Fresh Blackberry Cake with Butter Cream Frosting

Summer is winding down in Oregon, and most of our harvest is over. We just have aronia berries left. This summer went so fast, but the weather was also so weird and caused all of our crops to be much later than expected. The only crop that was "on time" was our raspberries. This past week we wrapped up harvesting on our blackberries, and with the few last fresh ones we made this delicious cake to celebrate a harvest well done.

We used a white sponge as a base for our cake, with layers of buttercream and fresh blackberries bursting with sweetness in the middle of the cake.

Ingredients: 

For the Cake

• 1 C Salted Butter, Softened
• 1 1/2 C Sugar
• 2 TSP Almond Extract 
• 3 1/2 C Flour
• 4 TSP Baking Powder
• 1/2 TSP Salt
• 6 Large Eggs,  Room Temp
• 1 1/2 C Milk, Room Temp

For the Frosting

• 1 1/2 C Butter, Softened
• 1 1/2 TSP Vanilla Extract
• 6  C Powdered Sugar
• 6 TBSP Heavy Whipping Cream
• Food Coloring (optional)
• Extract for Flavor (optional) 

We used about 2 cups of fresh Blackberries, our cake is 9 inches in dimeter. You can use more or less depending on your cake size and shape. 

Directions: 

1. Grease three 9-inch pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in almond extract.
3. Use a fork to combine the eggs and milk together in a bowl or 2 cup liquid measuring cup. Set aside.
4. In another mixing bowl stir together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
5. Add ⅓ of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix in until just combined. Add in half of the milk mixture and combine. Add in another ⅓ of the dry ingredients until combined followed by the remainder of the milk mixture. Add in the remainder of the dry ingredients and mix with the hand mixer until just combined, using a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom to make sure everything is mixed in.
6. Divide the batter among the three prepared pans. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes. Let sit in pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before layering and frosting. 
7. To make the frosting: Use mixer (hand or stand) to whip softened butter and vanilla extract together. Slowly add in powdered sugar, about 1 cup at a time. Thin out with milk if it gets too thick.

Aronia Berry Granola Bars

ARONIA BERRY GRANOLA BARS

Last April we included this recipe in our newsletter, and we are still loving it! Especially with school starting back up these are the perfect on the go snack that are packed full with nutrition. Even better these tasty treats don't take a whole lot of time to whip up! 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Honey
• 1 Cup Dried Aronia berries
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/3 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds
• 2/3 cup roasted, unsalted almonds
• 1 cup dried, pitted dates

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 325 Degrees F.
• Whisk together the honey, cinnamon, & vanilla in a larger bowl. Stir in the oats and mix until evenly coated.
• Toast sunflower seeds in a dry pan on medium heat until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, pulse the almonds and dates in a food processor until coarsely chopped. 
• Add the toasted sunflower seeds and chopped almonds and dates to the oat mixture; mix well. The color of the mixture should be more of a purple hue.
• Press the mixture into an 8X8 inch baking pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool, then place in the freezer until firm. After about an hour, cut into bars and enjoy!

Note: Store in airtight container up to 1 week. 

Blueberry Peach Scones

This is a short little post on some delicious scones we just had to share! This summer is so weird for where we live. Usually blueberries are in season from late June to mid July, then peaches come in to season with blackberries in August. Not this year though, all three are over lapping which is so exciting! We got to use fresh blueberries, and fresh peaches in these scones. We usually used dried blueberries, and dried fruit, so it's a bit of treat to use fresh fruit.  Work has been so busy with harvest that this is really the first time we've had a chance to bake in what feels like forever.


What You'll Need:

• 2 cups all-purpose Certified Organic flour, plus more for hands and work surface
• 6 TBSP  Certified Organic Sugar
• 2 1/2 TSPCertified Organic Baking Powder
• 1/2 TSP Salt
• 1/2 C Certified Organic unsalted butter, frozen
• 1/2 C Certified Organic heavy cream
• 1 Large Certified Organic Egg
• 1 TSP Vanilla Extract
• 1 Cup Certified Organic Fresh Blueberries
• 3/4 Cup Fresh Peaches, chopped

What You'll Do: 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, or spray with non-stick spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt. Grate the frozen butter (a food processor is perfect for this). Mix in the grated butter into the flour mixture and combine it with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk cream, egg, and vanilla together. Slowly pour into the flour mixture and stir the two together with a spatula until everything looks like it's been moistened. Slowly, and carefully add in blueberries and peaches. At this point the dough will be very wet, and a bit sticky, you'll want to work the dough into a ball.
4. Transfer the dough ball onto a floured surface, press into a flat disk and cut into four quarters. Then cut each of those in half so you have a total of 8 equal wedges. Because the dough is overloaded with fruit it's ok if the dough doesn't want to stay as a wedge. When baked they will just be a bit more on the round side.
5. Place wedges onto prepared baking sheet, at least two inches apart from each other. Place in over, bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown and cooked through. Remove from oven and allow to cool on cooling rack.

Make A Head Tip: These scones are awesome to enjoy in the mornings all week long. They be kept at room temperature for 2-5 days. They also are awesome to freeze, and will keep for up to 3 months. Just thaw them out and heat up to your liking!