What in the world is a buckle? It's similar to a cobbler or a crumble. I guess I would describe it as a cross between a blueberry coffee cake and blueberry studded yellow cake. OK so I'm not very good at describing it but I can tell you that it's delicious. (That's what's really important anyway, right?) This was my very first attempt at a buckle and I have to say - I quite liked it. I found the recipe in my Cooks Illustrated magazine. It looked so good in the pictures that I doubled the recipe on my very first attempt. (I know, I'm living on the edge.) I served this cake at a brunch for dinner kind of party - it was a big hit. Blueberry Buckle Streusel 1/2 cup flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 2 Tablespoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt pinch salt 4 Tablespoons butter, softened Cake 1 1/2 cups flour 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 10 Tablespoons butter, softened 2/3 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt zest from 1 lemon 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 2 eggs 4 cups blueberries
After 15 minutes, flip onto wire racks to cool completely. Slice and serve. The best part about this buckle is that it's perfectly acceptable to eat any time of day. Eat it in the morning as a coffee cake or in the evening as a dessert - either way - delicious.
Ciao!
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Nothing says sunny summer day like a bright yellow lemon cake. I am loving these sunny July afternoons in Atlanta. I'm not always thrilled about having to be outside in the heat but I've managed to stay cool in the pool on the really hot days this summer. On the days that I have to be inside cooking, seeing the afternoon sun streaming through my kitchen windows, brings a smile to my face. It's not that I don't appreciate a good rainy day too - I am a gardener, after all. But a sunny days magically put me in a better mood. I decided to create a cake that would reflect the warm, bright, July sun. My goal was to create a cake that was full of rich lemon flavor. I added lemon zest and lemon extract to my cake batter but I didn't feel like that was enough to give my cake the lemon flavor that I was looking for so I brushed the cooled cake layers with a lemon glaze too. The result ... a super delicious, bright and sunny - lemon velvet cake. Lemon Cake 1 1/4 cups sifted all purpose flour 1 1/2 cups sifted cake flour 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups sugar 2/3 cup vegetable oil 1/3 cup vegetable shortening at room temperature 1 tsp good quality vanilla extract 2 tsp pure lemon extract 3 large eggs 1 1/2 cups buttermilk zest of two small or one large lemons, grated and finely chopped
Combine juice form 2 lemons and 1 Tablespoon of sugar to make a glaze. Brush over cakes. Place 1 cake layer on a plate. Top with lemon cream cheese frosting. Repeat with remaining layers. I added some fresh lemon juice to my cream cheese frosting to give it a bright lemon flavor and a little bit of lemon food coloring to give it the color of the sun. Hoping your day is sunny and bright.
Ciao! What's better than making a birthday cake for the most excellent eleven year old girl? Helping that eleven year old make her OWN birthday cake! Seriously, I never had this much fun when I make a cake all by myself in the kitchen. The top of this cake is the tie dye cake that was featured on yesterday's blog post. The bottom of the cake is a surprise cake with hidden tie dye stars in the center. This was my first attempt at trying to bake a shape inside of another cake so I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out but fortunately for me (and the birthday girl) it was a huge success. I started with an extra tye dye cake that the girls and I had baked the night before. (Thanks to an unexpected thunderstorm that cancelled their pool plans.) I used a star cookie cutter to cut shapes the cake into mini stars. I placed my stars on a cooling rack and put them into the freezer for an hour. And the best part about cutting cake shapes - are the SCRAPS. Yum! Then I made more cake batter (the same recipe that I used for the tie dye cake) and poured it around, inside and behind the star ring. It was a bit messy - but it turns out - it didn't even matter. My 10 inch cake baked for 45 minutes! That seemed like a REALLY long time to bake a cake but it just wasn't getting done in the center. Cool 10 minutes in the pan and then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely. I love the creativity of 11 year old cake bakers and decorators. Ciao!
How do you dress up a plain white cake to make an extra-ordinary birthday cake? Tie Dye it. I've played around with a couple of different variations of colored white cakes in the past. Remember the polka dot cake and the rainbow cake? This version features a slightly different take on the white cake as well. Instead of just adding different colored batters to the pan and swirling with a toothpick, I decided to pipe the tie dye colors into a cake pan to create a more unique tie dye effect. (I think it turned out pretty great.) I had planned to make this cake as a birthday cake for a friend of Courtney. As luck would have it, both girls were at my house as the baking was about to begin so they got to participate in making the tie dye birthday cake. (Kind of felt like I was cheating on baking a cake FOR her but the birthday girl was super excited about getting in on the process.) Tie Dye Cake 2 cups flour 1 Tablespoon baking powder ½ teaspoon salt ¾ cup butter 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 teaspoon almond extract 1 ½ cups sugar 1 cup milk 5 egg whites
Tint batter with desired colors and spoon each color into a separate pastry bag. Pipe batter into parchment paper lined baking pans. Bake 30 minutes at 350. Frost and decorate. This tie dye caked ended up being the top to a larger cake. The big cake had hidden tie dye stars inside the cake! It was really cool. Here's a little sneak peak but you can get all of the instructions for the tie dye star cake on tomorrow's blog. You don't want to miss it.
Ciao! I can only think of a handful of desserts that I make that are "gender specific." This cake MIGHT just fall into that category simply because it LOOKS really feminine. The truth is - men secretly like this cake just as much as women. They may be too embarrassed to order this cake for themselves or admit their love for it out loud but I've watched more than one man devour a piece of this cake with reckless abandon. The tart lemon cake combined with the sweet, creamy frosting is a combination that even the most manly man, cannot resist. Pink Lemonade Cake 4 cups flour 2 Tablespoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups butter 4 teaspoons vanilla 2 teaspoons almond extract 3 cups sugar 2 cups milk 10 egg whites 1 package pink lemonade drink mix
Cream Cheese Frosting 32 ounces cream cheese 12 Tablespoons butter 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar 3 teaspoons vanilla Continue to frost as desired. If your going to make a girly cake - why not decorate it with pink roses? A girly, feminine look for a girly cake. Ciao!
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