Citrus Spring Pound Cake: with a can of pop

For Easter, I was in charge of dessert and was debating about what to make until I discovered we had a tiny can of Sierra Mist (like Sprite) pop in our garage.
Literally, it was a mini-can at only 7 oz. I have no idea where it came from or who left it there.
I took this as a sign from the baking gods and went with it.

A few weeks ago, I had found this absolutely divine looking citrus pound cake from The Pioneer Woman (here).
It just so happens to involve one cup of 7-up (or Sprite or Sierra Mist).

So I just had to make it.

Picture credit: The Pioneer Woman. Her baking is like art.

The only thing I altered was I added an orange to the mix. I don’t think you can have zested lemon and lime and then omit orange.

Also – I WANT HER BUNDT PAN. It is a Nordic Ware Jubille Bundt pan and… I have dreams about this pan.

And finally, if you have a KITCHENAID MIXER (this is the one I have)- this will make this recipe oh-so-easy. I relied heavily on mine.

Ingredients

For the cake-

3 sticks of butter
3 cups sugar
5 whole eggs
3 cups flour
1 cup 7-up (I used Sierra Mist)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbl. Lemon, Lime, Orange zest (that is one of each)

For the Glaze-
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbl. (of each) of lemon, lime, orange zest — dried for at least 30 mins.
1 Tbl. (of each) lemon, lime, orange juice
1 Tbl. water (might need to add more)

Do you spot what is by the couch? Creepy.

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Zest all you lime, lemon, orange. Doing this ahead of time saves you a lot of time. Be sure to save the juice for the glaze.

Zested and it smells so good!

3. Bust out that mixer and  make sure you fit it with the paddle attachment (not a whisk). Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing throughout the entire process. Add the flour and salt, one cup at a time, mixing. I did all of this with a medium to medium-low speed.

4. Then on LOW (put it on low or else you will make a mess), slowly add the 7-Up until combined. Add your 1 Tbl. of each zested fruit. Mix well.

Mixer made it easy-peasy.

5. Spray your bundt pan generously with nonstick baking spray. Add large spoonfuls of batter into the pan until it is evenly filled. Smooth out the surface.

6. Bake for 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let it cool for 15 minutes.

7. Carefully turn it out onto a cake pan and cool.

Letting it cool.

Glaze

Dried zest.

1. Combine all glaze ingredients in a bowl, whisk until thick but pourable. Use a spoon to drizzle it all over the cake. Let it set, then serve it up!

2. You can use extra zest to sprinkle on top and even cut some fruit pieces to decorate the bottom.

 

All done!

Sneaking into the background.

Happy Easter!

Tell me-

What is your favorite Spring dessert to make?

Sincerely,

Lily

The Best Darn German Chocolate Cake

Although I am German, I have never really enjoyed German Chocolate cake.

Something about the texture of coconut shavings lumped into the frosting has always turned my taste buds away. I really am not too crazy about coconut and I generally like vanilla over chocolate.

HOWEVER- all of that has changed. AMEN.

When I hosted book club, I wanted to make a German Chocolate cake and my fellow book nerd (and the best baker friend a girl could have), pointed me to this recipe. She swore that is was the best and I am pretty sure it is. The recipe is from the famous NY Mangolia Bakery and Carrie Bradshaw would have swooned over it. If you were to bake this and give a piece to Mr. Big, he would have probably dumped Carrie and fled to you.

Whatever was leftover the next day, I took to my parents for dinner and I am suprpised my brother did not lick the platter clean.

Does that not look divine? Ist sew tasteeeey.

Magnolia Bakery’s German Chocolate Cake

• For the cake:
  4 oz. Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate, broken into squares
  1/2 cup of water
  2 cups all purpose flour
  1 1/2 tsp baking soda
  1/4 tsp salt
  4 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
  1 cup butter, softened (two sticks)
  2 cups sugar
  1 tsp vanilla extract
  1 cup buttermilk
• For the frosting:
  1 1/2 cans evaporated milk
  6 egg yolks
  2 cups sugar
  1 cup butter, cut into small pieces
  2 tsps vanilla extract
  4 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
  2 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease 3 (I ONLY USED TWO) 9 x 2 round cake pans, then line bottoms with wax paper (I DID NOT DO THIS)

3. In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate with water, stirring to melt the chocolate and blend well. Set aside and let it cool.

This is the chocolate to use people. Do not eat it, you will be tempted to eat it.

