You have probably figured out by now that I am partial to individual serve items. I like cupcakes, mini pies, cake pops, dessert in a jar, ALL of it!  It’s also kind of trendy right now so I can’t claim originality.  So when I opened my Wednesday paper this week and saw individual coffee cake in a mug I knew I had to try this.

Sometimes the benefit of single serve is portion control but these little gems are NOT on the diet.  They are, however, the most delicious thing that has ever come out of my microwave.  Yes, I said MICROWAVE!  I never even use this appliance except maybe to defrost or heat up coffee.  But this recipe will make it possible to bake something delightful with very little time.  Don’t get me wrong, there is a bit of prep. But the results are so worth it.

One of my very favorite Oregon Fruits are our Purple Plums.  I admit to bias here, but our Italian purple plums are A LOT better than any other canned plums you might find in the store.  And ours are hard to find.  Not many retailers carry them but you can always get them from www.amazon.com.  You have to buy a case of 8 but, trust me, they won’t last. You will be eating them for dessert, breakfast and afternoon snack and wondering why you have just discovered them.

I made a Plum Coffee Cake in a Mug AND a Plum Upside Down Cake in a Mug (this one is kind of a misnomer but so delicious I am sure you will forgive me the fact that you don’t actually turn it upside down).  The texture of the cake baked in the microwave was surprisingly cake-like.  You got to try this!  These will definitely be go-to items at The Queen’s B&B.

Crumb Topping:

2 Tbs. dark brown sugar

1 Tbs butter, softened

2 Tbs flour

1 Tbs diced and toasted almonds

Cake:

1 Tbs butter, softened

1 Tbs dark brown sugar

½ egg lightly beaten

2 Tbs sour cream or greek yogurt

1 tsp maple syrup

vanilla (a few drops)

¼ cup self rising flour

¼ tsp cinnamon

3 Oregon Fruit Plums, drained, pitted and quartered

Instructions:

Mix the ingredients for the crumb topping together in a small bowl using your fingers. Pinch together until crumbs form and set aside.

For the cake, mix butter and sugar together in a small bowl until creamy; add egg, sour cream, syrup and vanilla. Beat until blended well. Add flour and cinnamon, beat until smooth.  Pour half of batter into a buttered coffee mug, drop plums into the center and top with the rest of the batter. Top with the crumb topping. Microwave on full power for about 75 seconds.

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. Butter

2 Tbs. dark brown sugar

4 Oregon Fruit Plums, drained, pitted and halved.

½ egg

2 Tbs milk

Vanilla (a few drops)

¼ cup self-rising flour

2 pinches cinnamon

Instructions:

Put 1 Tablespoon butter and 1 Tablespoon brown sugar and the plums in the bottom of a coffee mug; microwave 1 minute. Soften remaining butter, mix in a small bowl with remaining sugar until creamy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat with a fork to combine. Add flour and cinnamon; beat until smooth.

Swirl coffee cup to coat plums completely with melted sugar and butter. Pour batter on top of plums and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Microwave 1 minute.

It has been raining for days.  I love the look of the rain from my windows and everything is very green and lush.  I also appreciate that rain brings snow to the mountains and since I am a skier and have not yet had my fill this year due to a very late, almost non-existent winter rain is good.  But it has been four days and it is mid-April after all.  So, I decided, bake I must!  I started perusing recipes on the internet and one announced itself from the screen.

I really like to serve warm baked goods and coffee on Sundays to my friends before heading out to the farmers market.  Nothing like a fresh baked warm something and good strong coffee.  So I found a Mixed Berry Almond Gratin referred to by its author, The United Soybean Board as a “breakfast gratin”.  Miraculously I had everything I needed in my pantry and fridge.  Of course I always keep Oregon Canned Berries and Cherries on hand and you should too. They are perfect for when you haven’t shopped in a while and don’t have any fresh fruit around.

