Week 30: Key Lime Cheesecake

You can probably tell that lemon and lime are at the top of my favorite flavors with this week's cake being my third citrus recipe this month.  It is a cheesecake, though, and it is very, very delicious.  I had a small piece and gave my crust to David.
I used one of my favorite grocery items in this cake: Nellie & Joe's Famous Key West Lime Juice.  There is a wonderful (and very easy) key lime pie recipe on this bottle.  Have you ever purchased this lime juice?

Most of the cheesecakes that I make call for three or four blocks of cream cheese. This recipe only called for two.  If you're new to baking cheesecakes, this would be a great easy recipe to try.  Or if you've made many cheesecakes this would be a great recipe to try.  It makes a delicious and refreshing cake.  If you do make it, be forewarned... it will not last long!  My guys had it eaten by lunch time the next day.

Key Lime Cheesecake
(Source:  Pinterest - Website: Mom's Who Think)

1/2 cup sugar
2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon grated lime peel
2 eggs
1 graham cracker pie crust  (1 cup graham cracker crumbs, 3 T.sugar and 3 T. melted butter)
1 cup thawed Cool Whip topping

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat cream cheese, whipping cream, sugar, lime peel, lime juice and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time; mix just until blended.
2. Pour mixture evenly into graham cracker crust.
3. Bake for 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool.
4. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Top with whipped topping before serving.

 I used a 9-inch springform pan.  I lightly greased it, pressed the graham cracker crumbs into the pan and baked it for 8 minutes while I made the filling.

Happy Baking!
Julie

Week 29: Raspberry Limeade Cake

Greetings!  David and I spent this week in the beautiful NC mountains. We had a wonderful time of rest and refreshment in a beautiful setting.  After unpacking and settling in a bit I remembered I needed to make a cake for week 29.  David had left town for a few days so it was just Samuel and me.  He was asking me to make a peach cobbler.  Also, there were no meetings or celebrations, that I knew of, that needed a cake.
My friend, Robbin, called to catch up and hear about our week in the mountains.  She mentioned that it was her sweet daughter, Leah's 11th birthday on Friday.  After we hung up I wondered what kind of cake Robbin was making for Leah.  She is a wonderful baker and always decorates her six children's cakes so beautifully.
Her two sons are dear friends of Sam's so when he returned from their home last night and told me he had a piece of Leah's birthday cake and said it was delicious; I had the idea to feature her cake this week.
Robbin made Paula Deen's Raspberry Limeade Cake. I had seen it in one of her magazines and had planned to make it at some point so I was excited to feature it on my blog.
Leah was a baby when we moved here over 10 years ago.  It has been so fun to watch her grow up. I treasure the friendship Robbin and I share and I thank her for letting me feature her cake for week 29.

Robbin decorated the cake with cut out sugar cookies. So creative!

You can see the raspberry filling in this picture with Robbin cutting the cake.

Raspberry Limeade Cake

Source: Paula Deen

Ingredients:

• 3/4 c. butter softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tbs lime zest
• 3/4 c. limeade concentrate
• 5 large eggs
• 3 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 2 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 c. whole buttermilk
• raspberry filling (see below)
• cream cheese icing (see below)
• garnish of lime slices and whole raspberries

Instructions:

Preheat over to 350 degrees F, spray three 9 inch round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl beat butter, sugar and lime zest at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add limeade concentrate, beating until combined (mixture will look curdled). Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a medium bowl combine flour and baking powder. Gradually add to butter mixture, alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just enough to combine after each addition.

Pour batter evenly into prepared pans and bake for 17-20 minutes until wooden skewer comes out clean from center. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes once finished baking and then remove cakes from pans. Allow to cool completely on wire racks.

Once cooled, spread raspberry filling evenly between layers and ice with cream cheese frosting. Garnish as desired.

Raspberry Filling

Ingredients:

• 1 (10 oz.) package of frozen raspberries
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 tbs cornstarch
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tbs fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 c. butter cut in pieces

Instructions:

Blend raspberries until smooth in a food processor. Strain mixture and discard solids.

