Blueberry Streusel Coffeecake

What's better than streusel topping? I can't think of anything. I can eat streusel topping on its own. My husband could bribe me to watch baseball with streusel topping (if he only knew). When I make it for a dessert, I always make a little extra so I can sneakily eat spoonfuls on the sly.

So, it was with great excitement that I saw "Grandma's Blueberry Streusel Coffeecake" on Always Eat on the Good China. First off, she's got several recipes with streusel!!! I like this lady! Second of all, I can always tell when I'm working with a solid, time-tested recipe, because it holds up to my ingredients switcharoos. This recipe is part of the Taste & Create food blog recipe exchange.

Blueberry Streusel Coffeecake
Mouth watering yet?


Cake:
2 cups unbleached organic spelt flour
2/3 cup organic sucanat sugar (unrefined brown sugar)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
grated lemon peel (most, save some for the streusel)
4 T. melted butter
2 organic free-range eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup water
2 cups blueberries

Streusel:
1 cup organic whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sucanat sugar
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
4-5 T. room-temperature butter
1/4 cup organic oats

1) Begin the cake. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon peel, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
2) Whisk together the eggs, butter, yogurt, water, and vanilla in a second bowl.
3) Then, begin the streusel in a third bowl. In this third bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, oats, and chopped-up pieces of butter. Use a fork or your hands to blend these ingredients together.
4) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
5) Mix together the wet and dry cake ingredients (the first and second bowls). Then, gently fold in the blueberries.
6) Pour the blueberry cake batter into a 9 x 9 pan or an 8 x 11 pan, prepared with coconut oil or butter.
7) Scatter the streusel on top.
8) Bake 35-40 minutes. Check the cake with a toothpicks. If it comes up clear of cake batter, then you're good to go! If not, turn off the oven and leave in for another 10-15 minutes.
9) Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt, fresh blueberries, and a drizzle of maple syrup!

Meaner, Greener, Leaner!
* I dig non-wheat flours. I don't want all of American agriculture to be cows, pigs, corn, and wheat. I believe my purchase of non-wheat flours, such as spelt, is like a vote in the grocery store. More diversification on the farm field and in our gullet is healthy for everyone all around.
* In addition, spelt is higher in protein than your average flour. A cake with protein in it? Yuh-huh! So, using spelt flour turns a simple carbohydrate cake into a more complex carbohydrate, which my body will take longer to break down. More nutrients and good for stable blood-sugar levels!
* In comparison to standard bleached, white flours and sugars, I have found that spelt flour tends to need/absorb more moisture and sucanut sugar tends to creat more moisture when heated. Together, they are a perfect combination!
* I don't believe in pre-heating the oven before I begin making a multi-step dish. While I want the oven warm before sliding in the cake, I don't want to use all that gas and electricity the *whole* time I'm measuring ingredients. What a waste! So, I pre-heat the oven a few steps before the end of the recipe. Here's a nice and brief article about avoiding pre-heating your oven for a variety of recipes.
* In addition, with stable recipes such as quick-breads and cakes that rely on baking soda and baking powder, I have often tried the approach of turning off the oven and leaving in a nearly-done-but-not-quite baked good for about 10 more minutes. The oven is warm enough to finish cooking the baked goodie. No problemo!


Here are more pictures from the process.

Hello, dry ingredients! I'd like to introduce you to my little friend...


... lemon rind!



... and a few hundred of my little buddies, blueberries!


All set for that recently preheated oven (small mess in the background!).


Good on its own ...


... and with some Greek strained yogurt on top!




Go here www.tasteandcreate.com for more info about Taste & Create.

Pesto Edamame Salad: Husband-Approved Salad #2

I played a little word association game with The Husband today. It went something like this:

Me: Giants .................... Hub: Jets
Me: coffee ..................... Hub: more
Me: cat .......................... Hub: dog
Me: vegetables .............. Hub: minerals
Me: eating vegetables ... Hub: puking up vegetables

Well, if that doesn't just say it all!

So I'm continuing with my personal challenge of coming up with 50 HUSBAND SALADS! We're onto HUSBAND-APPROVED SALAD #2!

Pesto Edamame Salad
I'd recently made a pesto penne with chicken and edamame, which we both really loved. So, I decided to adapt that recipe into a salad. I served the salad with some goat cheese. But this would also be good with thin slices of parmesan, toasted walnuts or pine nuts, or tossed with salad greens. We had it as a side to a salmon entree for a lovely dinner.


1 bag of shelled non-GMO edamame
2 medium-large organic green bell peppers
1 large organic shallot
a handful of heirloom cherry tomatoes
1 organic lemon
a bundle of fresh basil (fully washed of all the dirt and grit)
1 T. organic olive oil
1 tsp. garlic chili sauce
salt and pepper

1) Follow the directions on the edamame bag to cook the soy beans. Then cool.
2) Finely chop the green bell peppers, shallot, and tomatoes. Add to the bowl of soy beans.
3) Rip the basil leaves by hand. Add to the bowl of veggies.
4) Now, time to season! Pour the olive oil onto the veggies. Squeeze the juice from the lemon over the veggies. Add the chili peppers, salt, and pepper. Toss together.

Meaner, Greener, Leaner!
* My husband dislikes most vegetables, but he loves lima beans, kidney beans, and such. Edamame is wonderful for anyone who likes beans, as it offers a fairly familiar texture and flavor, but a much better nutritional balance. Edamame has tons of protein, vitamin C, iron, calcium, and fiber, and they're low in calories. Check out the nutritional breakdown edamame for more info.
* By making my own simple salad dressing with olive oil, lemon juice, and seasoning, we avoid trans fats and unnecessary corn syrup that are common with store-bought bottles of salad dressing.
* I like to buy non-GMO edamame. If you ever watched Food, Inc., then you remember the whole section about Monsanto's control over GMO soybeans. Big Brother. Disgusting corporate behavior. For more info, here's an article from Ecosalon, and another article about Monsanto suing farmers for saving seeds from Organicconsumers.

Here are more pictures from the process.

Freshly cooked edamame. Que adorable!


Why hello there, Mr. and Mrs. Green Pepper, fresh from the bath!


The pale lavender veins in shallots are gorgeous to look at up close. Lovely enough for a tattoo ... hmmm.