4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

5. In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks together.

6. In a large bowl, on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

7. Add the egg yolks, beating until well combined.

Whip it up real good.

8. Add the chocolate mixutre and vanilla extract.

9. Add the dry ingredients in, alternating with the buttermilk, beating after each addition, until smooth.

10. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed of an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Fold it into the batter.

11. Pour equally into cake pans and bake 25-30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. DO NOT OVER BAKE- it is very light and fluffy.

Directions for the frosting:

1. In a large saucepan, beat together evaporated milk and egg yolks.

2. Stir in sugr, butter, vanilla extract.

3. Stir over medium heat about 15-18 minutes or until thickened and bubbly and golden in color. Remove from eat.

4. Stir in coconut and pecans.

5. Transfare to a large bowl and cool until room temperature and of good spreading consistency (about 2 hours).

6. When cake is cooled, spread frosting between layers and over top. DONE AND EAT!

German Chocolate Cake!

Baking this cake also gave me a perfect reason to use my pretty cake display stand that I got from my baker-book-friend from the shower. It pretty much was begging to be used ever since I unpacked it:

So pretty!

The spread from book club!

So….. how many people are fans of this type of cake? What is your favorite cake?

Mine is lemon! I love anything lemon-flavored.

Sincerely,

Lily

Our First Christmas: New Recipes and New Memories

Holiday dinner success.

After returning from our lovely visit in Nebraska (another blog I need to post), Mr. Speedy and I hosted our first formal family dinner with my family.

I could barely contain my excitement. Our first time hosting Christmas! Our first Christmas in our new home! Our first time cooking a formal feast! Our first time using the fine china!

Pirate and I

Do we look alike?

I am awkward.

Mommmmm.

Pirate.

So chic.

My love and sister.

I was hibernating.

Family picture!

Almost newlyweds.

Bro and Sis

I really have no idea.

The three ladies.

Christmas tree!

Alan!

Present time.

A Kate Spade bridal bangle!

If you have hosted a meal, I am sure you felt the pang of panic the day before as you prepared everything. The grocery list, how many extra chairs are needed, what type of linen should be used, and how many bottles on wine should be bought. The key to this whole process I found was actually planning the meal and preparing ahead of time, rather than day of the event.

Kind of like planning the wedding- get as much done ahead of time, and it’ll be smooth sailing.

The day before, the following was done:

• Set-up extra seating
• Plan out meal, go grocery shopping
• Chop and slice all ingredients, set aside
• Measure out dry ingredients, set aside
• Bake all desserts (if possible), set aside
• Prepare all table linen, menus, etc.

That last bullet – which is totally not necessary unless you are a decorating freak like me – is something that I went a little crazy on. For Christmas, Mr. Speedy bought me a Prima Press Alphabet Stamp set. AMAZING GIFT. Little did he know how far his $20 present went because I got it in my head to handstamp out EVERYTHING. Name cards, menus, bar list, dessert labels, and appetizers. I think I stamped for about 3 hours straight and had ink all over myself, but it was SO worth the effort. They looked simply fantastic:

Menus and name cards.

The bar list. Come and drink.

Dessert bar.

Snacks!

Another little extra I found for only $1 at Michaels, were Christmas themed cupcake toppers and cocktail napkins. How awesome are these??

Cupcakes!

Our new coasters and the napkins!

Moving on, I also wanted to FINALLY use some lovely gifts we got from our Nebraska bridal shower. Our gold plate chargers and water pitcher were both gifts from Mr. Speedy’s mother and were perfect. All the fine china was used for the first time, a family heirloom from my Nonna. The candelabra was a gift from my parents. How exciting it was to mix items from all over, to create a formal atmosphere:

Love this water pitcher!

DONT WORRY – NO ONE GOT BURNT.

I really like Pirate’s face.

So…..

What did I cook???

All recipe are SUPER EASY (I promise) and very tasty. Some recipes are pre-made others are made from scratch. Enjoy:

GLAZED HAM

So much ham.

This ham is super easy – it is pre-cooked and pre-glazed from the store. Although this may seem like cheating, it is not. Your guests will never know and you can tell them that you actually went out and hand-picked the pig that is now on the table and watch their mouths drop. To heat this up, wrap it up in foil and put in in the oven at 350 degrees for about 1.5 hours. So juicy and tasty.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

So tasty.

