Triple Berry Lemon Muffins for SRC

Well, its time for SRC's Group C reveal again (seems like that was the last time I even posted last month... shame on me). Super excited about the blog I had this month and wishing I had more time to test out recipes this month! I was assigned Mommy's Menu this month - Toni is a stay at home mom to seven children in Utah!! Can you believe that she still has time to blog? My excuses look pretty weak now! I absolutely love how creative her blog is and I loved the wide variety of recipes she had available to try. I settled on something quick and adapted it to what I had on hand, but I can't wait to come back and try out her Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Bars and her Strawberry Cheesecake Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies. Both of them looked amazing!!

I settled on making Toni's Lemon Raspberry Muffins (in a slightly adapted version using what I had on hand). The results were delicious! Hubby has been eagerly devouring these babies!! Check out the link for the unadapted recipe... see below for my adapted version. Both I'm sure would be equally as delicious!!

Triple Berry Lemon Muffins
Recipe adapted from Mommy's Menu

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• zest of one lemon, finely grated
• 1 cup fresh or frozen mixed berries (I used a mix of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease 2 x 12 cup muffin tins (or line with paper liners). 
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine eggs, cream, water, and oil and mix until combined. Add all at once to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Add berries and fold through batter (don't over mix or you will have tough, pink muffins).
3. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin tins, filling each tin approximately 2/3 of the way full. Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until spring back slightly when lightly pressed.
4. Let cool on a rack. Enjoy!

 So, thats that. Make these, they're amazing!! And check out Toni's blog - you'll find loads of recipes you need to make. I found her blog quite addicting - not unlike pinterest!! :) Thanks Toni for the great recipes to choose from - I'll definitely be back to snoop around some more (only this time I won't have to lurk!).

Lemon Glazed Butterhorns

Whew!! This weekend has been uncharacteristically hot for British Columbia, even if it is summer time. Yesterday, the temperature peaked at 34 degrees celcius in our neighborhood! Beautiful, but oh so hot! Especially when you're not used to it. And what's the rationale thing to do when its hot outside and you don't have A/C in your house? Well, you turn on your oven and bake something delicious... first thing in the morning, so your house is cookin' hot all day (no pun intended). That's what I did on Saturday morning when I made these babies for breakfast. It was worth it though, they were delicious! Up til now, these have been hubby's favorite store bought pastry, but I think I won him over - home made trumps store bought... especially when it's topped with my homemade lemon curd.

First, make your lemon curd and let it set up a bit. Here is a great recipe for lemon-lime curd. Replace the lime juice with lemon juice and you're set. Or you can enjoy them with lemon-lime curd too. Either way, they'll be delicious.

Lemon Glazed Butterhorns
Recipe minimally adapted from Mennonite Girls Can Cook

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp instant yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup icing sugar
• lemon curd

Method:

1. Combine the yeast, teaspoon of sugar and warm water in a small bowl. Stir gently and set aside to proof.
2. Measure the flour, second amount of sugar, and the salt in a large bowl. With a pastry blender (I just used my hands), cut the butter into the flour mixture until small crumbs form.
3. Warm the milk slightly and beat in the egg yolk. Pour the yeast and the milk mixture into the flour mixture. Stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in the fridge for 2 hours - overnight.
4. Place the dough on a slightly floured surface. Pat down the dough and lightly sprinkle the top with flour. Roll the dough to form a 6x14 inch rectangle. Cut the dough lengthwise to make 8 - 14inch long strips.
5. Twist each strip so you have a long twisted rope of dough, then coil around itself into a pinwheel shape. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover and let rise for 1 hour at room temperature.
6. Preheat oven to 375F. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned (mine took closer to 20 minutes). Cool on a rack.
7. Make icing by mixing icing sugar with a small amount of water to make a thick icing (you should be able to drizzle it on the pastries but it shouldn't just run off of them. Set aside.
8. Top each pastry with a spoonful of lemon curd and spread to cover the tops of the pastry - leaving about a 1/2 inch border around the edges. Then drizzle each pastry with some of the icing made in step 7. Enjoy!

