Blueberry Muffins

I've had a craving for muffins lately. So I decided to make some. I went for the good old classic: Blueberry Muffins. I couldn't get enought of the crumbles... Had to stop myself from picking them off the muffin tops :-)

Recipe:
(from: Leila Lindholm - Piece of Cake)

100g butter
200ml milk
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
120g sugar
1tsp vanilla sugar
240g flour
2tsp baking powder
1 pinch of salt
350g fresh or frozen blueberries

crumbles:
75g cold butter
60g rolled oats
60g flour
80g sugar

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a muffin tray with paper cases.

Melt butter, add milk and lemon zest. Beat eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar until foamy. Mix egg batter with milk batter. Mix flour, baking powder and salt and mix with the liquid batter. Add blueberries. Fill your mixture into thepaper cases.

For the crumbles: Cut butter into pieces and combine with the rolled oats, flour and sugar. Spread the crumble onto the muffins.

Bake for about 20 minutes.

Pasta alla Norma

I haven't posted a savoury recipe for some time now. It's not that I don't cook, it's just that most of the time I don't have the patience to photograph my freshly cooked meals when I'm hungry :-) This is one of my all-time favourite pasta recipes! The sauce goes perfectly with a big helping of ricotta... and I love to serve it with grated pecorino cheese instead of parmesan.

Recipe:
(from: Jamie Oliver - Jamie's Italy, a German version for instance here)

2 big aubergines
1tblsp dried oregano
1tsp chili flakes
2 garlic cloves
1 big bunch of basil (stalks chopped for the sauce)
1tblsp white wine vinegar
400g tinned tomatoes
olive oil
salt
pepper
150g ricotta
spaghetti or other pasta

Divide aubergines lengthwise into 4 quarters and cut into slices (about 1cm thick, like fingers). Heat olive oil in a heavy frying pan and put about half the eggplant slices into it together with the oregano. Roast until golden brown, then let drain on kitchen paper. Do the same with the other half.
Roast the eggplant slices together with the garlic, chili and the chopped basil stalks. Pour in the white wine vinegar, then the tomatoes. Season your sauce with salt and pepper and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.
Cook the pasta in salt water.
Before serving, add the basil leaves to the sauce. Mix the sauce with the pasta. Spoon some ricotta onto each serving.

Poppy Seed and Cherry Cake

Finals are approaching and I'm spending most of my time in the library at my desk surrounded by piles of books - not cookbooks unfortunately ;-) I might not post as regularly as usual over the next two months, but keep checking my blog from time to time. There's got to be a little time for cake or cookies :-) Here comes an easy one... for all of you who like poppy seeds as much as I do.

Recipe:
(in German www.wildeisen.ch)

Butter and flour for the springform pan
500g fresh cherries or 350g drained canned cherries
100g soft butter
120g icing sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar
4 eggs
50g ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
150g flour
150g poppy seeds
2dl milk

Butter and flour a 26cm diameter springform pan and put in the refridgerator. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Wash and pit the cherries (I used cherries from the glass). Beat butter, icing sugar and vanilla sugar. Add one egg after the other. Mix almonds, baking powder, flour and poppy seeds. Add tho the butter-egg mixture alternating with the milk. Fill your batter into the prepared springform pan. Scatter the cherries over your batter und put in the oven. Bake for about 35-40 minutes. Let cool and serve dusted with icing sugar.

(I halved the recipe above and baked the cake in a 18cm diameter springform pan, baking time remained the same, check with a wooden skewer if the cake is done)