given rise to cookbooks, videos, and a TV show.  I love her show, which is filled with great tips, techniques, and ideas.  It also highlights the folks and local businesses in Minneapolis and St. Paul.  I have a soft spot for the Twin Cities having visited often (even in the winter) when Jamie lived there.  Her book, Zoe Bakes, sits on my frequent flyer bookshelf on my island and I can’t wait until her next book, Zoe’s Cookies, comes out in September.

How the Muffin Crumbles

As much as I love Hummingbird High’s Levain Bakery Blueberry Muffins, my family is crumble-crazy.  There was never a question if we would make Zoe’s muffins, the question was when.  With blueberry season in full swing, the time was now.  I brought home a quart of blueberries from my favorite purveyor, Triple Delight, and set upon making these muffins.

Make the crumble first as it needs to chill a bit, toss it in the fridge while making the batter.  The crumble is a little on the sweet side, maybe I’ll add nuts next time and a pinch of salt. It’s a classic crumble topping, butter, and brown sugar with a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon.  Work the butter in with a pastry blender or your fingers, it should look like coarse lumpy sand.  Stash it in the fridge.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and yolk along with the vanilla and combine well.  It may look slightly curdled but will smooth out after adding the dry ingredients.  Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl a couple of times during the process.  It makes a difference.

Add flour mixture with sour cream or buttermilk in two portions.  Do not overmix.  The batter will be fairly thick and stiff.   Finally, fold the blueberries into the batter by hand to avoid crushing the berries.

I love these tulip-shaped muffin tin liners but traditional cupcake papers will work too. Use an ice cream scoop (#20) to portion the batter into a muffin tin.  Sprinkle the chilled crumble equally over the batter.

Bake the muffins until golden brown on the edges.  The middle will be lighter than the edges.  Remove from oven, serve warm.  Enjoy!

While blueberries are in season make these muffins.  They can also be made with frozen blueberries.  Do not thaw, fold the frozen berries into the batter.

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Blueberry Muffins

A tender, fine crumb muffin studded with sweet blueberries and topped with a buttery crumble topping. Perfection from Zoe Bakes
Course Breakfast, Muffins, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword blueberries, Blueberry Muffins, muffins, streusel, zoe bakes
Prep Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

Topping

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour bleached or unbleached will work 60g
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar well packed 125g
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature 57g

Muffins

Dry Ingredients

  • 2 cups spoon and sweep 240g all-purpose flour (bleached or unbleached)* Use 210gm if using KA flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 3/8 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp kosher salt

Cream Mixture

  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature 86g
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar 150g
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar 30g
  • 1 lemon, zested
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 whole egg room temperature
  • 1 yolk room temperature

Liquid Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp sour cream or buttermilk crème fraîche or yogurt work too! 135g
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries** 175g
  • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare the topping by mixing all the ingredients in a bowl until it turns into uniform clumps. Refrigerate until ready to use.
  • Prepare regular muffin tins with 7 LARGE liners. (You can bake regular sized muffins by dividing it into 12)
  • Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl, set aside.
  • Cream the butter, sugars and zest together on medium speed, in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add vanilla. Add the egg and yolk, one at a time, mixing on low just until combined. It may seem a bit curdled, because it is a lot of liquid to add to that amount of butter. It will all come together in the end.
  • Add half the flour and half the sour cream. Mix on low until combined. Add the remaining flour and sour cream.
  • Toss the blueberries with flour and if using frozen berries immediately fold them into the batter with two or three gentle stirs. If you over mix, the batter will turn purple and then gray. Scoop into the muffin liners.
  • Sprinkle the topping over the muffins. Bake for about 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and a tester comes out with moist, but not wet, crumbs. If you are baking smaller muffins, bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool slightly and serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes

*If you use King Arthur Baking all-purpose flour, your muffins will not be as soft and fluffy, because it has more protein, so use a few tablespoons less.**If you use frozen blueberries, keep them frozen until the last minute.
These muffins can be frozen. Thaw them out and reheat in a warm oven for about 10 minutes to serve.
Cream Cheese Frosting-Luscious, Creamy & Lump-Free

Cream Cheese Frosting-Luscious, Creamy & Lump-Free

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I LOVE Cream Cheese Frosting,.  It deserves its own post, and should not be an afterthought tacked onto a Carrot Cake or Banana Cake recipe.