Anyway… this recipe also found an innovative way to reduce the fat.  A secret ingredient you might not have thought of-tofu!  I just happened to have some left from a salad dressing recipe I got from my niece Leah.  That was how I first learned about substituting tofu for things that beg for creaminess.  WORKS GREAT!

The best part about this recipe is it came together in about 5 minutes. I put it in the oven to bake while I mopped the kitchen floor.  Then I sat down on the couch with my book, watching the rain while the aroma of warm berries filled the house. WOW-this recipe is a keeper. Berries topped with a rich custard and crusty top.

1/3 cup diced toasted almonds

½ cup sugar

2 Tbs. all purpose flour

Pinch salt

1 large egg

1/3 cup firm silken tofu, low- fat

1 Tbs butter, softened

¼ tsp almond extract or vanilla extract

1 can Oregon Fruit Blackberries, drained

1 can Oregon Fruit Blueberries, drained

1 can Oregon Raspberries, drained

or 3 cans Oregon Berry Combo drained

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Spray a gratin dish or deep dish pie plate with cooking spray.

Toss the berries together in the pie plate

Place sugar, salt, almonds and flour in a food processor and process until fine. Add egg, tofu, butter and extract and process until smooth.

Pour evenly over the berries. Bake for 40-50 minutes until golden and set.  Let cool for 20 minutes and serve warm

This weekend families all over the world will gather to celebrate Passover on Saturday and Easter on Sunday.  Whether you meet in a Temple or Church, your backyard, the park for the Easter Egg Hunt and picnic, whether you celebrate religiously, spiritually or just that cute bunny that hides the eggs, spring is a fantastic time of year.  All around my house the tulips and daffodils are competing with the camellias. The grass is as green as it will ever be this year and the air is crisp but the sun is warm. It just does not get any better than spring.

Last week I was fortunate enough to have the company of my parents and my daughter for several days.  My parents are in their mid to upper 80’s and I am so grateful that they can still make the trip up to Northern California from their home down south where I grew up.  We had a delightful time eating in restaurants, playing board games, driving around to see the camellias in bloom, riding an old fashioned train along the river, going to a musical at a local community theatre and, did I mention, eating out???  We had an amazing “foodie” experience at my local favorite, Taylor’s Kitchen.  They served a dessert that I thought would be great for the Spring Holidays.  The Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Raspberry Gelee’ was absolutely delicious.  Of course Kaitlin and I had to critique it and I think I have perfected it for this weekend.

We are invited to a Prime Rib dinner on Sunday with my ski buddy Joan and her husband Jerry after an afternoon bike ride along the river. We are bringing these individual desserts that I think will make a perfect end to her elegant meal.  As a bonus, they travel well since they are made in mason jars with lids!  The restaurant made them in a taller jar but we thought they needed more Gelee’ so we chose a wide mouth jar and made a Florentine cookie dipped in chocolate for accompaniment.

Panna Cotta
2 Tbs water

1 1/2 tsp. unflavored gelatin

1 cup half and half

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
½ cup sugar

2 cups buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Pour the water into a small ramekin and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let stand until gelatin softens about 10 minutes.

Heat half and half, lemon zest and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and bring just to a low boil stirring occasionally. Add gelatin mixture, remove from heat and stir until gelatin dissolves. Cool mixture to lukewarm stirring often. Stir in buttermilk and vanilla. Pour into 6 half pint wide mouth mason jars and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.

Gelee

2 cans Oregon Fruit Raspberries, drained reserve the juice of one can

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 packet unflavored gelatin

Put the reserved juice in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Let stand about 10 minutes. Meanwhile heat the drained berries in a saucepan until just starting to boil. Add the lemon juice. Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin and stir until gelatin has dissolved.   Put the mixture through a fine sieve and let the gelee cool to room temperature.  When the panna cotta is just firming up (about an hour) Divide the gelee equally and spoon over the top of the panna cotta. Return to the refrigerator to firm up completely.

