Lemon-Blueberry bundt cake

Again...2 of my favorite flavors together! My friend, Kristin, sent this recipe to me.  Seems we are always passing blueberry recipes.... this one is really really good! She got it from Martha Stewart.com. I recommend making this....today!

~Recipe~

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 teaspoon for blueberries and zest
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
• Nonstick cooking spray, for pan
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)
• **I used a combination of 1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice and 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar whisked up and poured it all over the warm cake. This was also in the optional part of the recipe and I highly recommend it**

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk 2 1/2 cups flour with baking powder and salt; set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of sour cream.
3. In a bowl, toss blueberries and zest with remaining teaspoon flour; gently fold into batter. Coat a 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with cooking spray. Spread batter in prepared pan.
4. Bake cake on bottom rack of oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes. Invert onto a rack; cool completely, top side up. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving, if desired

Blueberry Brunch Cake

I have made this for about 5 years when I get HUGE blueberries! It is soooo good and moist.  When the blueberries are plump they burst and are so flavorful.  It is very simple to make and very good!

~Recipe~
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup applesauce**I use the cinnamon kind**
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups blueberries
Mix all together until blended and add the blueberries and gently stir in.

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Mix all together and sprinkle over the batter. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees!....easy! Enjoy~

Strawberry and Cream Cheese French Toast

As you know, I make brunch on the weekends and this is a great brunch recipe.  It has to be made the night before but that makes it much easier in the a.m. when I am trying to get everything cooked! I got this from here, a great website!  The kids ate this up!

~Recipe~
1 loaf french bread
1/2 C melted butter
3/4 C brown sugar 
1/2 C corn syrup
8  oz cream cheese
1 egg 
1/3 C sugar
1/2 C strawberry jam
8 eggs
1 C milk
cinnamon
*Fresh Strawberries you could use frozen as well...
Powdered sugar
  
 Combine the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Slice the bread about 1/2 inch thick.
 Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Pour the butter/brown sugar mixture in the bottom of the pan. Make sure it covers the entire bottom of the pan. Lay your slices of bread on top of the butter and brown sugar. You can cut them in half to make sure then all fit, make sure they don't over lap.  The will be unevenly cooked if they are overlapping.
 In a separate bowl combine the cream cheese, egg, sugar and strawberry jam. Beat until nice and smooth. Pour on top of the bread. Layer more bread over the top of the cream cheese filling. In another bowl combine the 8 eggs and 1 C of milk. Whisk until well combined. Pour over the top of the bread.  Sprinkle the top of the bread with some cinnamon. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Bake in the morning at 350. Depending on how quickly your oven cooks, and how cold you keep your fridge you will need to bake it for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. It needs to soak up all of the egg and milk juice, and have time to caramelize along the bottom. Take the foil off for the last 15 minutes of cooking. 
 Serve with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar. You can also use frozen strawberries. Delish!! Time consuming but well worth the work!! 

Sugar Cookies

I have no idea how I let this slide by Valentine's Day...we had 5(yes 5) snow days out of school last week. I had the neighborhood kids over to decorate cookies for one afternoon.  It was so fun! This recipe is a good one, it makes a lot so you may want to cut it in 1/2.  I make them for every holiday and decorate accordingly.

~Recipe~
6 eggs
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cup milk divided
1 tsp vanilla
6 tsp baking powder(dissolve in 1 cup of the milk)
3 tsp baking soda(dissolved in the remaining 1/2 cup of milk)
12 cups of flour, approx.
1/2 tsp mace

Combine all ingredients and roll out and cut into shapes.  Bake 8-10 min at 350 degrees.  Frosting~ 3/4 bag of powdered sugar
1/2 cup shortening
**some**water(to consistency)
1/2 tsp each vanilla, lemon and almond extract
food coloring...Mix all together.  YUM! Enjoy~

Cheesy potatoes

My kids love this side dish. So simple and good...it pairs well with anything. AND it has cheese AND sour cream...WINNER in my book! I tried to take an appetizing photo of it...but the casserole looks like mush...so I don't have a photo.

~Recipe~
1 (32 ounce) pk frozen hash browns
1/2 cup melted butter
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup onion, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 16 ounce carton of sour cream
1 cups cornflakes
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 cup melted butter

Partially defrost the hash browns. Mix with 1/2 c melted butter, cheese, onion and sour cream, soup and spices.  Put in greased 9 x 13 pan. SPrinkle cornflakes on top and pour the 1/4 cup melted butter on top.  Bake uncovered 1 hour 15 minutes at 350 degrees. YUM!
Enjoy~

Red Velvet Cupcakes

In the spirit of Heart Day, I made this recipe for Red Velvet cupcakes, but I made a cake instead. Eh...moderately ok, at best.  I did not think it had any flavor at all.  I am surprised because it came from one of my favorite recipe sites and I copied it off to try right away. Not all can be "keepers", though. So I am determined to find a good one this week. If you try this and like it et me know, I may need to try it again.  I think it is a cheater recipe, though, too, so it may be mental.  My husband loved the cake, for what it is worth! :)

~Recipe~
1 pkg red velvet cake mix
1 pkg small chocolate instant pudding
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup of thawed Cool Whip
white chocolate curls*or what ever you like to decorate with*

Prepare the cake batter as per instructions and add the pudding mix into batter before spooning into muffin cups. Bake as directed for 24 cupcakes.  Cool.

Beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until well blended.  Gradually beat in sugar. Whisk in Cool Whip. Spoon frosting into a decorating bag and frost cupcakes.  Keep chilled.
Enjoy~

Black Forest Cake

This was a Super hit on Super Bowl Sunday! Who isn't a chocolate fan(um..I besides ME, of course) and this is not over powered with cherries.  It is a nice balance of vanilla, chocolate and cherry flavors.  I think it is a 'cheater' version but Brooklyn says she likes this better than Better Than Recess Cake, so I guess I will make it again. No photos because it was Super Bowl and I had so much going on in the kitchen that I ran out of time before it was dug into.

~Recipe~
1 package of Devils food cake mix**This is the cheater version, next time I will make the REAL cake, not the box cake**
8 ounces of Cool Whip
1 Tbsp almond flavoring
2 Tbsp vanilla
1 5.1 ounce vanilla instant pudding
1 can cherry pie filing
 chocolate sprinkles and maraschino cherries for garnish

Bake cake according to package directions in a 9x13 pan. Mix pie filling and almond flavoring in a bowl, while cake is still warm poke holes in the top and put the mixture over the cake.  While cake is cooling prepare pudding and add the extra vanilla flavoring.  Fold in whipped topping and spread pudding over the cherries.  Decorate with sprinkles and cherries. Cover and chill. Enjoy~