Vanilla Cake with Blueberry Compote Filling and Lemon Curd Cream Cheese Frosting

January 1, 2016 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 2 Comments

Hello and Happy New Year from Two Young Ladies! We’re sorry we’ve been MIA for awhile but you know how it gets at the end of the year? Things get crazy, but don’t think we forgot about our awesome followers. We’ve been testing and making tons of AMAZING recipes.

2015 was a great year, so much happened for both of us, and we’re truly, truly, excited to see what 2016 has in store for us and this blog. We have a ton of ideas, and things have been “cooking” for awhile. So stay tuned for what we have in store.

But onto the good stuff! A new recipe for a new year! We made this cake last year (LOL) when we had a surplus of blueberries. I mean, what better way to deal with tons of blueberries, then to make a delicious lemon and blueberry cake! This cake will please just about everyone, sweet blueberries mixed with that tart, yet sweet lemon? Our mouths are watering already!

Vanilla Cake with Blueberry Compote Filling and Lemon Curd Frosting

Vanilla Cake:

2 Sticks Salted Butter (Room Temperature)
2 Cups Bakers Sugar
4 Large Eggs (Room Temperature)
1 1/2 Cake Flour**
1 1/4 AP Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Cup Milk
1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract or Paste

Blueberry Compote:

1 18oz Container Fresh Blueberries
1/2 Cup Orange Juice
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
1/4 Cup Cold Water

Lemon Curd Frosting

3/4 Cup Lemon Curd
Two 8oz Packages of Cream Cheese (Regular)
2 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1/4 Teaspoon Lemon Extract

To Make the Cake:

Step 1:

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Step 2:

Grease (or spray) your 9 inch round cake pan.

We used a springform pan, but make sure your wrap the cake pan with aluminum foil so the cake doesn’t seep out.

If you don’t use springform pans and you grease with butter, don’ forget to flour and line the bottom with wax paper. You can also divide the cake batter between two cake pans as well.

Step 3:

In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or a large bowl using a hand mixer) cream the butter until smooth.

Step 4:

Next, gradually add the sugar and beat until fluffy. About 3 minutes.

Step 5:

One at a time, add the eggs making sure to beat well after adding each egg.

TYL TIP: Lightly beat each egg before adding it to the mixture so you don’t have to end up over beating your batter!

Step 6:

In a separate medium sized bowl, combine the flours, salt, and baking soda. Mix well.

Step 7:

With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in batches until combined.

Step 8:

Next, add the milk and beat well.

Step 9:

Mix in the vanilla until fully incorporated.

Step 10:

Pour the cake batter into your cake pan (or pans).

If you want to get fancy you can divide the batter among.

Step 11:

Bake for 20 to 25 or until the middle is no longer jiggly and the cake tester comes out clean!

Let the cakes cool for ten minutes in the pans and then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.

(Almost perfect cake)

Blueberry Compote

Step 1:

In a medium sauce pan, combine the blueberries, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and orange juice. Bring to a boil.

Step 2:

In a small bowl, mix together the cold water and cornstarch.

Step 3:

Add the cornstarch mixture to the blueberries. Mix until combined.

Step 4:

Cook over low heat until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of a spoon, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Step 5:

Remove from the heat and and let cool to room temperature.

Lemon Curd Frosting

Step 1:

In a medium bowl beat the lemon curd and cream cheese together until combined.

Step 2:

Next add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.

Step 3:

Mix in the lemon extract.

TYL Tip: If you really want to punch up the lemon flavor at a the zest of one lemon!

To Make the Cake:

Step 1:

If needed, evenly cut the cake and trim any unsightly bits.

Step 2:

Take your frosting and frost one side of the cake. Working from the middle out.

Step 3:

Next, add the blueberry compote, and again work from the middle out, spread the blueberry compote.

Step 4:

Samdwich the other piece of cake on top of the prepared side. Begin to frost the cake, and then enjoy!

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Key Lime Curd

June 24, 2015June 24, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ Leave a comment

Today’s recipe is a spin on our Meyer Lemon Curd, but instead of lemons we decided to make use of key limes!

Just like the lemon curd, you can put this curd on basically anything! Toast, put it in tart shells, eat it with a spoon, you can’t go wrong.

Look at how beautiful those little limes are! So bright, and packed full of flavor. Like Meyer lemons these little guys are much sweeter than normal limes.

Ingredients:

1 Bag of Key Limes
1/2 cup Key Lime Juice
Key Lime Zest (from the limes used for juice)
1 1/2 cup bakers sugar
1 stick of unsalted butter (room temperature)
4 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Step 1:

Zest the limes before juicing. After you’ve zested the limes, juice them.

Step 2:

In a food processor pulse together the sugar and lime zest until the lime zest is fully incorporated to the sugar. The sugar will have a “damp” texture.

Step 3:

Cream together the butter and then mix in the butter.

Step 4:

Beat in the eggs one at a time and then add the salt and lime juice. At this step, the curd is going to look absolutely disgusting, you’re probably going to think you fucked it up. Don’t worry. It’s supposed to look that way. Trust us.

