Lemon Pound Cake

Luke loooooooves lemon.  LOVES it!  I screenshotted this recipe a long time ago and this week, as I was cleaning pictures off of my phone I came across the recipe and decided to give it a try.  Y'all.  I'm so glad I tried it because look....

... lemony perfection!  I was a little bit nervous because this was my first time making a pound cake, but it was so easy!

Here's what you'll need...

(I put a full list of ingredients and instructions at the end of the post)

Before we get into the recipe, HOW THE HECK DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT BAKING SPRAY?!?!?!  I've always used PAM, but didn't realize there was a difference between cooking spray and baking spray.  The baking spray has flour in it!

 

First, combine 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl and mix well.

For the next step, the butter has to be softened.  Mine wasn't soft so I did a little trick...

Cut the butter up on a plate, fill bowl with hot water (then pour it out and dry the bowl)...

Put the hot bowl over the butter (my plate was a little curved so I wrapped a towel around it to keep the heat in). 

While the butter was softening I zested two lemons (yes... I need a zester so I can stop using my cheese grater. hahaha) and squeezed them (and then a third).

After the butter was soft, cream it together with 2 cups of sugar.

Beat in the three eggs one at a time and then mix in 1/2 cup sour cream, 4 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 teaspoon vanilla and the zest of two lemons.

Mix half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture.  Mix in the buttermilk and then add in the remaining flour mixture.  Mix just until the flour disappears.  

I didn't take anymore pictures (ooops!), but the batter was REALLY thick!  So thick that I was skeptical about it. hahaha

I baked it at 325 for 70 minutes and it came out perfectly golden brown.

While the cake started cooling I made the glaze.

Cream 1/4 cup of softened butter and then add in 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice (room temperature).  Beat until it's creamy and smooth.

I spooned about 1/2 of the glaze over the warm cake so it all soaks in...

... and then when the cake was completely cool I put the rest of the glaze in a ziplock bag, cut the corner off and piped it over the cake.

What You'll Need..

For Cake:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

4 tablespoons lemon juice

zest of 2 lemons

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon vanilla

For Glaze:

1/4 cup butter, softened 

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons lemon juice

What You'll Do

1) Preheat your oven to 325 degrees

2) Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together.

3) In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, beat in the eggs one at a time and then mix in the sour cream, lemon juice (I squeezed mine from the lemons that I used for zest), vanilla and lemon zest.

3) Mix half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture.  Mix in the buttermilk and then add in the remaining flour mixture.  Mix just until the flour disappears.  Pour the batter into a bundt ban that has been generously sprayed with baking spray.

4) Bake for 60-70 minutes at 325 degrees (or until a knife inserted in the corner of the cake comes out clean). 

5) Allow the cake to cool for 5 minutes.  Turn the cake over onto a platter and spread half of the glaze over the warm cake so that the glaze can soak into the cake.

6) Let the cake cool completely and drizzle the remaining glaze over the cake.

To make the Glaze

1) Cream 1/4 cup of softened butter and slowly add 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons lemon juice.  Beat well until the glaze is creamy smooth.

Enjoy, friends!!!

Recipe Club: Faux Quiche Edition

Thank you all so much for your kind words on my Teacher Tuesday post yesterday.  Teaching is most definitely my passion and I'm excited to share a bit about that here.  Math is too often regarded as boring, hard and an esoteric endeavor and I love being able to change students' opinions and outlooks about Math through their experiences in my classroom.

I say this every month, but I can't believe it's already the last Wednesday of the month!  This past month has been a crazy one, but I'm ready to find some delicious (and easy!) Fall recipes that  I can put together after school or ahead of time on the weekends.

Today I'm sharing a super basic and versatile recipe that my mom made for us often growing up.  We call it "faux quiche" and it's great because you can throw whatever you have into it to make a tasty meal.

The basic recipe is 1 cup milk, 1 cup flour and 3 eggs and then you can add in whatever you have on hand.  Last night I used mushrooms, diced ham, parsley, cheese, tomato and onion.  

Mix together the three eggs with 1 cup flour and 1 cup milk.

Whisk it all together until everything is blended.

Dice up whatever you're throwing in...

