Blog Hop: 1-24-11

Baby Shower Wreath

Our small group at Women's Bible Study is throwing a baby shower tea on Wednesday.  I wanted to make a diaper wreath, but this expecting momma is using cloth diapers with her second baby boy. 
So, I used diaper rags, a styrofoam wreath I never used at Christmas, ribbon I had at home and some coordinating baby socks to decorate a wreath for the tea.  I wrapped each diaper rag around the wreath and put a rubber band around it.  I covered the band with ribbon.  When done, I wrapped the same ribbon around the middle and then safety pinned the socks on the top.  Voila!
Instead of hanging the wreath, we are going to use it as a centerpiece.  We are deciding between putting flowers in a vase in the middle or using a hurricane lamp with a candle in the middle--what do you think?  I'm leaning toward a hurricane lamp with a candle. . .

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Photo Project: Week 3: Breakfast

Breakfast is our favorite meal of the day. Thursday we had no appointments, no school, and no place to go. So we enjoyed our pajamas for a bit and had a pancake breakfast. The boys loved it, and so did I.

A few had chocolate chips. . .

Happy boy

No more pictures, mommy!

Lime Coconut Cake

With the warmer weather this week, I was excited to bake this citrus treat.  I love coconut, and I have always loved lime and lemon.  I got the recipe from Heidi's Recipes a couple of weeks ago.  Heidi got the recipe from the Smitten Kitchen, which adapted the recipe from an original post in Gourmet magazine.

Here are the ingredients you will need.

Any recipe with a well-buttered pan is bound to be delicious.

Trace the pan onto parchment paper to get a good fit for the parchment on the bottom.

The piece de resistance--toasted coconut.

Yummy--lime zest, sugar and butter ready to be mixed.

The zesting was a little work, but it left such a fresh taste in the cakes!

The final product--it smells delicious.  I think it looks gorgeous too!

Lime Coconut Cake

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon grated lime zest (key limes or standard limes)
2 large eggs
1 3/4 cups self-rising flour (or 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour + 3/4 teaspoon salt + 1 3/4 teaspoon baking        powder whisked together)
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice, divided
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon coconut rum (optional--I didn't use)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Generously butter or spray a 9 inch round cake pan and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.
3. Spread coconut on a baking sheet.  Toast coconut at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, stirring twice. Cool coconut.
4. Beat together butter, granulated sugar, and lime zest with an electric mixer until fluffy (about 2 minutes).  Beat in eggs one at a time.  
5. Whist together flour and 1/2 cup toasted coconut (reserve remainder for topping).
6. Stir together milk and 2 tablespoons lime juice.
7. At low speed, mix flour and milk mixtures into egg mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour.
8. Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth top.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until top of cake is slightly golden and a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool slightly, then turn out of pan and discard parchment.
9. Whisk together confectioners sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons of lime juice (add more if icing is too thick), and rum (if using) and spread on cake.  Sprinkle with remaining coconut.

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