Patriotic Pound Cake

Just in time for Fourth of July! I present my Patriotic Pound Cake made with fresh strawberries and blueberries. I also added some red, white and blue sprinkles in the batter to make it even more patriotic. Have a slice with coffee for breakfast or serve it as a simple dessert. 
Ingredients:  

3/4 cup butter, (1 and 1/2 sticks) room temperature 

1 cup of sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 3/4 cup flour plus an additional 2 Tablespoons for the berries

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup strawberries, chopped

5 Tablespoons of red, white and blue sprinkles

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line loaf pan with parchment paper or nonstick foil. 

In a mixing bowl, mix butter an sugar until light yellow and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and blend. Add extracts and mix well. 

In a separate bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Alternate flour mixture and milk. Once everything had been combined, stir in 5 Tablespoons of sprinkles to the batter. Add 2 Tablespoons flour to the berries, stir to coat the berries before adding them to the batter. This will keep the berries from sinking to the bottom. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool completely before glazing. 

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract

1 -2 Tablespoons of milk

Decorative sprinkles, optional
Mix sugar with extract and one Tablespoon of milk. Add additional Tablespoon of milk if needed. Pour over Pound Cake. Decorate with more sprinkles if desired. 

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Vintage Blueberry Cake

I celebrated the July 4th holiday with my friends Pat and Amy George. Several friends were there including Amy’s mother, Jean Conklin. Jean was telling me about the cake she brought over that day. It was grandmother’s recipe that had been in her family since 1890. This was the recipe of Jean’s grandmother, Ella Cole.  Ella passed this recipe down to her daughter, Helen Hardy and then Helen to her daughter Jean. This is a moist delicious cake full of blueberries. Moist, light and very flavorful.  The cake is not frosted, however if you want to frost it with a cream cheese frosting, that would be good or even add a streusel topping would also be delicious. I liked the simplicity of the cake. I don’t think it needs a thing. I hope you enjoy this tasty piece of history as much as I did. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup of oil or 2 sticks of softened butter 

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons of vanilla

2 cups of flour

3 1/2 cups of fresh blueberries

1 cup of walnuts, chopped, if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 13 x 9 pan.
Blend sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time.  Add in vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Add in the flour but not all at once. Stir in blueberries and walnuts. Bake for 35-45 minutes until done. Check with a cake tester, mine baked almost 45 minutes. Enjoy!

I Can’t Believe It’s A Blueberry Smoothie

I recently did a smoothie recipe using Dole Packaged Foods. I had not made a smoothie for a long time. Now I seem to be in a smoothie kick lately. New year, healthy me. This smoothie can definitely be a meal replacement will all of the healthy ingredients.  My secret to a good thick smoothie is using frozen fruit. No need for ice that will water down your drink. Lastly, put liquid (yogurt, milk or juice) in first. Liquid needs to be by the blades of your blender for smooth blending!

  
Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk (use soy, almond, skim, etc)

1 6-8 ounce container of yogurt, I used Greek for protein (or throw in a scoop of protein powder)

1 small banana, fresh or frozen 

1 cup of raw baby spinach, I usually grab a handful out of the bag

1/2 cup frozen pineapple*

1/2 cup of frozen blueberries*

  
Layer the above ingredients in your blender in that order. My blender has a smoothie setting, if you’re does not, blend/pulse till smooth. This recipe makes a delicious recipe and I promise you, you will not taste the the spinach. In fact, this smoothie tastes like a blueberry milkshake. It’s delicious, nutritious and very filling. Hard to believe this has protein, fruit, dairy and vegetables and it hits almost every mark on the food pyramid. 

  

Finished product and no sign of green spinach, which is tasteless in this smoothie.  
*If you do not have a smoothie option on your blender, partially thaw your fruit in order not to damage your blender blade.