I wanted to have this post up last week, but you know how life is.....unpredictable. I was able to bake yesterday and made a batch of delicious Lemon Tea Cake <---click there for the recipe. I did a half batch with that recipe and got 4 mini loaves out of it. One of the loaves can be seen at left, all wrapped up and already given as a gift. The other 3.....well, that recipe is SO good that there's only half a loaf left. My kids took some for their snack at school today and we've all been picking at them since they came out of the oven yesterday afternoon. Those little loaves are ADDICTIVE! Next time, I'm making a FULL batch!
So.....we have new neighbors that moved into the unit in the front of our building (there's 5 units total). I wanted to make something to welcome them to our little "neighborhood" and so I made a batch of this Lemon Tea Cake. Of course, you all know me....I can't just bake something and wrap it up in plastic wrap and be done with it.
It became just what I wanted to share on this week's Bake it, Make it & Take it!
You can get 4 small loaves or 2 large loaves out of the half batch recipe. And if you want to put some in the freezer or give some as gifts, the full recipe will make 8 small loaves or 4 large loaves. This is my mother's own recipe and it's VERY easy to make, even though it's "from scratch." Make sure you save just a little bit of the batter in the bowl at the end so that you can lick it off your fingers or the spatula! That's one of the best parts!
I always have a variety of sizes of Cellophane bags on hand because they work really well for a nice presentation of a homemade gift. They're great for baked goodies! I put the lemon tea cake in a cello bag and the end of the bag wasn't long enough to twist and tie with a ribbon, so I twisted it, folded the end over and used a piece of tape to hold the end down.
I find that a belly-band works really well to dress up a loaf of bread. It fancies it up, but you can still see plenty of that yummy bread to make you drool.
I used a couple of strips of patterned paper from the Blue Bayou Prints Designer Series paper. There's never any question of your colors matching when it comes to patterned paper when you use the Prints papers. I love that they have 12 prints in each pack and they all are made within one color and have a ery nice monochromatic look to them.
I found a piece of ribbon in my stash that matched the flowers on the top strip of patterned paper and adhered that across the strip, then wrapped it around the loaf of tea cake and secured it underneath with a little bit of Sticky Strip.
For the stamped decoration on top of the loaf, I used Kitchen Sink Stamp's new Playful Ovals set. I stamped the large flower oval on Blue Bayou cardstock (see how well it coordinates with the patterned paper in the same color?) with Versamark ink and then embossed it with White embossing powder. The word, "for," comes from a pack of rub-ons and the word, "you," comes from the Never a Loss 4 words set (also from Kitchen Sink Stamps). The little diamond shaped image under the words comes from the Playful Ovals set. I embossed that, and the word, "you," with white embossing powder.
I forget, sometimes, that I have decorative edge scissors. Remember how popular those used to be about 8 years ago? I used to have TONS of them, but got rid of about 15 pairs about a year ago. I was running out of room in my tool turn-about. I kept some scissors that were "staples" to me. Like the scalloped pair. I took those out and used them to cut around the flower oval. I then mounted that on top of white cardstock and cut that out with the same scissors.
I "blinged it up" by adding some self-adhesive rhinestones. White ones around the oval and a small blue one in the middle of the diamond image. I added a flower rhinestone at the top and added a small white rhinestone in the center of the flower.
I made a cute little tag to hang off the side of the large oval. I stamped the small flower oval from the Playful Ovals set on a scrap of white cardstock with Blue Bayou ink and then used a black fine point marker to write a little greeting. I cut this out with scissors and then punched a hole in both the tag and the large oval with my 1/16 inch hole punch. I threaded the tag onto some thin silver wire, hooked it up to the large oval and curled the ends of the wire with my stylus. That nifty little tool is one of the best tools you'll get for $2.50. It's great for curling the end of wire AND for applying rub-ons with fine detailing.
The large oval is mounted on top of the belly band with pop-dots.
I've already knocked on the door of the neighbor's place and got to meet both of them. They looked happy when I handed over my gift. :) Smiling new neighbors.....mission accomplished for today. Now, I'm gonna go eat me some of that last piece of tea cake. :)
By the way.....my mom has an awesome blog full of great recipes and you can get on her mailing list for updates. Click here ---> Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases
And here's the link for that awesome tea cake again ---> Lemon Tea Cake
Happy Creating!
-Stampin' Mama
"Hmmm, Hmmm, Hmmm"
I think I am drooling over my keyboard. I love lemon poppy seed cake, this seems very similar and delicious! I'll have to give it a try!
I'm sure the neighboors will feel welcome... :-)
Posted by: Bee | March 17, 2008 at 06:55 PM
that seems like a delicious gift!
Posted by: bainbridge island florist | March 17, 2008 at 09:08 PM
Nice!! If my neighbor was to give that to me, I'd be smiling too! :)
Posted by: BunnyB | March 17, 2008 at 09:36 PM
what a nice gesture! homebaked/homemade gifts are always a hit. I love your packaging. will have to try out the recipe, I love lemon!
Posted by: Donna | March 17, 2008 at 09:49 PM
Such a nice treat Erika!! :)
Posted by: Julie Masse | March 17, 2008 at 10:08 PM
Erika!!! Lemon is my FAVE flavor for cakes!!! And breads!! And bars!! LOL And what timing as we'll be moving in over a month and need to introduce ourselves (and our pups!!) to our new neighbors.....who are not very close being in the rurals, but still a wonderful little gift!!! These labels with the BLING are totally up my alley!!! Thanks so much for sharing such fantastic ideas!! OH!! And I just received my CD this evening!!! THANKYOU!!!! :)
Posted by: LuvLee | March 17, 2008 at 10:28 PM
Yummy- I'm not sure what is better- the treat or getting such a neatly decorated treat!
I am THRILLED that you won the purse contest. I voted for you and usually that is the kiss of death to the contestant! Guess I wasn't bad luck this time!
Posted by: Heather the MooseLover | March 18, 2008 at 12:03 AM
That looks so Yummy!! I love lemon cake. I really like the way you packaged it.
Dee
Posted by: Dee | March 18, 2008 at 07:22 AM
YUMMY!!!! I know what I'm going to bake today!!! :O) Thanks for sharing the recipe and please tell Mom thank-you too!!!
Posted by: Nancy | March 18, 2008 at 09:00 AM
what an awesome gift idea!!
Posted by: cheryl moody | March 18, 2008 at 10:24 AM
What a great gift. You've made it look so awesome. Thanks for sharing the recipe. My DH loves any kind of bread like that..can't wait to make some for him. Now I'm off to check out your mom's blog. Thanks Erika!!
Posted by: kim3timemom | March 18, 2008 at 10:56 AM
Thanks for sharing! I love lemon like you love chocolate so I will definitely be making this. What a thoughtful neighbor you are!
Shawn K.
Posted by: Shawn K. | March 18, 2008 at 04:17 PM
MMMMMM....yummy! Course the packaging is so pretty, no one will want to eat it! LOL!
Posted by: Michele | March 19, 2008 at 12:34 AM
Wow.. Your blog is Amazing all on it's own.. but then you link us to your mom's... well, I think I just gained 5 lbs in the last few min of drooling there! I'm not a baker, I like to cook savory foods. But, I can certainly appreciate all those wonderful Scrach N Sniff photos there! WOW WOW WOW. Now, I have a hankering for some cinamon rolls. I may even have to bake them myself! Your Blog is never boring! Thanks for all the shares!
I'd love to be your neighbor! Hugs, Lourin
Posted by: Lourin | March 19, 2008 at 10:42 AM
you are such a thoughtful neighbor! I hope your new nabes appreciate the effort you put into welcoming them!! This bread looks DEEEEE-lish! I have to make some for Easter Sunday and I might just try this recipe! I LOVE lemon flavored anything! Beautiful job and TFS! Have a wonderful Easter:)
Posted by: Carol | March 19, 2008 at 05:31 PM
**The Bread looks delicious!!
Your packaging is Beautiful!!
Such a great gift...from a kind neighbor!
The belly-band looks sweet..pretty papers.
Gotta LOVE the Oval-Scallop Bling Label...
embossing..rhinestones...All Beautiful!!
Thanks for sharing.
Dee
Posted by: Dee | March 19, 2008 at 07:21 PM
I loved this project! I look forward to Fridays now just because of "Bake It, Make It and Take It"! You're making me fat! On the bright side, people can't wait to see me because I show up with all your good ideas in hand!
I did tag you -- you're one of the blogs I enjoy reading the most! http://barefootstamper.typepad.com/barefoot_stamper/2008/03/in-the-words-of.html
Posted by: Susanna | March 19, 2008 at 09:53 PM