Spring is always a delightful time at our home. The tulips that we labored to plant in the fall are popping up all around. And the daffodils are competing for the first bloom!
When we had our ranch (it came with Neal when I married him!), I got this bright idea that we would plant daffodils all over the meadows and as years passed, they would spread and it would be a floral spectacle.
I got my flower catalogs out and proceeded to order hundreds of bulbs. When they arrived, the look on Neal’s face was one of shock and horror. I told him relax….it would only take a little while to plant these!
It was at the moment he informed me that the soil in the meadows was like concrete and it would take a jack-hammer to get a hole large enough!
I began thinking through my self-made dilemma and came up with the brilliant idea that he could get out the tractor with the back-hoe and we would use that. As he rode through the meadows, digging mammoth holes for the bulbs, he constantly reminded me that he had never seen flowers planted with a full-size tractor!
Finally it was over and the hundreds were planted. Mission accomplished. Fast forward to the following spring, it was a beautiful sight. Daffodils were scattered across the fields and I thought—well done! Now mind you, every time a flower catalogue comes in, Neal just rolls his eyes.
We sold the ranch several years ago and every now and then I think about those daffodils. This year I will take a trip out and see if they have multiplied. I just get so excited when flowers start blooming!
I also wanted to share one of my new favorite recipes with you that I love in the spring: Lemon Pound Cake with Limoncello Cream. It is from Southern Lady Cakes & Pies and was developed in our test kitchens here at our office. You will love it!
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 4 teaspoons lemon zest
- 5 large eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 recipe Limoncello Cream (recipe follows)
- Fresh blueberries
- Fresh strawberries
- Fresh blackberries
- Garnish: lemon zest
- Preheat oven to 300°. Spray a 10-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray; line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine sugar, shortening, butter, and lemon zest; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- In a small bowl, sift together flour and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, alternately with milk, beating to mix well. Beat in vanilla. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack, and cool completely. Spread Limoncello Cream on top of cake. Top with fresh berries. Garnish with lemon zest, if desired.
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 cup Limoncello
- In a medium bowl, beat cream at high speed with an electric mixer, until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Beat in Limoncello. Cover, and chill until ready to serve.
Comments 23
Phyllis: Love the daffodil story and it so reminded me of our home in Virginia. Our home was situated on 3 acres and was a blank slate when we built the home. Perfect for a gardener. My husband used to say to me, “honey don’t conquer more than you can care for.” I do hope you get to visit your daffodils, that will be so special for you.
Love your blog, always so inspiring. And, thanks so much for this wonderful recipe. It is on my list for the weekend. A treat I am sure.
Yummy! thanks for my now WOW factor dessert for our neighborhood Super bowl
Party. Every year I agonize what to bring and this is it! Prayer answered……you are my
angel, Phyllis …..your timing has helped me many times. Carmel from California
I LOVE limoncello! Have never used in a dessert, can not wait to make this! Thank you
Loved the daffodil story. Dafs are my favorite spring flower. Being from Canada I am so envious of you southern gals who are able to enjoy a long spring. Up here spring is quite short but those dafs in my garden keep coming up. It gives Canadian something to do in the long winters check to see if anything is coming up.
Will try this cake out and if it’s a success for me I’d do another for a March tea at the church. Keep everyone thinking spring will come.
Love the story of the daffodils! And that cake looks awesome! But I have a question – what is limoncello and where is it sold? Thanks!
I found it at our local liquor store.
Linda, you can also make a home-made version of limoncello. Just Google the question how do you make limoncello. All it takes are lemons, good quality vodka,water and sugar! Good luck if you try it. Sharon
Oh dear! I would have just waited for it to rain and soften the ground. That’s because I have no idea where to get a tractor. We did plant hundreds of tulips and daffodils (after it rained, when the ground was soft) and they are an annual source of happiness. I know you’re supposed to dig them up and separate them every so many years, but we haven’t done it yet.
Ours are about an inch above the ground but still far from flowering.
