Blackberry Jam Cake.

This is one of my favorite cakes. It’s one of those that just works. I love jam (and honey, hence the blog name), and I LOVE things flavored with jam. The flavors in this cake are very subtle, cinnamon, vanilla, even the jam seems to just blend in. I plan on making it for every occasion possible. Weddings, birthdays, earth day, etc.

I’d never used cake flour before, but I am now a believer. This cake was just so light and airy.



Blackberry Jam Cake

3 cups of cake flour
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of baking soda
A pinch of salt
1 cup of unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
3/4 cup of sour cream
1 cup of blackberry preserves (not jelly)

1/2 cup of blackberry preserves
1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spray a 12 cup bundt cake pan with non stick baking spray. In a bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, salt and baking soda and set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time and scrape down the bowl after each egg. Add in the vanilla and beat until combined.

Add a 1/3 of the flour into the butter mixture alternating with 1/2 the sour cream beating after each addition. Fold in the blackberry preserves.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake at 300 for 15 minutes then increase the heat to 350 and bake for 40-50. Or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn it out onto rack to cool completely.

Once cooled heat the 1/2 cup of blackberry preserves in a small sauce pan until melted and then remove from the heat and stir in the powdered sugar. Do this to the consistency that you desire so you can use more or less of either ingredient.

lemon bars.

A while back, when fruit was still plentiful, my sister Sarah asked me to make lemon bars. I’d forgotten all about it until I was walking around the produce section at the grocery store, begging something to pop out at me. All the fruit looked so sad, tiny and shriveled, begging for summer to return. But the lemons! They were so...robust. And they were calling my name.

I was searching high and low for a good lemon bar recipe, I finally decided on this one from allrecipes.com. It’s not perfect, it’s a little too tart and a little too thin, but it worked. I’ll just be sure to add more sugar next time.


1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar



Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, 1/3 cup of confectioners' sugar, and butter until butter is in very small crumbs.
Press into the bottom of a 11x7 inch pan.

Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and lightly browned. While the crust is baking, whisk together the eggs, 2/3 cup of confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Just before the crust is done, stir in the baking powder. Pour over the crust while it is hot, and return to the oven.

Bake for another 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until set. Dust with remaining confectioners' sugar when cool.

my bff kitchen aid.

What I made today.

These we're good. like, seriously good. Sometimes the simplest things are the most delicious, and in this case, simplicity reigns. These were perfect for this cold and snowy day.

Butterscotch Blondies

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup butterscotch chips

Heat oven to 350.

Line bottom of 9x13 inch pan with aluminum foil, spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

Combine brown sugar, butter and vanilla in a large bowl and stir slowly to mix. Add eggs and mix with a wire whisk until well blended. Slowly stir in flour mixture until it is moistened. Beat with wire whisk for about 30 seconds, until smooth.

Add butterscotch chips. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until center seems set. When checking, shake the pan a little and see if batter jiggles.

trip out in the snow.

we are now covered in snow, it's so beautiful.

soup.

mom's chicken noodle soup. delicious. the recipe is here.

Homemade Pop Tarts!

These are SO easy, and SO good, much much better than those boxed kind. They also aren’t expensive!

What’ you’ll need:

2 pie crusts (I used boxed, but you could make your own.
as many different kind of jams as you want
raw sugar & a egg (optional)

Lay out the pie crust and cut it in fours



then you’ll have to cut off some of the edges to make them square.



place a big ol’ dollop of jam towards one side.

then wet your finger and run it along the sides of the dough, this is very important, it helps it stay closed. When you’ve done that, press down the edges with a fork.



Then egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar. WHICH I FORGOT TO DO. dang.



Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes, until golden brown.




Enjoy! Warning: These are quite addictive. You may eat them all. And then want more.

My sister's blog.

My sister, Sarah, has started her own blog. You should Check it out. It's Wildflower Living.

And the winner is...

Pure Ingredients!



You've won you're self a snazzy new car! Oh wait, nevermind... a reusable coffee sleeve.

If you'll go to my shop and pick out your favorite one, then contact me at musicalnames@gmail.com with a way to mail it to you, it'll be on it's way.