Just like the ham, this was a pre-made soup. All I did was pour it into a saucepan and heat up. If you are really ambitious, then feel free to make it from scratch. DON’T JUDGE ME FOR SERVING THIS.

BALSAMIC CRANBERRY BRUSSEL SPROUTS

These were simply delicious.

(Makes 8 servings)

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
3 pounds of brussel sprouts
olive oil
salt and pepper
3/4 cup dried cranberries

1. First, make the balsamic glaze. You can do this early in the morning, and set it aside for later.
2. Pour vinegar and sugar into a small saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes, or until the sauce thickens a bit (might need to add sugar).
4. Remove it and set aside.
5. Rinse sprouts and slice them in half (I did this the day before).
6. Spread them in a single layer on baking sheets.
7. Using a brush, brush olive oil over them all and then sprinkle salt and pepper to taste.
8. Roast for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees, or until they are crisp and have some brown leaves.
9. Pile them on a large serving tray, sprinkle the dried cranberries all over the top.
10. Slowly pour the balsamic glaze all over.
11. SERVE!

GARLIC (ROSEMARY) ROASTED POTOATOES

These are tiny but tasty!

Serves 12

6 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 Tbl. rosemary, minced
1 stick of butter
6 pounds of fingerlings potatoes (assorted colors), keep skin on but wash
salt and pepper
2 Tbl. fresh parsley, minced

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mince the garlic , rosemary, parsley – keeping them all separate. (I did this the day before).
3. Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat, then add rosemary and garlic.
4. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Arrange potatoes on baking sheet and coat with butter mixture.
6. Roast them for 40-45 minutes.
7. Arrange them on a large platter, add salt and pepper, and sprinkle parsley over the top.
8. Enjoy!

CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES

Globs of chocolate everywhere.

Please note: These are not very pretty as I completely messed up melting the chocolate. Still edible, just not pretty.

24 ounces of semisweet chocolate chips
6 ounces of white chocolate chips
2 containers of strawberries

1. Grab a baking sheet and layer it with parchment paper.
2. Melt the semisweet chocolate in a glass bowl with the microwave OR in a saucepan.
3. Dip a strawberry into melted chocolate, rolling it to coat all sides.
4. Lay it on parchment paper.
5. Repeat with all strawberries.
6. Let chocolate harden on strawberries for 30 minutes in a cool area (I put mine in the freezer but you could put them in a garage or outside, if cold enough outside)
7. Melt the white chocolate and using a butter knife, dip it into white chocolate and then drizzle designs over the dipped strawberries.
8. You could also re-dip the strawberry into the white chocolate, to add another layer of yumminess.
9. Decorate the remaining strawberries with the white chocolate.
10. Let harden for 30 minutes as previous done in step 6.
11. Serve them on a pretty stand! Or pack them up and give away.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Cupcakes!

Ha. These were store bought. No way was I going to make cupcakes from scratch, along with frosting. The package I bought from the store INCLUDED frosting, so it was obviously the perfect buy.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Sorry for the long post, but there you have it. I think I might make those brussel sprouts as a traditional side dish every Christmas. It is fun how every family does their own traditions with meals. Mr. Speedy’s family has chili and cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve. Does your family have any traditional meals during the holidays??

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas!

Sincerely,

Stamp-Crazed Lily

The best picture we have ever taken.

Oh fudge, what do I choose?

Since my last post was wedding related I figured I might as well continue that topic and gather some opinions. Also, if you enjoy fudge of any flavor or sweets, then you will love this post and be able to help me.

As mentioned before I have no internal decision-maker bone in my body.

Some things – who shall I marry? OH, Mr. Speedy. – yes.
Other things – flavor of cake? ALL FLAVORS- no.

First thing first, WHAT FLAVORS WOULD YOU PICK?

These are from the list here, if you want a more detailed description of each flavor.

Mr. Speedy and I have decieded to do fudge favors for our guests from the fabulous Joann’s and we are allowed to pick as many flavors as we want. That statement sounds incredible but when you are trying to pick out flavors, it really hinders you from narrowing down the best ones.

But dis fudge, itz so guuuuuuuud:

Eating the yummy fudge on the island.

I’d like to choose 4-6 flavors.

Any favorites?? Vote away!

Share this with everyone and anyone. The more votes the better.

Next, I shall have you all vote on my choice of shoes, hairstyle, underwear- thong or bikini, and if I should pull out all my gray hairs now or just let them cascade down and be free.

I’m kidding. But…. only a little.

Sincerely,

Lily