Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf Cake

On a particular baking frenzy during my university days, I was also indulging in my inner fat girl. As I whisked the batter for banana bread and dumped a heaping cup of white, flaky coconut into the pale yellow goop, I couldn’t help but scoop a finger into the thick mixture and bring the cloyingly sweet lump to my lips. It was shamelessly delicious. I did it again, this time with a little more greed, catching twice as much batter. I looked around, like a cat on the prowl and licked the spatula (I'd like to take this moment and thank my five roommates for not showing up at this time, one look at me diving into the goopy mixture was sure to make them regret sharing a roof with this crazy-cake-batter-over-eater).

I’m unsure if the banana bread even baked to a full loaf. I like to believe it did, but I don’t remember, either that, or the excess sugar inhibited my neurons from storing any memory. The glutton in me conquered that day and I haven’t been able to face any banana bread & coconut combination the same way, it makes my stomach churn just thinking about it.

Since then, I have honed my self-control skills and refrain from unleashing my greedy fat lady. Like a civilized baker, I only allow myself to taste test the batter once (maybe twice if there’s chocolate involved). If this lemon poppy seed loaf cake could talk, it would testify that I was very good and stopped myself from licking the whisk clean.

 
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you probably know I’m a sucker for citrusy desserts. There was a surplus of lemons hanging out in the fridge, leftovers from last week’s tart and it’s just common knowledge that lemons make yummy treats. Lemon poppy seed is one of my favourite combinations, the freshness of zesty lemon plus the nibbly crunch of poppy seeds gets me excited (but not as excited as cake batter).

This ain’t no ordinary cake, it’s a loaf cake, hinging somewhere between a sweet sturdy bread and a delicate cake. Like goldilocks’ third porridge, it has just the right amount of sweetness. The texture is soft and springy with a tight crumb, making it easy to slice and serve if you are kind enough to share. It’s fine the way it is, I wouldn’t change a thing except perhaps sprinkle coarse sugar over the top before baking, because any cake can do with some edible jewelry. I don’t think I need to persuade you anymore, just the words loaf cake are sure to deliver a tasty promise.

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Recipe here!

Brown Sugar Sandwich Cookies

In case you haven’t been following me for long, I’m a registered dietitian. I graduated about two years ago and went through a somewhat tough time doubting if what I chose as a profession was suitable to me. I knew from my internship that I love seeing patients, I love food, and I love that immense sense of reward knowing that I was helping people in need, but sometimes it's hard to control where you can release those feel-good vibes.

I’ve already vented about my unhappiness before, but I recently landed a new job and I’m happy to say I love waking up to it. You know how there are jobs out there that eternally drain you as if someone pulled the plug from a swimming pool? The job slowly and painfully tugs at your insides, exhausting you from head to toe till you don’t have the energy to do anything else when you get home. That’s the kind of job I used to have. It’s kind of a haunting, sickening feeling at the pit of your stomach.

When I graduated, I was chosen by my classmates to speak at our ceremony. At my low point a few months ago, I retrieved the speech I reminded myself: Have passion in what you do. When you love what you do, time flies by, but it also gives you a great sense of satisfaction that makes your life easier and so much better (by the way, though I’m a dietitian, the recipes and food I blog here don’t necessarily reflect my diet nor what I recommend to clients. Buttered Up is a place for me to share, explore and showcase my passion for food and all things sweet).

Anyway, enough of my preachyness. I was browsing through Heidi’s blog for interesting cookies and stumbled upon these lovelies: brown sugar sandwich cookies. The initial game plan was to ditch the chocolate filling (ridiculous, I know) but when I nibbled on a cookie and realized they were better smeared with chocolate, I hopped on the chance to chop up some dark chocolate. 

These cookies, made with spelt flour and all-purpose flour aren’t sweet at all, they carry a hint of sweet butter and graininess and the poppy seeds give it an itty bitty crunch that despite sticking between your teeth, is actually quite fun and make them very special. I imagine these would make perfect gifts for your friends, seeing as how my colleagues swooned when I brought them into work. You can make them in any shape, but it's hard to say no to heart-shaped cookies, especially when Valentine's day coming up...hint hint! 

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Recipe here!

Peter Reinhart's Bagels

Back in January this year, when fireworks lit up the midnight sky with sparks of color to ring in the New Year, I was staying at the Hilton by Niagara Falls with my parents and a girlfriend. We had a huge dinner at the hotel, stuffing our faces with pastas and pizzas and garlic bread. Then we spent the rest of the night in our suite playing poker and drinking ice wine, and when sleepiness set in, we bid each other good night and crawled into our plush king sized beds. 