Step 5:

Next, transfer the mixture into a sauce pan. Stir constantly over a low heat until the mixture starts to smooth out and eventually begins to thicken. Check occasionally with a digital thermometer and when the temperature reads 170° you can remove from the heat. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate.

Meyer Lemon Tartlets with a Sugar Cookie Crust

April 28, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 2 Comments

As you know, we love Meyer Lemons, and we LOVE lemon curd. So, what better way to use our luscious lemon curd than to make adorable little tartlets that look “rustic”-professional *wink*.

*Warning! These might be habit-forming; excessive happiness can occur in some subjects. *

Meyer lemons are originally from China; they’re a hybrid of true lemons and mandarins, which is what creates those wonderfully fragrant and sweet lemons.

Fun fact about citrus: the common fruits we know lemons, limes, grapefruits and oranges are actually major hybrids. They all orinally stem from citrons, citron Papeda, mandarins, pomelos, and the endangered Indian wild orange.

Lemon Curd:

7 Meyer Lemons (3 if using regular lemons)
1/2 cup (from lemons above)
Meyer lemon zest (from the lemons used for juice)
1 1/2 cup bakers sugar
1 stick of unsalted butter (room temperature)
4 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Sugar Cookie Crust

2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature.
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3 cups AP flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

For The Lemon Curd:

Step 1:

Because Meyer lemons are smaller you need more to make this curd, zest the lemons and try to avoid zesting the white part of the lemon, which is called the pith. After you zest the lemons cut the lemons in half and juice them.

Step 2:

In a food processor pulse together the sugar and lemon zest until the lemon zest is fully incorporated to the sugar. The sugar will have a “damp” texture.

Step 3:

Cream together the butter and then mix in the sugar.

Step 4:

Beat in the eggs one at a time and then add the salt and lemon juice. At this step, the curd is going to look absolutely disgusting, you’re probably going to think you fucked it up. Don’t worry. It’s supposed to look that way. Trust us.

Step 5:

Sugar Cookie Crust

Step 1:

Using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat together butter and sugar until thoroughly mixed. Three minutes of high.

Step 2:

Add the eggs one at time fully incorporating one before adding the next. Add the vanilla and then the lemon zest.

Step 3:

Finally, at a medium speed add in the AP flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined. Remove the dough from the bowl, and wrap in parchment paper. Place in the fridge four about thirty minutes.

Tartlets:

Step 1:

Preheat your oven to 300°and grease a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.

Step 2:

Once the dough is throughly chilled, remove the dough. Make small balls and push them down into the mini muffin pan using your thumbs or something rounded.

Step 3:

Take the cooled curd and spoon the mixture into the cookie dough crusts.

Bake for about 12 to 14 minutes, when you remove the mini tartlets they will jiggle slightly, that’s okay. Let them cool and then remove.

Sprinkle with powder sugar or a fresh lemon whipped cream and enjoy!

Meyer Lemon Curd

April 10, 2015May 22, 2015 ~ Marlee And Christie ~ 2 Comments

This curd may be one of the best things we have ever made. And the recipe comes from the Queen Ina Garten, so you know it’s good. And it’s easy.

Last week when we were shopping we saw Meyer Lemons, and this is first time we had seen them in the market so we obviously bought 6 bags of lemons not knowing what we were going to do, but we knew it would be something amazing.

This recipe was the first of many Meyer Lemon Recipes that we will be sharing. We’re honestly looking into buying a Meyer Lemon Tree so we have unlimited Meyer Lemons.

This curd is probably one of the best things you can make with these lemons. It’s so good, you can just eat it with a spoon or on toast.

Meyer Lemon Curd

What You Need:

A mini food processor (Or Big)
Saucepan
Wooden Spoon

Ingredients:

7 Meyer Lemons (3 if using regular lemons)
1/2 cup (from lemons above)
Meyer lemon zest (from the lemons used for juice)
1 1/2 cup bakers sugar
1 stick of unsalted butter (room temperature)
4 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Step 1:

Step 2:

In a food processor pulse together the sugar and lemon zest until the lemon zest is fully incorporated to the sugar. The sugar will have a “damp” texture.

Step 3:

Cream together the butter and then mix in the butter.

Step 4:

We don’t have pictures for this step, because honestly, when we did it, we (Marlee) thought we screwed up. So we stopped taking pictures, BUT KEEP GOING. IT’S WORTH IT.

Step 5:

Next, transfer the mixture into a sauce pan. Stir constantly over a low heat until the mixture starts to smooth out and eventually begins to thicken.

Check occasionally with a digital thermometer and when the temperature reads 170° you can remove from the heat. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate.

Look at how beautiful this is. So smooth, so creamy! So luscious!

Cultured Swines

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Curd

Vanilla Cake with Blueberry Compote Filling and Lemon Curd Cream Cheese Frosting

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Meyer Lemon Tartlets with a Sugar Cookie Crust

Meyer Lemon Curd