A New Laptop, A Healthier Me and Cornmeal Cake with Macerated Berries for You!

What a week last week was!

I bought a new laptop last Wednesday ~ turned it over to Bubba that evening ~ he had it up and running and returned to me by Friday morning on his way to work.  In the meantime, I developed a very nasty little cough which seemed to clear up a little when Bill came down with the sweats and pneumonia out of the blue.  That left me with a good case of bronchitis.  So, even though I had the laptop working great, cooking and blogging were the last things on my mind.  But, I’m happy to say Bill is doing fine now and I’m just about cured!

Our first computer - 1983
Bubba 14 years old teaching Matt 8 years old

Bubba told me to look at HP computers as well as Toshiba and Lenovo.  There were many good ones but I fell for this HP Pavilion DV6000 series in brushed umber.  It feels sturdy with these specifications:   6GB memory and 640GB hard drive, a 15.6” screen with high definition display.  It came with Windows 7, Blu-ray support, Simple Pass fingerprint reader, and an island-style (Chiclet) keyboard (awesome!) and number pad.  So far, with many thanks to Bubba for setting it up, it’s great ~ I love it!

A week ago before the old laptop died, I was going to give you a mouthwatering dessert recipe in time for Labor Day weekend.  This recipe was in our local newspaper a while back and made me curious:

I like texture in food ~ you know, the feeling food has in your mouth.  I’m not much for mashed or creamed food with that soft mushy, slushy feeling; except for ice cream and even that I like with bits of fruit or nuts.  I’m not big on mashed potatoes and forget pudding, smoothies and custard.  So I had a feeling I’d like this cake because of the gritty texture of cornmeal.  And I did, it was a hit!

Cornmeal cake has a buttery, very appealing lightly gritty texture and that’s not all it’s about.  It includes a couple of teaspoons of finely grated orange rind that adds a tangy citrus taste to the cornmeal.  The recipe calls for strawberries, blueberries or raspberries; however, our farmer’s market had luscious blackberries so I used them for the sauce along with some Blackberry Brandy for depth. 

 It’s not a heavy hearty cake at all ~ it’s a perfect light, moist cake that is delicious when macerated blackberries are drizzled over a slice.  It’s truly inviting and heavenly! 

Here’s the recipe:

Cornmeal Cake with Macerated Berries

American Profile

Adapted

Cake:

1 cup flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup butter (1 stick), at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup 2 percent reduced-fat milk

Berries:

1 cup blackberries

¼ cup sugar, or to taste (I used a tablespoon of it)

2 tablespoons Blackberry Brandy

½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 9-inch round cake pan.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt.

Combine butter, sugar, orange rind and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until evenly blended.

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and cornmeal alternately with milk, beating just until evenly incorporated.

Scrape into prepared pan, spreading evenly.

Bake 30 minutes or until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in pan on wire rack.

To prepare berries:

Mash berries in a large bowl.

Add sugar, juice and brandy and mix gently.

Serve drizzled over cake.

We really enjoyed this and I will be making it again!  YUM!!!

And thanks again Bubba!  You’re the best!!!

Be sure to visit my friend, Linda’s blog @My Kind of Cooking for great tips, recipes.