Best Lemon Blueberry Bundt Cake

My Drew insisted that we get blueberries at the grocery store last week. But then, being the 3 yr old that he is, wanted nothing to do with them once we were home. What's a girl to do? I also had lemons that needed to be used....so I found this recipe and went for it:
Found here.

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter or margarine
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk ****didn't have buttermilk- substituted it with this: 1 tbsp lemon juice + low-fat milk to make 1 cup & let stand for 10 minutes = 1 cup low fat buttermilk***
1 1/4 cups blueberries, tossed with
1 tablespoon flour
Glaze
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
8-10 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon corn syrup
lemon zest (to garnish)
Directions
Heat oven to 350°F Butter a 12-cup bundt pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In another large bowl, beat butter (or margarine) until smooth. Add sugar and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla and beat until combined. Beat in flour in three additions, alternating with buttermilk. Beat for 2 minutes. Fold in blueberries. Spoon into prepared pan.
Bake at 350F for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a sharp knife around edges of the pan. Turn out and cool completely.
Glaze: in a small bowl, mix together confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and corn syrup until smooth. Drizzle over top of cake and let it roll down the sides.

YUM!

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Zucchini Cookies

Since I started dieting I haven't had too many treats. I went on the hunt yesterday to find good, healthy alternatives. In my search I found this recipe. The disclaimer is- nothing tastes better than my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (and I don't even like chocolate). But this is definitely a good alternative. And the kids loved them!!!

Note- I didn't add the walnuts or raisins because I knew my kids wouldn't eat them. But I definitely will next time (for me ;). I think craisins would taste good here too.


106 calories per cookie


1 c butter, at room temp
1 1/2 c sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c. grated zucchini
2 3/4 c. all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 c walnuts, chopped
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c raisins
1 c sweetened flaked coconut
Preheat oven to 350. In a large a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in zucchini. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add to zucchini mix. Stir in nuts, chocolate chips, raisins, and coconut. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto buttered cookie sheets. Bake until lightly browned, 15 to 20 mins. Transfer to a rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

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Cinnamon Cake

Made for dessert the other night. Super duper moist. My only afterthought would be to add a yummy sauce on top. Like a cream cheese/powdered sugar type sauce.
1 box yellow cake mix
1 (5 oz) pkg instant vanilla pudding
3 T. flour
1 c. sour cream
1/4 c. oil
3/4 c water
4 eggs
1/2 c. sugar
4 tsp. cinnamon

HAND MIX THIS. Don't use an electric mixer!!!
Mix together cake mix, pudding and flour. Add sour cream, oil and water. Add eggs last, one at a time. Blend well. Mix sugar and cinnamon in small bowl and set aside. Spray bundt pan welll with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1/3 of cinnamon/sugar mix on bottom of pan. Next, pour 1/2 cake batter, spreading evenly over pan. Then sprinkle another 1/3 of the cinnamon/sugar mix and the last 1/2 of cake batter. Finish with latst 1/3 of cinnamon/sugar mix. Bake at 350 for 45-50 mins (I had to bake mine for more than an hour. But it came out perfect.)

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Easiest dessert ever

Finally getting back into a routine around here. I'll be posting like crazy so keep checking back. I'm in the process of finishing our ward cookbook and I have so many recipes to post!

I originally heard about this from my sister but then my friend Tara reminded me about it (ages ago) and I did it tonight for FHE. It's the easiest cobblerish recipe you will ever ever find. But still so good.

1 stick of butter/margarine

1 box white cake mix

1 can large cherry pie filling (could use anything)

Melt the butter. Mix with cake mix. Put pie filling in 9x13 pan. Top with cake crumb mix. Bake at 350 for 30 mins.

Top with ice cream or whip cream.

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Easy kid desserts

Got these recipes from the American Girl Mix-It Up Cookbook.

Soooooo easy and fun for kids.

Holding up our new favorite book

Here's what Julia thinks of the end result

Dessert Dominoes
1/2 package Keebler fudge graham crackers
1/2 cup melted white chocolate chips
skewers

Separate the cookies, melt chocolate (we did it in the microwave for 1 minute),
take the skewer and draw a line and dots to look like dominoes.
In the book they topped these laying in a circle onto a white cake. Super cute.

Last night we made the
easiest popcorn balls known to man.
Like rice krispie treats but with popcorn.
Have you tried them?

6 c. popped popcorn
3 Tbsp. butter
1 pkg marshmellows

Melt butter in a pan, add marshmellows,
take off stove, add popped popcorn. Stir.
Let sit until cold to touch.
Butter up your hands and form balls.

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Cream Cheese Squares

It's been awhile since I made these but they are super duper easy and really really good.