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Add raspberry puree, egg yolks, and lemon juice, whisking to combine.

Cook over medium heat whisking constantly, for 7 to 8 minutes or until very thick. Remove from heat, whisk in butter gradually until melted.

Cool mixture slightly then cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

 

Cream Cheese Limeade Icing

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

3 T. limeade concentrate

1 T. lime zest

5 cups powdered sugar

Instructions:

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Add limeade concentrate and lime zest, beating at low speed until combined.  Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until smooth.

Happy Baking!

Julie

Week 28: Lemonade Layer Cake

After having temperatures over 100 degrees; we were blessed to have cooler temps this week and a lot of rain.  I enjoyed all the rain and even found myself leaving the umbrella in the car when I ran errands and sang Singing in the Rain all week long. : )
I am blessed to have a group of friends from our local yarn shop.  They are all very dear to me and we get together weekly to crochet or knit together.  Many of them came to our home on Thursday night for our weekly Sit and Knit... a perfect occasion for my 28th cake.
I found Lemonade Layer Cake on Pinterest.  It sounded like a wonderful cake to make mid-July but when I began to read the reviews I wasn't sure if I should include it on my blog.  Many of the comments said that the cake was dense, that they ended up throwing the cake away or they didn't know what they had done wrong.  Then, someone commented on changes she made in the recipe to ensure a moist cake, so I followed her recipe and the cake turned out deliciously wonderful!  All of my knitting friends loved it and David and Samuel have been finishing it off.

Lemonade Layer Cake

Cake Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups sugar
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
3 Tablespoons thawed lemonade concentrate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°.

1. To prepare cake, place first 7 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 3 minutes). Add eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat well after each addition.
2. Pour batter into 2 (9-inch) round cake pans coated with cooking spray; sharply tap pans once on counter to remove air bubbles. Bake at 350° for 25 -30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on wire rack. 

Frosting:

1/2 Cup butter or margarine, softened

1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon lemon extract

2 teaspoons thawed lemonade concentrate

1 pound confectioners sugar

To prepare frosting combine butter, cream cheese, and vanilla in mixing bowl and blend until smooth.

Add sugar gradually until well incorporated.  Spread over cooled cake.

Enjoy!

Happy Baking!

Julie

Week 27: Flag Cake

This week we had two occasions where I needed a dessert.  The first was July 4th as we celebrated our nation's birthday and the second was a dinner we had at our home with two dear, young families.
I decided to make Ina Garten's Flag Cake but I cut it in half so that I would have my two desserts for the week.  I decorated the one for July 4th as a flag and left the other one plain and served fruit alongside.

I enjoyed talking about my blog to two sweet girls from our church.

On Thursday night we had two young families over for dinner. I had so much fun preparing for little ones.  I dusted off the little table and deacon benches that our children used for years and years during their younger days and gathered Playmobile and beanie babies from their storage boxes.  What a sweet night of fellowship and joy we experienced with these precious families.

I hope each of you had a wonderful week celebrating with family and friends!

Flag Cake Recipe:
(Source:  Ina Garten)

Ingredients

• 18 tablespoons (2 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3 cups sugar
• 6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup sour cream at room temperature
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

For the icing:

• 1 pound (4 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 pounds cream cheese at room temperature
• 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

To assemble:

• 2 half-pints blueberries
• 3 half-pints raspberries

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter and flour an 18 by 13 by 1 1/2-inch sheet pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed, until light and fluffy. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then add the sour cream and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and stir until smooth.

Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda in a bowl. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until just combined. Pour into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool to room temperature.

For the icing, combine the butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mixing just until smooth.

Spread three-fourths of the icing on the top of the cooled sheet cake. Outline the flag on the top of the cake with a toothpick. Fill the upper left corner with blueberries. Place 2 rows of raspberries across the top of the cake like a red stripe. Put the remaining icing in a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe two rows of white stripes below the raspberries. Alternate rows of raspberries and icing until the flag is completed. Pipe stars on top of the blueberries.

I serve this cake right in the pan. If you want to turn it out onto a board before frosting, use parchment paper when you grease and flour the pan


Happy Baking!
Julie