The Unphotographables: Blackberry Coffee Cake

It's such a long, crazy story as to how I wound up with this... item. Started at Baking Bites, for a blackberry pound cake. That got scratched when I saw that there was no buttermilk. Alright, so we move from there. Long evolution story short, I wound up piecing together a recipe or two. Which isn't always a bad thing, as we all know. :)

So I mix it together, gently fold in the blackberries, pour into the pan, etc. I'm cleaning up the mixer bowl when I realize there's a faint scent of... burning popcorn from behind me. What the duck? Well, despite using the the proper size pan and everything, we had leakage.

Leakage, of course, meaning a blob reminiscent of something out of '50s sci-fi movie. Entertaining, but not what you want all over the bottom of the oven. Especially when it smells like burnt popcorn. Which then wafts its way across the house, like it does, and wakes up your mother, who had surgery the day before. Doh!

Anyways, despite how it sounds, The Day the Blackberry Coffee Cake Oozed, doesn't taste bad. It just looks all kinds of hideous. Hence a new category in the blogdom... The Unphotographables. Not that I have the best picture taken skills in the world, but this guy, ooh. I think I'd need a studio with fancy lights to make him look good.

I'll post the recipe, but do keep the Blob in mind if you decide to make it. Maybe a different size pan would help, too. :)

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
1 pint blackberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch round pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sour cream and vanilla. Gradually add the dry ingredients. Spread into prepared pan. Top with as many blackberries as you'd like.

Bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for a bit before serving.

Blackberry Brownies

After entering Once Upon A Tart's Browniebabe of the Month last month, I knew I'd be doing it again in May.

This time, again, a trip to Whole Foods inspired me. (They opened one about a quarter of a mile away from my apartment - how fabulous is that?) Organic blackberries, on sale for $1.99. And then that lovely click of "Hmm... I wonder if that would work" happened, thus Blackberry Brownies were born.

How'd they turn out? Delicious. VERY moist. I almost feel like they should have a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream on them and be served as dessert, maybe with some melted blackberry jam on there, too.



Ingredients:
3/4 cup cocoa
½ tsp. baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted and divided
½ cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-1/3 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt
2 pints blackberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan.

Stir together the cocoa and baking soda in mixing bowl; add 1/3 cup butter, mixing well. Add boiling water, stir until mixture thickens. Stir in sugar, eggs, and remaining 1/3 cup butter. Add flour, vanilla, and salt. Blend completely. Pour half of the batter into prepared pan. Gently place blackberries on top of batter. Cover berries with the remaining batter.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until edges begin to pull away from the sides. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.