2 pkg. crescent rolls
2 (8 oz) cream cheese
1 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c melted butter
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9X12 pan with Pam. Spread 1 pkg crescent rolls on bottom of pan, Mix both cream cheeses, 1 c sugar and vanilla. Spread over crescent roll. Layer the other crescent roll pkg over cream cheese. Spread melted butter on top. Mix 1/2 c sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle on top. Bake for 30 min. Let cool. Then refrigerate.

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Karrot Kake

I LOVE carrot cake (it's a tie between carrot cake & a really good cheesecake for favorites). I love this recipe from my mom. It takes some time but it's well worth it.
This pic soooo does not do it justice. It is heavenly.

3 C grated carrots
2 C sugar
2 C flour
4 eggs
1 1/2 C veg. oil
1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp applesauce
1 C chopped nuts

Beat carrots, sugar, flour, eggs, veg oil, and softened cream cheese together. Add baking soda, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, applesauce and chopped nuts. Bake in a 9X13 greased and floured pan @ 350 for 55 minutes, or until clean toothpick.

Cream cheese Icing
1/4 C butter or margarine, softened
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 (1 lb) pkg powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla and beat until smooth. Spread on COOLED cake.

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Angel Lush

Some of my favorite desserts are of the fast/easy variation (you too?). I had to bring a cake for Enrichment last night. Though my cake easily won the ugly cake award of the evening, I think it would've won the yummiest cake award too. This is what my cakestand looked like when I got home.

Perfect springy, yummy cake. If you'd like to see what it should look like, go here.

1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
1 pkg. (4-serving size) Vanilla Flavor pie Pudding & Pie Filling
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
1 pkg. (10 oz.) round angel food cake
10 fresh strawberries (I put more)

MIX pineapple and dry pudding mix in medium bowl. Gently stir in whipped topping. CUT cake horizontally into three layers. Place bottom cake layer, cut-side up, on serving plate; top with one-third of the pudding mixture. Repeat layers two times. REFRIGERATE at least 1 hour. Top with berries just before serving. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

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Triple Layer Banana Cream Pie Bars

I got this recipe from Kraft Mag. It's super yum and really easy to make.

1 1/2 c. crushed Nila wafers
1/2 c. chopped pecans
1/3 c. butter, melted
3 bananas, sliced
3 c. cold milk
2 pkg. (4 oz) vanilla instant pudding/pie filling
2 1/2 c. thawed cool whip

Preaheat oven to 325. Mix wafer crumbs, nuts, butter in a 9x13 dish. Press firmly onto dish. Bake 8 mins. Cool 10 mins.
Top crust with sliced bananas. Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk, for 2 mins or until well blended. Spoon 2 cups of the pudding over banana layer.
Gently stir 1 c of whipped topping into the remaining pudding. Spoon over pie. Topw ith remaining 1 1/2 c. whipped topping. Refridgerate for 2 hours. Store leftovers in fridge.

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Pumpkin Bars

I got this recipe here. What's not to love?

1 c vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 c sugar

Mix together, then add

2 c flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

32 oz can of pumpkin

2 tsp cinnamon

pour mixture into greased 9x13 panBake @ 350 for 25-30 minutes Cool completely, then frost with...

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 oz softened cream cheese

1/2 c butter

2 Tbsp cream or milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

4 c powdered sugar

mix until smooth, spread evenly over pumpkin bars

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Apple-Pear Crumble Pie

(I hate taking pics at night with flash- this does not do it justice...hopefully you get the idea)

I got this recipe here. Have I mentioned before how much I love the Kraft Foods Food & Family free mag? Well I do. They have pretty easy recipes that never seem to fail me. I tried this one out for dessert tonight and it was a hit. Josh wanted vanilla ice cream with his too. So it was a la mode. It takes a lot like a cobbler but with that hint of cream cheese- sooo yummy.
Also, I did double the amount of ingredients for the crumb topping (it is NOT reflected in the recipe below). I just seemed like at the end before I stuck it in the oven there was not enough crumb mix so I made another little batch- didn't take long, it was no big deal.

3/4 cup crushed NILLA Wafers (about 24 wafers)
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 ready-to-use refrigerated pie crust (1/2 of 15-oz. pkg.)
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, softened
2 large baking apples, peeled, sliced
1 large fresh pear, peeled, sliced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour, divided
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1-1/4 cups thawed Whipped Topping
PREHEAT oven to 375ºF. Mix wafer crumbs, brown sugar and butter until well blended; set aside.
PLACE pie crust in greased 9-inch pie plate. Spread cream cheese carefully onto bottom of crust; sprinkle with half of the crumb mixture. Set aside. Combine fruit in large bowl. Add granulated sugar, flour and cinnamon; toss to coat. Spoon over crumb layer in pie crust; sprinkle with remaining crumb mixture.
BAKE 35 min. or until fruit is tender and crust is lightly browned, covering loosely with foil after 25 min. if necessary to prevent crust from overbrowning. Cool on wire rack. Serve topped with the whipped topping. Store any leftover pie in refrigerator.

