Sunday, February 15, 2015

Seasonal Sensations: Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake

I don't even know how to explain how delicious this cake is. We always have it around spring for Easter or Mother's Day and it's the best. The first bite you take is mouthful of amazing lemon cake with bursts of blueberry every once in a while. On top of that you get the icing. Ohhh that's the best part, it melts in your mouth and tastes like heaven.Try making it for your family this Spring and see how they like it:
Photo Credit to Sally's Baking Addiction


Ingredients for the Cake:


• 1 cup of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

• 1 1/4 cups of granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup of light brown sugar
•  4 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• Zest and Juice of 3 medium lemons
• 1 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 


Directions:



  1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray three 9x2 inch cake pans with nonstick spray. Set aside.
  2. Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on high until creamy - about 1 minute. 
  3. Add granulated and brown sugars and beat on medium-high speed until creamed, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. 
  4. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until everything is combined, about 2 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Set aside.
  5. In a large sized bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  6.  Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Beat on low speed for 5 seconds, then add the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
  7.  Remove from the mixer and stir lightly until everything is just combined. 
  8. Toss the blueberries in 1 Tablespoon of flour and fold into the batter. Batter is extremely thick. Do not overmix at any point. Overmixing will lend a tough, dense textured crumb.
  9. Spoon batter evenly into 3 prepared cake pans. If only using 2 cake pans, your bake time will be longer. Bake the three layers for about 21-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine took 21 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Photo Credits to: Sally's Baking Addiction



Ingredients for frosting:


• 8 ounces full-fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 - 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt



Directions:



  1. Using a handheld or stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat cream cheese and butter together on medium speed until no lumps remain, about 3 full minutes. 
  2. Add confectioners' sugar, 1 Tablespoon cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add 1 more Tablespoon of cream to thin out, if desired.
  3. Assemble and frost: First, using a large serrated knife, trim the tops off the cake layers to create a flat surface.
  4.  Place 1 layer on your cake stand. Evenly cover the top with cream cheese frosting. Top with 2nd layer, more frosting, then the third layer. Top with frosting and spread around the sides. The recipe doesn't make a ton of frosting, just enough for a light frost. 
  5. Top with blueberries or lemon garnish if desired. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before cutting or else the cake may fall apart as you cut.
  6. Make ahead tip: Prepare cakes and frosting 1 day in advance. Keep cakes at room temperature, covered tightly. Refrigerate prepared frosting in an airtight container until ready to use. Frosted or unfrosted cakes may be frozen up to 2 months, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature if desired before serving.

If your have more questions about this recipe check out this site: Sally's Baking Addiction



Thursday, February 12, 2015

100 Things That Make Me Happy :)

Think about your top ten favorite things. This is what were told to do this in leadership and it was actually pretty hard! I couldn't narrow it down to just 10 things. The eraser shavings just kept building up as I thought more and more about all the things I love! Lots of them were food. But that doesn't matter because that's what makes me happy in life! 

100 Things I Love:

1. Traveling
Photo taken by me! In Hawaii
2. Walmart Sweatpants
3. Caesar Salad
4. Iced Tea
5. Trains
6. Fuzzy Blankets
7. 12 hour TV Marathons
8. Cookie Dough
9. My Phone
10. Mechanical Pencils
11. Nike Elite Socks
12. Photography
13. Leggings
14. Emojis
15. The Pillow Case I Made in 7th Grade 
16. Hawaii
17. Getting My Nails Done
18. Shopping
19. Build- A- Bear Workshop
20. Elephants
21. Lucky Charms
22. Frozen Fruit Snacks
23. Movie Theater Pop Corn
24. The Fourth of July
25. Comforters 
26. Being Organized
27. Sparkles
28. McDonlad's Chicken Nuggets
Photo Taken by Me: Sunrise in Hawaii
29. Coupons
30. Beaches
31. Hotels
32. Cafe Rio Green Sauce
33. Scarves
34. Living in Park City
35. Sunrises and Sunsets
36. Wreck-It Ralph
37. High School Soccer
38. Boating
39. Jackson Hole
40. San Diego
41. Mr. Peabody and Sherman
42. Men's Deodorant
43. Long Road Trips
44. College Sweatshirts
45. Long Sleeve Shirts
46. Costco
47. Bacon
A Long Road Trip to San Diego
With My Best Friend: My Photo
48. Sports Bras
49. Soccer
50. Boys
51. Bean Bags
52. Dr. Pepper
53. Jonas Brothers
54. Rainy Days
55. Rainbows
56. Flannels
57. Kinder Chocolate
58. Camping
59. Nikon Cameras
60. Dogs
61. Long Baths
62. Sundance
63. Bath and Body Works: Vanilla Bean Noel Lotion
64. Hair Cuts
65. Crispy Creme Donuts
66. Ukulele
67. Mom's Homemade Popcorn
68. Homemade Ice Cream
69. Weekends
70. Snapchat
71. Tea at The Grand America
72. PJ's
73. Good Grades
My Pup! Photo Taken by Me
74. Hiking
75. Summer Olympics 
76. Cheese
77. Playgrounds
78. Picnics
79. Bread
80. Sour Gummy Worms
81. McDonald's Sausage, Egg and Cheese McGriddles
82. Shaved Ice
83. Big Hero 6
84. Having No Homework
85. World Market
86. Facetime
87. Wii
88. Pomegranates 
89. Stickers
90. Corn
91. Slippers
92. Handstands
93. Stars
94. Pineapple Pizza
95. Lagoon
96. Lifesaver Mints
97. Earrings
98. Skiing
99. Google
100. Hats

