Berry Coffee Cake*

Above and below:  Coffee Cake with 

BLACKBERRIES (white glaze).

 OR,...

Above and below:  This Coffee Cake made with 

RASPBERRIES and browned butter icing.**

INGREDIENTS for the FILLING:
1 and 1/4 cups frozen fruit (blueberries or blackberries, or raspberries), thawed and well drained.  The frozen raspberries I used were "quite" smoooooshy when they thawed, but I just made sure they were well drained (I then drank that unsweetened juice!).
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup tablespoons granulated sugar
1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

INGREDIENTS for the CAKE:
2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
...........
1 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 container (8 oz) sour cream

INGREDIENTS for the WHITE GLAZE:
1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 to 4 teaspoons water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and side of a bundt pan with shortening; lightly flour. (I used the kind of Pam spray that has flour right in it.)  In the "greasing" process, do not miss the "grooves" in the pan.
2. In small bowl, stir together filling ingredients; set aside.
3. Start the batter:  In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. 
4. In large bowl, beat 1¼ cups granulated sugar, the butter, vanilla and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture with sour cream, beating just until blended after each addition.
5. Using a tablespoon, put one-third of the batter into the prepared bundt pan, spreading it out evenly (I left a very slight groove in the batter for the fruit filling). 
6. Spoon one-half of the fruit filling onto the batter (using a teaspoon, I put little dabs of this "filling mixture" near the center of the "ring of batter").
7.  Spoon another one-third of the batter (by tablespoonfuls) over fruit filling-- at this point, I used the tip of a knife to carefully spread this second amount of batter over the fruit; 
8. Add the remaining fruit filling as I just explained above. 
9. Spoon the last one-third batter over filling, covering the last layer of fruit filling as I explained above; finally, carefully smooth the top of the last batter layer.
10. Bake 55 to 65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (Mine was done in 55 minutes.) Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack (or plate, like I did). Cool completely, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.  (To keep cake really moist ahead of putting the icing on, I put this "still warm" coffee cake in an enclosed "cake carrier" and set it in a very chilly area for overnight--  then, this morning, when I carefully removed the cover, I just wiped off any moisture that had accumulated on the surfaces of the cover-- DONE!)
11. In small bowl, mix glaze ingredients until smooth and thin enough to drizzle. Drizzle glaze over cooled coffee cake.

I'm not into having coffee, 

but I surely wouldn't turn 

down a cup of hot cocoa,
 or a glass of cold milk 
to go with either of these!

(Above:  Blackberry version.)

(Above, Raspberry version.)

                                  * Originally, I got this recipe from the Betty Crocker Website.

**DIRECTIONS TO MAKE BROWNED BUTTER GLAZE:

BROWNED BUTTER FROSTING:

Heat ½ (or 1/3?) stick of butter in pan only until golden brown in color (stirring all the while)-- this does NOT take long.  Quickly add about two Tbsp. milk to quickly stop the browning, and then add some SIFTED powdered sugar till you have the amount and consistency of frosting you need. You do not want this to be thick!   It may be necessary to addtiny amounts of more milk to get a smooth texture.   I drizzle this over the bars.  (You have to drizzle this on the cookies quickly before it thickens-- that's why I just line up the baked cookies and go 'back and forth' over their tops.)

Pasta.Leeks.Bacon**

This is a quick meal-- it can be ready 
in about thirty minutes.

Pasta, Leeks, Bacon, Cream, Parmesan 
Cheese-- what's not to like!?!?

Just lately, I bought LEEKS for the very first time!  I've heard a lot of professional chefs mention them quite a bit and if using LEEKS is good for them, I figured they could be good for me (us!).  The only thing about buying them is that my husband was with me at the time.  This is the posting I put on facebook about that:


"A number of years ago, as I was in the process of 

making a big kettle of soup, four-yr. old Grandson Ben

 saw me chopping up some apples and said "M-m-m!"

Then, when I switched to chopping onions, potatoes

and cabbage, he asked, "What are you making?"

Cabbage Soup-- all of these things go into it, I told him.

 Very quickly, as polite as he could be, his "M-m-m-m"

 changed to "You don't have to make any of that for

 me."  Well,... today, WJ was with me as I picked up

 some leeks in the grocery store and I had a

 FLASHBACK as I heard him (my husband) quietly say

 to me, "You don't have to make any of that for me."

 (Like grandson, like grandpa?)  For me, lesson learned

-- shop alone!"


Twice, since I bought the leeks, my husband has eaten them without knowing, and he even said he liked what he was eating. So, LEEKS will be on my regular shopping list from now on.

INGREDIENTS:

• Kosher salt
• 12 ounces mezzi rigatoni, or other short pasta.  (I used Ronzoni "Smart Taste" brand of Penne Rigate.)
• 1/2 pound bacon, cut into 1/2-in pieces.
• 1 bunch of leeks (there were three in the "bunch" I used).  Cut the root end off and use the white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced and rinsed WELL!*
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus a bit extra for topping.
• Chopped fresh parsley for garnishing when finished.

 DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a large pot of "Kosher-salted" water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook as the label directs.  I had to cook mine for about 12 minutes.  (Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water and drain off the rest.)
2. Meanwhile, as the pasta is cooking, fry the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes(?).  Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels; pour out all but about 1 tablespoon of the bacon grease from the skillet.
3. Add the sliced/washed leeks to the bacon grease in the skillet.  Season with 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 3 minutes. 
4. Add the heavy cream and cook only until it begins to thicken, about 2 minutes.
5. Add the cooked/drained pasta to the skillet of leeks/cream along with the Parmesan cheese, half of the bacon pieces and more pepper (if desired).  
6. Toss to coat and, if you wish, add just enough of the reserved pasta cooking water to get the consistency you like.  
7. To serve, top with the remaining bacon pieces, more grated Parmesan cheese and some chopped pieces of flat leaf parsley.

 * One of the cooks I was watching lately said to slice the leeks and then let them float in cold water-- any sand/soil should settle on the bottom.  Scoop the floating leeks off and you should be good to go.

** This recipe was adapted (and changed a bit) from one I found on the Internet, a recipe posting of the Food Network and it can be found at:   http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/pasta-with-bacon-and-leeks.html

Here's another version of this dish using pancetta:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/pasta-with-pancetta-and-leeks-recipe.html