Congrats! And thanks to everyone who entered, I hope to hold another giveaway soon.

I prefer tea, by the way.



with honey & milk.

blueberry cobbler...tastes like summer.

yes, i’m messy.

Oh, blueberry cobbler. You taste just like summer, it makes me miss those long days and sweet tea on the porch. You’re the perfect combination of fluffy biscuit and fruity goodness.



I still remember the first time I had blueberry cobbler, it was like a little bit of heaven. Since then, I’ve always preferred cobbler to pie. Maybe it’s because I’m from the south, it seems to me that cobbler is a southern thing. I mean, it’s basically fruit topped with biscuits. I don’t know how you could get much more southern, maybe if you threw some collards on top. It kind of feels all-american too. Like you should be waving a flag and singing the star spangled banner.



I’m working on finding the perfect recipe, I like the this one a lot, but I think it could use some tweaking. I’ll try again soon, maybe with strawberries. I can’t wait for summer, all that fresh fruit, it’s going to be a cobbler explosion in my kitchen.



1/4 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 cups blueberries (I used some fresh and some frozen)
2 tablespoons almond extract (I used vanilla, I couldn’t find my almond!)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

topping:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 egg, beaten

Heat oven to 375.

Mix sugar and 2 tablespoons flour in large bowl. Add fruit and toss gently to coat. Add extract and lemon juice. Spoon mixture into 9 x 9 baking dish.

topping:

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.

Beat whipping cream and egg in small bowl. Add mixture to the flourmixture and stir until a soft, sticky dough forms.

Drop dough over the fruit along the edges of pan, leaving the center open.

Baking 35-40 minutes or until topping is golden brown and juices are bubbling.


I would really recommend you make some cobbler. Right now. It’ll remind you of summer, in the best way, without the mosquitos.



time to clean up.

don't forget about my giveaway!

Giveaway!!

I was inspired by Hillary of The Gleam of Rose Tea to do my own giveaway!

I'm giving away one of my reusable cup sleeves, your choice, from my etsy shop. These things are perfect to take with you to your local coffee shop, or to give as a gift.






To enter, just leave me a comment telling if you prefer coffee or tea, and why!

If you'd like to enter twice, just post a link to this giveaway on your blog, and leave another comment about it.

You have until Thursday evening at 11:00pm est. I'll pick a winner through random.org and announce a winner Friday morning!

I'm excited to be able to share my my entrepreneurial endeavors with y'all. Good luck. : )

resolutions, etc.

future compost

I hate having fruit go bad before I can use it, but it's nice to know that it just isn't going into a landfill. We've been composting since last summer, and we're planning on using it for our garden this spring. I was taking this fruit out and decided to take a picture before I threw it in, the colors are gorgeous, even if they are rotten.



Also; we got a new puppy! She's a 3 month old german shepherd, we named her Scout. She's absolutely adorable, even if she does whine all night long.



I've been meaning to post my "new years resolutions". I don't like calling them that, I think of it more as just things I need to do, or want to do. I don't buy into the "new year, new you!!!" kind of thing. We're always growing and learning new things. That's what my lists about.

1. Be less of a consumer. Don’t buy things just because I want them. Even think through “needs”, can I make that myself? Or can I learn? Think one is going to be the hardest for me. It’s just something I do without thinking.

2. Don’t eat fast food for a year (or forever!)

3.Start phasing meat out of my diet. Not that I believe eating meat is wrong, but because of the enviromental impact of the farming industry. When I do eat meat, I’d like it to be organic/local.

4. Work on ideas for working from home. Baking, sewing, selling online, etc.

5. Most importantly, always be growing in and learning more about God.

I'm sure I'll be adding to this list. These are just things of the top of my head that I want to start doing now.

Banana Carmel Cake

You know that banana cream pie I mentioned my last post? I was set on making it, I even went as far as buying bananas for it. But once again, I just didn’t feel like it (I’ll do it soon, I promise, mom!) So since I had some pretty ripe bananas, I decided to make this Banana-Carmel Cake. It’s really delicious.