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Apple Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce

(sorry about the pic- not great but tasted good :)

So as mentioned here, I wanted to make The Pioneer Woman Cooks recipe for Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce (doesn't the name alone sound good?). I bought the peaches this week. TWICE! But by tonight they had disappeared. I did however have lots of Granny Smith apples. So I thought I could make apple crisp and add the maple syrup sauce to it.
Here's what I did:
I had a box of apple crisp mix in my pantry (cheated on that part I know)
used to my apple peeler/corer from The Pampered Chef to slice/core/peel 6 apples
Made the crisp according to the box. Here's an easy recipe for apple crisp though (for all you non-cheaters out there).
Then I made the sauce:
Maple Cream Sauce-
1 1/2 c. whipping cream
5 Tbsp. maple syrup
3 Tbsp. light corn syrup
Combine all ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently (to prevent the sauce from burning or sticking to pan) until sauce is thickened and reduced by 1/3 (approx 20 mins)....Chill. Drizzle generously over crisp.

And I topped the apple crisp with the sauce. Voile. Superb. I still want to do the real version of this recipe. But this was good enough for tonight.
And as I was standing at the stovetop stirring (for 20 mins!), I realized why I love cooking. It can be quite creative. I love being able to take something, make it my own and present it to my family. It's in a way art....

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Frosted Orange Cookies

My mom used to make Orange cookies that I loved. I tried to make some a few months ago and screwed up the frosting (uh yah, the best part). So I had a craving and tried to find a recipe that sounded similar to what she made. I found this recipe at Recipezaar. Julia and I had "Mommy Daughter time" today and made these cookies. Yummmmm....not your typical cookie. But good and brings back memories.

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup shortening
2 eggs, beaten
1 (8 ounce) carton sour cream
2 tablespoons grated orange rind
3 tablespoons orange juice
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat until smooth and creamy.
Add orange rind and juice; beat well.
Combine flour, baking powder, soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture, beating well.
Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets; bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes or until edges just begin to brown.
Cool on wire racks.
Spread tops of cookies with orange glaze.

Orange Glaze

1 (16 ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted

2 tablespoons grated orange rind

5 tablespoons orange juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients; beat until smooth.

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Mom's Cream Cheese Danish

My friend Jaimee requested this recipe. It is by far the most asked for recipe once you've had it. My mom started making it about 20 years ago. And the tradition now is for Christmas she mass produces them for good friends (really people count on these every Christmas). We eat it every Christmas morning. YUMMMMMMMMMMM....But this is a long process- not for the novice.

1 c. sour cream
1/2 c. butter, melted
2 pkgs yeast (fast acting)
1/2 c. warm water

2 eggs
1/2 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 c. flour

(2) 8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 c. sugar
1 egg beaten
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla

Comstock cherry pie filling

Melt souar cream and 1/2 c. butter over low heat. Dissolve 2 pks yeast into warm water. Add yeast to sour cream and butter. In a bow mix second group of ingredients, adding flour last. Add yeast mix to the second mix. Refridgerate overnight (or at least 2-3 hours) in a bowl covered with wax paper. Combine 3rd group of ingredients for the filling. Beat the filling 3-5 mins until smooth. Extend the dough making 2 rectangles and put filling in the middle. Spread comstock cherries over filling. Cut the dough diagonally in strips folding over the filling (braided pattern). Brush with beaten egg and top with slivered almonds. Bake at 375 for 15 mins (until golden on top).

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Chocolate Éclair Cake

I don't like chocolate very much but I do love this cake. It's from my friend Nicole. Really good.

1 cup flour
1 cup water
1 stick butter
4 eggs
1 large package instant vanilla pudding
3 c. milk
8 oz. Cream cheese
1 container cool whip
Chocolate sauce:
2 squares unsweetened baking chocolate
1 c. evaporated milk
2/3 c. sugar
Boil 1 cup water, then add butter, stir until melted.
Add flour. Stir in 1 egg at a time. Pour mixture into 9x13 pan and bake for 30 minutes at 400. Mix pudding, milk, and softened cream cheese. After bottom layer has cooled add pudding mixture. Chill for 1 hour. Add cool whip and chill until ready to serve. Make chocolate sauce and pour over cool whip just before serving.

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