Category Archives: Mother’s Day

Orange Olive Oil Cake

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The world has changed a lot over the past few months… It’s literally a whole new world. We are in the middle of a pandemic….staying home, social distancing, online schooling have all become the new normal. It is no doubt a very stressful time. Nevertheless, I think we are all doing our best and staying positive. I am very thankful that my family is keeping safe and healthy.

Because of the situation, my spring market got cancelled, but I am still baking a lot. Last month, my friends and I did a charity bake sale. We sold lots of cookies, cupcakes, brownies……The support was overwhelming! Together, we raised $1000 for the Vancouver Hospital Foundation COVID-19 Response Fund. A big thank you to everyone that donated.

More time at home also means more time to work on recipes! I have been wanting to make an olive oil cake for a while. My first time eating one was years ago at a little cafe and I loved it. It makes the cake soft and moist without leaving a strong taste. I used orange for this recipe, but I think lemon will work wonderfully as well.

Makes one 9.5 inch bundt cake

  • 150 g cake and pastry flour
  • 150 g all purpose flour
  • 6 g baking powder
  • 3 g baking soda
  • 2 g salt
  • 180 g sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 180 mL extra virgin olive oil
  • 180 mL milk
  • 50 mL fresh orange juice
  • zest of a medium orange
  • 5 ml pure vanilla extract
  • 4 mL pure orange extract
  1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F
  2. Sift together flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside
  3. Beat together sugar and eggs until frothy, using an eletrical mixer or hand whisk
  4. Mix in olive oil, milk, orange juice, orange zest and extracts
  5. Gradually add flour mixture and mix until just cooperated
  6. Pour batter into a 9-inch non-stick bundt pan and bake for about 35 minutes (you can use any other cake pan, but baking time may have to be adjusted)
  7. Dust with icing sugar when cooled if desired

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Vanilla Cake with Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting

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Sorry! I was one day late for my Mother’s Day post ! Well, but I think we can treat our moms (and myself) any time of the year, and we should ! It doesn’t have to be just Mother’s Day, right ? This cake is very simple, and the blueberries give it a stunning, beautiful color that you don’t need to do much decorations ! I added some freeze-dried blueberries.  If you cannot find them, just add a little more puree to enhance the blueberry flavour. (Just a little otherwise the frosting may become watery). The cream cheese frosting is quite soft, so you should keep it in the fridge until serving. I use vanilla cake as I find it very versatile. You can pretty much pair it  with any flavour, berries, citrus, caramel, chocolate,etc. Once you have a good recipe, you are set and good to go. You can also use this recipe to make cupcakes, just decrease your baking time to about 18-20 minutes. 

I hope all moms had a good Mother’s Day yesterday ! I got a nice surprise from my daughter. She made me some Blueberry Chocolate Bark !  How sweet !

Makes one 6 inch cake

For the vanilla cake

  • 300 g cake and pastry flour
  • 6 g baking powder
  • 3 g baking soda
  • 2 g salt
  • 180 g granulated sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 180 mL buttermilk
  • 120 mL milk
  • 10 mL pure vanilla extract
  • 100 g unsalted butter (melted)
  • 100 mL vegetable oil
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF
  2. Line the bottom of two 6 inch round cake pans with parchment paper, lightly oil and flour the sides
  3. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside
  4. Whisk together eggs and sugar until pale
  5. Mix in milk, buttermilk, vanilla, butter and oil (it’s ok if batter is lumpy, the butter may just be solidifying)
  6. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, mix until just cooperated.
  7. Pour batter into the cake pans and bake for about 40 minutes
  8. Cool completely  before assembling

Tips:

To keep the cake moist and evenly baked, you can bake them in a hot water bath. You can also use cake strips, which you soak in water for a few minutes, squeeze out excess, wrap it around the cake pans and bake.

For the frosting

  • 270 g unsalted butter (soften)
  • 225 g soft cream cheese
  • 120 g icing sugar
  • 45 g blueberry puree (store bought or homemade) 
  • 20 g freeze-dried blueberry powder (optional)
  1. To make the puree, blend fresh or frozen blueberries (you may need more than 45 g of whole blueberries) 
  2. To make the blueberry powder, grind freeze-dried blueberries with food processor until fine
  3. Beat together butter and cream cheese until smooth
  4. Sift in icing sugar, beat until light and smooth
  5. Add blueberry puree and powder, mix well
  6. Refrigerate until use

To assemble

  1.  Trip top of cakes to flatten
  2. Layer cakes with frosting in between
  3. Coat side and top of cake with more frosting
  4. Decorate as desired
  5. Keep in fridge until ready to serve

 

You can get the cake strips through the Amazon website by clicking the link below. I will receive a small compensation if you purchase the item. 

