Almond Coffee Cake

My first thought, the second I opened my eyes when I woke up at 6:30 a.m. this morning, was "hooray, it's Sunday!!!"  Which I actually even said out loud.  Let's just agree that's weird and move on.

And then I hopped right out of bed and made this cake (can we also agree cake is a totally sane reason to hop out of bed please?).

I love the richness, texture, and flavor this cake gets just from ground almonds.  It is delicious on its own, but this time I dotted the top with a few mulberries, which are currently making an appearance at my local farmer's market.  

This cake pairs perfectly with a good cup of coffee.  

Almond Coffee Cake

3/4 cup whole almonds

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 sticks butter, melted 

1/3 cup whole milk

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/3 cup fresh berries (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour an 8-inch cake pan. 

Process the almonds in a food processor until finely ground (keep an eye on them while the blade is running - you don't want to end up with almond butter).  Whisk the ground almonds, flour, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside.  

Combine the melted butter, milk, and almond extract in a liquid measure and set aside. 

Beat the eggs and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until you reach the ribbon stage (the mixture will look thick and pale lemon yellow in color).  Add the milk mixture and stir to combine, then stir in the flour mixture until combined. 

Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan.  Decorate the top with fresh berries if you wish.  Bake for about 50 minutes, until the cake is golden on top and the cake springs back lightly when you press the center.  

This cake is excellent when served warm, but allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for at least 10 to 15 minutes before removing from the pan.  Dust with confectioner's sugar before serving. 

Banana Poppy Seed Muffins

I almost made you all lentil and quinoa soup.  So healthy, right?  Perfect for a January blog post!  But these banana poppy seed muffins came out of nowhere and now I have to share them with you.

Banana bread is one of my favorite things to bake (and eat), but it requires an hour in the oven and then lots of patience while it cools.  Muffins, on the other hand, require a lot less oven time and only a few minutes to cool.  This means no planning ahead - I can make them for breakfast and they'll be ready to eat in under an hour.

Creamy Pumpkin Pasta

It's pumpkin time!  You guys already knew that.

You're out there hunting around for blog posts about pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin doughnuts, pumpkin coffee cake, pumpkin pancakes... and I want to tell you about a pasta recipe.

Bear with me.  

This pasta is savory, velvety, cozy, autumn-themed deliciousness.  It took me a whopping eighteen minutes to make from start to finish.  Although the sauce is creamy and feels like an indulgence, it is packed with Vitamin A and light on calories, so you can feel good about eating it.  

And perhaps best of all, it uses up any leftover pumpkin purée you may have hanging out in your refrigerator now that you've baked that glorious pumpkin pie/bread/cake.  

Apricot and Thyme Crumble

Apricots have arrived at my farmers' market!  I'm excited about this.

I'm excited because, frankly, I'd had my fill of the blood oranges, meyer lemons, and clementines that continued to appear week after week.  Delicious as they are, my taste buds were ready for a change, fruit-wise.

As a result, the minute I saw these, I sped over to the barrels and enthusiastically purchased, of course, waaaay too many apricots.

This recipe (conveniently) uses quite a lot of them.  Plus, who doesn't like fruit crisp a la mode?  No one.

Strawberry Cupcakes with Rosewater Frosting

I love Sundays.

I love waking up on Sunday morning and allowing a certain realization to slowly dawn on me: nope, it's still not Monday yet.  

I love laying in bed thinking of the possibilities.  Hiking?  Sure!  Brunch?  Yes please!  Lay in bed for another two hours with a cup of tea and a book?  Perfectly acceptable.  

Stare at a bowl of strawberries until you decide to turn them into cupcakes?  Well, now you know what I did this weekend.