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a tree in bloom

delicious lemon cake perfect for spring

Published by fairfaxhill

At times I feel like I’m solar powered. That’s why I love it so much when spring finally arrives in Marin. The sunshine makes me feel happy and energized. Last Saturday, it looked like we were finally going to enjoy a little sunlight and warmth after what has been the rainiest winter I can remember — and just in time for Easter!

On my Saturday “to-do” list was making dessert for the family potluck on Sunday. Sarah suggested making lemon bars from Tartine’s cookbook — one of her favorite desserts.

A picture from my walk last Saturday.

Sarah has always made the lemon bars, but I thought it was about time I tried making them myself. Making the lemon bars turned out to be pretty easy; the last step was to place the tray in the fridge to allow the bars to set and cool overnight. I was proud of myself for getting everything everything ready a day early. Time to relax!

The next morning, the lemon bars were ready, but Sarah was sick, so we thought it would be best for the four of us to skip Easter lunch in case we were contagious. Unfortunately, that didn’t mean we got to keep the dessert. (Potluck assignments are serious business in this family!) Thanks to Patrick the lemon bars were delivered right on time, as requested.

After waiting a whole day for lemon bars, Sarah and I were a bit disappointed. We were both looking forward to indulging in a little dessert, and I especially was curious about how my first time making the famous Tartine lemon bars had turned out.

We considered making another batch, but that meant waiting another day to eat something sweet. (We didn’t have time for that!) So, when I saw Elsa Billgren’s Instagram story, a short reel with the most beautiful pictures showing how she made lemon cake, I knew we had our answer.

You may not know Elsa Billgren. I didn’t know who she was either, until recently. She is a Swedish blogger I stumbled upon while reading a magazine I borrowed from the library via the Libby app about a year ago. I started reading Elsa’s blog on and off and following her Instagram account to practice my Swedish. I love reading other people’s blogs, and the photos she posts are beautiful; they definitely make me want to visit Sweden again.

This cake is gluten-free. But don’t be scared away by this if you’ve never baked GF recipes!

I had never made a gluten-free cake before, and I was a bit skeptical and nervous that it wouldn’t turn out right. Trust me, this cake tastes great — and I’ve translated the recipe for you. You are welcome! 😉

Also, if you aren’t into GF and don’t have any food allergies, you can substitute all-purpose flour for the GF flour. I hope you like it as much as we did!

Elsa’s Lemon Cake
adapted from Elsa Billgren‘s Citronkaka

Ingredients

200 g butter (room temperature) (approx. 14 tablespoons or a little less than 2 sticks)
2 dl sugar
3 eggs (room temperature)
0.75 dl yogurt (approx. ⅓ cup)
2 dl almond flour (approx. ¾ cup)
2 dl gluten-free flour (approx. ¾ cup)
1.5 tsp baking powder
1 pinch of sea salt flakes (I used Maldon sea salt)
zest of 1 lemon, plus a little extra for decorating
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract

Lemon Glaze
2 dl powder sugar (approx. ¾ cup)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
lemon zest

  1. Set the oven to 350 F. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. With the mixer at medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well.
  2. Zest and juice the lemon.
  3. In another bowl, using a whisk, combine the almond and gluten-free flours, salt and baking powder. Add this to the sugar mixture, followed by the yogurt and the vanilla.
  4. Line a loaf pan (1lb. capacity/9×5 inches) with parchment paper and pour the batter into it. Bake in the middle rack of the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is nice and golden.
  5. Important! Let the cake cool down on a wire rack for about 20 minutes before glazing.
  6. Mix the powdered sugar with the lemon juice to make the glaze. Drizzle or spread the glaze over the top of the cake once it has cooled down and sprinkle with more lemon zest before serving.

Notes/Tips:
This cake is not your typical pound cake. The texture is a little sandy and softer than the lemon cake you’d find at Peet’s, for example.

Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature for the best results.

Swedish recipe conversion tip:

  • I use a Pyrex cup which has markings for mililiters to measure dry ingredients.
  • 2 dl = 200 ml, approx. 3/4 cup; 0.75 dl = 75 ml, approx. 1/3 cup

I tried it! Easter Egg Candles DIY

Last week I was also inspired by Brittany Jepsen, from @thehouselarsbuilt to make Easter egg candles. I followed the instructions I found here to make them. This is a simple way to recycle old candles and crayons. You know, all those random little bits you find in your kitchen drawers.

Keeping the wick in place was the toughest part. I am not sure how well the candles will burn if the wick isn’t straight, but I love how they turned out!

Looking forward to a mini vacation

I am having a hard time believing I might have a chance to wear my crochet cover up in just about one week. I can’t wait! If you are interested in making one of these to take on your next beach vacation, here’s the link to the pattern.

a white crochet cover-up on a wood hanger

XO

-Gabi

designing a hat in five days

Published by fairfaxhill

About a week ago, I got an email from Clare from Sister Mountain announcing her new workshop: “Design a Hat in 5 Days”. I’ve been curious about knitwear design for a long time and signed up for Clare’s sweater design workshop introduction a few years ago, but decided not to go ahead with the full course, since I didn’t feel like I had enough time to design a whole sweater. But a small project like this one could be the perfect introduction I was looking for, so I signed up!

Because we would only have five days to complete the project, our homework before Day 1 was to draw a quick sketch of the hat we intended to make and to knit, wash, and dry our swatch sample.

My first idea had been to use a sport-weight yarn and to try to incorporate some pretty cables, but when I realized how long it was taking me to knit my small swatch, I changed plans and opted for a bulky yarn instead. I also picked a stitch pattern that I could knit up quickly, even if I wasn’t crazy about it.

When you swatch in the round, you carry the yarn on the back of the work. After you cut the threads they look like fringe.

The workshop was great. We learned all the steps required to design our hats and even prepare for publishing a pattern. We also learned how to keep track of all our measurements to easily grade our final design into different sizes with the help of a spreadsheet, which was super smart!

Working out the details on paper.

Figuring out the decreases to complete the crown of my hat turned out to be the most challenging part of the project. It turns out some stitch patterns are better suited for neat looking decreases than others, and there is no single recipe that applies to all hats! It all depends on the look you are going for.

Unfortunately, the way I was being taught to create the decreases in the class wasn’t making sense to me. Most likely because I’d been learning about a different way to calculate hat decreases from someone else, so I was getting quite confused. By day 5, I was also ready to finish the hat and move on to a different project. 

So, instead of trying to figure out the decreases using our spreadsheet, as we had been instructed, I did it differently: I looked up “how to decrease a 2×2 rib hat” on YouTube.

Finished Hat

I finished knitting the hat on Saturday night. It looks cute on my daughter — not so cute on me. I think I would prefer a longer brim that could be folded. Right now it feels too much like a shower cap. Ha, ha, ha…

I had more ideas on ways to improve my design, but I honestly don’t feel like knitting the whole thing again. I’ve decided to put it aside and not get hung up on the fact that I don’t love it. I’m sure my next hat will be much better.

So, stay tuned – I might have a hat pattern for you sometime in the near future! I am excited to try different stitches, colors, and yarn weights. It’s really not so difficult. Who knows? I may get good enough at this to teach others how to do it, too! Wouldn’t that be fun?

If you are curious about knitwear design, I recommend that you try out one of Clare’s classes. Not only will you get a taste of what it’s like to create your own patterns, you’ll also have the opportunity to connect with knitters from all over the world that are just as excited as you to acquire some new skills.

Have you knitted or bought a hat that you’ve loved lately?