Today was the last day of my summer internship, and I decided to bake some homemade goodies as a farewell/thank you treat for the office. I woke up at 6AM to start mixing the ingredients for this blueberry coffee cake, a recipe I'd tried before and liked. As I creamed together the butter and sugar with some aggressive hand-to-spatula action, I suddenly realized that a tiny chunk of the spatula...was missing.
Oh, shoot... Where did it go...?
I stared down into the butter and sugar mixture, poking around it with waning conviction before realizing how hopeless the situation was. I tried melting the mixture in the microwave, in an attempt to separate solid from liquid. But that failed, too.
The butter and sugar mixture was simply too grainy, and most troublesome of all, vaguely white-ish and translucent - just like the spatula. Instead of potentially feeding silicone bits to my unsuspecting coworkers, I chose to dump the butter and sugar mixture and start all over. Sigh.
So, I learned an important lesson today. I should be gentler on my spatula babies. To be fair, this one withstood 3 years of regular use before giving out. Next time, I will look for a brightly-colored spatula, so if this situation ever strikes again, I can more easily detect the silicone.
Rest in peace, spatula friend. You were my great and loyal kitchen assistant.
...On the bright side, here's a great blueberry coffee cake recipe! I didn't get a chance to take a photo since I was running out the door. And then my coworkers devoured it. As usual, I made some recipe adjustments, which I'll detail below.
blueberry coffee cake
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (I used almond)
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries
optional: a touch of lemon juice/zest never hurts
topping
4 Tbs white granulated sugar
3 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbs butter, softened
Follow instructions as listed. Bake at 350 F for 50-55 minutes, until topping is golden.
Oh, shoot... Where did it go...?
 |
| oops. |
 |
| I loathe cliches, but this is really like searching for a needle in a haystack. |
So, I learned an important lesson today. I should be gentler on my spatula babies. To be fair, this one withstood 3 years of regular use before giving out. Next time, I will look for a brightly-colored spatula, so if this situation ever strikes again, I can more easily detect the silicone.
Rest in peace, spatula friend. You were my great and loyal kitchen assistant.
...On the bright side, here's a great blueberry coffee cake recipe! I didn't get a chance to take a photo since I was running out the door. And then my coworkers devoured it. As usual, I made some recipe adjustments, which I'll detail below.
blueberry coffee cake
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup milk (I used almond)
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries
optional: a touch of lemon juice/zest never hurts
topping
4 Tbs white granulated sugar
3 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
4 Tbs butter, softened
Follow instructions as listed. Bake at 350 F for 50-55 minutes, until topping is golden.
