Lemon Buttermilk Sheet Cake from Cook's Country

 

This is such a yummy lemony treat!  My husband likes to make in the springtime.  Cook's Country does it again!  

Cake:

2 1/2 c. cake flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 c. buttermilk, room temp.

3 Tbsp. grated lemon zest and 1/4 c. juice from 3  to 4 lemons (my husband used a little more of the lemon zest)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 3/4 c. sugar

12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, room temp.

Glaze: 

3 c. powder sugar

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. buttermilk

1. FOR THE CAKE:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 F. Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.  Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl.  Combine buttermilk, lemon juice, and vanilla in liquid measuring cup.

2.  With electric mixer on medium speed, beat sugar and lemon zest until moist and fragrant, about 1 minute.  Transfer 1/4 c. sugar mixture to small bowl, cover and reserve.  Add butter to remaining sugar mixture and beat until light and fluffy about 2 minutes.  Beat in eggs and yolk, one at a time, until incorporated.  Reduce speed to low.  Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of buttermilk mixture, and mix until smooth, about 30 seconds.

3.  Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top.  Bake until cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes.  Transfer cake to wire rack and let cool 10 min.

4.  For the glaze:  meanwhile, whisk powder sugar, lemon juice, and buttermilk until smooth.  Gently spread glaze over warm cake and sprinkle evenly with reserved sugar mixture.  Cool completely, at least 2 hours.  Serve  

*Note:  Do not over bake!  It will be dry, this cake should be moist it just tastes so much better!  also the sugar mixture shouldn't be clumpy-- tips from the chef :) 

Funeral Potatoes with Ham from Tastes Better from Scratch

 

I had to make funeral potatoes for a neighbor lady's family the other day and since I hadn't made them for a while, I thought I would look up a recipe.  This one had 5 stars from over 5,000 votes so I knew it had to be a winner!  And it smelled so good when I took it out of the oven -  I had to make it for my husband and me and whichever of my kids that pops in.  A reader said she cut up ham and put it in to make a main dish - and that is what I did and it tasted amazing! I love the crunch of the cornflakes on top. 

30 oz. frozen hash browns, diced or shredded, thawed (I used 10 small potatoes diced and parboiled them instead of the hash browns) 

2 c. sour cream

10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup (I used organic - but can also make your own)

10 Tbsp. melted butter - divided  6 Tbsp. for main dish+ 4 Tbsp. for the topping

1 Tsp. salt ( I also used 1 tsp. seasoning salt and 1/2 tsp garlic salt, I love that on potatoes)

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. dried onion

Ham if you want to make this a main dish.  I just cut up about 1 cup I used honey ham but this would be a great dish to use up leftover holiday ham

1. Thaw frozen potatoes by putting in fridge overnight or spread them on a baking sheet and warm them in the oven at 200 degrees for about 20 min. until thawed

2. preheat oven to 350 F.

3. Combine sour cream, cream of chicken soup, 6 Tbsp. butter, salt, pepper, seasoning salt, garlic salt and dried onion in a bowl.  Mix well.

4. Add potatoes and shredded cheese and ham stir to combine.  Spoon mixture into a single layer in a 9x13 pan.

5. Add cornflakes to a gallon size Ziplock bag and crush gently with your hands or use rolling pin.

6. Add remaining 4 Tbsp. of melted butter to the crushed cornflakes and combine well.  Sprinkle mixture over potatoes.

7. Bake uncovered at 350 for 40 - 50 min.