Recipe: Lemon 7Up Bundt Cake

Welcome to Quince Cottage!
As you may already know, we like to mix it up a little. While the majority of our posts are decor-related/DIYs, occasionally we share a favorite recipe. Which brings us to this cake, which Rhiann first enjoyed quite a few years ago at a work party. Credit goes to "Karen", and honestly we don't know where Karen got the recipe. At any rate, it's a keeper! The crust gets almost crunchy like a cookie, while the inside is moist and tender. Plus, the lovely lemon flavor. It's all good!
Now that it's feeling spring-like down here in the South, a lemony dessert seems like just the thing. So, wouldn't you know, the one ingredient Rhiann forgot to buy was the lemon extract! She only realized this after getting all the other ingredients out of the fridge and pantry. Good thing there's a grocery store about five minutes away. And on a positive note, that gave the soda time to come to room temperature, so all's well that ends well, right?

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Ingredients:

8 oz. whipped butter
1/2 C Crisco shortening
8 oz. 7Up (room temperature)
5 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon extract
3 C flour
3 C sugar

Optional Glaze Ingredients:

1 stick butter
1 small package cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 C confectioner's sugar
(Combine butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and mix in. Add confectioner's sugar, 1/4 C at a time).

Directions:

1. Combine first 6 ingredients, in order (add eggs one at a time). We used a stand mixer with the whip attachment and if we'd had a splash guard, we would have used it. Don't worry if it seems like the soda and the butter/Crisco combo will never become "one". Once you add the eggs, things start to improve (but still look pretty funky).
2. Mix sugar and flour together and then add to wet mixture in batches. Once the batter is smooth, it's ready to pour in the pan.
3. Grease a bundt pan. We used cooking spray and it didn't work 100%, so greasing might be better.
4. Cook at 300 degrees F for one hour (put cake in when the oven is cold). Raise oven temperature to 350 degrees F and cook 15 more minutes.
5. Allow to cool 15 minutes and then remove from pan.
6. Allow to cool thoroughly before glazing if you do the glaze. We sprinkled confectioner's sugar instead, which did a fairly decent job of camouflaging the spots where the cake didn't unmold perfectly.

Here's what the cake looked like when first removed from the oven.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here are a few more pix...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Would you like a slice?

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We enjoyed just as much the next night! By the way, that stiped table treatment was an earlier DIY, if you want a closer look, see it here.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Isn't that rose pretty? Our rose bushes just started blooming a week or so ago.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now it's time for a cute terrier pic!

Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Don't forget about #MagpieMonday on IG. Follow us here to learn more.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Quince Cottage Style is #agrarianchic - a mix of old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful, 

and as though it wasn't born yesterday!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Welcome back to Quince Cottage! Did you come because of that delicious aroma you smelled? We thought so...
Banana Bread is the go-to when those bananas you bought a few days ago have been malingering in the fruit bowl a little too long. This recipe will use up two of those dark, mushy dudes and make anyone within sampling distance pretty darn happy.
Just look at that slightly crunchy exterior and all the melty chocolate goodness inside. Yummo!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Ingredients:
1/4 C butter
2/3 C white granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla (real, not imitation)
8 oz. plain Greek yogurt
2 bananas, mashed
2 C flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 C milk chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave (you want it melted, not boiling hot).
4. Stir the sugar and then the vanilla into the melted butter.
5. Add eggs, one at a time, keep stirring so the cold eggs don't make the butter get lumpy.
6. Stir in bananas, then yogurt.
7. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in 3-4 batches, stirring to moisten after each addition.
8. Pour batter into pan.
9. Cook 55-65 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick.
10. Let cool 10-15 minutes and then remove from pan.

Tempting though it will be to dive right in, you should wait a half hour or so before slicing. Otherwise you are less likely to get nice, neat slices, and more likely to get a pile of crumbs (which will be delicious, but not as pretty).

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

And of course, a Jack Russell pic. It wouldn't be a Quince Cottage post without one. This is Buster. I have no idea why he looks so sad - he leads a very pampered life.

Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Quince Cottage Style is #agrarianchic - a mix of old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful, 

and as though it wasn't born yesterday!

