Spring Sunshine Cake | Strawberries Lemons & Vanilla Bean Buttercream

 

Spring has arrived!

Besides the longer days, warmer weather and abundance of bugs trying to invade my home, my lovely coral roses tell me so.

I have been frequenting my local produce store a little more often and stocking up on lemons, strawberries and other yummy bright fruits and veggies. Spring is my favorite time of year. I love all the beautiful colors and yes, the abundance of nature that blossoms too. I felt inspired to make something with all this spring-time bounty. So, I decided to make a cake that reflected how I am feeling.

I came up with this sweet and tart, creamy sunshine cake made with lemons, strawberries and Madagascar vanilla beans.

I don't have a recipe to share just yet, because I was just experimenting and need to do some tweaking first. But I started with a basic yellow cake from scratch that was infused with lemon zest, coconut/pineapple juice and of course some fresh lemon juice.

I usually don't make my cakes from scratch because I find them to be very dense and box cake mixes always seem to be light and fluffy. However, I found a basic yellow cake recipe and it looked promising. I added a few of my own ingredients to mix it up and I will say that it did come out a little denser than I would have liked but overall it was good and had good flavor.

{This is where those tweaks need to be made}

I do like that the cake mix from scratch stayed fairly level and I didn't have to cut a hug mound of cake off the top to get it level, like I would have had to do with a box mix. I think they add massive amounts of baking powder to the box mixes.

{Just a guess}

After I let the cakes cool, I poked holes all over the cakes and basted them with this lemon and vanilla bean simple syrup that I made. I did this to make sure that the cakes were extra moist and also to infuse them with a little extra flavor. Doing this was very helpful and it did not make them soggy at all. I only used a few tablespoons on each cake.

Once the syrup soaked into the cakes, I then made a strawberry and lemon reduction that I used to fill the middle layer with. I usually don't like fruit fillings in the middle of my cakes but since I wanted this cake to represent some of the yummy fruits of Spring and not overwhelm it with buttercream, I felt this would really make it delicious.

I covered the whole middle layer with the reduction and it almost looked like a strawberry glazed cheesecake. I could have left the cake like this, gone no further and it probably would have tasted like heaven on it's own. But I didn't . . .

I added the second layer of cake and pressed firmly on the top which allowed some of the strawberries to ooze and drip down the sides.

{kind of like blood. LOL. I kid}

I added my homemade Vanilla Bean buttercream just on the top of the cake and used a spoon to create this swirl pattern. You can see all the specs of vanilla bean seeds in the buttercream and it just seems to add a little extra sweetness to the buttercream as opposed to just using a vanilla extract.

Oh how I do love Vanilla Beans. I love the way they look, smell and taste.

I can't say the same for my fiance' because he said it looked like I put two sticks on the top of it. Lol

{Not everyone gets it}

But that is okay. I like the way the vanilla beans and the curls of lemon peel looked on the top. I also added a couple of my coral roses to the top as per my first picture. It just looked so good with the colors. I had too.

Overall I am happy with the way my cake came out and besides needing a couple of tweaks in the cake mix, It was really yummy, bright and fruity.

Think of sunshine in your mouth.

That is what I was going for after all.

I hope this cake gives you a little inspiration to get in the kitchen and make something yummy of your own. If not to kick off Spring, then just to stuff your face with. In moderation of course. I ended up sharing this with the neighbors because I certainly couldn't eat it all, no matter how much I may have wanted too.

Blessings to all

 

Pretty Petit Fours

These little Alice in Wonderland inspired petit fours are so light, airy and delicious. They literally melt in your mouth. Ok, so before you get too excited about this, I don't have a recipe ready for these delicious little tea cakes. I just love them so much that I wanted to share them and could not wait any longer. I will of course try to get one together.

I remember watching Alice in Wonderland when I was a little kid and seeing Alice eat that precious little blue round cake that said, "Eat Me" on it. I was like, "I want a bite" lol. Then she grew like 20 feet tall and broke through the roof. But I still loved the way that lovely little bite sized cake was stored perfectly in that little glass box and it all just seemed so magical.

I have also always loved petit fours and tea cakes and wanted to make my own. I have attempted making petit fours a couple of times before and they can be a little tricky. I will say that what worked best for me was making a large sheet cake and using a small round cookie cutter to cut out the little cakes. Then I used a light glaze and smothered them over a grated cookie rack.

My favorite part about making sweets like this is the creativity that happens. It is like food art.

IT IS Food Art!

I love food and I love art. It is a win win. I have been passionate about food and art since I was very young. So to get to combine the two is really fun for me. I like to write inspirational sayings on my food sometimes too. Like Love. I write that one a lot, lol.

I will do my best to get a recipe together for these as soon as possible. Let these be inspiration as to little cakes to come. As always, Enjoy your journey in the kitchen. The more you practice, the more you learn. It is a blast either way.

Blessings to all