Old Fashioned Blueberry Cake

I had printed this recipe months ago, and finally decided to try it this weekend. It's a molasses and fresh blueberry cake, made with no sugar and only three tablespoons of butter. Since I am not a fan of super sweet things, I thought this would be a good option to try. The cake is super dark - it looks like a dark chocolate cake, and frankly, it probably would be delicious to eat a barely-sweet chocolate cake with fresh blueberries in it, but I digress! This would be a perfect cake for someone who loves molasses flavor. I don't think I am that person. Admittedly I got blackstrap molasses instead of mild or full flavor molasses, so that could be part of the problem. I think if I made this again - which I might! - I'd get mild molasses and add 1/2 tsp or so of cinnamon to the batter. I knew I was taking a gamble with the blackstrap. Otherwise the cake came out perfectly; it's a really light and moist cake.

Darkest Chocolate Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Brownies

Made these to have on hand for a cookout with friends; thought the little kids would like the ice cream and brownie combo and the adults would go for the strong dark chocolate flavor. Brownies from Smitten Kitchen (I made these in a mini muffin pan) and ice cream from a Jeni's recipe. Since the flavor is really intense you only need a little bit - and a BIG glass of water - to sate a sweet tooth.

Didn't get a photo of the brownies but here's a peek of the ice cream:

velvety smooth

Spiced Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

This dessert isn't particularly summery but I had a large jar of applesauce from the CSA that I wanted to put to use so I made this applesauce cake with it. I also cheated on my self-imposed "use little to no butter" rule as this recipe calls for a whole stick of butter for the cake part, as well as three additional tablespoons for the icing. But! It was totally worth it; these are fluffy-light and delicious. I ended up making muffins instead of a full cake. The spices - ginger, cinnamon and cloves - really come through nicely so there is a well-rounded flavor between the applesauce, the spices and the cream cheese icing. I topped some of the muffins with sliced almonds. The other substitution I made was to use rosewater instead of vanilla extract for the batter and the icing, since I had run out of vanilla. These would also be excellent without the icing but I was feeling a little extravagant; calories be damned.