Southern Red Velvet Buttermilk Poundcake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Hands on time: 25 minutes  Total time: 2 hours and 25 minutes  Serves: 16

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 (1-ounce) bottle or 2 tablespoons red food coloring
3 cups cake flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 cup buttermilk
Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe below)

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, slightly soft
8 ounces cream cheese
1 (1-pound) box confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan; set aside.
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and food coloring. In another large bowl, combine the flour, salt and cocoa. Dissolve the baking soda in the vinegar and add to the buttermilk. Alternate stirring in the flour and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 1 hour, 20 minutes or until cake is done and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan about 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

In a mixer using a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add the sugar and vanilla and cream until light and fluffy.

Nutrition:

Per serving: 569 calories (percent of calories from fat, 38), 6 grams protein, 83 grams carbohydrates, trace fiber, 24 grams fat (15 grams saturated), 142 milligrams cholesterol, 373 milligrams sodium.

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

Perfect topping for a Southern Buttermilk Pound Cake.....




Lemon Buttercream

• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup water
• 2 eggs
• 3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest (my addition)

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil without stirring, occasionally washing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush until the syrup reaches the soft-ball stage, 238 (I take it off the heat at 235) degrees F on a candy thermometer. Immediately remove from the heat.

In a large mixer bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs briefly. Slowly add the hot syrup in a thin stream, pouring it down the sides of the bowl; be careful to avoid hitting the beaters or the syrup may splatter. When all the syrup has been added, raise the speed to medium-high and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and cooled to body temperature. This can take 15-20 minutes.

Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and gradually add the softened butter 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time, beating well between additions. As you’re adding the last few tablespoons of butter, the frosting will appear to break, then suddenly come together like whipped butter.
Beat in the lemon juice and zest (if using), and the frosting is ready to use.

Lemony Christmas Shortbread Cookies

2/3 cup (150g) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (55g) icing sugar, sifted
¼ cup (60ml) lemon juice
finely grated zest of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ¾ cups + 1 tablespoon (255g) all purpose flour, sifted
2 tablespoons corn starch, sifted
2/3 cup (94g) icing sugar, extra, sifted

Place the butter and icing sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for 8 minutes or until pale and creamy. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour and corn starch and beat just until a smooth dough forms. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide in half. Place each half onto a large piece of baking paper form into a 20cm (8in) long log. Wrap well in the paper and refrigerate for 1 ½ hours or until firm.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Unwrap one of the dough logs and slice it into 1cm-thick rounds. Place onto the prepared baking sheets 5cm (2in) apart and bake for 15-18 minutes or until light golden. Remove from the oven and cool in the sheets for 5 minutes.
 Sprinkle the warm shortbreads with the extra icing sugar and allow to cool completely on wire racks. Should make about two dozen.

Lemony Christmas Shortbread Cookies

Clay's "Angel"versary.......5 Years

It's been 5 years today. Time doesn't change a thing. I still love him and miss him and it still hurts just as much as it did the moment I found out he was gone.

Charles Clayton Howe

12/11/83- 08/26/07

Dreams....

My entire life I've had some DOOZIE of dreams. I have wondered a lot about who and what I dream about the most often. And how often I have recurring dreams, so here's my chance to find out. After last nights dream I decided to start a blog specifically dedicated to nothing but my dreams. It'll be a laugh if nothing else.

Time To Celebrate...

Well, after MONTHS of looking, and HUNDREDS(possible into the thousands) of applications looking for a job...I finally am joining the ranks of the perm-full time employed again!!!!

Thanks to a friend of a friend of the family, I will begin work on August 13th at the same company as my sweet husband. I'm a bit of a private person about certain details, but I can say that:

*The interview went brilliantly.
*I'll be in the Planning Department.
*The location is perfect.
*The people I met seemed to be not only professional, but very nice and I can't wait to get in the office and get to know them all a bit better. I just hope my ...Southern Charm...doesn't scare the heck out of them.
*I start on the 13th. First for a two-day induction, then to shadow for a few days, then a few weeks under close supervision and then on to the job on my own.
*I'm REALLY looking forward to working again.

I'm sure you will be hearing more about my progress at work on here soon.......and (hopefully)around the holidays, about My Mister and me getting our own place again- (We'll be looking for a home closer to work so he doesn't have to drive almost two hours a day commuting us back and forth.- Maybe even close enough so I can WALK to and from work every day!!)

Anyway, I just wanted to share the news with you all, since you are the ones who have so sweetly listened to me whine and gripe and complain and CRY about how crap it was to not be working full-time and contributing like I'm used to!!! And you have all encouraged me and told me that something will come up and things will work out for the best- and it came true!!!...So thank you all- for everything!!!

It's nice to be able to write about something positive for a change!!!

:-D