Tractor Cake

Got an order for a Tractor Cake and I was a little perplexed about how I was going to pull off the tractor part.  This was for a baby shower and the invites featured a silouhette of a tractor.  How hard can this be I thought ~ well, to my frustration, it was pretty stinkin' hard!  My first attempt resembled something my 15 month old granddaughter might do. I was not impressed and I knew my customer wouldn't be either.  I dashed off to Wally World to find a toy tractor to put on the cake.  I knew in shopping for my grandson a few months ago there had been LOTS of John Deere Tractors available in all sorts of sizes in the toy department.  Evidently, that was then, and this was now, because there was not one toy tractor of any kind on the shelves!!!   Later that night, I visited Tarjay and found a CAT.  It wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but it would have to do because I was so outta time! I think the results were pretty good and my customer seemed pleased.  Besides as this little boy gets a little older he will have a fun toy that makes really cool sounds.  This was a vanilla cake with raspberry filling, buttercream and chocolate icing.  YUM, YUM!

Lemon Ricotta Muffins

 I thought it would be fun to start sharing some of my favorite recipes and since I am all about muffins these days, I thought this would be a great place to start.  I found this recipe on line and tweaked it a little and these are my results!

Anything that starts with creamed butter and sugar has got to be good . . . right?

 And the juice of a lemon for a nice little zing . . . kinda cuts the sweet taste!

Now I don't have one of those fancy "zesters," but somehow I make this work.

We are getting there with most of the "wet" ingredients.

Here is my assortment of "dry" ingredients.

Ahhhh, the wet and the dry ~ now to put them together.

This is important, use a spoon when you mix the wet and dry together. You don't want to overwork the batter.

Don't worry about "overfilling" the muffin cups.

Cooked to perfection!

How's this for a breakfast or snack?

And while I was working, I heard the sounds of my grandchildren playing.

What wonderfully vivid imaginations they have!

Here is the recipe:

Lemon Ricotta Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups whole wheat flour

½ cup all purpose white flour

¼ cup milled flax seed

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter (softened)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 tablespoon lemon zest

Juice of one whole lemon

½ teaspoon almond extract

¾ cup buttermilk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375°.  Place whole wheat flour, white flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flax seed in a bowl.  Mix together and set aside.

Place softened butter and sugar in a bowl.  Beat with electric mixer until fluffy.  Add lemon zest and ricotta cheese and mix well.  Next add eggs, lemon juice, and almond extract and continue to beat well.

Add liquid mixture to flour mixture and stir well.  Add buttermilk and stir until all ingredients are moistened.

Prepare muffin pan with either paper liners or spray.  Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups.  Sprinkle tops of muffins with broken sliced almonds and white sugar.  Turn temperature down to 350° and place muffins in center of oven.  Bake for 18 to 22 minutes.  Place cooked muffins onto cooling rack and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.  These freeze well and can be placed in the microwave oven for 30 to 50 seconds on high for a fresh out of the oven taste.