Sunday School-Sugar Free Roasted Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

Wow, that is one long title for a cake, but it's going to be delicious.  And by sugar-free I do not mean that this is packed full of fake sweetener, nor do I mean that this is particularly healthy, there is still some butter and buttermilk in it (you could make it lighter by using non-fat buttermilk.)

So instead of refined sugar I used agave.  This created a much less-sweet cake, but that's ok because the strawberries really shine through which makes it amazing!

And let's talk about the roasted strawberries.  Roasting them caramelizes their sugars and makes them so sweet and delicious, adding salt just makes them taste more like strawberries, it's amazing!

And look at how delicious those strawberries make the top of this cake look!



Are you hungry yet?

Ok good, let's get going on this!

Roasted Strawberries

adapted from Joy the Baker

1 carton strawberries cut into halves or quarters (you can use more if you would like)

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons real maple syrup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400.

While you are slicing your strawberries, put a pat of butter on a edged cookie sheet (edges are super important!  If you don't have a cookie sheet with edges you can use a pyrex) and put in the oven until melted.

Swirl the melted butter around the pan and pour the sliced strawberries on top of it.

Drizzle with maple syrup and olive oil and sprinkle some salt all over those strawberries.



Now mix everything together, it's looking yummy!

Throw that pan in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until the strawberries are nice and tender and their juices have formed a syrup.

Buttermilk Cake

adapted from Joy the Baker

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/3 cup pure agave

salt

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup butter, melted

vanilla

Roasted strawberries

So while your strawberries are roasting you can go ahead and get this together, it's pretty simple and all you need is a bowl and a whisk!

Preheat oven to 400.

In a large bowl mix together all your liquid ingredients (agave, eggs, buttermilk, butter, vanilla).  Give them a quick whisk and make sure that everything is incorporated.

Then add in the flour and the baking powder.  Whisk until smooth (don't over whisk, it's ok if the batter is mostly smooth with a few chunks).

Butter and flour a pie pan, this will prevent the cake from sticking.

Scoop the cake in, all of it may not fit, you can make it into a cupcake or two if you feel like it.  Smooth out the top a little bit.



This is where this cake gets taken up a notch, it's about to get exciting.  Take your strawberries and spread them evenly over the cake, adding some of the syrup as well.



Throw that puppy in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until nice and golden brown and firm.

Allow to cool and slice and serve, everyone will be so impressed with your skills (especially since the name makes it sound so fancy!).

Also, for the record, this cake was so easy that I was able to make it with this much counter space.



I had just moved and that's about all I could clear off at the time, so no excuses, just go and bake and love it!

Love,

Keely

Weekly Wrap Up

Happy Friday lovelies!

I hope you had a fabulous week, as always!

This was my first full week in my new place and it is almost totally decorated!  My roommate and I have been having so much fun arranging things and making things for our walls and staying up really late talking.  It's a ton of fun!

We've been not only holed up in our apartment, we've been exploring our neighborhood as well and we are in love.  It's so wonderful (and they really like fireworks!)



This is my favorite wall!  My thrifted retro ball cart and a fabulous starburst mirror.  It's like going to the seventies!



My roomie and I hung up a bunch of embroidery circles (she loves sewing, I love cupcakes).  It's the easiest, cheapest project and it's SO cute!



Told you my neighborhood loves fireworks.  We had a block party and at the end of it there were fireworks, great fun!



Isn't this stop sign awesome?  It's yellow and is trying to keep you safe!



Strawberry lemonade cupcakes anyone?  Recipe coming soon!



My cute little German girl hairstyle.  Gotta love the braids (I'm a shoe in for a remake of The Sound of Music).



Exciting things are happening here, raspberries, maple syrup, water.



Turned into raspberry syrup and mixed with sparkling water.  Raspberry soda!  Amazing (it was missing a touch of vodka ;)).

So there you have it, a reasonable slow week (only 8 pictures this week, not the usual 15).

Love,

Keely

Weekly Wrap Up

Wow!  This week has been crazy!  Moving is quite the process (the best part is that it's such a good reason to get rid of SO much stuff!).