TBH…it needs its own post because I was today years old when I learned how to make a creamy, luscious, LUMP-FREE Cream Cheese Frosting.  Yep, all those years I struggled to achieve a smooth and creamy frosting.  I tried cream cheese and butter at room temp before combining. I tried smooshing the cream cheese first that didn’t work. Sometimes, I resorted to using a hand blender to get rid of lumps which worked but added an extra step.  Then… on an episode of Zoe Bakes, I learned the secret to making lump-free, voluptuous, thick frosting.  Hallelujah.

COLD Cream Cheese Meets SOFTIE Butter

Cream Cheese- Start with cold cream cheese, beat it until it is smooth. Cold cream cheese prevents the frosting from becoming too thin as it is whipped.

Butter- Use unsalted butter at room temperature (~68 degrees).  It should be soft enough that it gives with little finger pressure but should not be melty.  Gradually add softened butter, approximately 2 tablespoons at a time to the cream cheese. Adding soft butter to the cold cream cheese minimizes lumps in your finished frosting.

Powdered Sugar- MY OPINION:  Cream cheese frostings have too much sugar.  Add powdered sugar to the level of sweetness you want. I add about 1-1/2 cups of powdered sugar to this recipe.  If I add sour cream or creme fraiche I bump it up to 1-3/4 cups.  Add sugar in 2-3 parts beating at medium-low speed and scraping the bowl after each addition (mandatory).  Be careful not to beat too much which can cause the frosting to break and become too thin.  If the frosting seems a little soft, chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or until it reaches a thick, creamy, consistency then frost your cake.

Creme Fraiche- A touch of creme fraiche adds a hint of tanginess and creaminess to the frosting.  Feel free to substitute with sour cream or mascarpone.

I made Zoe’s Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake and followed her frosting directions.  It worked like a charm.  Cream cheese frosting being my favorite frosting, it’s also featured in Hubby’s Carrot Cake, Smitten Kitchen’s delightful Carrot Graham Cake, my favorite banana cake from Clementine Bakery, and Sally’s Baking Addiction Banana Snacking Cake.  YUM!

Enjoy!

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Cream Cheese Frosting

The secret to making delicious, and decadent, cream cheese frosting
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Chocolate Devil's Food Cake, cream cheese frosting, zoe bakes
Prep Time 20 minutes

Equipment

  • 1 Mixer

Ingredients

  • 2 8- ounce packages cream cheese softened 455 grams total
  • 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature 2 sticks, 8 ounces or 230 grams
  • 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted if lumpy 240 grams, or to taste
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla extract to taste, can use less
  • 2 tbsp sour cream or creme fraiche or mascarpone

Instructions

Making the Frosting

  • Start with cold cream cheese and room temperature softened butter.
  • With an electric mixer, beat cold cream cheese until smooth. With mixer running (medium speed), add room temp butter a couple of tablespoons at a time, blend each add in completely. SCRAPE BOWL with every couple of additions of butter. This helps to minimize lumps. Beat until smooth and creamy.
  • Add vanilla and creme fraiche (sour cream), then add powdered sugar half at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. Scrape down bowl after each addition. Don't overbeat which will cause mixture to get runny.
  • If frosting seems too soft, chill for about 30 minutes to thicken before frosting cake.
  • Arrange first cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread with frosting; place top layer on it. For 8 -inch cake top each layer with approximately 3/4 cup of frosting.