I was just slipping into REM sleep when I was startled by eardrum-blasting fire alarms. My eyes flew open in panic, I jumped out of bed, pulled on my jeans and wool coat, zipped up my boots with my friend just one shoe behind me. My parents awoke, still in their pajamas, blearily eyed and irritated. Finally, a voice boomed over the PA system advising guests to stay put while the fire department investigated the situation. We paced the room, poked our heads into the hallway, to see what other guests were up to, but they seemed just as oblivious as we were. At this point, the alarms were still ringing at full blast and continued to do so for twenty painful minutes.

Before long, the same voice announced it was just a false alarm. What a lovely way to spend the New Year’s, sitting at the foot my bed, arms crossed over my chest, fuming at my disturbed sleep because some retard drunk moron asswipe decided it would be fun to wake up the entire hotel.

So you can imagine my utter dislike for smoke alarms. In fact, when I made these bagels, they set off the smoke alarm leading me to call them a whole slew of nasty names. The moment I opened the oven to rotate the baking sheet, the alarm burst at full force, I dashed to unlock the balcony door which thankfully, helped dissipate the smoke (my gut told me not to set the oven at 500°F, but I was adamant about following this recipe) and the alarm shut off. 

Minor cardiac arrest aside, these are ridiculously good bagels. They are crispy and golden on the outside, dense and sesamey on the inside. They are what perfection tastes like. It was an epiphany for me, the simplicity of only five ingredients and the magical thing that time does to create crusty, chewy bagels. They sit comfortably in the fridge overnight to stretch out the fermentation process and help bring out the subtle flavours in wheat, so I was excited, exhilarated even, to start my day baking. The smells of warm flour and yeast comingled, filling my home with an aroma not unlike a boulangerie. 

They are not as good as Fairmount Bagels (which are seriously life changing bagels, hello? It’s open 24 hours! And nothing can compare to a 2am post-party bagel feast spent with friends to help soak up the liquor running through my veins). These bagels are not even close, but they bring back such dear memories of me hugging a paper bag filled with a dozen fresh sesame bagels so warm, they are not only smelled amazing, but doubled as a furnace which is quite handy, since the Montreal winters can be brutal. 

I ate two bagels in one sitting and fought the urge to inhale another. They need nothing else but salted butter smeared on top, they might even be worth setting off the smoke alarm (but try not to call them names, this one bagel gave me the finger).

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Recipe here!

Lime and Poppy Seed Yogurt Cake

There was a time when I didn’t think much of sweets (Waahhhtttt??). When I didn’t go to bed thinking of blueberry pancakes for breakfast, or when I didn’t fantasize for chewy chocolate chip cookies.


There were days when I didn’t take solace in the alluring scent of browned butter, the familiar rattle of shutting the oven door after testing if my peanut butter cupcakes were ready, or when I secretly looked forward to licking the end of a whisk enrobed in batter (Raw eggs? Food safety? What’s that?!).


Those were days before I lived alone. When I was madly obsessed with my first boyfriend, when I was terrified of never being accepted to any university, when I sought comfort in my best friends when I couldn't get it from my parents, and when I didn't care what I ate. I didn't think about each bite, nor did I judge the aesthetics of what lay on my plate. Most importantly, I couldn't cook or bake anything from scratch.

Today, 5 years later, I finished writing my dietetics registration exam. After 6 hours of hunched over 200 questions that were not only tricky but a little conniving, I was finally done. I walked out and took in a breath of frosty air. Despite my frazzled brain, all I wanted to do was to take a nap and bake a cake. Particularly yogurt cake. Sweets always make me feel better.

If this cake was in high school and got voted for a superlative, this cake would win three categories: most popular, best dressed AND best sense of humour. I’ve made it over a dozen times, in the same spring form pan my cousin bought me for my birthday. By itself, it's a plain yet surprisingly moist cake. You can't taste the yogurt at all, instead, the dairy gives it tenderness and fluff. Make it by plain, or dress it up.


It’s versatile; allowing several variations so you can easily adapt it to your friends’ palates. Plus, it calls for simple ingredients that you most probably already have in the pantry. And finally, it’s a cinch. You can do this with your eyes closed (but try not to the first time, it took me some practice).

This time, I used lime zest and poppy seeds. Grating the lime zest was my favourite part. I love how the fruit releases its citrusy juices, a shower of green sprinkled into the bowl. The poppy seeds spruce up the cake with a subtle kick of pop.



I recently made it for a potluck and insisted my friends take a slice home to their boyfriends/husbands (just so they could rave about it later a few days later).

Bake it now. It’s a stress reliever. It’s a pain killer. Cake is a great antidote to exam induced headaches and frustrations.

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Recipe here!