lemon watercolour cake

 

hi! i hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. with all that spring weather we've been having lately, it actually SNOWED yesterday morning! i was way too excited about it.. shocked, but still pretty excited. i just think the town looks so much prettier when it is covered is a little dusting of snow & i wanted to see it one more time before spring starts for real. besides, i brought the spring time inside with this pretty water colour frosted lemon cake!

i have been meaning to test out this frosting technique for so long & a lemon flavoured cake seemed like the perfect opportunity to go with a pastel coloured buttercream. the flavour of the cake AND frosting is lemon. to achieve ultimate lemon flavour i used three forms of lemon: freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest & lorann oils lemon emulsion. the lemon emulsion is water based instead of alcohol based & is stronger then an extract once baked. the flavour really comes through! if you like lemon as much as i do, this cake is for you. the lemon emulsion would work so well in a lemon pie or tart, 100% next on my list of things to make!

lastly, i used just a touch of almond flour in this cake recipe, but in the first testing of this cake i tried to use ALL almond flour! needless to say it did not turn out so i strongly advise against it. it honestly looked like a flat, moist pancake (lol) so learn from my mistake & substitue gluten free flour if you wanted to go the GF route. if you really want to use 100% almond flour i would advise making this in a baking dish & lightly frosting the top.

ingredients

for the lemon cake

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup almond flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 1/2 cups raw sugar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon lorann oil's madagascar vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lorann oil's lemon emulsion

for the lemon buttercream

  • 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon lorann oil's madagascar vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon lorann oil's lemon emulsion
  • 3 cups powdered sugar, or to taste
  • 1 pinch of salt

directions

for the lemon cake

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in a large mixing bowl sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, & salt. set aside.
  • in a separate bowl beat the sugar, oil, lemon juice & eggs until light + fluffy.
  • alternate between adding the dry ingreidnets & the whole milk.
  • finish off by folding in the zest, vanilla & lemon emulsion.
  • divide evenly between three greased 6-inch round cake pans or two 8-inch round cake pans.
  • bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cake bounces back to touch.
  • let cool while you prepare your frosting.

for the lemon buttercream

  • in the bowl of a standmixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the butter, lemon zest, vanilla extract, lemon emulsion, powdered sugar & salt.
  • beat until light & fluffy, about 8 minutes.
  • frost as desired!

note: if you want to decorate using the water colour frosting technique here is how:) start with a crumb coat followed by a second coating of the white frosting. divide remaining frosting into three bowls & colour with yellow, orange & pink food colouring. using an offset spatula randomly dispurse these colours over the white frosted layer. use a cake scraper to blend in the colours until smooth!

matcha chocolate twist cupcake

 

happy MARCH! wait a second, how is it march already? didn't we just celebrate the new year? i originally had this post schedueled for the last day of february to kick off a certain green holiday in march, but then i realized there is no february 30th this year, or ever (LOL fail, huge fail). oh well, who is ready for saint patrick's day! i usually put green food colouring in anything i can possibly think of, but what about a more natural green route this year. matcha powder! i used aiya matcha's cooking grade matcha powder in both the chocolate cake portion & buttercream frosting. it is a special blend that doesn't lose its flavour when mixed with other ingredients. to give it a fun, festive, twist i did a two tone frosting of half vanilla buttercream & half matcha buttercream. how pretty do they look? i had several taste testers devour these cupcakes & they all agreed it was the perfect amount of matcha to chocolate flavour.

enjoy! xo

ingredients

(makes one dozen cupcakes)

for the chocolate matcha cake

  • 1 cup raw sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup dutch dark cocoa powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons aiya matcha powder (i used the cooking grade blend)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup full fat sour cream or yogurt
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup boiling water

for the vanilla matcha buttercream

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2-3 cups powdered sugar, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
  • 1 pinch of sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon matcha powder
  • chocolate sprinkles, for topping

directions

for the chocolate matcha cake

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in a large mixing bowl add the raw sugar, oil, vanilla, cocoa powder, matcha powder, egg & sour cream. beat until well combined.
  • sift in the flour, baking soda & salt until well combined.
  • slowly pour in the boiling water until silkly smooth.
  • divide evenly between 12 lined cupcake tins & bake for 15-18 minutes.
  • let cool while you make the frosting.

for the vanilla matcha buttercream

  • in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the butter, sugar, vanilla & sea salt. beat until light & fluffy, about 8 minutes.
  • divide frosting between two bowls & add the matcha powder to half. stir until the frosting is a smooth green colour.
  • in a piping bag alternate between adding a heaping spoon full of vanilla buttercream & matcha buttercream.
  • pipe as desired & top with chocolate sprinkles!

thank you so much to aiya matcha for sponsoring this post! all opinions are my own. the cooking grade matcha blend that i used is available here. xo

citrus rum punch

 

spring is in the air! as a winter lover i am a little sad to see spring come THIS early, but i am going to embrace it. i am already thinking about all the spring & easter recipes i can make with the fresh produce that will soon be out. the one major thing i miss in the winter is the fruit. luckily citrus is available year round, so finding that perfect lemon or lime shouldn't be a problem. it is actually at its best in the winter months!

this punch is like the end of winter & the start of spring in a beautifully coloured drink. it is bright, vibrant & the different colours of the grapefruit, orange & lime make for the prettiest colour combination. i used all pure fruit juices & added in grapefruit citrus zevia for the fizz. it is sweetened naturally with stevia making it zero calories! the grapefruit citrus is also so good on its own, it is my new favourite soda to drink. if you wanted to make this virgin for a child friendly event or baby shower (i am sure we all have quite a few of those this season), just leave out the rum! it makes for a refreshing virgin punch too.

ingredients

  • 2 cups grapefruit citrus zevia
  • 2 cups pure orange juice
  • 2 cups pure grapefruit juice
  • 1/2 cup white rum (leave out if you want to make a virgin punch)
  • 1 orange, thinly sliced
  • 1 grapefruit, thinly sliced
  • 1 lime, thinly sliced
  • 1 bunch of mint, roughly chopped
  • ice, for serving

directions

  • fill a large pitcher or dispenser halfway with ice.
  • add the grapefruit citrus zevia, orange juice, grapefruit juice & white rum. give it a good stir!
  • top with sliced orange, grapefruit, lime & mint.