Meatless Monday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!!!!

I have had a lot on my plate lately, and I feel that I start many posts like this, but it's true. So I apologize for not posting anything on Friday or for Sweet Saturday. I know some people like to link up with me, and I hope Sweet Saturday will be back soon (as well as the Meatless Monday link-up). I have some personal things going on right now plus planning for my Lily's birthday (which is today!!!!) and have had to turn my attention else where.

I hope today's post makes up for my slight absence :)

I decided to try my hand at baking a cake for Lily's mini party which we had on Saturday with my parents and a close friend. The big party is this upcoming Sunday, so expect a fun post on that next week. I wanted to try this recipe I concocted for whole wheat lemon-blueberry pound cake, making this the third cake I have ever made. I found a fairly simple and basic recipe to base it off of, and the results were quite tasty, yet things did not go exactly as expected as you will soon read about.

Whole Wheat Lemon-Blueberry Pound Cake

(based off of this recipe from food.com)

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar

1 cup fresh or thawed frozen blueberries
2 eggs , well beaten
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup unbleached flour

2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
^{1 tsp lemon extract}

Preheat oven to 350. Beat together sugar and butter in large bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, then add lemon juice and extract. Mix together. In a separate bowl, combine flours, salt and baking powder, then add bit by bit to the wet mix until well blended. Lastly, mix in milk and then the blueberries. Pour cake batter into parchment paper-lined 8" or 9" round or square pan, or tube pan (I used a round pan because I do not have a tube pan). Pop into the oven for 1 hour, or until toothpick can be inserted into center of cake and comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for about 20 minutes before removing from pan, then setting onto wire rack or cutting board to cool. Serve as is, or frost with whipped cream cheese frosting, recipe below.

^{Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting}

^{(makes 2 cups)}

8 oz package cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form in a large bowl. Combine the rest of the ingredients into a separate large bowl and beat together until well combined and creamy. Slowly add in the whipped cream until completely combined, but still fluffy. Spread on to cake once it is completely cooled. 

Now, I have to admit, I did not line my pan with parchment paper. I used a non-stick pan (despite the fact that I prefer not to use those, I had one I figured I could use for this purpose this one time), so I thought I would not have to line it. Boy was I wrong. When I got the cake loose from the pan, it broke into several different pieces, as you can see from the image below.

mixing...

After adding the blueberries

Looks good...

oops.

I was not happy, but I just had to laugh at myself for not following proper instructions, and I felt it was clearly a lesson learned. BUT, not to be discouraged, I brainstormed a bit and then came up with a solution for what to do with the now crumbled cake pieces. I broke the cake up further into small, cube-like chunks and then layered them in wine glasses between layers of the whipped cream cheese frosting. The results were not only delicious, but stunning as well!

This version of pound cake is yummy, but also healthier than the average pound cake with the added benefits of whole wheat flour and blueberries. I would've used 100% whole wheat flour instead of a combination of both whole wheat and unbleached, but I wanted to maintain the fluffiness and not have it come out too dense. It came out tasting like a wholesome blueberry-lemon muffin. Tired little Lily didn't even make it to the serving of her cake, so we didn't sing happy birthday to her. She's only 2 though, and I don't think she really cares...

Everyone who did have some loved it though, and the few guests who came for the small party were impressed not only with the taste, but with the presentation as well. So, if you ever have the same problem I did with the cake falling apart, don't stress! Just get creative! There are plenty of ways to salvage a yummy dessert without losing your cool.

As I said before, I don't have a whole lot of experience in cake making. When I bake desserts, I usually bake cookies and brownies because...well, they're easier! But, I hope to test my hand at cake making a lot more, and will let you know what I decide to do for the cupcakes for Lily's big birthday party which is next weekend. I'm thinking basic yellow or red velvet...

This cake is safe for babies to eat who are at least 9 months old, as it's not too sweet and has natural fruit for baby's benefit. However, you may not want to give them too much icing as there is a lot of sugar in it, but it's chock full of calcium and vitamin D as well with the amount of dairy it contains.



Have a great week! I will be doing my best to get back on my regular blog schedule this week, but next week I'm MOVING, so I can't say what things will be like during the latter half of the month. So much change is coming, change that is desperately needed. I'm still holding my recipe contest which you can read all about here, so send me your favorite healthy family recipes! I've only received a couple so far, and they both sounded awesome!!!