Florentine Tuiles

1 cup diced toasted almonds

1 ½ Tbs. flour

1 Tbs finely grated orange zest

dash fine salt

3/8 cup white sugar

1 Tbs half and half

1 Tbs light corn syrup

2 ½ Tbs unsalted butter

2 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips (opt)

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

In a food processor, pulse the almonds until finely chopped. In a bowl, stir together the nuts, flour, zest and salt.  In a small saucepan, add the sugar, half and half, corn syrup, and butter and cook over medium heat (stirring occasionally) until sugar is dissolved and it comes to a rolling boil; continue to boil for 1 minute. Pour into almond mixture and stir just to combine.

Scoop a little batter (1/2 to 1 tsp) onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 4 inches between each cookie because they spread out a lot.

Bake one pan at a time for 10 minutes rotating after 5 minutes. Cookies should be thin and evenly brown.  Remove the parchment or mat from the baking sheet.  Allow to cool completely on the mat or remove while soft and role into a tube. When all the cookies are baked and cool, melt the chocolate in the microwave and dip the bottom half of the cookies in chocolate. Allow to cool completely for the chocolate to harden.  Serve along side the Panna Cotta.

Wow the Queen of Tarts is getting deep this week!

Oregon Fruit Products has been recognized for a couple of important awards in the last couple of months.  As a company we have a culture of not “tooting our own horn” so much so that I was personally unaware of something incredible that we have done and I feel compelled to share it with my readers.

Recently we received an award from the West Salem Rotary for our efforts to assist them in raising money over the years for their charitable efforts.  As some of you know, I have been involved as a founder in non-profit work for the last several years and I know first hand how difficult but necessary it is to raise money.  Oregon Fruit has teamed up with 9 local Rotary clubs over the last 18 years to sell tubs of berries to the community.  Oregon Fruit sources the fruit, cleans it and packs it for the sale. The Rotary clubs sell it to community members, pick it up and deliver it.  This partnership has raised more than

ONE  MILLION DOLLARS !

since inception. The money is used to provide scholarships to local kids heading off to college as well as support the local food banks and other worthy efforts in the community.  That is A LOT of money and also a win-win-win for all involved. Local growers sell their fruit, the Rotary Clubs have a turn key project that they can count on year in and year out with a predictable return and the people that buy the fruit get to enjoy delicious local berries all ready to eat at a great price.  The Oregon Fruit employees that work on this project fit it in while we are in the busiest time of our year.  I was extremely proud of our company when I learned about this and we were extremely grateful to receive the Community Service Award from the West Salem Rotary this year!

A second, equally important recognition came our way this year as well.  The gloom and doom recession news has hit our nation hard. Unemployment has affected families and communities in profound ways. The small business owners are carrying a greater load than ever and many have found it impossible to carry on. In light of all that the Gehlar family made it a priority to sell their company to someone who would keep the business open in Salem and keep the employees employed. Not only have we stayed open we have grown and added jobs.  The Maletis family, another third generation family business from Columbia Distributing fame in Portland, Oregon has purchased the business and are continuing the tradition of local production of local products.  Recently Oregon Fruit Products was honored by the Oregon Department of Agriculture for our efforts to produce “High Value Products” and successfully exporting them.  Our new owner, Ed Maletis and our President, Joe Peterson accepted the award on behalf of all of us.

I am personally proud to work for a company that has integrity and values and is part of the economic engine that will help fuel a recovery. This company also understands the importance of giving back.

Lots of food companies do good works and from time to time I will be sharing examples of these acts of good citizenship on the part of our customers, the retailers that stock our products.  Big or small, quiet or public, acts of kindness add to our humanity.

The USDA has issued new regulations regarding the food our kids will get at school. The new rules take effect in July and school meals will have to offer fruits and vegetables to students every day. The meal programs, which feed about 32 million students in public and private schools, will have to reduce sodium, saturated fat and trans fats. Schools must also offer more whole grains as well as fat-free or low-fat milk varieties.