Frosting the Cake

  • For the top and sides of the cake. Spread a thin layer of frosting on sides, called the crumb coat. This keeps the final frosting layer free of crumbs. If you have time, chill the cake to lock the crumbs in the crumb coat.
  • Remove chilled cake and finish frosting. To create the horizontal lines on the sides. Place cake on turntable. Place offset spatula parallel to side of cake in frosting and rotate turntable while keeping constant pressure on your spatula. Gradually lower your spatula towards the base of the cake creating a ripple effect on the sides,
  • Optional: Shower perimeter of cake with chocolate or multi-colored sprinkles.
Apple Almond Galette (You’re the Apple of My Pie)

Apple Almond Galette (You’re the Apple of My Pie)

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When the fall season rolls around, apples begin to crop up at our farmer’s market.  Gone are the days when the only available apples were Red or Golden Delicious (thank goodness)!  The variety of apples is mindblowing.  My intention is to just get a few, but I invariably end up with what feels like a bushel of apples.

Here, There, and Everywhere…Apples

This is why I am constantly bookmarking recipes that sound wonderful and highlight apples knowing full well I won’t be able to resist the fall bounty of apples.  Luckily, I found an Apple Almond Galette from Zoe Bakes.  It’s the perfect recipe “to show off them apples”.  Get a combination of apples, Fujis, Mutsus, Braeburns, Jonagolds, or Honeycrisps.  Yes, you can get them ALL these days.

Better yet, you don’t have to peel the apples as the PEEL is part of the apPEAL of this galette, it’s a win-win and why you want a variety of apples.  Use a mandolin (carefully) to thinly slice the apples.  A knife is very doable, it will just take a bit longer than a mandolin.  The filling is an almond cream easily made in a food processor and consists of almond paste, eggs, butter, and a touch of almond extract.  A lovely combination-apples and almonds.

For the galette crust, I used Dorie’s pie dough (1/2 recipe), but feel free to use your favorite pie crust.  You will need enough dough to create a 13 to 14-inch circle.  Roll your dough on parchment paper so you can then slide it all onto a baking sheet, easy peasy.  Spread the almond filling in the center of the dough leaving a 2-inch border.  Next, take stacks of your sliced apples and arrange them ARTFULLY on the almond filling.  Then fold the edge of the dough over the apples.

The finished galette is not only gorgeous, it’s delicious.  Serve it with softly whipped cream or ice cream.

This galette is now part of our holiday dessert menu every year. It’s a keeper!

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Apple Almond Galette

A rustic, delicious riff on apple pie. The apples sit on a layer of almond cream encased in a buttery, flakey pie crust.
Course Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American
Keyword almond cream, Apple galette, apples, zoe bakes
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes

Equipment

  • 1 mandolin optional
  • 1 food processor

Ingredients

Pie Crust

  • 1 recipe of Dorie's pie dough will make 2 galettes

Almond Cream Filling

  • 4 oz almond paste
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract

Da Apples

  • 5 large Apples thinly sliced on a mandoline or use a sharp knife and slice
  • Egg wash 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water
  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar for sprinkling over top Can substitute raw or Demerara sugar

Instructions

Galette shell: Use Dorie's Pie crust recipe link below

  • Roll the chilled pie dough to an 1/8-inch-thick circle = 13-14" circle on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet or slide the parchment onto a baking sheet.

Almond Cream

  • In a food processor blend the almond paste, flour, sugar, butter, almond and vanilla extracts and yolk until smooth. Spread over the center of the dough, leaving about a 2-inch ring on the outside.

Assemble

  • Arrange apples over the almond cream. Fold the uncovered dough over the apples and pleat to keep it in place. Freeze the galette while you preheat the oven to 425°F.
  • Brush the crust with the egg wash and sprinkle the sugar over the crust and apples.
  • Bake at 425°F for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until the apples are tender. Allow the galette to cool to room temperature before sliding it onto a serving plate.
  • Garnish with toasted almonds if you like and serve with a bit of Greek yogurt or whipped cream or ice cream (I like vanilla!).

Notes

Dorie's pie crust recipe