I’m sharing a secret about a special cake today!  

In less than a week we will have a wedding in our family.  Here I sit as the Mother of the Bride calm, cool, and with a list a mile long of things that need to be done this week!  I’ve planned.  Alli has planned.  So, hopefully things will fall into place each day as we eat away at the details that couldn’t be done until this week.  

One of those details is putting the finishing touches on their little wedding cake.  Alli opted for not serving cake to the guests – she’s going with something else that she loves.  She still wanted a cake for her and Andrew to cut, so she asked me if I’d make it.  I’m not a professional cake decorator, but she assured me she wants it simple.  Simple I can do.  We knew what cake she wanted – Blackberry/Raspberry Truffle Cake. This cake is a super, over-the-top, special cake! 

The icing that this recipe uses is a cream cheese base, but she asked for White Chocolate.  I went to Pinterest and found a recipe that has to be the best icing I’ve ever eaten!  I made up the cake and just put the crumb layer of icing on it.  I then wrapped it well and popped it into the freezer where it is awaiting the finishing layer of icing and a border and topping.  So when you see this pic, please know this is an unfinished cake!  

You can see cupcakes in the background.  I used the leftover batter to make the engaged couple a trial to taste.  They were in love (with each other and the cake!).  This cake is from Southern Living, which right there tells you it’s a winner!  Here are the recipes for both the cake and the White Chocolate Buttercream...

Blackberry Raspberry Truffle Cake

Ingredients

2 (18.25-ounce) packages devil’s food cake mix
6 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/3 cups water
1 1/4 cups light sour cream
1 (12-ounce) package semisweet chocolate morsels
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup seedless blackberry jam
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/4 cup water

For the Cream cheese Icing
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 (16-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 to 3 1/2 cups chopped pecans, toasted
Garnish: 1/4 cup blackberry and raspberry candies

Preparation

Beat first 5 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until blended.
Grease 3 (9-inch) parchment or wax paper-lined round cakepans. Pour batter evenly into cakepans.
Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake layers in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Remove from pans, and remove paper. Cool completely on wire racks.
Combine chocolate morsels and whipping cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, 10 minutes or until mixture is smooth. Pour into a mixing bowl; cover and chill 1 1/2 hours or until mixture begins to thicken.
Cook jams and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until jam melts. Brush tops of cake layers with jam mixture.
Beat chocolate mixture at medium speed with an electric mixer about 20 seconds or until stiff peaks form. (Do not over beat.)
Place 1 layer, glazed side up, on a cake platter. Spread with half of chocolate mixture. Top with another cake layer, glazed side down; spread with remaining chocolate mixture. Top with remaining cake layer, glazed side down. Secure layers by inserting wooden skewers from the top layer down through the other two layers.

If you want to try the Cream cheese icing – 
Beat cream cheese and powdered sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add whipped topping and vanilla, beating until smooth. Working quickly, frost top and sides of cake with cream cheese mixture. Press pecans around sides of cake. Garnish, if desired.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Betty Crocker SuperMoist Devil’s Food Cake Mix and Jelly Belly Confections Blackberries and Raspberries for candy. Candies may be found at Cracker Barrel, in the bulk candy aisle of supermarkets, or in specialty stores.

White Chocolate Buttercream

Ingredients

1 cup butter, unsalted and softened (if you’re a beginner – margarine is not the same. It WILL NOT hold, in fact it will just be gross).
3 cups powdered sugar (depending on the humidity/heat that day sometimes I have to add about 1/2 cup more, play around with it until you reach the consistency you desire)
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 oz white chocolate chips or Bakers Chocolate

Method
Melt the chocolate first. I prefer to pour the white chocolate chips in a glass bowl and place it over a pot of boiling water (double boiling), stirring constantly. If you are using Baker’s Chocolate, chop it up first. The microwave is another option, but keep your eye on it and do 30 seconds at a time. Let cool to room temperature.
Place softened butter in a bowl and sift the powdered sugar over top. Starting slow, mix until incorporated and then beat until fluffy (about a minute or two).
After you have scraped the bowl, add the cream and vanilla. At this point you can now stir in the melted, cooled chocolate.
Turn your mixer to medium-high and beat for 3-4 minutes.

