A Pinterest Win.... and more....

I often find that things I find on Pinterest are hit or miss when it comes to recipes but this particular cake recipe was a complete win and is going in my permanent file.  

Thanks to the Baker Upstairs for her magnificent Fresh Strawberry Cake.  

It was a lovely way to finish our Easter meal today.  

Here are my process photos...

The cake base for the cake uses a strawberry puree.  It is a very fresh flavor!  I love using natural ingredients and making cakes from "scratch"

Putting the layers together... 

you could cut the sections in half and have four layers if you like.  

I chose not to this time out.

My kitchen is hot this time of year because we have not turned the air on yet but I frosted in layers.  I gave it a crumb coat and then chilled it.  

I gave it a second coat of frosting and then smoothed it out.

This is what was left after lunch today...

and a little different angle

It was a huge hit and I followed the instructions to the letter from The Baker Upstairs' recipe.  It is going into our permanent rotation for holidays and birthdays.  It is the perfect strawberry season cake!

A few more pictures from today....

He is risen, INDEED!

We were blessed to be surrounded by family and food today as we came together after church for our annual Resurrection Weekend celebration.

 I am not the only person in my family that cooks... my husband makes pancakes every Sunday for the family before we head out to church.  With today being Easter we had boiled eggs served in egg cups... 

 and I enjoyed coffee in my little Fiestaware cup. 

 Love my pastel egg cups!

 I made a Hummingbird Cake for Easter again this year

 and here is the dough for the Hot Cross Buns I made.

 I use a nice cream cheese frosting for the cake and then pecans to cover the sides and decorate the top.

 I finish the cake with malted speckled egg candies.

 It is very sweet and yummy but it does not take much to satisfy.  It is called hummingbird cake for it's sweetness that would draw hummingbirds to it.  LOL

 Check out the pecans on the side... adds a nice bit of bite to the cake.

 These are the buns proofing with a light eggwash on top.

 I also made a fruit salad from fruit my MIL had in her refrigerator.  

 Grandma decorated her table with lovely roses from her garden.

Hot Cross Buns ready for finishing...

 We used a 1/2 cup confectioners sugar and a Tbsp of milk to make the topping and we piped it from a sandwich bag with a tiny hole cut in one corner of the bag.

 My daughter topped them for us.

DELICIOUS!  My first bread in 21 days.  LOL  So worth the wait.

We are thankful for the many blessings of this day and for a Savior who died and rose again so that we are forgiven and live free in Him with the hope of an eternity with Him.  I am most grateful that my family shares in this promise and we all serve a risen Savior today, together!

Broke fast a day early...

I know it is day 20 but I needed to let it go.  We have too many things this weekend where I am needing to bake and cook and eat with people from church and scouts so I have no regrets...  it was a very focused and productive time and I learned a great deal about things I need to change as I move forward, both physically and spiritually.  I went 19 full days and now the transition starts to a cleaner diet long term.  I am still tracking calories on SparkPeople.com.  Although it was not done for weight loss I did lose 6 pounds in the process and gained a greater understanding of things my body needs to be stronger and healthier.  I highly recommend SparkPeople for motivation and tools to help you watch what you put into your body.  I will be back with more juice recipes from the weekend on Monday.

In the meantime, I am working on this...

Hummingbird Cake from Martha at Dave Ramsey's site.  

I have made lots over the years and this is a nice one.

Also working on these from Joy of Baking (great site)...