Lemon Cake

I made this for daughter's birthday last week!  It was much better than I was expecting!  Surprisingly, the biggest expense in this dish wasn't the lemons.  When I took my cruise past the discount produce shelves at the grocery store, I found a bag of six lemons for $1.50.  Well hello!  With those lemons, I was able to make a delightful cake!

Lemon Cake Recipe

2 cups Bob's Red Mill One to One Gluten Free Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup Earth Balance butter
1 1/4 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coconut milk
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup lemon juice

Glaze
1 lemon, cut into thin slices & seeded
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Oven 350*

Mix dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar.  Beat in the eggs and the vanilla.  Add the lemon juice and zest.  Alternate adding the flour and the milk into the batter, stirring until just blended together.

Pour the batter into a prepared cake pan.

Bake in a 350* oven for 30-35 minutes.

While the cake is baking in the oven, bring the water, sugar, and lemon slices to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.  Remove the lemon slices from the water with a slotted spoon, and place on a wax paper lined cookie sheet.

Remove the cake from the oven, poke the cake all over with a toothpick,  and pour the syrup mixture evenly over the cake.

We topped the cake with powdered sugar and the lemon slices.

You can top it with icing, or leave it plain.

Birthday Party in a Box

My niece celebrates her birthday next week.  She is also studying abroad in France.  We will miss spending some time with her around her birthday.  Never fear!  We came up with a solution to help her celebrate, even without us!  We packed her a birthday party in a box!  Included in this tiny little box is a tiny little Pinata that we found at Target, candy, candy, and more candy, stickers, and a couple of banners that she can hang in her room in order to make it look more festive!  We also enclosed one of those obnoxious, singing birthday cards that has the Eiffel Tower on the front, and Marie, the little French kitty cat from the Disney movie "The Aristocats".  It plays Happy Birthday with a flair... hahahaha!

I don't know if you can read the words in small print?  It says "some assembly required".

 

We shipped it out on Sept. 1, and her birthday is Sept. 12.  According to the post office, it should get to her before the end of this week!  We kept the box as small and light as we could, as we were worried about the cost of International Shipping.  We were very fortunate - the cost of shipping came up to less than $20.  Not bad for a parcel traveling across the Atlantic Ocean and off to some small village in France!

I hope she has a marvelous time!  

Bon anniversaire!