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We are really falling behind in our kitchen endeavors these days! On the bright side, we have been completely enjoying the summer, so all’s well. Admittedly, I do miss baking some days, and last night was one of those times. I didn’t feel like spending a long time in the kitchen, so I looked for something quick and easy to make, and came across Dorie’s Coffee-Break Muffins.

The description of them promises a very moist, almost silky muffin – this is not what I got. I took them out of the oven four minutes early, and they were already verging on overbaked. They are not incredibly moist, but they are quite flavourful; the coffee is a nice, strong taste, and the cinnamon balances it out well.

I decided to prepare a fast frosting to go on top, a cinnamon-coffee one. I think it’s a great addition to the muffin, and adds a bit of extra oomph to the muffin. Frosting is special that way.

Overall, a good muffin recipe, but watch the baking time! I can really see that these would be better warm, with a blob of frosting or a nice pat of butter. Yum!

Coffee-Break Muffins
adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup strong coffee, cooled
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled (1 stick)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Position oven rack in center of oven; preheat to 400°; butter or spray 12 regular-size muffin cups in muffin pan; place muffin pan on baking sheet.

2. In a big bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

3. Stir in the brown sugar, making sure there are no lumps.

4. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk the coffee, melted butter, egg, and vanilla until combined.

5. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and, with a whisk, gently but quickly stir to blend; don’t worry about being thorough—a few lumps are better than overmixing the batter.

6. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

7. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a pick comes out clean. Transfer pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Cinnamon Coffee Frosting

1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons cream or milk

1. In a small bowl, mash instant coffee with the back of a spoon until powdery. Stir in cinnamon and salt.

2. In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth, then stir in spice mixture and vanilla. Alternately beat in confectioners’ sugar and milk until desired consistency is achieved.

Lemon loaves and cakes are among my favourite desserts, so I decided to prepare the lemon bread recipe I like best. However, I soon discovered I seriously misplaced the cookbook the recipe exists in. I opted to give another recipe a try, and this one is as good as the other one I know and love (and lost).

The recipe is just for a lemon loaf, but I wanted to make it a bit more dynamic, so I added a whole of of blueberries to it. Lemon loaf without blueberries is great. Lemon loaf with blueberries is even better! My favourite part of this loaf is the glaze, and I wouldn’t do without it. I like my glaze a bit tarter, so I added some extra lemon juice to the mixture.

The resulting bread is excellent. Wonderfully moist, with light lemon flavour and blueberry bursts. It’s simple to prepare, and I love it.

Blueberry Lemon Loaf with Lemon Glaze
adapted from Grandma’s Touch

LOAF
1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tbsp grated lemon rind (I probably added about 3 tbsp)
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups blueberries, lightly tossed in flour (I used almost 2 cups)

GLAZE
3 tbsp granulated sugar
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

LOAF
1. Cream butter. Gradually blend in sugar and eggs. Beat until light and fluffy.

2. In a separate bowl, blend together flour, baking powder, salt and lemon rind.

3. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with milk.

4. Gently stir in blueberries.

5. Turn batter into a greased 5 x 9″ loaf pan.

6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 – 60 minutes or until loaf springs back when lightly touched. Cool on cake ack for 5 minutes.

GLAZE
1. Combine sugar and lemon juice. Pierce loaf all over with a skewer and pour lemon mixture over the hot loaf.

When cool, remove loaf from pan.

With the purchase of a cooler, plus the return of our small, portable BBQ, combined with the sticky heat of these past weeks, we have taken to barbecuing outside. We’ve borrowed a car for a few weeks, and have been taking our BBQ gear out and about, looking for quiet, relaxing places to set up the grill and throw around some frisbee.

On Sunday, we drove out to Boucherville, and quite accidentally, came across a beautiful picnic area right on the water, surrounded by grass and (beaver-chewed) trees. A pretty fantastic BBQ ensued.

First on the BBQ, the burgers and veggies! Soli had prepared these the previous night for a different BBQ, and we had lots left over.

The patties are a mixture of pork and beef, with some spices, bread crumbs and an egg thrown in. The veggie skewers include mushrooms, onions, red peppers, zucchini and cherry tomatoes, coated in olive oil, salt and oregano. Of everything we’ve BBQ’ed, I’ve got to say that the veggies are my favourite.

Once the burgers were ready, we topped them with some creamy blue cheese and gave them an extra few minutes on the grill. Along with that, some shrimp skewers!

Soli made himself a shrimp-topped burger, complete with tomatoes, mustard and barbecue sauce. I opted for a grilled mushroom and onion burger, also with tomatoes and mustard. Messy and absolutely perfect!

Finally, roasting marshmallows. Hungry or not, they’re a quintessential element!

And then the sunset – I’m looking forward to an entire summer filled with food on the grill, sunsets, and frisbee.