Truly The Most Amazing Mississippi Pound Cake

This was made and served at my daughter's baby arrival shower. My dear friend April held the party in her home. She and several other incredible friends put it on for me. What a blessing it was to celebrate the Lords gift of giving me the greatest desire of my heart, a daughter. One to pass along all the wonderful, beautiful things my mother has passed on to me and her mother to her. I'm not speaking of material things as much as treasures of the heart, mind and soul. One of those treasures is to see yourself the way God sees you, beautiful inside and out because He made you. I pray this legacy goes on for generations to come!

Lemon Dream Cheesecake

So I’ve been told by my dear friend Amy that this Lemon Cheesecake would make a fantastic dessert for a Bridal or Baby Shower. And you know what? I would have to agree with her! Since I live here in the Deep South let’s imagine for a moment you’re headed to a Bridal Shower held at plantation home that revels the one from "Gone with the Wind". Surprisingly it’s a slightly warmer morning than the day before last, yet the sun seems to be playing peek-a-boo with the soft billowy white clouds. You give yourself a nonverbal pat on the back for deciding to go ahead with the stylish wide brimmed, slightly floppy, hat that covers your bare shoulders perfectly. Thankfully though you wore a cool long flowy dress with dream like flowers melting from the top bodice. The stone pathway leading up to the large pillars is just what you need to bring your mind back to the present. Along the side of the large pillared porch your eyes finally rest upon the Bride brimming with bliss and complete contentment. She is surrounded by family and friends, as you get closer to them it quickly becomes apparent they are all having a lovely time. Glass pitchers of lemonade and sweet tea are resting on the most exquisitely painted floral trays. From what you could tell the shower was being held within the large garden trellis covered with vines of Wisteria. Blue Hydrangeas surrounded the bottom of the trellis along with other shrubs and plants. The beautiful fragrance of magnolias delightfully captures your senses as you go to wish the Bride well. She is truly excited you have come and that you brought one of your famous cheesecakes.

Lemon Dream Cheesecake RecipeLemon Dream Cheeseca30

Ingredients

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 
  FILLING:
• 4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 2-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon extract
• 10 drops yellow food coloring, optional
• 5 eggs, lightly beaten

ingredients Taste of Home

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

• In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.

          Wrap your springform pan with 2 layers of aluminum foil to prevent water in the water bath from seeping in. Then I placed it in a broiler pan .

• In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth.  With a wooden spoon (or spatchula )blend in whipping cream, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in one at a time lemon juice, vanilla ,lemon extract, grated lemon peel , yellow food coloring and flour until nice and  smooth. There may still be little  tiny peices of cream cheese not fully mixed in thats ok. If you feel you need to give it a nice quick mix with the mixer at the very end go ahead , but if you go to long it could crack. Pour filling into prepared crust in springform pan and then add 1 inch of hot water around the foil wrapped springform pan. Then place in oven.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour exactly with no peeking!! Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the DOOR CLOSED for 2 to 3 hours; this prevents cracking.  Don't even  take a peek unless your just looking through the window with the oven light on.Chill in refrigerator until serving. My directions

Chocolate Cavity Maker Cake

This cake has made its appearance all over the web so I would not be surprised if you have either made it or a loved one of yours has. This recipe is one of the famous Smith family favorite cakes, and with a wedding in the family on the horizon I'm sure there will be many more wonderful years of baking and discovering ahead. So, this is for you Leah, a public congratulation on your upcoming nuptials to Julian. May you both be blessed with a marriage with the Lord at it’s center. I pray you will learn to have the patience of a saint, forgive and be forgiven wholeheartedly, share together the gift of peace and silence, and the joy of precious little feet running down the halls of your home. May you be reminded that the Lord will always carry you through every trial or struggle that may come your way. You are greatly loved my dear and I pray you see your prince charming as the man God has intended him to be. Congratulations!

Ingredients

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package dark chocolate cake mix
• 1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
• 1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup coffee flavored liqueur ( I have used hazelnut liqueur also)
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, oil and coffee liqueur. Beat until ingredients are well blended. Fold in chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Spoon into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until cake springs back when lightly tapped. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out and cool completely on wire rack.

Red Velvet Cake

This recipe is a very special because it comes from someone that my family loves very much, our NaDonna. She is a woman with a big heart, opened arms, and has welcomed us into her family. NaDonna and her family are truly remarkable people with so much love to give. They have blessed us greatly by sharing all (at one point or another) of their holidays with us. Since our families are scattered across the United States it means so much to us to have a place close by to call home. They have also been available to help lend a hand and a shoulder through many major challenges in our lives, such as when Daddy was gone for Basic Training and both of our children's births. We are so abundantly thankful for this gift of friendship and feel so richly blessed to call them our Georgia family. So, since Valentine's Day is just around the corner I think it’s appropriate that I share a dessert from a woman we love so much. Please enjoy a slice of NaDonna's Red Velvet Cake.