Try not to eat more than one spoonful! =)

I pray that the finishing of the cake’s decorating will go smoothly!  It’s just my daughter’s once-in-a-lifetime wedding cake!  That’s no pressure!  Eeek, what have I gotten myself into?!  Pictures will come later.  

Do you have a special cake recipe you depend on for those once-in-a-lifetime occasions? 

With love from my country kitchen,

Healthy Light Lunch Options

Recently in filling out a little book my husband and I are doing together, I had to answer the question, “What are you bored with right now?”  My answer was “Lunch!”

I get weary of my lunch menu, probably because I don’t really put enough planning into it.  Hence, the same thing gets served often and I get tired of it!  When it comes lunchtime, I don’t want to “cook” a meal; I just want to fix something that will be quick.  I’ll be cooking supper later in the day – that’s when I bring out recipes and pans.  Lunchtime needs to be simple, but yummy.

So, this week I went searching for some light lunch ideas.  Though I want to eat something that will take away my hunger, I don’t want to fill up on fattening foods and destroy the day with a million calories.  I made this salad for lunch yesterday; it was filling, delicious, and a wonderful change…

This is Orange and Avocado Salad

The Orange Avocado Salad was really good!  I tweaked it a little bit – I didn’t have red onion, so I left that out, and I added turkey breast meat that I’d frozen.  I used a light salad dressing that I had rather than making the Lime Cilantro one they suggested, but would like to give that one a try when I have all the ingredients on hand!

Take a closer look.  Isn’t this dreamy?  I’m in love with avocados, as I mentioned earlier this week. The oranges give a nice little sweet taste to the salad.  Mmm, it was good, and only about 240 calories!

If you’re looking for some good, light options for lunch, I thought I’d share a few more to refresh your mid-day meal!

• BLT Salad
• Salmon Salad Sandwich
  
• Pizza Roll-up
• Shrimp Cobb Salad
• BBQ Chicken Sandwich (Using leftover chicken)
• Italian Vegetable Hoagies
  
• Loaded Spinach Salad
• Tijuana Torta

Talk about being a life-line! This godly wife was so trusted by her husband in her walk with God, that it altered the course of his life!  His story made me stop and ask myself a couple of questions:

A Peek Into My life This Week

2. Avocados.  Love these!  I eat them in salads, on tacos or fajitas, of course in guacamole, or whizzed into a dressing.  They’re also good for you!  The most economical place to get them is Sam’s.  I buy them for about $1 each.  Yum!!!

 3.  Fresh Flowers.  A sweet friend brought me this darling container and the flowers.  That was almost a week ago and they’re still fresh!  Most grocery stores sell bouquets for $5.  What a nice touch on the kitchen table!  I love the I Corinthians 10:31 verse on the jar!  (My friend said she found it at Lifeway!)

 4.  Cookbooks.  I could sit and read through cookbooks all afternoon.  Typically when I’m planning my menu, I have out two or three so I can find new things to try!  I always write on the page if we like it, or any changes I may  have made.  I found three of these books recently at Tuesday Morning (love that store!).  I got all three for under $30.  That’s a great price, since the real price is $25 each!

 5.  How cute are these adorable measuring cups?  I keep the 1/4 Cup one in the Granola container.  It makes a great little scoop!  A dear friend gave me these as a housewarming gift several months ago.  Any tool that’s not only functional, but also pretty makes cooking all the more fun!

 6.  Cream.  If we are running low on coffee creamers, we will risk snow, tornadoes, or hail storms to venture out and stock up!  My husband has been known to buy 5 or 6 jugs of the Peppermint Mocha at a time!  If you’re going to drink coffee, you might as well do it in style!

We are in the thick of wedding planning here at my house.  With Alli’s wedding a short 11 days away, the engaged couple is checking lists, running errands, securing last minute items, and getting excited about the big event around the corner!  There is no way that after all this preparation, that they have even a tiny inkling in their hearts that they want a divorce!  They are imagining, as every young couple, their “happily ever after” lives together!

No couple strives towards divorce, right?  Yet many marriages avoid doing the things that will keep them from it!  My husband is doing a series of posts on his blog this week about “How to Make Sure Your Marriage Will End in Divorce.”  His counsel yesterday was, “Do Not Pray Together.”  In my ears, I could hear many women asking the question that begs addressing:  “What do you do if the wife wants to pray together, but her husband won’t lead her in that way?”  Good question!

First:  Let’s start with the DON’T’s