 

Wilton Bake Even Cake Strips, 2 Pieces

Lemon Lavender Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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I haven’t had much luck with growing any living things lately. I planted some herbs and lavender seeds couple months ago, the herbs sprouted but didn’t survive, the lavender is growing but very slow. Then my daughter’s last little neon tetra died (we started with six fishes)……What am I doing wrong ??? Feeling kind of frustrated, I went and purchased a whole bunch of plants…..herbs, tomato, kale and lavender, hoping for better luck with some already-grown plants. Out of all of them, I like lavender the best ! It is in my favourite colour (purple, of course) and I love its smell, so soothing and relaxing. I have always wanted to bake with dried lavender too. Since Mother’s Day is coming up, I thought it would be a perfect time to try. It has a strong flavour, so use very sparingly. (I added a little too much the first time and my cake tasted almost medicinal ! So I had to cut it down and remake the cake.) Make sure you get dried lavender that is for culinary use only. I wouldn’t recommend making your own, as some plants may have been treated with pesticides. I decided to make a naked Lemon Lavender Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. Naked cakes are very popular these days, but my primary reason was my terrible decorating skill ! With a naked cake, I can get away with the imperfection ! Secondly, I prefer cakes with less frosting (though my daughter would disagree), I can enjoy more of the cake itself rather than just butter and sugar. So, here it is, my Mother’s Day celebration ! A cake with bright lemon flavour and a subtle touch of lavender. Happy Mother’s Day to my mom, myself and all the wonderfull moms in the world ! 

Oh, you probably were wondering about my daughter’s fishes. Well, I told her we will get some more later, but she may want to pick something other than the tetras, cause they just don’t live very long and I really don’t enjoy scooping out dead fishes…..Lol
Makes one 6 inch cake

For the lavender sugar

  • 0.75 g (about 1 teaspoon) dried lavender flowers, food grade only 
  • 150 g granulated sugar 
  • 1/2 vanilla bean (optional)

Scrape vanilla bean and pulse all ingredients together in a food processor until blended

For the cake

  • 4 eggs (separated)
  • 150 g lavender sugar (use 30 g for the meringue)
  • 75 g all-purpose flour
  • 75 g cake and pastry flour 
  • 3 g baking powder 
  • 2 g salt 
  • 30 mL lemon juice (use 5 mL for the meringue)
  • Zest of one lemon 
  • 30 mL vegetable oil 
  • 5 mL pure vanilla extract 
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F 
  2. Lightly grease two 6″ round cake pans and line bottom with parchment paper
  3. Sift together flours, baking powder and salt, set aside
  4. In a mixing bowl, beat together egg yolks and 120 g of lavender sugar until pale
  5. Add 25 mL of lemon juice, lemon zest, oil and vanilla, mix until blended
  6. Gently fold in flour mixture
  7. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer with whisk attachment, whisk egg whites and 5 mL of lemon juice until frothy
  8. Increase speed to high and slowly add in 30 g of lavender sugar
  9. Whisk until medium peak is formed
  10. Gently fold meringue into cake batter, 1/3 at a time, do not over mix
  11. Pour into baking tray and bake for about 20-22 minutes
  12. Cool completely before frosting 

For the cream cheese frosting

  • 250 g cream cheese
  • 60 g unsalted butter (softened)
  • 120 g icing sugar (sifted)
  • 30 mL lemon juice
  • Zest of one lemon
  • 5 mL pure vanilla extract 
  1. Beat together cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy
  2. Gradually add in icing sugar
  3. Add lemon juice,lemon zest and vanilla, mix until blended and smooth
  4. Keep in refrigerator until use

To Assemble

  1. Spread frosting between two layers of cake and on top (If the frosting is too firm to spread, you can put it in a bowl, then a hot water bath for a minute or two, just enough to soften) 
  2. Lightly frost the sides, smooth with a spatula 
  3. Keep in refrigerator 


 

Simple Shortbread Cookies

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My mom, myself and my daughter all love sweets! Since Mother’s Day is coming up, I thought I would make something that all of us would enjoy. These shortbread cookies are sweet and buttery ! Making them is, literally, as easy as 1,2,3 ! All you need to remember is, 1 part of sugar, 2 parts of butter and 3 parts of flour! I also added a touch of lemon zest.
Have a Happy Mother’s Day ! I think moms are the most wonderful people into the world….of course that includes myself !……. 🙂   And I have to thank my daughter for her wonderful drawing !

Makes about 30 cookies

  • 1/2 cup very fine sugar or vanilla sugar plus more for sprinkling
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1+1/2 cups cake and pastry flour, sifted
  • Zest of half a lemon (optional)
  1. Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together
  2. Add lemon zest
  3. Add flour in 2 portions, mix until dough starting to form
  4. Pat dough together with hands
  5. Cut dough into 2 parts, gently shape each dough into logs, about 1+1/2 inch in diameter
  6. Wrap with plastic wrap (Believe it or not, I wrapped the dough and put them inside paper towel rolls to shape! )
  7. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight
  8. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 300°F
  9. Cut dough into discs, about 1/4 – 3/8 inch in thickness (They do flattened slightly during baking)
  10. Place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, about 2 inches apart
  11. Sprinkle top with more sugar
  12. Bake for 18 -20 minutes until edges just golden (You don’t want them too brown)
  13. Cool on baking sheets for 10 minutes, then completely on rack

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