Original Recipe Yield 1 - 8 inch layer cake

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/2 cup canola oil or butter
• 1 Tablespoon baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon distilled white vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon of cocoa powder
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 ounces red food coloring ( I didn't put any dye in the cupcakes that are in the photo)

Frosting

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 8 inch round pans.
2. In a large bowl, mix together sugar, oil, and eggs. Add food coloring and vinegar to buttermilk. Add baking soda , cocoa powder to flour. Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the sugar mixture. Mix well. Stir 1 teaspoon vanilla into batter. Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until done. Remove from oven, and cool on wire racks.
4. Mix together cream cheese, butter or margarine, confectioners' sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in nuts. Frost cooled cake.

 

Pumpkin Pie Pound Cake

Where do even begin with this recipe. Well it was given to me by the Smith family a few years ago. My husband and I are truly grateful for so many things about the Smiths. Read here for a better understanding of what I mean. All the many blessings the Smith family have given to our family are cherished gifts, but the one I'm thinking of today was the best financial advice my husband and I have received this far. Don't go into debt over your wedding. It's the best pearl of wisdom with the hardest sting initially. We followed their advice and had a small wedding (30 people) I thought I would be more heartbroken by not inviting everyone I knew on planet to my wedding, but I wasn't. It's funny to me now after so many of my dear friends have gotten married the one thing I heard  them say over and over again was how much of  a hard day they had. Many of them hardly sat down and enjoyed the moment as it was passing them by. With more guests came more responsibility to visit with everyone and yet someone always seems to be forgotten and that person usually created a stink later. It's sad to me how weddings have become more about the people attending. How much you need the best of the best and less about the true meaning of it all… the unity of two people making a commitment to each other and God to stay together at all costs the good and the bad. Love doesn't mean just until I find something better or until you’re not paying enough attention to me. Its self sacrificing (which is sooo hard) it means even though I don't LIKE you right now I'm choosing to LOVE you ALWAYS. Thank you Smith's for your God given gift in teaching us young marrieds what it means to have a lasting beautiful marriage and for some yummy cake too!   (Please understand if you are being abused get help there are churches all over our nation that are willing and wanting to help you. Here is a website that can also  help http://www.focusministries1.org/ )

Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 teaspoon all spice

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for about 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Bundt is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Fondant Icing

A few weeks ago we celebrated our youngest child’s 1st birthday! Hard to believe my little pea pod is a one year old now. We had decided to keep his party on the smaller side and invite kiddos who happen to have parents that wanted or needed to tag along :) The other little kiddos who came to our little party were all under one years of age themselves. So, with that said it was quite an amusing party. Our sweet little boy was so worn out by the time he finished his cake he looked like he was going to drop right there! Speaking of the cake I stayed up until 11:00pm the night before trying to get it just right. This fondant is very sweet and easy to work with. From what I hear it tastes much better than the kind you can buy at the store. The cake itself is my Carrot Cake. I hope you have fun creating all sorts of interesting and playful cakes!



Original Recipe Yield 2 1/4 pounds of fondant



Ingredients


1/4 cup butter

1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows

4 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided



Directions


1.Place the butter in a shallow bowl, and set aside.

2.Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. If you are going to add color to your fondant this is the best time to do so because if you wait you may get the dye all over your hands while kneading. OPTION A. If you have a Kitchen Aid Mixer this would be a great time to pour the marshmallow mixture into the KA mixing bowl then begin to add confectioner's sugar a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. OPTION B Slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough.


Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff. Tip: If the dough gets to dry you can always work a little water into it.

3.Rub your hands thoroughly with butter, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners' sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.

4.Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar.
  from allrecipes

Blueberry Pound Cake

Blueberries,blueberries, blueberries everywhere!! If you haven't heard by now it's blueberry season in the South. The last two weekends my family and our friends have gone to pick some truly scrumptious blueberries! Even the kiddos got in on the action... of course almost everything they picked they ate:)

I  just had to pick blueberries this year since they were all I could think about last year! Last Summer I was at the end of my pregnancy and wanted blueberrie in everything!  My biggest craving of all was for a really amazing blueberry pie. Sadly I never found one that satisfied my cravings and  I'm still in the midst of trying to locate a  truly incredible recipe. I will definitely let you know when I find one !

Be sure to check out the photo and information about  some of the places to pick blueberries in GA and  the USA at the end of the recipe.

