Tag Archives | cakes

Lemon Pound Cake

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A classic pound cake by itself is basic and simple to make, but with the addition of lemon and lemon-glaze topping will transform and elevate it to another level of deliciousness.  The cake is moist with a subtle lemon flavor and the sweet/tart glaze rounds it out well.  Pair it with coffee or tea for a late morning or an afternoon snack will be wonderful.  The following Lemon Pound Cake recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food magazine.

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A quick tip before assembling the ingredients, grate the lemon zest first, then squeeze out the lemon juice.

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Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

Pound Cakes
1    cup {2 sticks} unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
3    cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
¾   cup low-fat buttermilk
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
⅓   cup fresh lemon juice
1½ teaspoon salt
½   teaspoon baking powder
½   teaspoon baking soda
2     cups sugar
5     large eggs

Lemon Glaze
2    cups confectioners’ sugar
2    tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2-3 tablespoon water {depending on the desired thickness of the glaze}

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Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°

1.  Butter and flour two 4½-by-8½-inch loaf pans or similar size.

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2.  With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

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3.  In a liquid measuring cup, combine buttermilk with lemon zest and juice.

4.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

5.  With the mixer on low, add flour mixture in three parts and buttermilk mixture in two, beginning and ending with flour, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Beat just until smooth {do not overmix}.

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6.  Divide batter evenly between pans and smooth the top.

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7.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes.  Cool 15 minutes in pan.  Turn out cakes onto a rack to cool.

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To make the lemon glaze:

1.  Place 2 cups confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl.

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(Caleb was my assistant in whisking the icing)

2.  Whisk in 2 tablespoons lemon juice and 1 or 2 tablespoons of water until smooth, thick and pourable.

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3.  While the loaves are slightly warm, spread the icing over the top and let it drip over the sides.

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Cut the Lemon Pound Cake into thick slices and serve.

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Mother’s Day is not too far away, make the lemon pound cake a day ahead and it will be a lovely addition to serve on this special occasion.

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Posted by Kay

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Donut Birthday Cake and a visit to Georgia’s Bakery & Cafe

Donuts - white gunpowder

I can’t help but smile seeing this pretty donut birthday cake.  It is an actual donut, just slightly larger than the normal size.  I made a special order for two extra-large donuts one with white icing and the other with chocolate at a local bakery, Georgia’s Bakery. They came with no other decorations as requested and with very little effort one was transformed into a birthday cake with a handful of colorful sprinkles and candles.  Love that!

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Blueberries & Blueberry Buckle

Blueberry Buckle

 Blueberry Buckle is an old-fashinon single-layer cake with a streusel topping.  This is a wonderful and versatile cake that’s also great to serve for breakfast, brunch and anytime {with tea/coffee}.  The consistency is like coffee cake but not as sweet.

Blueberry picking near Mount Si

Before going any further about Blueberry Buckle, I want to share where these plump blueberries came from.  Everyone in the family was busy except for my son Caleb and me so we decided to go blueberry picking at a nearby farm. Bybee Blueberry Farm is situated at the base of Mount Si offering incredible views while picking these sweet blueberries.

picking blueberries

So ready for picking!

bucket full of blueberries

For about an hour of picking {and a little bit of eating}, we got almost 9 pounds of blueberries.

Blueberries in snack cups

These blueberries have been washed and ready to be eaten in these fun snack cups.  Blueberries are one of the best snacks.  They are rich in antioxidants, full of vitamin C, manganese and fiber.

 

Blueberry buckle

2         cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2   teaspoons baking powder
1/2      teaspoon salt
3/4      cup sugar
1/2      cup unsalted butter {room temperature}
1         egg
1         teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2      cup milk
5         cups blueberries {can use frozen blueberries}

STREUSEL TOPPING
1       teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4    teaspoon salt
1/4    cup packed brown sugar
1       cup flour
1/2    cup unsalted butter {room temperature}

 Heat oven to 350°.  Butter and flour springform baking pan {ten-inch round}.

Blueberry Buckle step 1 & 2

STEP  1.  In a bowl of an electric mixer cream butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.

STEP 2.  Add egg and vanilla and mix until combined.

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Blueberry buckle step 3 & 4

STEP 3.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Reduce mixer speed to low, alternate adding reserved flour mixture and milk to mixer, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

STEP 4.  Gently fold in blueberries {all 5 cups}.  If using frozen blueberries, sprinkle 1 tablespoon of flour over the berries and mix gently to coat each berries with flour before adding to the batter mixture.

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Blueberry buckle step 5

STEP 5.  Pour batter into prepared pan {butter and flour springgorm baking pan}.

In a medium bowl, mix together all the streusel topping ingredients with a fork to form large clumps.

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Blueberry Buckle step 6

STEP 6.  Sprinkle streusel topping directly onto the cake batter.

Place the springform baking pan on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  This will help to contain any leakage from spreading all over the oven. Bake 60 to 70 minutes until cake tester comes out batter free.  Remove cake from oven and let it rest on the cooling rack for 10 minutes.

 Blueberry Buckle steps 7 & 8

STEP 7 & 8.  Remove from springform pan.

 Blueberry Buckle

Good things come in simple packages.

 Blueberry Buckle

enjoy!

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posted by: Kay

8 comments

Miette

Miette is French for “crumb”.  Miette for me also means a bakery shop of fine pastries, cakes, desserts and sweets.  In 2001, Meg Ray began selling layered cakes under a pink tent at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market.   Her business grew and in 2003, she opened her first bakery shop in San Francisco’s Ferry Building.  There are now four Miette bakery shops in California located  at the Ferry Building, Hayes Valley, Jack London Square, and Marin Country Mart.  Below are beautiful pictures taken of the bakery shop at the Marin Country Mart by Neely Wang {photography+design} .

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For the past year, I have been enjoying & baking recipes from Meg Ray’s cookbook, Miette . This book is filled with recipes for cakes, tarts, cookies, homemade marshmallows and fleur de sel carmels.

~ cookbook available at Miette  & Amazon ~

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A little more about  Meg Ray & Miette  { click here → You Tube }
&
How to frost a cake, by Meg Ray { click here → You Tube }

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Thank you Neely  for sharing your photos with us!

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posted by: Kay         2

2 comments

Cake and Treat Toppers

Summer for us is celebrating lots of birthdays.  These toppers are such a nice and simple addition to cakes, cupcakes and other treats.  Here are a few ideas to stimulate your creativity.

cake and tall candles

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cake topper with tassels

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Happy Birthday topper

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heart cake topper

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cake topper with flags

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flags in dessert glasses

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topper for donuts

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cake toppers wedding

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diy pom-pom cake topper

DIY  Pom-Pom  Cake Topper

Pom-poms are always fun to make and add to decorations.  Follow the steps below to create mini pom-poms.

Supplies:

  1. crepe paper streamers
  2. twine
  3. white lollipop sticks {2} / kabob sticks

Cut streamer to the length of 12 inches. Fold it in half, again and again until it’s about an inch and a half long.  Along the open edges, make small clips with scissors towards the center leaving about a 1/2 inch in the middle uncut.  Take a piece of twine and tie it up in the middle.  Once secured, take your fingers and scrunch it up lightly and a pom-pom is finished.

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diy pom-pom cake topper

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diy pom-pom cake topper

The last few steps: Take two long pieces of twine and twist them into one and  tie the ends to the two lollipop sticks.  Tie the pom-poms to the twine attached to the sticks and clip off the extra twine from the pom-poms.  Here’s the cake topper that I created.  I hope you will have fun making them.

diy Pom-Pom Cake Topper

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Posted by: Kay           

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