Pina Colada Popsicles

On top of being super busy, it is now officially Summer here in Portland. You know what that means, it's HOT! Made much worse due the the insane lack of air conditioning in this town. The obvious solution for that? Popsicles!

My husband made these super easy Pina Colada popsicles, and you can too! All you need is:

A blender
one pineapple, peeled and cored
one can (13.5 oz.) coconut milk
extra sweetener, to taste
If you are feeling like a "real" Pina Colada, you can also add a splash of Rum

Mix all your ingredients together in a blender, pour into popsicle molds of your choice and put in the freezer to set up overnight.
If you don't have popsicle molds, this also makes a yummy granita. Simply pour into a shallow container, and periodically scrape the mixture with a fork during the freezing process to create lots of yummy ice crystals!

Cherry Upside Down Cake

I love Cherry season, and while usually the cherries don't make their way into anything but my mouth, I decided to take extra care to make an actual recipe with some this year. What better than an upside down cake? This is super yummy, and could easily be made in muffin form if slicing cake and slightly messy cleanup isn't your thing.

To make this yummy cake you will need:

1-1½ cups of Bing Cherries, pitted
½ cup brown sugar, packed
2 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into pieces
½ teaspoon lemon or lime juice

1½ cup All-purpose Flour
¾ cups Sugar
½ teaspoons Salt
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
⅓ cups Vegetable Oil
1 whole Egg
⅓ cups Milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 8"x8" cake pan (a 9" circle would also work great, or you can line muffin tins and make muffins!) I always use softened butter, spray would be fine I'm sure.

I start by pitting my cherries and adding in some lime juice (I don't use any fancy cherry pitter, I savagely take out the pits by hand and look like quite a barbarian by the time I'm finished). Stir this together and set aside.

After your pan has been greased, evenly spread your 1/2 cup of brown sugar over the bottom. Spread on your layer of cherries, then dot with 2 Tablespoons of butter.
Next, make your batter. Combine flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 2 cup measuring cup; add the egg, milk and vanilla. Mix this together and add to the flour mixture. *This makes a very thick batter that bakes up surprisingly light, you've been warned.

Pour the cake batter over your cherries and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 400 degree oven, then remove to a cooling rack to cool. When ready to remove, slide a knife around the edges of your pan and invert onto a plate. Enjoy all the yummy cherries and sugar seeping into that cakey goodness. MMM.

Busy Busy Busy

I apologize for the lack of posts lately, I had about the busiest week ever at both of my jobs and it has left pretty much no time for anything but work (not to mention I'm been incredibly stressed out). The above instagram photo is a little peek into an ingredient that has been quite abundant here in the Pacific NW as of late, and I will be sharing a recipe or two this week featuring cherries, this tasty red fruit.

In fact, I have a few recipes almost ready to post, including a tasty Pina Colada popsicle/granita recipe my husband created this past week. Hold onto your Summer food crafting hats!

In the meantime, if you find yourself missing my more frequent posts and ideas, feel free to follow me on Pinterest or Facebook, where even on my busiest days I seem to find time to add a tidbit for you all to enjoy.