The new nutrition standards are largely based on recommendations by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, as part of efforts to curb childhood obesity. Recent numbers show that about 17% of children in the United States are obese. Michele Obama has been at the forefront of this issue. Her “Let’s Move” campaign has focused on getting kids off the couch and playing again.  Now she speaks out on these new regulations:

“When we send our kids to school, we expect that they won’t be eating the kind of fatty, salty, sugary foods that we try to keep them from eating at home,” Obama said in a news release. “We want the food they get at school to be the same kind of food we would serve at our own kitchen tables.”

However, a serious problem is getting kids to eat the new healthier menu.

“If it’s not delicious, kids aren’t going to eat it,” said Sam Kass, assistant White House chef. “I have lots of confidence in school chefs across the country who are working very hard to try to put delicious foods on the plates of kids.”

My daughter, Kaitlin, is an elementary school music teacher in the central valley of California. One of her schools is testing a plan to get kids to eat fresh vegetables by giving them portion controlled packages of raw broccoli and cauliflower. Sadly a lot of it ends up in the trash. Kids that are not exposed to these items at home are not necessarily open to even trying them.

Jamie Oliver has been leading this charge for over a year. His position is that we all have to change our approach both at home and at school.

“We’re losing the war against obesity in the US. It’s sad, but true. Our kids are growing up overweight and malnourished from a diet of processed foods, and today’s children will be the first generation ever to live shorter lives than their parents. It’s time for change. It’s time for a Food Revolution. The problem stems from the loss of cooking skills at home and the availability of processed foods at every turn, from the school cafeteria to church function halls, factories and offices. This Food Revolution is about saving lives by inspiring everyone: moms, dads, kids, teens and cafeteria workers to get back to basics and start cooking good food from scratch.” Jamie Oliver

This weekend I will be attending the Farm to School Showcase at the Oregon School Nutrition Association Conference. The mission is to increase the variety and availability of healthy, regionally sourced foods served at school, helps to stabilize markets for regional food producers and helps give children a sense of where their food comes from.

Schools have a hard time offering fresh fruit at all times due to the extreme perishability so canned fruit can be a good alternative. Particularly Oregon Canned Fruit with minimal processing and just three ingredients: fruit, water and cane sugar.  I came across a recipe from the US High bush Blueberry Council that I thought exemplified what they want to accomplish. It is low fat and high fiber owing to the use of mashed sweet potatoes, contains whole grains and fruit and is DELICIOUS!  I don’t think kids will be throwing this breakfast treat in the trash.  This recipe is nutritionally dense and a far cry from the enormous hunks of greasy, sugary coffee cake they served in my junior high for the morning break referred to as “NUTRITION”!  Go figure.

48 servings

Ingredients

• Canned mashed sweet potatoes 1 pound: 3 cups (¼ No. 10 can)
• Light brown sugar, packed: 2 cups (14 ounces)
• Fresh eggs, large: 6 each
• Orange juice, single strength: 2/3 cup (5 ounces)
• Vegetable oil: 2/3 cup (5 ounces)
• Whole wheat flour: 1 quart (1 pound 2 ounces)
• All-purpose flour: 2 cups (9 ounces)
• Baking powder: 1 tablespoon 2 teaspoons
• Cinnamon, ground: 1 tablespoon
• Salt: 1-½ teaspoons
• Baking soda: ½ teaspoon
• Blueberries, canned well drained: 3 15oz cans

Instructions

1. Combine sweet potatoes, brown sugar, eggs, orange juice and oil until smooth
2. Stir together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda
3. Add to sweet potato mixture and stir just until combined
4. Spread half of batter into greased 12x20x2-½-inch steamtable pan
5. Sprinkle with half the frozen blueberries
6. Spread remaining batter over berries
7. Sprinkle remaining berries over top and press into batter
8. Bake until lightly browned:

• Conventional oven: 350° F for 35-40 minutes