SIMPLE LEMON CAKE with a "twist"

I looked to my garden for inspiration & knew I had to do something with my beautiful Peonies. After doing a little research, I discovered that these edible petals were used as a garnish in lemonade. I thought, lemon cake would be close enough & I went to my trusted Martha Stewart site for a lemon cake recipe.

Peony (Paeonia lactiflora) - In China the fallen petals are parboiled and sweetened as a tea-time delicacy.  Peony water was used for drinking in the middle ages. Add peony petals to your summer salad or try floating in punches and lemonades.

I wanted to keep the look of the flower without using the center, so I tried {tried} to recreate the center with something that would be edible.

I sliced the lemon rind & mixed up some powered sugar and lemon juice.

My hope was that the sugar would harden & "hold-up" all of the lemon pieces to replicate the flower's center. {i didn't account for the natural oils in the peel that would continually keep the sugar moist. So, this was only mildly successful}

This was a simple Lemon Tea Cake. Dense and moist, not too sweet, with a strong lemon flavor.

Here is the MARTHA RECIPE:

Lemon Cake

This recipe was also featured on "Mad Hungry with Lucinda Scala Quinn."
Martha Stewart Living, March 2008 http://www.marthastewart.com/255933/lemon-cake

2.5375

Rated

(24)24

• Yield Serves 8

Ingredients

• • 1 cup sour cream
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus more for dusting
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
  • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs plus 3 large egg whites
  • Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
  • Borage or other edible flowers, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan. Line bottom with parchment cut to fit, and butter parchment. Dust with flour, and tap out excess.
2. Combine sour cream, vanilla, zest, and juice. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. Beat butter and sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs and whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in sour cream mixture. Reduce speed to low, and beat in flour mixture until just combined. Transfer to pan, and smooth top.
4. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then turn out cake onto rack to cool completely. (Cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature overnight.) Before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar, and arrange flowers on top.

Yummy Muffins Sweetly Packaged

I made coffee cake & blueberry muffiins, and spelt/agave sweetened wild blueberry scones for my daughter's class trip. I thought for sure the kids would go crazy over the super-sugary crumb topping of the coffee cake, but the big hit was the blueberry muffins! Both the coffee cake & blueberry recipes are from Martha Stewart. The blueberry muffins had a wonderful dense sweet flavor. I used frozen organic-wild blueberries, they were perfect!

The spelt/agave sweetened wild-blueberry scones i made (but not pictured) were adapted from a BabyCakes recipe. Fig & Sage blog has posted the recipe, check-it-out. The only substitutions I made were the blueberries & I used organic white spelt flour. What the recipe doesn't mention, but I always do, is slightly melt the coconut oil. These scones are always a hit with the parents & my kids love them too. If you're watching your sugar intake, or want to try a healthier alternative to white flour, the BabyCakes spelt scones are a must!!!

Salt & Pepper, please.

Here are some photo's I took of my  Nirmala's Kitchen Salt blends & unique peppers. Check out Nirmala's Kitchen website for recipes from around the world!

Here we have Mysore Green Peppercorn , Tasmanian Pepperberry, and  Brazilian Pink Pepper.

ReUse yarn & ribbon left-overs to create custom Art

I've gone a little crazy with the photos of this one, but I'm addicted to the textures, colors, and overall feel!

 

This was a labor of love. One of those side projects that take forever, and often get neglected. But little by little I hand stitched each thread & ribbon exactly where I wanted it to go.

 

I used felt backing as my base.

 

My intention was to frame this Art in a rustic wood custom frame. I wanted space between the art & glass to show the uneven edges and the depth of texture. But, for now it's going in a basic black frame wedged against the glass {I had this extra frame from a "buy-one, get-one free" sale} . For now this will do. On the up-side, the black creates a nice contrast to the vivid colors.

I hope this inspires you to get out those yarn scraps! 

If you would like more information on custom art for your home or office, 

contact me!

NIRMALA's KITCHEN Risotto

I got just tried this Risotto from Nirmala's Kitchen & yum-yum. I know risotto is technically intended to be a little runnier, but I like mine a tad drier. It was so easy, I just added a little bit of left-over roasted chicken with parmesan sprinkled on top & it was the perfect little meal.

Baklava and Red Velvet Cupcakes

To celebrate my daughter's class play Julius Caesar, I whipped-up some yummy treats topped with Caesar himself! {see below}

If you like Baklava, you can't go wrong with this recipe from allrecipes.com.
It's 5 star rated with over 1,000 reviews. It's so easy, it's a must try!

Ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
• 1 pound chopped nuts
• 1 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey

 Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
2. Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
3. Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
4. Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
5. Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up. 

 

RED VELVET CUPCAKES I made these Red Velvet cupcakes with a revised Martha Stewart recipe. 

1. I added a 1/2 cup of coconut oil to replace the vegetable oil, 

2. I used apple cider vinegar instead of white, 

3. I used 1/2 the amount of red food coloring.

 

So, technically it wasn't your typical red- red velvet, but I couldn't bring myself to use all of the red dye {and one of my daughters is sensitive to red dye}. It actually made a really cool swirly purple-ish red color. I'd definitely do it again, everyone love them!

 

 

{homemade cupcake liners & cream cheese frosting}

 

 

 

CUSTOM gifts by MaureenMae

 

I recently ordered a customized necklace from MaureenMae handmade jewelry and I couldn't be happier! Maureen was great to work with, super creative, and the end product exceeded my expectations! 

 

This 1/2 inch charm is so delicate, yet the fine detail is very apparent. On the back side I have a name & date stamped. Even on such a tiny charm, the inscription is clear & easily readable.


I loved it so much, I purchased a second to give as a gift. The packaging was beautiful & really made for a special treasure.

MaureenMae does custom work which I think has many possibilities in the bridal market. This would make a perfect BRIDESMAID gift. Have a little image relating to the theme (a flower, leaf, star, etc...) and on the back inscribe the date.
The chain comes in various lengths too. I JUST LOVE THIS SHOP! Check out her shop on etsy.