Strawberry Streusel Loaf

I saw this in the latest edition of the Good Housekeeping magazine and thought how seasonally appropriate it is. The cake came out quite nice especially if served with some custard. Although I thought the cake itself is quite crumbly so I adjusted the milk in the recipe to 1/4 cup. This is highly recommended for your afternoon tea and to use up your strawberries.

The picture is not particularly stellar because I honestly thought it would not taste good so I didn't expend much effort in getting a better image. How wrong I was!


Strawberry Streusel Loaf

175 g  [scant 3/4 cup] unsalted butter - softened
175 g  [scant 1/2 + 1/3 cup] caster sugar
2 large eggs
250 g  [scant 2 cups] self-raising flour
1/4 cup  milk
grated zest of 1 lemon (optional)
200 g  strawberries - hulled and quartered

*Streusel Topping
20 g  [4 tsp] unsalted butter - chilled
20 g  [scant 3 Tbsp]
1 Tbsp  demerara sugar
1 Tbsp  chopped roasted hazelnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
2. Beat the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the eggs one at a time until well combined.
4. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, fold in the flour and lemon zest (if using), then milk until well combined.
5. Spread 1/3 of the batter in the prepared pan. Scatter half of the strawberry on top of it.
6. Repeat once more ending with the streusel topping.
7. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer poked in the middle comes out clean.
8. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on a rack.

Blueberry Muffins

It's blueberry time again. Every year this time of summer there is a glut of blueberries in the grocery aisle. I thought of baking this with a new recipe from my reliable The New Best Recipe cookbook. I readily found out after taking the muffins out of the pan that I needed paper cases for these. They soon began listing on one side due to collapsing blueberries as they cooked and the cake itself was quite soft which really was not a problem. It was just some aesthetic thing. The topping, by the way, is optional. You can eat straight from the oven as is or put on some topping of your choice.


Blueberry Muffins

260 g  [2 cups] plain flour
1 Tbsp  baking powder
1/2 tsp  fine salt
1 large egg
200 g  [1 cup] granulated sugar
60 g  [1/4 cup] unsalted butter - melted
300 g  [1 1/4 cups] sour cream
200 g  [heaping 1 cup] fresh blueberries

*Topping 1:
50 g  [1/4 cup] granulated sugar
1/4 tsp  ground cinnamon
melted butter

*Topping 2:
50 g  [1/4 cup] granulated sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
lemon zest
100 g  [1/2 cup] sugar

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper muffin cases.
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, whisk the egg then add the sugar. Mix well.
4. Add the butter and then the sour cream. Mixing well after each addition.
5. Stir in the blueberries into the flour mixture and stir to combine.
6. Using a spatula, add the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Mix just enough to combine.
7. Divide the batter in the prepared muffin tin.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
9. Cool in pan for about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.
10. *For topping 1: While still warm, brush melted butter on top and dip in the combined sugar and cinnamon.
11. *For topping 2: Combine the lemon zest and 1/2 cup sugar, set aside. Cook the lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. While the muffins are still warm, brush top with the lemon syrup and then dip the top into the lemon sugar.

White Chocolate Cheesecake

I got this from bonus recipe card from the BBC FoodFood magazine years ago. We paired it with sweet English strawberries which are very much in season today. I only ever buy English strawberries and only when it is in season which is around late May to August.

This is a baked cheesecake compared to some of my other cheesecake here in this blog which required no baking. Maybe later I would try baking this in a waterbath.


White Chocolate Cheesecake

*Base:
12 chocolate digestives (or graham crackers)
85 g  [1/3 cup] butter - melted
2 tsp  cocoa powder
1 Tbsp  caster sugar (superfine)

*Filling:
900 g  cream cheese (room temperature)
4 eggs
3 Tbsp  plain flour
200 g  [scant 1 cup] caster sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
100 g  white chocolate - finely grated

*Topping:
2-3 chocolate flakes (optional)
icing sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/fan 160°C/350°F. Grease and line the bottom of a 23 cm/9-inch springform pan.
2. Crush the digestives by putting it in a plastic bag and then bashing it with a mallet or rolling pin.
3. Mix the crushed biscuits with the rest of the base ingredients. Pour this in the prepared pan. Press the mixture with the back of a spoon to cover the bottom of the pan.
4. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and cool.
5. In a big bowl, combine all the filling ingredients with an electric mixer until well combined.
Pour mixture on top of the biscuit base in the pan.
6. Bake for 50 minutes until almost firm but with a slight wobble in the middle.
7. Remove from oven and cool completely in the pan.
8. To serve, remove the cheesecake from the cake pan.
9. [Optional] Dust the cheesecake with icing sugar. Break a few pieces of the chocolate flakes on top.