1st birthday . old vermont burnt sugar cake with popcorn and maple syrup frosting

My sweet lil boy just turned 18 months old a few days ago. It doesn't seem that long ago we celebrated his first birthday. When there is a birthday, there must be a homemade birthday cake!

dorset . 70th birthday

I baked a lemon blueberry cake with cream cheese frosting for my father in law's 70th birthday. This cake is so light and moist!

Lemon Blueberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups cake flour*
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ cup maple syrup
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 Tbsp lemon zest
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp lemon extract
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ cup + 2 Tbsp milk
• ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp sour cream
• 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 ½ cups fresh blueberries, at room temperature, rinsed and drained well


Cream Cheese Frosting
• 12 oz cream cheese, softened
• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ tsp lemon extract
• 2 Tbsp maple syrup
• Blueberries for garnish

Directions

• - Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
• - Butter 3 x 9" round baking pans and line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter parchment paper and lightly dust pan with flour, shaking out excess.
• - Sift cake flour into a mixing bowl. Add all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk for 30 seconds, set aside. 
• - Whip together butter, maple syrup and lemon zest until mixture is pale and fluffy with an electric mixer. 
• - In a 2 cup liquid measuring cup, measure out milk then stir in sour cream and lemon juice, let rest 3 minutes. 
• - Mix eggs into butter mixture one a time, then stir in lemon extract and vanilla extract.-
• - Toss blueberries with 3 Tbsp of the flour mixture. Working in three separate batches, beginning and ending with remaining flour mixture, add 1/3 of the flour mixture (to the butter/egg mixture) alternating with 1/2 of the milk mixture and mixing just until combined after each addition. 
• - Gently fold in blueberries. 
• - Divide mixture evenly among the three baking pans. 
• - Bake in preheated oven for about 24 - 27 minutes. 
• - Cool in baking pans about 20 - 30 minute then invert onto wire racks to cool completely. - 
• - Once cool, frost with cream cheese frosting and decorate with blueberries 
• 
  
• Cream Cheese Frosting:
• - Whip butter until pale and fluffy. 
• - Add cream cheese and mix until smooth and fluffy. 
• - Add vanilla and lemon extract and maple syrup and blend several minutes longer until smooth and fluffy 
• - Chill the frosting in the fridge for half an hour before frosting the cake.
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* you make your own cake flour by replacing 2 Tbsp of all purpose flour with the same amount of corn flour for every cup of flour required.

baking

A chocolate brownie cake that I baked for a very special niece's 10th birthday last year.

baking fun

Milou and I love to bake and thought it would be fun to get Lucy to join us too. We baked some gluten free coconut, walnut and banana muffins for lunch. They are daddy's favourite.

We couldn't resist using Lucy as our little model on the scale so I could show Milou how to use it. Overall, it was a fun and successful baking session. We didn't even have to do the cleaning up afterwards as daddy offered his service in exchange for some muffins. 

Happy days!

birthday cake

A birthday is not complete without a cake! Milou enjoyed blowing out candles for the first time. It was hard stopping her eating the cake during the mini photo session. 

PS: I will share the recipe the burnt sugar cake with maple syrup cream cheese frosting soon. It is simple to make and super yummy too!

baking

Have I ever told you that I love to bake? Here is a cake that I baked for my mother in law's 65th birthday. I must remember to share the recipes with you in the future. 

My husband has decided to go gluten free for 100 days, which has made things a bit difficult for me. I have never baked with gluten free flour nor tried any gluten free recipes. 

Milou's second birthday is less than a week away, I should probably start researching for a gluten free red velvet cake recipe. Wish me luck!

happy weekend

What did you get up to this weekend? Anything fun? We had a quiet and relaxing Saturday. James happily mowed the lawn when it was sunny and helped me with some groceries shopping. Then it was date night at the cinema after dinner.

I was hoping to get the barbecue out today but had a super yummy Sunday roast at the Three Horseshoes Pub at Winkwell instead. It is a traditional pub right by a picturesque canalside and food is always good there. They even have the Japanese Kirin beer on tap!

I was given two great cookbooks for my birthday recently so feeling pretty inspired. Here's what I baked today - a Lemon Drizzle Cake with Poppy Seeds. I think I will make some camomile tea to have with the cake later. 

don't eat to live but live to eat!

I am a self-proclaimed foodaholic and my motto is don't eat to live but live to eat! My food dream is to try other cuisines whenever possible and it doesn't just stop right there. I also have a passion for cooking and baking; the pictures are often share on my Flickr.

For those who haven't stumbled upon Aran Goyoaga's blog, you should definitely check it out. She is such a talented photographer and food stylist; I have been a fan for quite sometime. You can find the above Chocolate Crinkles recipe here.

So if you love your food as much as I do, I would love to hear some of your food dreams! Happy Cooking! Happy Baking!!


PS: Sis, thanks for getting me those baker's twine. It's going to last me for a life time!!