Spring Birthdays ~ Triple Blueberrry Cake with Lemon Curd Filling & Banana Pudding

This weekend we celebrated three birthdays!  Will and Jack had two birthday parties on Saturday and then, we celebrated my husband's birthday yesterday.  I wanted to make a really good cake ~ and a new recipe ~ for his birthday.  He's not as big of a fan of chocolate as I am so as hard as it was, I overlooked all the chocolate recipes.  I ended up going with a recipe I have been drooling over and which happened to be on my Baking Wish list. 

Here it is:
Triple Lemon Blueberry Layer Cake

I found this recipe from a fellow blogger @ Pretty.Good.Food.

I also decided to make Mother-in-Law Belle's banana pudding recipe ~ talking about YUM.  It is for sure one of my all time favorites! 

Mix all the dry ingredients together

Add 1 tbsp of the flour mixture to coat the blueberries

Mix together

My stations - squeezing lemons!

Mixing and adding in the eggs for cake batter

Fold in the blueberries

Right out of oven, cooling....

This is the bottom view ~ check out all those blueberries!

Making the homemade lemon curd

Lots of whisking ~ actually about nine minutes...thanks to hubby for stepping in to take a turn

Finished lemon curd

Making homemade whipped cream ~ 2 cups whipping cream/1 cup confectioners sugar

After whipping at high speed ~ you get this!

I folded the lemon curd into the homemade whipped cream for the filling

Now, for the icing....

Staking the cakes and putting the filling on

The cake ~ in the making!

And, the finished product!

I was so anxious to cut this cake!

AND, the first piece is for the BIRTHDAY BOY!

 Now, here is the banana pudding!  It is always a hit!  It's from a recipe that was given to me by my Mother-in-law.  You use REAL, homemade whipped cream! 

Banana Pudding

5 cups whole milk

10-12 bananas

2 boxes Vanilla wafers

Large box of Vanilla instant pudding mix

16 oz sour cream

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

3 cups heavy whipping cream

chocolate syrup

chopped pecans

Start by making your homemade whipped cream.  Whisk at high speed ~ 3 cups heavy whipping cream & 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar.  Set aside.  Then, mix your pudding mix and 5 cups milk.  Add the sour cream to the mixture.  Once done, fold in 1/2 of your whipped cream into the pudding mixture.  Then, start your building ~ vanilla wafer, bananas, pudding mixture.  Continue until all done and top with the reserved whipped cream, chocolate syrup and chopped nuts.  Enjoy!

Make the homemade whipped cream ~ 3 cups whipping cream & 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar - combine and whisk on HIGH speed

Whipped Cream

After making the pudding mixture, start your layering.....wafers, bananas, pudding...continue

This is what you will get!

Fruit Dip ~ Quick/Easy/Delicious!

Here is a quick, easy recipe for a fruit dip.  It's really good with apples but you can use it with any type of fruit.  Last time I made this, I warmed up some brown sugar to soften it and ended up with a huge burn on my hand.  Two, almost 3 weeks later....still have a spot and I am guessing that this will end up with a nice scar.  Nothing like a scar from brown sugar......guess I am a dangerous baker.  ;) 

Fruit Dip Recipe

1 package cream cheese

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Soften the cream cheese, then mix all together and there you go.......fruit dip.  Perfectly delicious! 



BEST rolls EVER and guess what? They are from a box ~ true story!

Yes, this is a true story and a secret held by women in our family for years.  These rolls rock.  They are so good and they are not hard to make.  Mother-in-law Belle shared this secret with me not too long ago and I have since kept this mix on hand and it has become a staple in my pantry.  You can even make homemade cinnamon rolls or pizza crust from this mix.  Buy it, TRY it and then let me know what YOU think.  ;)  You simply follow the directions off the back of the box but this is my play by play for you guys.....

 Whisk together all the dry ingredients in package

 Stir in hot water, butter & egg

 Mix together....

 until the dough starts to pull away from edges.....then kneed for approximately 5 minutes

 Form ball out of dough, allow to sit for 5 minutes in a warm area

 It will start to grow....you then form the dough into balls in greased dish.  You let the rolls rise for about 30 minutes.  They will double in size.  Then bake as directed. 

This is the finished results!  They are OH so yummy!  

Another one from Skinny Taste ~ Cauliflower Fritters

I am trying to expand and try new food that I normally wouldn't cook with.  I would like my boys to be eating a wide variety of foods versus the same ole', same ole'.  My dear friend suggested that I try this new recipe with Cauliflower and I am so glad that I did.  I was pleasantly surprised!  I don't normally eat cauliflower but I will definitely start using this recipe on a regular basis.  The recipe comes from Gina's Skinny Taste.  Here is her original recipe:
Gina's Skinny Taste ~ Cauliflower Fritters Recipe

 Combine cauliflower, flour, garlic, eggs, grated cheese, parsley, salt & pepper.  ** I used white flour because I didn't have wheat flour on hand. 

Mix well and add water if needed

Add 2 tbsp oil in pan and use approximately 1/4 cup of mixture to form fritters.

 Cook until brown

Flip and cook other side.

Enjoy!  These are so yummy!  Me and my little belle had to snack on these while we cooked the remaining mixture!  I even had them cold for breakfast!  

Banana Nut Cookies with a pinch of Flaxseed

After our busy schedule this week, which now includes T-Ball for Will, I felt very neglectful of my family for eating out so much.  After doing some on-line searching for 'healthy recipes', I came across a recipe for cookies that looked yummy and healthy so I decided I would try them.  The recipe came from Gina @ Skinny Taste.  Here is her blog:  http://www.skinnytaste.com/ 

The original recipe is:
Chewy Lowfat Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies

I altered this a bit, added more bananas, some flax seed, didn't have any baking powder, added an egg.....Yes, I am bad about not using measuring cups or spoons and just going with it.  Sometimes it is a success and sometimes I end up throwing everything away....this go around, I really liked them.  They had a good flavor and texture.  They are not my normal chocolate cookies that I make so it was a nice, refreshing change. 

Banana Nut Cookies
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup flax seed
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp butter
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1 tbsp vanilla
3/4 cup chopped pecans
3 cups oatmeal

In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon and set aside

Cream the sugars and butter together

Mix good

Add two eggs, vanilla...

Mix in bananas

Slowly add flour mixture in....

Stir in oatmeal, flaxseed and pecans

Mix well.....then bake @ 350 until brown