I usually use between 1 and 2 cups of cheese and then whatever else I have in the fridge.  This is a great recipe to get rid of some veggies and other leftovers.  I added in about half an onion, tomato, 4 or 5 fresh mushrooms, handful of parsley, salt and pepper and 8 oz of diced ham.  In the past I've used pepperoni, peppers, etc.

Combine everything together, pour into a greased pie plate (I use PAM spray) and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.

It comes out golden brown and cheesy.  Yes ma'am.

My kids love this with ham, cheese and onion and it's quick and easy on busy weeknights.  I'll usually serve it with a salad, but last night I didn't have lettuce so I ate it with a piece of buttered bread and a big bowl of grapes.  Because that's basically the same thing as a salad :) hahaha

And I'm not even going to lie.... Dave had the boys out fishing with my Dad, Griffin was in bed and I ate my faux quiche and grapes in bed while watching Pitbulls and Parolees. :)  I get sucked in to these shows on Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel and they become some of my favorites (I've watched every season of Deadliest Catch and if one of those "Biggest and Baddest" shows on Animal Planet comes on I've usually seen it.... twice).

Throw this together this weekend with whatever you have in your fridge and let me know what you think!  Now link up and share your recipes!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Recipe Club - Meatball Sub Edition

I feel like I should be sharing a grilled chicken recipe or some sort of fresh fruit salad or cold soup  - but instead I'm sharing Meatball Subs :)  Because they're THE BOMB and because they're one of my most requested meals from the boys in my house.

I found the recipe on Big Mamas blog years ago and have made it dozens of times since then.  I typically double the recipe since everyone in my house loves these and I'm a fan of leftovers.  Here is the single batch recipe...

I was out of garlic powder, so I omitted the salt and threw in garlic salt instead.

(Note: this is TWICE what you will need for a regular recipe)

Combine the meat, eggs and all of the dry ingredients.

I cover my pizza pan with foil and give it a quick spray with cooking spray.

Once everything is combined, form 3" (or so) meatballs.  I've found that using my 1/3 measuring cup portions out the perfect amount.

Bake the meatballs at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Flip them over and then bake for another 5 minutes.

Have the sauce simmering on the stove and then just pop the meatballs in the sauce until you are ready to serve.  I will typically prep this in the afternoon and let them simmer until dinnertime.  

My kids aren't really able to "handle" a meatballs sandwich yet (holy, mess!) so I cut them up for them and serve them with the roll on the side.

I will typically broil the rolls in the oven to get them toasty and then cut the meatballs in half and put them right on top.  Extra sauce and cheese on top and you're ready to go!  

If you don't feel like subs two nights in a row, there's always lots of sauce left over and some nights I'll cook a bit of pasta and serve the meatballs and sauce over that.

So my question is this... I've never made homemade marinara sauce.  Do any of y'all have a great recipe for some?  This is something that I'd LOVE to try, but would love to attempt a "tried and true" recipe if possible. 

Enjoy!!!

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

Recipe Club - May

Moment of truth... I almost forgot about this post until about 4:00 yesterday afternoon.  I haven't even had my calendar out since last week (hallelujah!) and when I finally did open it up to check out an appointment time for today I remembered and panicked a bit.

At the last minute I decided to share what can barely be considered an actual recipe. It's more of a public service announcement than anything else. 

A couple of summers ago, Sheaffer created the "sandwich of the summer" and I ate at least one a day for about 3 months straight.  I got completely burnt out on it and haven't thought about it since.  But this week I decided to resurrect it and I'm super excited.

Here's all that you'll need.

The "original" sandwich is made on "Orowheat Sandwich Thins", but I couldnt' find those, so I snagged these instead.

 The key to this sandwich if you're packing it for later (like on a morning when you're packing lunches for the pool), is to put the sliced cucumbers inside the turkey so they don't make the bread soggy.  #genius 

Grab a handful of berries and lunch is done!

Like I said, I feel semi-ridiculous even posting this as a recipe, but I think you'll thank me later when you're scrambling for a quick, easy and delicious sandwich.

And since summer is coming, you should probably familiarize yourself with the most delicious (and easiest!) summer dessert of all time.

I'm looking forward to reading through y'alls actual recipes and picking some to try out this week.  I'm determined to try new recipes this summer so hit me with your best stuff :) 

   

    An InLinkz Link-up