*This is the coolest blog: 1000 Awesome Things *


Now I like to be happy, but there are somethings that I CAN NOT stand. So here's another list for ya!

20 Things I Hate:

1. When people chew with their mouth open
2. When Freshman hangout with the Juniors and Seniors to be more popular
3. When you drop hints but the person still doesn't get it
4. The word CHUNKY
5. When people won't just give you an answer, they make you think about it
6. Sweet Potatoes
7. When people just stop in the middle of the hallway. WHY?!
8. When your only hair tie breaks
9. When no one will give you a hair tie
10. When people say, "Oh it's and inside joke, you wouldn't get it."
11. Those people with a laugh louder than anyone else's
12. When people post 100 seconds of shit on their story
13. Super Clingy Friends
14. How everything is blocked on our computers
15. Pepper
16. When Pandora doesn't play any good songs
17. Mom asking "Who you texting?"
18. "Wow you're feeling holy today?" When you wear ripped jeans
19. Asking if you can go to the bathroom and hearing "I don't know, CAN you?"
20. That awkward interaction with a car when you don't know if you should cross or not








Sunday, February 1, 2015

Superbowl Sunday!

It's Superbowl Sunday and I'm sitting here writing a blog. Oh well! I'm mostly excited for the snacks, especially the hot wings! No one judges you on Superbowl Sunday because there are no "diets" here, it's a chance to eat all the chips, dips and junk food you want. Anyways, here are some random, but useful, things to do/eat:

Workout:


- When someone gets a touchdown: 10 Jumping Jacks

- Whenever there's an interception: 30 Second Plank
- When there's funny commercial: 10 Mountain Climbers
- When you watch sad commercial: 20 Second Wall Sit
- When a team gets a first down: 5 Push-Ups
- When someone gets a flag: 10 Squats
- When a coach makes a bad call ;) 15 Sumo Squats
- Half time show: Take A Break

If you're having a party, that's cool. I'm not. We usually just watch the game as a family and sometimes I help my mom cook a little... We don't really have dinner while we watch the game, we just put out lots of appetizers and such to snack on. Sooooo, here's some of the things we eat.


Food Ideas:


- Buffalo Wings: We usually buy ours from Costco but they're so good!

- Pizza: Barbecue Chicken is my favorite type of pizza so we usually have that.
- Potato Skins: Top it with bacon, cheese, green onions, sour cream and whatever you feel!
- Pigs In A Blanket: Smaller than a hot dog but twice the fun
- Nachos: Spicy nachos, Normal Nachos doesn't matter, they're good anyway
- Chips and Dip: Onion dip is the best.

Decorations:


- Cover your table with green butcher paper (grass) then with white paint, paint on the field markings

- Streamers the color of your favorite team!
- Signs and banners for everyone to look at
- Put out penalty flags for people to wave around and have fun with



Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia 

Be creative with the food and decorations! Really anything goes.... Just make sure you have LOTS of food and comfortable places for people to chill while they watch the game. For more ideas check out this website... SUPER BOWL!!!!


I'm really excited about the half time show! Last year Bruno Mars rocked it so I don't know if Katy Perry can live up to the expectation. We'll see... But she has been known for some weird songs/ music videos.