Christmas Crack! It's Quick & Easy!

Welcome back to Quince Cottage!
As you may already know, we're pretty big fans of Pinterest. If you are too, please check out our boards here. Anyway, we kept seeing a recipe for "Christmas Crack" floating through our feed and we decided to try it.
The other name it goes by as Chocolate Saltine Toffee. Not quite as catchy...
We've seen a few variations in terms of recipes, which is great because it means it's "flexible" and you can customize it with things like peanuts, cashews, bacon bits, M & Ms, etc.
For our first attempt we decided to go with a basic version.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Are you drooling yet? Gonna have to send these to work with Ron, otherwise we'll just eat them all!

Ingredients:
40-50 Saltines
2 sticks salted butter
1 C firmly packed light brown sugar
2 C milk chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Line an 8" x 11" (doesn't have to be this exact size) pan with aluminum foil and spray the foil with cooking spray.
3. Line bottom of pan with saltines.
4. Melt butter and brown sugar together. Stir and let it come to a boil. Boil 2-3 minutes while stirring constantly.
5. Pour sugar-butter over saltines and quickly spread to cover (if it's not covering perfectly, don't worry).
6. Bake 6-8 minutes.
7. Sprinkle chocolate chips over hot mixture. Let the chips melt (we ended up having to put the pan back in the oven for 2 minutes). When they are melted, spread them evenly.
8. Let the pan cool down and then put it in the freezer for 30-45 minutes (until chocolate hardens).
9. Remove from freezer, lift foil and crack out of pan. Break crack into chunks.

This is one snack we can't share with Buster and Daisy, but don't worry about them - they get plenty of treats!

Daisy & Buster © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Quince Cottage Style mixes old and new, rustic and opulent.

Our goal is to make our new subdivision house look inviting, beautiful, 

and as though it wasn't born yesterday!

Summertime, and the Living is Peachy...

Alright, technically it isn't quite summer, but we've had enough hot days at Quince Cottage to make it feel like summer. Strolling past the luscious fruits and veggies at the Raleigh Farmers' Market, it's impossible not to be inspired to make ALL THE YUMMY THINGS.

State Farmers Market Raleigh © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

In a couple of weeks we're having company,which creates the perfect excuse to test-drive some recipes. There's nothing worse than seeing something that looks mouthwateringly delicious on Pinterest, making it, then having the result be worthy of one of those Pinterest Fails on Tumblr. Here's a recipe we thought looked tasty from cookingclassy(dot)com. We're glad we made it first, because the spice level was pretty overwhelming. Like eating pot pourri. It was hard to even taste those peaches I spent so much time peeling, pitting, and slicing... We also thought it could benefit from a bit of brown sugar.

So, we reformulated with fantastic results. Now we can share it with you! Now, of course, if you love heavy autumnal spices, by all means take a look at the original recipe.

Peach Bar Ingredients © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Except we decided to eliminate nutmeg in our second attempt and were glad we did. 
Ron noticed afterward that I'd forgotten to include the egg, so here you go.

Egg © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

We always had brown eggs in New England-down here in North Carolina they're considered kind of exotic I guess (judging by price and availability).

Ingredients
4 1/2 C peaches (about 10 peaches, firm but ripe, peeled, pitted, diced)
1 3/4 C white sugar, divided
3 1/2 TBS cornstarch
1/3 C brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of ground ginger
2 TBS orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
3 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C salted butter, cold and divided into cubes
1 large egg
1/4 C sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 13 x 9 inch baking pan
2. In small bowl, whisk together 3/4 white sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and ginger
3. In large bowl, toss peaches with orange juice and zest. Sprinkle sugar mixture over peaches and toss to coat. Set aside.
4. In another large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut butter into flour mixture with fork or pastry blender until it forms coarse crumbs.
5. In another small bowl whisk together egg, sour cream, and vanilla. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and stir to combine. Add remaining 1 C white sugar and brown sugar, stir to combine.
6. Spread and press half of crumb mixture into bottom of pan. Toss peach mixture once more and pour over crumb layer, spread to cover evenly. Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top in an even layer.
7. Bake 45-50 minutes (until golden).
8. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or allow to cool and cut into bars. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

And now, what y'all have been waiting for...

