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Author: The Prayer Porch
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Delicious Strawberry Sourdough Cake Recipe
🍓 “Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did.”
– Dr. William Butler, 17th century
Ingredients:- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup sourdough discard (or Greek vanilla yogurt)
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup milk
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 lb strawberries, stems removed and halved
- sugar and cinnamon (for sprinkling on top)
For the Whipped Cream:
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º.
Prepare a 9-inch round pan by greasing the bottom or lining with parchment paper.In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2–3 minutes).
Add the sourdough discard (or yogurt), egg, milk, and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients and stir until combined.Spread the batter in your prepared pan.
Top with halved strawberries, cut side down.
Sprinkle lightly with sugar and cinnamon for a cozy finish.Bake at 350ºF for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the top is golden.
In a chilled glass bowl, combine whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla.
Whip until medium peaks form. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
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🍎 German Apple Cake
This recipe comes from my father-in-law’s father and dates back to the 1940’s. It was a time when home baking was a treasured ritual. Recipes were passed down by hand, heart, and memory.
During that era, many families in the U.S. found comfort in simple, resourceful cooking. The 1940’s were marked by both the hardship of war and the strength of community. Cakes like this were made with basic pantry staples and the seasonal abundance of apples. They became humble expressions of love, resilience, and gathering.
Baking this cake now feels like more than just making dessert. It’s continuing a legacy. A quiet way to honor those who came before us, and to create new memories with every warm slice.
Ingredients:
- 4–5 apples, sliced
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Cinnamon and sugar (for sprinkling on the apples)
- Confectioner’s sugar (for dusting after baking)
Optional: Homemade Whipped Cream
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 375ºF.
Slice the apples and sprinkle them with a cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.In a mixing bowl, beat the butter until soft and fluffy.
Add the flour, eggs, baking powder, vanilla extract, and lemon juice. Mix until a soft batter forms.Grease a 9-inch Springform pan.
Spread or press the batter evenly into the bottom of the pan.
Arrange the apple slices neatly on top of the batter, pressing them in just slightly.Bake for 40 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow to cool, then dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving.
🍰 Homemade Whipped Cream (Optional)
In a chilled bowl, combine the whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla.
Whip until soft-to-medium peaks form. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
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Abiding in Christ: A Path to True Fulfillment
We live in a world that constantly pulls at our attention with promises of success, comfort, beauty, and approval. It’s easy to get swept up in the tide of more. There is always more to do, more to own, more to prove. But 1 John 2:15 gently reminds us: “Do not love the world or the things in the world.”
This isn’t a call to rejection or isolation, but an invitation to remain. To abide. To root ourselves in something far more lasting, the love of God, which doesn’t fade with time or trends.The world offers quick fixes for joy. But God offers Himself – a steady source of life and fullness that no fleeting pleasure can match. When we delight in Him, truly enjoy Him, something shifts. Our lives begin to expand, not in stuff or status, but in peace, purpose, and love.
Remaining in Christ anchors us in what is real. And from that place of belonging, we are free to live generously. To love others well. To walk lightly in a world that tempts us to cling too tightly.
Let’s be people who are not consumed by what fades but who find joy in what lasts.
Where do I feel my heart holding onto the world too tightly? How can I shift to abiding in Christ? -
The Gift of Grace: Understanding God’s Unmerited Favor
But whatever I am now, it is because God poured out his special favor on me and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.
1 Corinthians 15:10God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8When we embrace the grace that comes only from Jesus, it changes everything In that surrender we stop trying to earn God’s love and instead respond to His grace with a life of worship. It is then that we see His grace cover our entire lives. No matter what we are facing, what we are walking in, what is hard around us, God’s grace covers it! It’s simply up to us to surrender to Him and receive His grace!
Think about the times God grace has shown up in your life.
Thank God for the unmerited favor He has shown you. -
True Joy and Worship
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do now walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:1-2But let all those rejoice who put their trust in you;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
For you, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
Romans 8:26-28When you think about your life, the challenges, the pain, the times when you felt emotional turmoil and maybe even spiritually lost, God was always with you. He has been with you the whole time. In worship, a lens shift happens. A beautiful shift, where the focus moves from our own insecurities and problems in the moment to His presence. The moment you enter worship, you start to see things more clearly through the highs and lows of life.
When you choose joy, you experience true worship.
When you choose worship, you experience true joy. -
Trusting God Through Uncertainty
Sometimes the deepest kind of faith is found not in doing, but in being still. In choosing not to rush ahead, not to figure it all out, not to grasp for what isn’t yet clear.
Resting doesn’t mean giving up. It means surrendering the timeline to the One who sees the full picture.
When we pause, breathe, and allow ourselves to simply be, we make space to remember: God is still working, even when we are waiting.So if your heart feels weary or uncertain today, may you know this: you are not falling behind. You are simply being held. Trusting God’s plan doesn’t require striving—it often begins in stillness.
What would it look like for you to rest in God’s timing today?
Is there something you’re carrying that He may be inviting you to set down for now?In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
Isaiah 30:15
The Prayer Porch 