Goodbye Summer! =(

This time of year is bitter sweet for me.  I LOVE summer - vacations, boating, the ocean, laying out in the sun, spending time on the porch reading books under my umbrella... ahhhhh... love it.  I also love the transition to fall and the cool breezes, yummy fall foods, etc... but with fall comes WINTER - which I'm NOT a fan of.  I'll make the best of it though and have fun making some yummy mcyummerson recipes this winter!  Yay!  So, with my mind transitioning to fall recipes (already) I thought now would be a good time to say a sad goodbye to summer with a lemon/blueberry cake.  This cake is tart and sweet - a perfect combination of lemon and blueberries (and did I mention EASY? - because I use boxed cake mix and canned cream cheese frosting)!

Lemon Blueberry Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

WHAT WILL I NEED?

Boxed lemon cake mix
Canned cream cheese frosting
1 small container of fresh blueberries
1 lemon
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp of sugar
1 tbsp of flour

Grease and lightly flour a 9x12 baking pan (or 2 8 inch rounds if you prefer). 
Prepare cake mix as directed on the box.  (I use just a tad more oil than it calls for).
Pour the cake batter into your baking pan(s).  Set aside.
In a separate bowl mix 1/2 of your blueberries with the flour - just getting a light coating of flour on the blueberries.  This will keep them from immediately sinking to the bottom of the cake when you bake it.
Drop the blueberries one by one into your cake batter.  There is no right way to do this - just try to distribute them evenly.
Bake according to the boxed mix. 

While your cake is baking, in a small bowl mix the 2 tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch.  Mix well and set aside.  Heat a sauce pan over medium-high heat and throw in the rest of your blueberries and crush them with a fork.  As the blueberries begin to heat, add the sugar/cornstarch mixture to the crushed berries and stir well.  (taste the mixture to see if this is sweet enough for you - if not - now would be a good time to add more sugar!)  Remove the pan from heat as the mixture starts to thicken.  Set aside.  (Want to save even more time - just pick up some blueberry jam from your grocery store and use 1/2 cup of that instead!)

When you believe your cake is done make sure to insert a knife or fork in the cake to make sure it is done - as I had to bake mine for about 10 more minutes than the box called for.  Let the cake cool.  When the cake has cooled spread the blueberry mixture on top of the cake (dumping the entire mixture in the middle and spreading it out from there).

Now you are ready to make your lemon cream cheese icing.  In yet another bowl add the zest of one lemon.  Then add your cream cheese icing and mix well.

Now ice that cake!  Dump all of the icing in the middle of the cake and spread out carefully from there.  The blueberry mixture will start to mix with the icing if you aren't careful with your icing - though a little blue color looks neato!  =).

This is one of my favorite cakes!!  My husband keeps going back to the fridge to "square off corners" - haha!  Adios summer =(  But welcome to all of the yummo fall recipes to come!

What will YOU scratch out of the box today?

Comments, questions or suggestions?  Let me know by posting a comment below or find Scratched Right Out of the Box on Facebook!



ALMOST Too Pretty To Eat Apple Pie

I'm gettin the fall "itch" so I see lots of fall recipes coming up! We have a neighbor that regularly gives us fresh produce.  Yesterday she dropped by with a bag of corn - she's been feeding us all summer!  It has been wonderful!  Last week she brought us some apples - clearly I HAD to make an apple pie!  As I was putting everything together I remembered that my AWESOME little sister and her husband bought me some decorative pie dough cutters for Christmas last year - so I put them to good use!  When my husband saw this pie he said "Awwww... this is ALMOST too pretty to eat!" 

WHAT WILL I NEED?

2 ready made refrigerated pie crusts
6 medium sized apples
2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tbsp lemon juice or lemonade
3/4 cup of sugar
Cinnamon and Nutmeg to taste

WHAT DO I DO NOW?

Peel and core the apples and then cut them into bite sized chunks, placing the chunks in a large bowl.
Add the sugar.  Mix well.
Add the flour and the lemon juice or lemonade (I used lemonade). Mix well.
Add some cinnamon and nutmeg.  Start with a tsp of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg and add from there based on your own preference.  Mix well.
Line a deep dish pie plate with one of the crusts. If you do not plan to line the outer edges with cutouts, then go ahead and fold the extra dough under itself and smoosh/pinch the edges with your fingers or a fork.
Pour in your apple mixture.  (Sound like too much for you or you just don't have the time to peel, core and slice apples?  Use 2 cans of Comstock Apple Pie Filling instead!!  The filling is ready made so no need to add anything... except maybe some cinnamon and a little sprinkle of sugar - pour it into your pie shell and skip to the following steps)
If you would like to make a decorative crust, but do not have pie dough cutters just use some cookie cutters and place the cutouts all over the pie - leaving some spaces throughout for the apples to "breathe". 
Bake the pie according to the pie crust packaging for a double crust pie.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the pie and cover the edges with tin foil (so that the edges don't burn).  Bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the apple mixture is bubbling and the crust in the middle of your pie is golden brown.
Cool and serve plain or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!!

What will YOU scratch out of the box today?

Comments, questions or suggestions?  Leave a comment below - or find Scratched Right Out of the Box on Facebook.