✿ Spring Lemon Blueberry Cake ✿

Spring is finally here! The sun is shining, days are longer, and flowers are blooming. The weather in California has been beautiful lately! It's been warm and sunny all week and it's gotten me really inspired. I kept saying "I'm going to bake cupcakes. I'm going to bake cookies. I'm going to make ice cream". None of that happened. I make a lot of excuses but today I knew I wanted to bake a cake. I was thinking chocolate then strawberry then vanilla. But ultimately I thought lemon blueberry would be the perfect thing for a Sunday evening. The cake is lemony and decadent, the blueberries are a nice surprise when you take a bite! And the frosting is perfectly lemony without being too sweet or too sour. The ingredients are things that you would normally have in your house, most likely you'll only have to buy the blueberries and lemons. This recipe is also pretty simple to execute. I followed the recipe made by Sweetapolita, but I did a few things differently! If you want to learn how to make a delicious lemon blueberry cake then keep on reading. :)

The ingredients you will need are:

• 2 cups and 6 tbsp all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt (I used vanilla, it said to use plain but who cares)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (about one lemon)
• 2 tbps lemon zest (I used one giant lemon)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 sticks (one cup) butter (room temp)
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 6 oz of fresh blueberries

1. To begin, pre-heat oven to 350* and butter two 9 inch pans, line with parchment and then re-butter
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, set aside
3. In a separate bowl mix milk, yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract together, set aside.
4. In a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
5. Add eggs one at a time and then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
6. Put one third of the dry mixture into the mixer, then half of the liquid ingredients, add another third of the dry then the rest of the wet ingredients followed by the rest of the dry ingredients
7. Before the batter is completely combined take the bowl off the machine and fold the batter by hand
8. Wash and dry the blueberries, then gently fold into the batter
9. Evenly divide the batter between the two pans and put into the oven. Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is set and lightly golden.
10. Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes out of the oven then remove from the pans and place onto a wire rack.

Lemon buttercream

• 2 sticks of softened, unsalted butter
• 5 cups of sifted powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• a splash of milk, half+half, heavy cream
• yellow food coloring (optional)

To make the frosting

1. Cream the butter until light and fluffy
2. Slowly add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until fully combined
3. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest and mix until fluffy and delicious

This cake was so delicious! Light and lemony. Hint of blueberry. It would be perfect for after dinner, a midday snack and even something to eat with tea in the morning. This recipe also makes delicious cupcakes with or without the blueberries. If you try this recipe out let me know! 

Happy Spring! ♡

Dillon Beach!

If you've never been to a beach in California, you're missing out. I went out to Dillon beach on Saturday with my boyfriend and it was fantastic. The beach is a little over an hour away from San Francisco but from where I live it takes a little over a half hour. The nice thing about this beach is there is always parking and it's only $8 for the whole day. The beach is open until sunset but sadly there is no overnight parking or beach camping there. There's also a market right before the beach so if you forgot snacks, water, sunscreen or anything else you can buy it right there!

Poor crabby got flipped over by waves after I took his photo :(

Joe and I left around 4:30ish and stopped to get some food from a local market before heading out. The weather has been in the 80*s here but the beach isn't always as warm. Okay, I've never been to the beach near where I live and have it been 80* that I can remember. Or if it was close to 80* it was completely overcast. But when we went Saturday it was beautiful out! I was worried because when we got into the Bodega area it became really foggy and we had wanted to see the sun set while we were there. Luckily it was perfectly clear at the beach and not windy at all. :)

♡ 

We were at the beach for a few hours, running in the waves, taking photos and collecting seashells. We walked for a long time down the beach and I didn't even realize how far we had gone until we had to make the trip back to the car. I tried taking photos with these birds and tried having Joe take a photo of me and these little birds but every time I went near them they ran even while they were looking for food. They were so cute and short and they ran to the waves when they were being drawn back into the ocean and then running away when a wave came in. I gave up when we had to go back to the car. But we saw the crab and that made up for it. The drive home was just as fun because we laughed and sang "No One" by Alicia Keys and "I Would Walk 500 Miles" by The Proclaimers even though we only knew the choruses. 

This beach trip was exactly what I needed to get back into a happy, relaxed state of mind. I've been feeling really stressed and not my best for a few weeks now and it hasn't been easy for me or Joe. He has been nothing but loving, supportive and patient with me which is important in any relationship, but it means so much to me. I don't want to get too personal or say too much but I also feel like I could fill up a book with how much I love and appreciate Joe. I'm just happy we both got to step back and forget about the stresses of every day life and enjoy an evening at the beach. Saturday was the first day in a long time that I laughed as hard as I did and smiled as much as I did. I can't stop looking through all of the photos we took and wishing that I had a few more hours or that I could spend each day like that. This beach trip was the most amazing day I've had all year and I was so happy to be spending it with my best friend. :) 

"Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused."

Alan Cohen