gracefully made designs: fruit

Monday, August 13

blueberry-lemon boondt cake! :)

we were blessed to be invited over for dinner at a new friend's house,

so, of course, i volunteered to bring dessert!

summer is the season for amazing fruit...especially when it comes to berries.
so i took to pinterest, google and my recipie books for berry-inspiration.

there are so many lemon-blueberry bar and cake recipes floating around on pinterest right now,

but i was itching to use my new bundt cake pan.

[maybe i was channeling my big fat greek wedding]

so it was martha stewart to the rescue!

blueberry-lemon bundt cake
via martha stewart

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1 teaspoon for blueberries and zest
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
2 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
Nonstick cooking spray, for pan
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting [optional, but highly recommended! :)]

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk 2 1/2 cups flour with baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated.

Beat in vanilla. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions of sour cream.

In a bowl, toss blueberries and zest with remaining teaspoon flour; gently fold into batter.

Coat a 12-cup nonstick Bundt pan with cooking spray. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake cake on bottom rack of oven until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes.

Cool in pan 20 minutes.

Invert onto a rack; cool completely, top side up.

Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving, if desired.

tadaaaaaaah!

this turned out fantastic! it was the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and would even be perfect for breakfast or brunch!

what are you favorite summer-berry recipes??

p.s. have you heard about the 24 day challenge??
check out my post on it here and consider joining in with us!

Wednesday, August 8

o how pinteresting: summer treats and eats!

how does summer keep getting hotter??

i know that summer technically doesn't start until late june,

but in my mind, summer starts in may,

and by my count,

it should be cooling down.

but no, the temperatures keep cranking up higher and higher,
and we've still got more than a month to go.
yay sweat!

all this hot weather has me craving frozen cocktails...

what drink screams summer more than a frozen margarita?
ummm....none.
this is such a fantastic alternative to homemade margaritas in a blender that never seem to turn out as fabulous as the overpriced [but still fantastic...] ones at cyclone anayas.

Source: thismoment7.tumblr.com via Sarah Grace on Pinterest

or if the tequila isn't your drink of choice,,,,

why not try a champagne (or gingerale...) float?
adorable owl stirring sticks not required, but definitely recommended.

Source: celebrationsathomeblog.com via Sarah Grace on Pinterest

another fantastic plus for summer,,,,the fruit! :)

nectarines and blueberries and peaches,

o my!

i'll trade steamy afternoon for a juicy nectarine any day of the week!

Source: life-chasers.com via Sarah Grace on Pinterest

and of course,

you can't leave out the summer veggies...

cheesy succhini rice anyone?!
please ignore the fact that my one veggie selection also includes an incredible amount of cheese. sorry i'm not sorry.