I really enjoy lemon treats. To me, there is something refreshing about the lemon flavor. I have a few favorite lemon desserts, but this pound cake is one of my favorites. I honestly cannot remember where I got the recipe from, so although I would like to give credit where credit is due, I am going to blame the forgetfulness on my Mommy brain.
Ingredients
2 ½ cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon lemon extract
5 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk or evaporated milk
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1/4 cup poppy seeds
Powdered sugar, if desired
Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and side of angel food cake pan, 10×4-inches, 12-cup bundt cake pan or 2 loaf pans, 9x5x3-inches, with shortening; lightly flour.
2. Beat sugar, butter, lemon extract and eggs in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 5 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Beta flour mixture into sugar mixture alternately with milk on low speed, beating just until smooth after each addition. Fold in lemon peel and poppy seeds. Pour into pan(s).
3. Bake angel food or bundt cake pan 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes, loaf pans 55 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes; remove form pan(s) to wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
I have now posted here every month for the last year and really enjoyed doing it. It got me to think more about the fact that I do like cooking (more than I thought I did). And also to see that I have come quite a ways since my first cooking experiences. Of course, I am still far from calling myself a “cook”, but I am getting closer the more I try out Maria’s recipes! I am going to go back to just posting recipes occasionally on my own blog now for this season of life. I really appreciate Maria giving me the opportunity to do this and encourage her other friends to join in and share your recipes as well!
All the best,
A while back, Dulce posted a gluten free vegan chocolate cake. I was looking for a vegan cake to make for my son, and remembered her post, so I thought I would give it a try with wheat flour. The end result (pictured above) was divine. We are in the process of trying to eliminate gluten to see if TB is also sensitive to that, so I gave it a whirl with Bob’s Red Mill GF flour, which also turned out well (pictured below still in the pan).
Dulce graciously allowing me to repost her recipe with the modifications I made.
The Players
3 c Bob’s Red Mill GF Flour
2 c turbinado sugar
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 c vegan mini chocolate chips
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp vanilla
2 tsp vinager
2 Starbucks via packs
2 cups coconut milk (or almond, I like coconut better when baking)
2/3 c olive oil
The Fun
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and spray 2 8″ round cake pans or one 9″ square pan with olive oil or other baking spray.
2. Mix dry ingredients and set aside.
3. Mix wet ingredients and then add to dry ingredients, being sure to mix thoroughly. Pour in to the pan(s).
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
I try to allow it to cool before diving in, but it’s hard. Our favorite topping is to put a scoop of So so Delicious coconut milk ice cream on top.
Today I thought I would throw a couple recipes at you while I share about cooking for my husband’s teammates when we are overseas. Something we really enjoy doing is having his teammates over a couple of times a season for a big meal. And we try to make it a meal of food that their culture normally wouldn’t cook. So we are often steered towards a Thanksgiving-type meal.
Today I thought I would share a couple of recipes that I use when I cook those big meals that otherwise don’t usually make the dinner rotation.
Meal Plan:
Turkey
We usually buy the largest turkey we can fit into our oven. One thing that has helped cook more turkey in the oven is to have the butcher remove the legs, so they don’t prevent us from getting the turkey in the oven because it is too wide. The legs can then be put somewhere else on the roasting pan. Then I slather it with olive oil and cook it breast side down in an oven bag (if I remember to pack them). We rarely have much turkey left over!
Mashed Potatoes
I use Pioneer Woman’s Mashed Potatoes recipe not only because it is SO good, but because I can make them a day or so before. I usually make two large pans of these and they are gone in about 20 minutes!
Stuffing
Again, I go with Pioneer Woman’s Thanksgiving Stuffing recipe. I use this cornbread recipe and go with whatever local bread looks the best. Joe is not big into stuffing, but he likes this one. And it is the best leftover stuffing I have ever had.
Macaroni and Cheese
It is back to Pioneer Woman once again for her Macaroni and Cheese. Last year in Italy, the Italians really liked this because it was very different from any pasta they make in Italy.
Baked Pineapple
This is a very easy recipe I got from my cousin’s wife.
Ingredients
3 eggs
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
cinnamon
1 can pineapple crushed
Directions
1. Beat 3 eggs.
2. Mix in butter, cornstarch and sugar. Stir in can of pineapple.
3. Pour into 9×9 pan and sprinkle top with cinnamon.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Other Veggies
I will usually steam up some green beans and corn as well, but no one is usually that interested in eating veggies at these meals!
Carrot Cake
The last two teams Joe has played on have been in Italy and the Italians have gone nuts over carrot cake. I use this recipe from Tasty Kitchen and his teammates can finish off two pans easily.
Nutella Cheesecake Brownies
These are always a big hit too. I am thankful Maria introduced me to these a few years ago!
Swedish Apple Pie
One of Joe’s teammates that he has played with the last two years always requests Swedish Apple Pie and I use this recipe from All Recipes.
What are your go-to recipes when you have a big crowd of people over?
When Emily posted these to her blog, I had to make them. I mean, come on. Vegan. Lots of chocolate. Banana. Sounds like a match made in heaven to me. I did add some additional vegan chocolate chips to the top of ours to please a very special little man who would be celebrating Easter without any dairy. 
One of the family traditions we have in our home is to make chocolate-covered strawberries for Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately this year, I was not able to find any decent looking strawberries in our small Sicilian town. So I went on the hunt for a new recipe that could satisfy the bill of being a chocolaty Valentine’s Day treat. That is how I stumbled upon the Gingerbread Bagels site and her Wacky Cake recipe.
The recipe itself is pretty simple and only takes about 45 minutes from start to finish. And it was definitely chocolaty! It got the seal of approval from all five of the cake eaters in our home (even my oldest who insisted as we were making it that she only liked vanilla cake). One of my favorite things about the cake was that it holds its tastes a few days afterwards. Where a lot of cakes made from scratch can go stale, this still tasted moist and fabulous two days later.
Hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day and is having a wonderful week.
I really enjoy lemon treats. To me, there is something refreshing about the lemon flavor. I have a few favorite lemon desserts, but this pound cake is one of my favorites. I honestly cannot remember where I got the recipe from, so although I would like to give credit where credit is due, I am going to blame the forgetfulness on my Mommy brain.
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