I have now found myself in a wonderfully wonderful apartment with an equally wonderful roommate and although it hasn't even been a full week since our first night here, it feels like it's been forever, it's just so lovely and we have so quickly made it into a home.

There were nights with friends, and a lot of nights with the roomie stay up late chatting, planning trips, organizing furniture and often ignoring that we have furniture and either standing or using the floor.  How charming, it's such an adventure!

Also!  With all this Instagram sharing I've never mentioned before that you can follow me on Instagram too!  My handle is @bowsandbutter, look forward to see you there.



Before I was actually moved in I had to christen to space with a cake (one thing done from my 22 before 23 list!) This is all the space I had.



Here is the finished product!  Thank you Joy the Baker this cake was fabulous! (Recipe to come).



And the classic slice shot, yum!



Here is our in progress living room, a fabulous blend of IKEA and vintage.   Love!  Those pictures resting on the couch are now hanging on the wall.



We replaced an ugly fixture with a Chinese lantern (FYI that is a jar of cupcake liners sitting on the dining room table!)



Here is the small tree that sacrificed it's life for my job.



Molasses cupcakes with brown sugar cream cheese frosting!  Recipe sometime in the near future :)



This is my house!  The light in the morning is so gorgeous and peaceful, wish I was more of a morning person so I could just sit there and drink my coffee, it's so perfect!



Me and the roomie planning a trip, we're hoping to go to Nashville!  Instead of using chairs and couches we sat on the floor, and ate strawberries out of the carton, it's the right way to do things.



This caught my eye, the street light lit up the trees and it was such an amazing view, the picture doesn't do it justice.



This is in the lobby at my office and I've been meaning to take a picture of it for forever cause it's so cool!   I want one in my house!

There it is folks.  I'm sure there will be more pictures of my new place as we get even more settled, but that was my week, relatively peaceful all things considered.

Love,

Keely

Weekly Wrap Up

Wow! What a week! There has been so much happening.

I got the keys to my first EVER apartment and I bought a car (guess that makes me an adult?)

It's pretty insane. I had the week off of wok so there were lots of work out pants and tank tops. There was a lot of eating, lounging, packing and MOVING!

It was insane!



I love that food trucks are blowing up in Denver! I got this delicious pizza at a food truck party, it was so delicious! And there was so much else going on, so fun!



Living in Colorado, there is so much great beer! I decided that this summer I'm going to embrace it, so me and a friend headed down to the Breckenridge Brewery and enjoyed a few drinks.



I wasn't always lazy, I did get dressed once or twice.



My friend is a bartender at Chili's, he makes me yummy drinks.  I went and hung out there for a while to read my book (I still have another 350ish pages to pound through by Thursday...sigh).



Here's the EMPTY apartment!  I just went over and hung out for a bit while it was empty, because it's mine and I could.  It was pretty fun :)



Here's my car!  A 1999 Subaru, so excited about it!

 



I have some idea of what the organization of my kitchen will be, so I put my dishes away.  This is my favorite cabinet :)



Brunch!  I love chocolate chip pancakes and I love good time with friends.



So if you ever come to Denver, it's a requirement to go to Casa Bonita, and it's not because of the food (beware of the food).  The experience is ridiculous!  Especially if you go with my friend Dan, he makes this experience so amazing (margaritas are also helpful :))



Look, I got dressed again!



Thrift find!  I kind of love this thing.  I want to put glasses and bottles on the bottom and then have the top be a "mail station" since it's right by the front door.  We'll see how it works.



I bought this jar at IKEA and am using it to store my many cupcake liners (idea from Pinterest).



I have a friend who is opening a small, consignment boutique and I went over to help her out.  I got to use a price gun, it was great!



Does your city have something like this?  It's called Canvas and Cocktails and you go to this place and they teach you how to paint, and you get to drink wine!  We were doing a take on a "Denver Starry Night."  Great fun.

So there we have it.  My week has been filled with fun, stress, craziness and a potential lack of hygiene (TMI?  Sorry about that, my bathroom is a little unorganized, I fully intend on shower tonight!).

Love,

Keely