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Here, have a bite!

© Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Now, there's absolutely no reason why you couldn't make this recipe using other seasonal fruits. At Quince Cottage we love recipes that are simple, tasty, and customizable. We might try this with berries, apples, or pineapple. And if you don't have time to make a fruit filling, canned pie filling would definitely work.

Come back and see us again - we'll be sharing Porch Project #2!

Very Berry Oatmeal Cookies

Welcome, or welcome back! Sorry for the month-long silence, but it's been a very busy few weeks of packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning, and parenting. Oh, and some decorating projects have happened here at Quince Cottage as well, but more about those in future posts.

We love our new kitchen and one of the first things we baked in it was a batch of these cookies. They are yummy and easy and if you don't happen to have the same kind of nuts or dried fruit on hand, go ahead and change them up.

Very Berry Oatmeal Cookies © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Berry Berry Oatmeal Cookies Recipe
Makes 18 cookies

Ingredients
1/2 C butter
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C quick oats
1/2 C mixed dried berries (cranberries, cherries, blueberries)
1/4 C pecans

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream butter and sugar together, add in egg and vanilla
3. Stir flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and oats together. Add to creamed mixture.
4. Stir in berries and pecans
5. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto parchment lined cookie sheet
6. Bake 11-13 minutes. Cool on sheet 1 minute, then remove to wire cooling rack.

Thank you for stopping by! 

Here are some things we'll be talking about in upcoming posts: preparing a house for sale, moving with pets, window treatments, and fried rice (designers have to eat too!)

Hygge and Cwtch (and Cookies)

Hygge. Decoristas tell us this Danish word is having its fifteen minutes of fame, give or take. It means cozy gathering and includes the state of mind that goes along with the action. Something like, "Yeah, the weather is BLEAK, so let's light some candles, bake cookies, and pull our comfy chairs a little closer to the hearth." That's what CottageLife is all about, right?

Another word we like is "cwtch" which is Welsh and means cuddle or hug. It rhymes with "butch". "Give us a cwtch, Cariad." (Cariad means sweetheart, and apparently was an endearment often used by Rhiann's great grandmother).
Wales is a magical place. If you ever get the chance to go, take it! In the meantime, enjoy an armchair tour by feasting on our Wales Pinterest board Cymru Hiraeth .

But, speaking of feasting, back to the cookies...

As you may know by now, Quince Cottage loves super EASY, customizable recipes. An easier, more forgiving cookie recipe would be hard to find. You'll need to tear yourself away from snuggling by the fire for only a few minutes to make them!
Various recipes for these goodies have been floating around social media, so citing an original source would be close to impossible. We looked at a few and modified.
This recipe makes approximately 3 dozen cookies.

CAKE BATTER COOKIES RECIPE:

Ingredients
1 box of cake mix (flavor of your choice)
2 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cornstarch (because we now know this helps make a thicker cookie)
1/2 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C white chocolate chips

Customization: Use the cake mix flavor of your choice, and the chips or other add-ins of your choice (nuts, dried fruit etc.)

Directions
1. Mix the first five ingredients together.
2. Stir in whatever extras you want.
3. You can and probably should chill the dough at this point (it will help prevent cookie "spread" when you cook them, and make the dough easier to work with, as in less sticky).
4. Scoop by TBS onto parchment lined cookie sheet. With your fingers shape the individual lumps into elongated spheres (see photo below). This also helps curtail cookie spread.
5. Bake 8-9 min. at 350 degrees
6. Let sit on sheet 5 min. then remove to wire rack for cooling.

Now, if you want to sprinkle them with confectioner's sugar, or drizzle them with glaze, or dunk them in melted chocolate, don't let us stop you!

Elongated cookie balls © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Cake Batter Cookies © Rhiann Wynn-Nolet

Quince Cottage style is where rustic and sparkly rub shoulders. 

Think gilded mirror against a plank wall, and you'll know what we mean. 

We prefer our opulence a little beat up and our recipes 

GOOF-PROOF!