You know how sometimes you get an idea in your head and regardless of how silly it is, you just gotta do it? I got the idea in my head the other day to bake a cake, and so even though I don't need a cake for any reason, I decided to bake one. Sometimes baking is just so therapeutic. You make a total mess, get to taste-test sugary goodness, watch silly tv shows as you bake, and at the end you have a (hopefully) yummy result. Plus, I make such a huge mess when I bake that I have to clean the kitchen afterward, which means I get cake and a clean kitchen. Of course, now I have a cake in my fridge and no one to eat it. Our neighbors brought over cookies for us when we were siding the house, and last week they brought Dan some barbecued chicken legs while he was working on the house. So I'm thinking I should take a couple generous slices of cake over to see if they'd like some.
The cake and blackberry lime jam recipes can be found here. I didn't have any black tea on hand, so I used some Republic of Tea Ginger Peach Green Tea instead. I'd love to try this with some Earl Grey black tea, though. I didn't have the frosting ingredients for the Honey Whipped Cream used at the original cake recipe, so I decided on a simple buttercream frosting, but with a zesty lemon kick. I figured the lemon would pair well with the blackberry lime jam. Ugh, it's SO good. Frosting is usually too rich for me, so the citrus lightens it up enough for me to really enjoy it fully. And fully is an understatement. And speaking of frosting... let's just say that this is the "rustic" method of frosting a cake. That's just fancy-speak for "messy."
Lemon Buttercream Frosting:
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter softened
1 tsp vanilla 1 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup of milk
3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1. Mix together the butter, lemon zest and vanilla, mixing until smooth and free from lumps. 2. Alternate adding the confectioners sugar by the 1/2 cup and the milk as you continue mixing. 3. Once all the sugar and milk has been added, cream for two minutes and then add the lemon juice.