 So, since I have so many blueberries it was time to do some research and  I found this lovely recipe for blueberry pound cake from a charming little Bed and Breakfast named The Pheasant Country Inn in Fowler, Indiana. Whip cream is a must for this dessert!! The flavors compliment each other in the way cheese goes with wine. This pound cake would be delightful with a yummy sugar glaze on it too since the cake is not to sweet.



1/2 cup butter


3 eggs

3 1/2 cups all-purpose

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

4 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup milk

1. Allow butter and eggs to stand at room temperature for 30 mins. Grease a bundt pan; set aside. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until mixture is well combined. Beat in eggs. Stir blueberries into flour mixture. By hand, stir blueberry mixture into butter mixture. Stir in milk just until combines. Spread batter in prepared pan.

3. Bake at 325 degrees for 60 to 75 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen cake from edge of pan with a narrow metal spatula. Remove cake from pan. Makes 10 - 12 servings.

PLACES WE  HAVE PICKED BLUEBERRIES

 Photo above is from Mercier Orchards Blue Ridge, GA



The other place we picked blueberries was Berry Patch Farms Woodstock, GA
If you visit this farm make sure to wear  long sleeves, pants and keep your kids close because they have poison ivy. They mark most of the bushes but there are some that could slip through their process.


CHECK OUT PLACES TO PICK BLUEBERRIES NEAR YOU- Pick Your Own Farms

Triple-Layer Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

This is an " OH MY GOODNESS THIS IS SO GOOD" recipe! Be careful you may find yourself licking the bowl of cream cheese frosting ! Haha  I've made this carrot cake on special occasions for over the last 3 years. I discovered this recipe while watching the Today Show.  Natalie Morales( one of their news anchors)  tried it on the show, and said it was truly the best cake she's  ever had! I thought she was genuine and had to give it a try. And she was right!

Ingredients

Cake

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3 cups finely grated peeled carrots (about 1 pound)
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (about 1/2 ounce) I've never made it with the pecans on the inside
• 1/2 cup raisins  I actually like it best without the raisins

Frosting

• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions 

For cake:
Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease three 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pans with waxed paper. Lightly grease waxed paper. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and vegetable oil in bowl until combined. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg into sugar and oil mixture. Stir in carrots, chopped pecans and raisins.

Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and cakes begin to pull away from sides of pans, about 45 minutes. Cool in pans on racks 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks and cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Wrap tightly in plastic and store at room temperature.) I put in the freezer to stiffen up before frosting . I trick I learned from a bakery I worked at years ago.

For frosting:
Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients in medium bowl until smooth and creamy.

Place 1 cake layer on platter. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with another cake layer. Spread with 3/4 cup frosting. Top with remaining cake layer. Using icing spatula, spread remaining frosting in decorative swirls over sides and top of cake. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Cover with cake dome and refrigerate.) Serve cake cold or at room temperature.

Bon Appétit  recipe

 

New York Cheesecake

Two days ago I made the second real cheesecake in my life !!So, I thought I would share with you my experience . I did a lot a of research trying to find the best recipe with the most rave reviews. Finally I found one that was apparently foul proof. Yet I couldn't help myself and panic pretty much all the way through. One of the requirements for it not to crack is not to over beat. So I was convinced I would over beat  and then it would be a flop. At one point I had to leave the house and have faith that my husband would turn off the oven while I was away. It was sooo hard ,but he came through and here's the most beautiful and I have to say delicious cheesecake. What? I can be a little proud  can't I?!

Ingredients

• 15 graham crackers, crushed
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
•  
• 4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

MAKE SURE ALL YOUR INGREDIENTS ARE AROUND ROOM TEMPERATURE BEFORE YOU START!!

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

• In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan.

          Wrap your springform pan with 2 layers of aluminum foil to prevent water in the water bath from seeping in. Then I placed it in a broiler pan .

• In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth.  With a wooden spoon (or spatchula )blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until nice and  smooth. There may still be little  tiny peices of cream cheese not fully mixed in thats ok. If you feel you need to give it a nice quick mix with the mix at the very end go ahead , but if you go to long it could crack. Pour filling into prepared crust in springform pan and then add 1 inch of hot water around the foil wrapped springform pan. Then place in oven.
• Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour exactly with no peeking!! Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the DOOR CLOSED for 5 to 6 hours; this prevents cracking.  Don't even  take a peek unless your just looking through the window with the oven light on.Chill in refrigerator until serving.

Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 box of birds eye frozen raspberries
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup cold water

Directions

1. Combine the raspberries, sugar, and orange juice in a saucepan. Whisk the cornstarch into the cold water until smooth. Add the mixture to the saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Simmer for about 5 minutes, during this time you can mash them with a potato masher when mashed enough stir  constantly, until the desired consistency is reached. The sauce will thicken further as it cools.
3.   Serve warm or cold. The sauce will keep in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.