Lemon Cream Cake: A Cooking Bird Original

Number 12 on my 30 Before 30 list is to bake a cake from scratch. Well, I shocked even myself by not only baking a cake from scratch, but by creating the recipe myself! Also, it was delicious!

I know. I just passed out, too.

This Lemon Cream Cake is super easy and is the result of many hours of research learning what ingredients are necessary to make a cake, well, a cake.

If you make this, please let me know what you think.

Ingredients

For Lemon Cream Cake

6 oz cream cheese (funny story: that's all I had left of an 8 oz block, so 6 ounces it was!)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, a.k.a. 1 1/2 sticks (you don't want to know how much I had to research to find out that unsalted butter is what is typically used in recipes. I am a baking idiot.)

1 cup sugar

2 whole eggs

1 tsp vanilla (though I may have "accidentally" tipped a little more in)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (this means you sift the flour into your measuring cups - I know, I didn't know there was a difference between "sifted flour" and "flour, sifted" either)

Zest from two large lemons

pinch of salt

Butter flavored cooking spray + a little all-purpose flour

Optional blueberry topping (delicious, but unnecessary)

1 cup blueberries

1 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar (yep, it's a lot!)

splash of vanilla

lemon zest to taste (I did about 1/2 a lemon)

2 T water

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375º F. Start the blueberry topping (if you want to use the topping). In a small bowl, coat the blueberries with the vanilla, lemon zest, cornstarch, and sugar. Put this aside so the berries can soak up the flavors.


Sample one or two while you are making the cake mix. For quality control purposes, of course.

Create the cake mix: in a large mixing bowl, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar using a hand mixer, unless you are super strong and want to do it by hand (the mixture should be very smooth). Then beat in the eggs, vanilla and lemon zest until smooth - make sure there are no random ingredients hanging onto the inside of the bowl by continually scraping down the sides of the bowl.



Then using a spatula, gently mix in the sifted flour, baking powder and salt until it is just combined, but not too lumpy. (I wish I had a photo!) Spray a 9" round metallic cake pan lightly with butter flavored cooking spray. Throw some flour on top of the cooking spray, but flip the pan over (do this over a trash can or sink!) and tap the bottom firmly to remove the excess flour. This spray+flour combo will stop the cake from sticking (I'm sure you already knew this).

Apparently cake mix is delicate, and it needs to be placed in the oven as soon as you finish mixing it. So, place the cake pan on the middle rack (important for even baking) of your oven and bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.



Mine took exactly 33 minutes.

While the cake is baking, place the blueberry mixture + 2 Tablespoons of water in a small saucepan on super low heat to make the mixture syrupy without breaking down the blueberries too much. Just keep an eye on it.

Once the cake is done, place the cake pan on a wire rack to cool for about 15 minutes and turn off the blueberry syrup mixture. Then carefully remove the cake from the pan and continue to cool it on the wire rack.

Cut yourself a generous piece and spoon the blueberry topping on the cake (or not!) and enjoy.



I LOVED this cake. It was like a mix between a crumble cake and a cream cake with a super buttery exterior. Not sure what that really makes it, but I will be baking this again!



Yum!

Cocoa Ricotta Creme

I recently lost some weight. A decent amount of weight actually - nearly 25 pounds. I did it using the South Beach Diet principles. I have found this lifestyle to be easy and delicious. While I have read that most people have a lot of trouble sticking to Phase 1 because of how strict it is, I found it very easy, especially knowing it was only supposed to last two weeks. Well, I did it for a month and a half and I didn't cheat once. Now, I eat pretty much what I want, but the thing is, I don't crave any of the processed foods that helped me pack on the pounds in the first place.

Here is a favorite, super-duper easy dessert for Phase 1. And if I'm perfectly honest, I use it as a super light lunch - though I don't recommend eating it alone as there is little nutritional value, and you want to fuel your body, not just appease your sweet tooth). OK. Stepping down from my pulpit now.

Also, there are no pictures because, truthfully, I was really hungry. :)

Ingredients
- 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (we got ours on our honeymoon, but regular vanilla extract is fine)
- 1 package sugar substitute (I used generic Sweet n' Low)
- a dash of Chocolate sprinkles (optional)

Directions
(i) Mix together the ricotta, cocoa powder, vanilla, sugar substitute and chocolate sprinkles in a dessert bowl - I just use a spoon, though I imagine a mixer would smooth out the texture of the ricotta. (ii) Serve chilled.

I highly suggest using a dash of sprinkles (or even a few mini chocolate chips) because it adds a much-needed crunch to the some times odd texture of ricotta. Enjoy!

The world's best key lime pie

Key lime pie is my absolute favorite dessert. And this was the EASIEST recipe to make. And honestly, not to toot my own horn, but it's the best key lime pie I've ever had.

Ingredients

9-inch graham cracker pie crust (Deep-dish if you can find it or 10-inch pie crust)

Four eggs (you will just use the yolks)

2 (14-ounce) cans condensed milk

1 cup of key lime juice (you could probably use regular lime juice, but the key lime is what made the flavor for me! We found ours at the local Harry's Farmers Market)

Sour cream

Powdered sugar

One lime for zesting (optional)


Old photo collage, but I used the same recipe.

Directions
Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees F. Combine the condensed milk, key lime juice and egg yolks. Whisk until well blended and place the filling in the pie shell. We had so much mixture left over the first time I made this that we put them in tiny bunt cakes (please see photo above). Bake for 30-35 minutes and then chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Yay! A new photo!

Once chilled, combine about a cup of sour cream to three+ tablespoons powdered sugar (do it to your taste) and use to dollop on the top. Some people spread the topping over the whole thing before serving, but I like to give people the option, though I personally love the sour cream/powdered sugar mixture. Cuts the tartness of the pie. Then freshly zest lime over the top of the sour cream as a garnish and serve chilled.


And enjoyed best with friends.

Brownies, for the record

So, for the record, I didn't skip cooking a meal last week, I made brownies. BUT they were from a box. So, I'm not going to post a recipe. But I highly recommend Duncan Hines Triple Chocolate Decadence brownies.

Banana Spice Pie

Monday night we had girls' night at my friend Amy's house, so Sunday night I made Banana Spice Pie. While Key Lime Pie is my absolute favorite pie (at the moment), this Banana Spice Pie is a close second. Thank you to Kraft Foods for the recipe. They call it Banana Caramel Spice Pie, but I don't use the caramel, so it is just Banana Spice Pie.

It's super-duper easy, and with a few low-fat/fat-free modifications, it isn't THAT bad for you.

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 4 hr 10 min
Makes: 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 large ripe banana, sliced (make sure the banana is fairly ripe, but not super mushy ripe)

1 6 oz. OREO Pie Crust

2 cups cold milk (I used skim milk, even though Cam says that is not real milk. The boy also likes pimento cheese, so what does he really know about food?)

2 pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O White Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling (Make sure the boxes are instant! White Chocolate JELL-O pudding mix is also available in fat-free, though I have a hard time just finding the regular version.)

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed (I used low-fat Kroger brand - it's cheaper and tastes the same. And try to use it thawed - it makes the pie much fluffier.)

1 cup caramel ice cream topping (optional - I don't use this, but I bet it tastes really good)



Directions:

Place banana slices on bottom of crust. Blend dry pudding mixes and cinnamon in a large bowl. Pour in cold milk and beat with a wire whisk 2 minutes (it feels like forever!) or until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping. Spoon into crust. Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. Optionally, serve topped with caramel topping. Store leftover pie in refrigerator. Though I can almost promise you there will be no leftovers.


So delicious and creamy!