Hi Phyllis, I will be making your beautiful berry torte! Thankyou for the recipe! I was recently introduced to limoncello, yum! Now I have an excuse to buy some! 🙂
I enjoyed your story about the daffodils! I had a similar experience only with squirrels digging the bulbs up!
Wishing you a wonderful day,
Nancy from Twocottagesandtea.blogspot.com
When planting bulbs that might be “squirreled” up, just place chicken wire flat over the partially filled patch and fill in!
I, too, planted hundreds of daffodils in the woods behind our house. My husband was not a fan of daffodils. The first spring, it was beyond beautiful! The next year, we got divorced, and every spring I would think about those daffodils. One year (probably 10 years after I planted them), I drove past the wooded area. It was beautiful, but the painful memories of the divorce took away some of their beauty. I’m now happily in a relationship with someone who loves daffodils!
You know I would plant some new daffodils to remind you of happiness. And I looked online at White Flower Farms and found some really different colors. While I love the traditional yellow, I had great luck with the peachy colored ones too! Pick a color the two of you will love and plant some!
The berry covered cake looks scrumptious and your daffodil story was delightful. PLEASE go visit the old homestead and do a follow up post on how the daffodils look today!
I loved the story of the bulbs, and the line Neal rolls his eyes when the flower catalogs arrive in the mail reminded me of my parents. Mama loved to garden and enjoyed browsing and planning her way through flower catalogs. Dad called the flower catalogs her science fiction books. And like your husband, he helped plant whatever she wanted.
We have a great time planting, it give him time to make fun of my flower obsession! He is a great sport.
Loved that story! I know you realize that your Neal is a special man! God Bless him and all the dear husbands who help us out of our “self made delimas!” We have an acre or so of naturalised daffodils that my husband planted as a gift for me 20+ years ago. It is always fun to see how much bloom variation there is from year to year.
You might enjoying reading of Mrs. Lee’s Daffodil Garden. She also naturalised a few daffodils. http://www.daffodilgarden.com/daffodil_history.htm
Neal helps me out of a lot of dilemmas. So funny….
This would be a wonderful desert for Easter. Can’t wait to try it. I also love the blue cake plate. It is the perfect color to serve that cake on. Just beautiful.
Laughed when I read your bulb story because whenI moved to Colorado from North Carolina I wanted to plant tulips and buttercups. Went out with my hand spade to dig and couldn’t even make a dent in the soil. Even bent the blade trying. I was so frustrated I cried and wanted to go right back to North Carolina . My sister from NC flew out to visit later that year. As she flew she looked out the window of the air plane and saw giant circles. So she asked me what they were and added they looked like cement. I told her with a bit of angst on my face that they were cement. She looked kind of funny and then I told her my story of trying to plant bulbs with a spade. To this day my husband and I have a hard time planting even after 26 years of adding mulch every yeah. Welcome to Colorado
Do you make your own Limoncello or is there a brand that you like to purchase?
Judy, I left a reply to Linda about homemade limoncello…if you have 10 lemons, 750ml of vodka, 3 1/2 cups of water and 2 1/2 cups of sugar, you can make it!
Looks delicious- I can’t bring myself to cook with shortening though!i know that so many recipes used to have it and it has been eaten for years but these days I just feel like I have to cook without. It does seem to be the favorite and most needed ingredient for a great pie crust. Perhaps that’s why mine have never been exceptional.
Loved your story about the bulbs. I do hope you get to go back and see the fruit of your labor multiplied at your old farm.
Phyllis – you had me at seeing the berry torte above! It’s almost too beautiful to eat !
I love your story about the Daffodils as this stirs up wonderful memories of my youth in Connecticut. My mother did not have a green thumb and was never terribly interested in gardening but LOVED to see the field behind our house littered with various coloured daffodils.
Thank you for bringing back this long-forgotten memory!
I look forward to the new special issue of Southern Lady – Cakes and Pies 2017 !
Happy Spring !
Brandon Hartford
Te Deum Cottage