Rosemary Lemon Cake

I've had this recipe saved in my Pinterest account for a long time now.  I remember reading the steps when I first Pinned it and thinking "this is way too much work"!  So I saved it and never really looked at it again...until about 2 days ago.  Our family woke up to some very sad news, that our dear friend Rosalee had passed away.  She was always full of energy and in good spirits, she was happy and healthy, and then one day, she found out she had stage 4 pancreatic cancer.  She had been suffering for a while and then we got the news.  I had a heavy heart the morning I pulled out this recipe and I thought to myself that I'd make this recipe with all of its steps as way of dealing with the sad news.

This cake has so many steps because it's meant to be light and airy, sweet and tart, all at the same time.  I thought it was a perfect way to deal with my feelings, and the little one wanted to help!  This was my first time making a meringue and actually folding it into the cake batter. It was also one of the very few times I actually made my own cream cheese frosting. I almost ALWAYS skip this part and just buy the frosting because it's so much easier.  I decided today to go through all of the steps and do it all :)

The cake actually turned out to be fabulous!   I love that it had lemon and Rosemary that I was able to grab right out of my garden!


Here is the Pinterest recipe I followed:
http://bakerbettie.com/fluffy-lemon-rosemary-layer-cake/

Here are pics of all of the steps:

The completed cake!!!

Our friend Rosalee, May she Rest in Peace

Out of the oven

Batter with meringue folded in

Batter - the green specs are the Rosemary

Meringue with stiff peaks

Deena helping me out!!!

Felt Like Baking

I didn't have to cook this evening and decided I wanted something sweet.  I decided to look up an old Pinterest recipe that I tried a few months back for a Peach Upside Down Cake.  I didn't have any peaches and decided to use that recipe for a Pineapple Upside Down Cake instead!  It was so quick and easy to make!  Luckily I had all of the ingredients already and didn't have to make a Publix run :) Just FYI, the Pinterest recipe below is for the Peach cake - which by the way, was phenomenal also if you happen to have peaches!

Pinterest recipe for the Peach Upside Down Cake:
http://flavorite.net/2015/04/28/peach-upside-down-cake/

Completed Pineapple Upside Down Cake

A slice of the cake!

Melted butter and brown sugar in the bottom of the pan

Can of sliced pineapple

After I finished baking the cake, I realized we didn't have enough bread for the weekend and decided to bake some bread!  I already posted this recipe in a previous blog, so look it up if you'd like a quick and easy Kitchen Aid recipe!  Here's how the bread turned out!  Also, on our trip to Canada last week, my cousin Nadine introduced us to this AMAZING fig jam.  We went to a fancy cheese store and got some cheeses and crackers and this jam.  It was sooooooo good, we had to bring the rest of the jar home with us.  If you can get your hands on this fig jam, I highly recommend it!

Amazing Fig Jam!!!!  MUST TRY!!!

My 2 year old helping me bake bread!

MMMMMMMM.....Chocolate Cake!

After an early start with the kiddos today (doctor's appointment at 8:00am and storytime at our local library at 10:00am), both little ones went down for what my sister and I like to call "group nap" time!  I usually eat my own lunch during "group nap" and after I finished, I decided I wanted something sweet and chocolatey.  A couple of months ago I tried out a random "best chocolate cake ever" Pinterest recipe, and indeed, it was the BEST chocolate cake!  My husband and I LOVED it!  It's light and fluffy and chocolatey!  So I decided to try to make it again.  It took about 20 minutes to gather all the ingredients and actually make the batter and put it into the oven.  It all got done during "group nap"!

On a side note - I do usually like to bake when my 2 year old is awake so that she can help me and lick the spoon/bowl afterwards, but today I got a craving and chose not to wait and get it all done while they were both sleeping!

Also on a side note - if you have young kiddos and haven't been to your local library for storytime yet, you're truly missing out!  Here in Jacksonville, each public library has a set day and time each week for storytime where the librarian sings songs, teaches some sign language, plays games/riddles, reads books with a theme, teaches a letter, and then ends with a craft of some sort.  This is all FREE and lasts about 45min.  As a teacher, I think this is amazing!  It's a great enriching activity for your little one, especially if you're not the type to sing songs and do crafts at home!  As a mom, it's even more amazing because it happens during my 2 month old's nap time and so I have time to just spend with the 2 year old singing, listening, and crafting.  I also almost always bring lunch with me and try to feed my 2 year old afterwards when we go into the children's section of the library.  The local South Mandarin Branch has a great children's area with amazing books, a train table, a farm set, a tea set, and white board with magnetic letters.  She could spend hours in there, so I just try to keep it until she finishes lunch and then we head home.  There are nice, comfy chairs in there where I can feed my 2 month old while watching the other one play!  So again, if you haven't done this with your kiddo yet - go online and look up a day/time and GO!  They even have some evening and weekend dates and times for those of you who are at work during the day.


So back to the chocolate cake...I realized while making it that I didn't have any buttercream and looked up a substitute for it online....just under 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon of vinegar....who knew!  So that's what I used!  I did happen to already have all of the other ingredients in my cupboard and fridge, so that worked out!  Also, I'm sure that the homemade frosting that's in this recipe is fabulous, but I decided to just go with a store bought one!  It tasted fabulous last time and I think it'll be just as good this time too! LOL

Here's the Pinterest recipe I used:
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/dessert/a14316/chocolate-cake-recipe/
I did have to tweak the baking time a little. My toothpicks didn't come out dry until around 35min in the oven.  The recipe says 22-25min.


Here are some pics of what it looked like:

Our family isn't too big on frosting, so I only frosted in between and on top.

Store bought frosting!

Once poured into lined baking pans

Mixture when dry and wet ingredients are combined

Dry mixture

Lined baking pans