Banana-Carmel Cake

1 1/2 sticks plus 3 tablespoons butter, room temp.
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe bananas, mashed, plus 3 ripe bananas, sliced lengthwise, for filling
1/4 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups plus 1/4 cup sugar
4 large eggs



Preheat the oven to 350. Butter 2 9 by 2 inch round cake pans; line the bottoms with parchment. Butter the parchment and dust with flour, tapping out excess, set aside. Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, stir together mashed bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat 11/2 sticks of butter and 1 2/3 cups sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy 3-4 minutes, scraping down sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in two parts, beating until combined after each. Using a rubber spatula, folk in the reserved banana mixture, being careful not to over-mix.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans. Baking until cakes are golden brown, about 30-35 minutes. Transfer pans to wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto rack, peel off parchment, let cool.

Sprinkle the Remaining 1/4 cup sugar into a large skillet; cook over high heat, shaking the pan occasionally, until sugar is carmelized. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 3 tablespoons butter until melted. Return pan to medium heat. Add the sliced bananas; cook until sliced start to brown, 1-2 minutes. Gently turn the bananas, and cook over medium-high heat until browned, about 2 minutes.

Place one layer on a cake plate; arrange carmelized bananas slices on top. Place the remaining layer on top.


This recipe calls for a mascarpone frosting, but I had no mascarpone, so I decided to just drizzle the rest of the carmel on top.

but a couple words of advice when making this cake:

don’t overcook your carmel like I did, making it like glass. it’s pretty, but hard to eat. hahaa.

make sure you have the cake right beside the bananas when transferring them from the pan to the cake. they don’t hold up very well.

DON’T ACCIDENTLY TOUCH THE HOT CARMEL. IT’S HURTS. BAD.

classic pound cake.

Oh, pound cake. How I both hate you and love you. You are so awful for me, with all your sugar and butter. But you are oh so delicious.

I had originally planned to make banana cream pie this evening, but I just wasn't feeling up to making whipped cream (if you haven't tried homemade whipped cream, I suggest you do right now. You'll never eat cool whip again). So I was flipping through cookbooks and found this recipe for the classic pound cake, and decided I had to have it. Pound cake is definitely one of my favorite desserts, and this one was great, I just wish I had some strawberries to put on top of it. Yum.

Classic Pound Cake

Ingredients:

3 sticks of butter
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 large eggs


Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan; set aside

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium-low speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until combined. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture, beat until just combined.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth with an offset spatula Bake until cake is golden and a toothpick comes out clean, 50-55 minutes.

it's snowing!

new recipe tonight or tomorrow morning, i hope. : )

peanut butter cup cookies.

I made these cookies today using chopped up peanut butter cups instead of chocolate chips. they were good.

etsy.

I've just listed my first item on etsy! It's a reusable coffee sleeve in a pretty amy butler print.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19335611

Someone buy it, please? haha.

edit: thanks for purchasing it, heather! i've listed a new ones here.

rain, rain, go away...

Psalms 135: 6-7
6Whatever the LORD pleases, he does,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all deeps.
7 He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth,
who makes lightnings for the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.

The past couple of months it's seemed like it's rained non-stop. Every once and a while we'll get a sunny day and then it's gone. I've been learning to enjoy those days while they're here, but know it's raining for a reason. It's simple things like that I seem to forget the most, that all things happen for a reason. Maybe we'll have spectacular spring flowers because of all this rain.

grapefruit curd.

grapefruit curd.

After a month of all the flavors of christmas, I was ready for something new. And that something new was grapefruit. While I don't like to eat grapefruits on their own, I love grapefruit flavored things. I was flipping through my new Martha Stewart Baking Handbook and this recipe caught my eye. This stuff was delicious, tart and sweet with a deliciously strong grapefruit flavor. I can't wait to use it for little tartlets.

Ingredients:

8 large eggs yolks
1/2 cup freshly squeezed ruby red grapefruit juice
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
finely grated zest of 1 ruby red grapefruit
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

Directions:

Combine yolks, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, half of the zest, and the sugar in a saucepan; whisk to combine. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (be sure to scrape the sides of the pan), until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat. Add salt and butter, one piece at a time, stirring until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve unto a medium bowl. Stir in the remaining zest. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled and set.

Just don't do what I did and zest your finger along with the grapefruit. It hurts.

happy new year everyone!