TWD- Brown Sugar Blueberry Plain Cake

I'll be honest here. I wasn't going to make this week's TWD because it sounded kinda boring. I mean, it says "plain" right in the name! But after reading the handful of rave comments on the P&Q, and remembering that almost EVERY recipe in this book is amazing, I decided to go for it.
This is a very quick cake- it only takes a few minutes to put together. It calls for an 11"x7" pan, which I don't have, so I used a 9"x13". I know that's bigger, but everyone in the P&Q said the blueberries sank, so I thought if the cake was thinner, the blueberries wouldn't sink as much.

This cake is so moist and delicious. The blueberries add the perfect amount of fruity sweetness to it. It tastes like breakfast, but we ate it after dinner. Three-fourths of the pan. It was a hit.

Cindy at Everyday Insanity will have the recipe!

TWD- Berry Double Crisp

Wow, how depressing that I've been away from TWD for so long. I'm glad to be back (at least for this week) with this AMAZING fruit crisp. Chosen by Sarah, this is supposed to be a strawberry rhubarb crisp. I couldn't find rhubarb (ok, I'm not sure I would've used it if I could), so I used this Very Cherry fruit mix from Trader Joe's. Cherries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Yum.
The fruit mixture is boiled with sugar and cornstarch to produce a jam-like filling. 

Sanwiched between an oatmeal-brown sugar (I omitted the ginger and walnuts) crust, this was HEAVENLY. We served it with vanilla ice cream (we had guests and I thought maybe it was tacky to photograph their dishes) and it was amazing. The perfect way to get me in the mood for some warmer weather!!

Teapots and Cakestands will have the recipe!

And the real reason I've been missing lately:

#4. Are we crazy??!!!

TWD- Not-Just-for Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake

 Do you like cranberries? They, it seems to me, are conflicted. They can be yummy- dried is pretty much the only way I like them. Doused with sugar and canned is the only way most other people I know like them. But this week's TWD was a great new twist to the fickle fruit. Dorie's Cranberry Shortbread Cake is a layer of cranberry jam sandwiched in shortbread. 
The cranberry jam was quick- orange and cranberry cooked with sugar and water:

The recipe says to cook the jam for about 5 minutes- mine took closer to 12.

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this- it says "shortbread" but it also says "cake." Which is it? I'm going to say it was really more like shortbread cookies with a layer of jam between.

My kids loved this- they ate it for dessert Sunday night, and then one of them wanted it for breakfast the next morning. I think next time I would leave out the orange zest- the orange flavor almost overpowered the cranberries. Or, skip the cranberries altogether and make with raspberries! Yum!
The recipe will be here.

TWD- Tender Shortcakes and Ballerina Cake

Ok, this week's TWD was a little better than last week's. A little.

I don't know what it is, but I'm not a fan of shortbread, shortcakes, etc. "Moist" is not a word I associate with such "desserts," if they may be called that. These little shortcakes were easy to make, they came together in just a few minutes. They are crumbly and weren't bad with lots of berries and whipped cream. Perhaps someone can enlighten me on why, whenever I make something like this, there's some kind of bitterness present? Anyone else have that happen?

Cathy has the recipe (and a great blog)!

 

And a ballerina cake: