Strawberry ~Lavender Cream Cheese Pound Cake~

Oops..I meant cream cheese not sour cream..:)

I would love to go back to Bleu Lavande and see what's changed under the new ownership..but it was quite a trek..
Provence felt closer for some reason..but we went after the Lavender Days~
I have a small amount of lavender growing here..small amount..I wonder why mine never takes like the above pics?
Must be the soil..
Anyway..I do have some of the edible kind..and I still had about 1 1/2 cups of strawberries..from our berry picking day..so I decided to make a Strawberry Cream Cheese Lavender pound cake..I invented part of it..the lavender part..and a touch of almond in the icing..
the rest I gleaned from Food .com..and instead of a Bundt.. I halved the recipe and made a loaf..because that's what I wanted;)

La Recette~ this is it halved..

1 1/2 half sticks of butter softened (I used the Trader Joe one I brought back from Vermont..love their sticks♥)
1/2 pack of Cream Cheese..room temp..(I used my cute Trader Joe one..love their packaging)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs room temp
1 1/2 cup of sifted flour
some edible lavender buds to taste
1 1/2 cup strawberries..sliced..some whole..the wee wee ones..
Beat cream cheese and butter until homogenous..add sugar..beat till pale and fluffy..add eggs one at a time ..beating very well after each addition..
Add flour..mix well
Fold in berries..
Put in your prepped pan and bake in a pre-heated 325 F oven for ap 1 hr and 15 minutes..
Let cool..remove from pan.. I added a glace of powdered sugar..almond extract..and icing sugar..not much..
adorned w/ fresh Lavender sprigs and lavender pearls~
This is a cake for someone who likes a very moist dense cake.
The berries and the cream cheese add the moisture.


In the shade..Goddess of Oy~ Solomom's Seal,Ferns,Heuchera,Hostas,Filipendula, Bleeding Hearts,Sweet Woodruff(ground cover..)..to the right..not shown..Hydrangeas..Phlox..Gooseneck,Hostas..a Diablo Ninebark..all these things are prolific in shade..
The fancy Clematis..that gets wilt unfortunately..you can see it....is Josephine..a real can~ can girl..she is in sun in a front entrance bed..Geranium Rozanne blossoms at the same time..great combo..sedum is there..more hostas.. Shastas..white astilbes..I pack it in..
That curving entrance bed is so much better than it was a few years ago..I ripped out a lot and started over..and everything loves it's place now.
Just gotta figure out Josephine and her wilt:)
I took a photo w/ Waterlogue ..different angle a bit of that bench in the shady garden..wanted to see..if Waterlogue can help a novice..
I like following along..albeit it's like copying..just looking up at my Ipad and down at my paper..I enjoy trying to do what they do.It gives a novice an idea of where to actually put lights and darks in foliage..
If you feel like relaxing w/ a paint brush..paints and paper..pull out your Ipad and Waterlogue;)


PS ..the reason I show what I try and paint..is to encourage you to try and have fun..I have been pleased w / very few of what I have painted..a few birthday cards..some watercolors and oils of the boys..that's it..maybe one or two things from 10 yrs ago..
I think if I show you novice..it's not intimidating...and you may try and find the peace I find in painting♥

Bon weekend!

PPSS  Terry made the Marie Custard Cream cookies ..flawlessly!:)