My first stacked cake! It was scary but worth it. I made this for my friend Katie who didn’t get a birthday cake on her actual birthday. This is not ok. I believe that cake (or desert) must be had on ones birthday. Its a day for YOU so let them eat cake!

Original recipe located here: BAM!

Cake:

3 cups flour

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp of salt

3tbsp poppy seeds

2 sticks butter, softened

zest of one large lemon

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

5 egg whites

Syrup

1/3 cup water

Juice of one lemon

1/4 cup sugar

Frosting

Zest of one lemon

8oz cream cheese, soften

2 sticks of butter softened

5 cups powdered sugar

Oven 350. Butter and flour two 6x3 inch cake pans.

Cake: combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds in a mixing bowl. Add butter, zest, and only one cup of buttermilk. Once throughly mixed, beat for 2 minutes. In a separate bowl, whisky the remaining buttermilk with whites. Slowly add this into your batter. Pour into pans and bake for 30 minutes (I have an old oven so I ended up baking it for 40 because it just wasn’t setting! ugh)

Syrup: While cakes are cooling, mix everything into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Keep it boiling and slowly refuse the heat so the syrup is thicker and reduced in volume. While the cakes are warm, brush with the hot syrup and then let cool completely.

Frosting: Combine everything in a food processor and pulse until combined.**

** ok, so here is where it got tricky for me. I don’t own a food pro. So in my head I decided that a blender will just have to work. Ehhhhh not so much. I ended up melting a half of stick of butter so everything would actually mix within the blender. I poured our the frosting into a bowl where I let cool and harden. As I was frosting my cake, I did one layer then threw the bowl and the cake bake into the fridge to cool and harden again. then repeated, getting the layers in without getting cake bits in the frosting. I’m not the best at frosting cakes if I want to get the smooth look. I’m better with piping tools, but I’m learning!

Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Loaf

Last tuesday my tiny little niece, Emma, was born, In celebration I made this blueberry lemon loaf. Although this was my first time making a loaf with yogurt, I have to say it was pretty easy. Even though I took it out of the pan a teeny bit too early and it was a teeny bit too warm so the loaf seemed to ‘fall’ a bit. It may not look the prettiest, I thought it was a prefect little treat for my brother and his growing family.

Original recipe found here: Bam!

For the Loaf:

• 1 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (approximately 2 lemons)
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and rinsed

For the Lemon Syrup:

• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup sugar

For the Lemon Glaze:

• 1 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 2 to 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and sides of one 9 x 5-inch loaf pans; dust with flour, tapping out excess.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter.
4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing loaf to a wire rack on top of a baking sheet.
5. While the loaf is cooling, make the lemon syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir together the lemon juice and sugar until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once dissolved, continue to cook for 3 more minutes. Remove from the heat; set aside.
6. Use a toothpick to poke holes in the tops and sides of the warm loaf. Brush the top and sides of the loaf with the lemon syrup. Let the syrup soak into the cake and brush again. Let the cake cool completely.
7. To make the lemon glaze, in a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners’ sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of the lemon juice. The mixture should be thick but pourable. Add up to another tablespoon of lemon juice if the mixture is too stiff. Pour the lemon glaze over the top of each loaf and let it drip down the sides. Let the lemon glaze harden, about 15 minutes, before serving.

When life has lemons on sale, makes lemon oat bars. 
These are super easy. A little too easy, if you ask me. I can picture myself making them nonstop. Light and chewy. Perfectly paired up with a cup of coffee. Plus its healthy because of the oats right?

The original recipe can be found here: Bam!

1 can of sweeten condensed milk
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of said lemon
1 cup oats
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup of soften butter
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Heat oven to 375F degrees.
Coat 8x8 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix milk, lemon zest and lemon juice in medium bowl until thickened; set aside. Mix remaining ingredients in medium bowl until crumbly.
Press half of the crumbly mixture in pan; bake about 10 minutes or until set.
Spread lemon milk mixture over baked crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbly mixture over the lemon milk mixture, press down gently.
Bake about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and center is set but soft. Cool completely. Cut 4 rows by 4 rows.