Christmas Countdown- Lemon Bundt Cake with Lemon Curd Cream Cheese Frosting

Earlier this week I attended a lunch-time  Hanukkah party where my colleague treated us to latkes, homemade apple sauce and hummus. It was truly delicious. In preparation for the party I did a little research and I learned more about Hanukkah, including the tradition of eating fried foods (hence the latkes). I was a bit overwhelmed by recipes that involved frying and I was tempted by these marshmallow dreidels  but I ended up making this lemon cake. Nothing says Hanukkah like a lemon cake, right?

Now you may be wondering where the  delicious lemon curd frosting is. Well, here it is in a slightly fuzzy photo of a mini-bundt.

I could wax lyrically about this frosting, lemon curd and cream cheese where have  you been all my life???? Let’s face it, the frosting was what sold me on this recipe. The cake itself was ok, a bit on the dry side but I take full responsibility for that, as I think I baked it for too long. I highly recommend this frosting (or icing if you will) for any Hanukkah or Christmas feast. The recipe is available here.

Caroline

Lemon Poppyseed (and Blueberry) Muffins- TWD

Let me just say that I now believe that all lemon muffins should have lemon curd in them. The sheer genius of that is unparalleled. I was fortunate enough to have a little container of lemon curd in my freezer and when I saw that suggestion in the playing around section I jumped on it. I am smitten with these muffins. Basically you make them as normal but put a tsp or so of lemon curd in the middle. Scrumptious.

Now I am not the biggest poppyseed fan so I made half with blueberries. They IMHO were superior. But I guess that’s a preference. I didn’t glaze them as I am taking them to my parent’s house this weekend and I needed to freeze them. I will confess that I had two for supper on Sunday night. My coworker commented that muffins aren’t the healthiest dinner. But what about the blueberries and lemons? Aren’t they healthy;)

Thanks to Betsy of A Cup of Sweetness for picking this recipe. BTW I love the header on Betsy’s blog, so pretty!

Caroline

PS We are hosting the Tuesdays with Dorie crowd in February!!!! It was really hard to pick a recipe. In case your wondering, it’s of the chocolate variety. Stay tuned.

Pillow-Top Lemon Cupcakes

Here is another post from my birthday party. It was a feast of friendship and food, key ingredients for any great event. Claire and I have this thing about these cupcakes. We first made them for our sister’s baby shower and since then I sigh with delight when I think about them. If you haven’t sorted out your Easter dessert, I recommend that you give these a go. Super spring-y and delicious.

Image Credit Robin Bergart

These cupcakes are from Cupcakes! by Elinor Klivans. The recipe is available here. I didn’t go for the coconut toping and thus, I have renamed them Pillow-Top Lemon Cupcakes. Who doesn’t love a pillow-top?

Image Credit Robin Bergart

And for those of you who want to see all the birthday baking in one go, here it is, with yours truly.

Image Credit Robin Bergart