This post has been yeast spotted!!

Hope you enjoy these delicious breakfast pastries! I know we sure did - they were all gobbled up in a matter of minutes. Happy Baking my Friends!

Lemon Sugar Cookies

A little while ago my hubby decided to upgrade our internet to an uber fast network. The last month or so though our internet has had nothing but problems. It cuts out all the time for no apparent reason and you have to reset the modem or wait a few hours for it to be restored. So hubby called the internet provider and asked them to send someone to fix the internet. Oh, yes, they're here tonight while I'm trying to write this post and control my CRAZY golden retriever at the same time. So, as you read this post, picture me, dragging my dog upstairs to my bedroom, closing the door to lock us in said bedroom and consoling my pup who is heartbroken that the repairman doesn't want to be BFFs. Ahhhh the joys of having a dog who will forever have puppy brain! Annyyyy who, on to the food!

Ready to get your bake on? Make these delicious and easy cookies! I made them for the ladies get together I hosted at my place on the weekend and they were a hit. Hubby has already insisted that I make another batch because he loved them so much. And he doesn't do that very often, so you know they're delicious. The best part about these cookies is that you probably have all the ingredients on hand in your pantry already! Wahoo for no trip to that pesky grocery store!!

Chewy Lemon Sugar Cookies
Recipe minimally adapted from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• zest of one large lemon, finely minced
• 4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, soda, powder and salt. Set aside.
3. Using a mixer, beat together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in egg, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Gradually add the dry ingredients until mixture is combined uniformly. Do not overmix.
4. Form into 1 1/2 inch balls, roll in sugar and bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand on cookie sheets to cool for two minutes before removing to cooling rack to cool completely.

Pretty easy huh? They were sooooo delicious. Some of the best cookies I've made in a long time. They aren't overly lemony, so if you're looking for that pop of lemon flavour I would add some extra zest (double it!!) to the batter.

This post has been linked up with Whatcha Baking Wednesdays over at Cajun Sugar Pie! Pop on over there to check out what yummy desserts other bloggers are making this week. :)

This post has been linked up with Jane Deere's Fusion Fridays over at Jennifer Cooks. Have a wander over to her blog to check out some of the awesome things fellow bloggers are making, cooking and baking this week.

Happy Baking my Friends!

Lemon Cheesecake Mousse Tart

I just love being on vacation - I actually have time for blogging and cooking and baking! Its so enjoyable and I feel like I'm a far better blog owner when I'm not just trying to get a post up for the sake of posting.  I've taken some time off between Christmas and New Years and it has been really nice - my family is staying with us so I've had a chance to "show off" with some delicious meals and some new recipes. This lemon cheesecake mousse tart from Anna Olson's cookbook In the Kitchen with Anna is a great dessert for occasions like this - where you want people to ohhh and ahhhh over the dessert and rave about it for a while. Its so delicious and really very simple to whip up. And of course, I have to mention how few ingredients this recipe has in it - you'll probably have a lot of them on hand already.

Lemon Cheesecake Mousse Tart
Recipe adapted from In the Kitchen with Anna

Crust Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp fine salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces and chilled
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk

Mousse Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
• 12 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• dash vanilla extract
• raspberries, for garnish

Method:

1. For the crust, stir the flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt to combine. Pour into the food processor and  add butter. Pulse until the mixture has the texture of coarse meal. Add the egg and the yolk and process just until the dough comes together. Shape the dough into a disk and chill for at least an hour.
2. On a lightly floured surfact, roll our dough to just less than 1/4 inch thick (this didn't work for me, so I just pressed the dough into the tart pan and up the sides). Sprinkle an 8 inch tart pan with a removable bottom lightly with flour and line with pastry. Trim the edges and chill for an hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350F. Place tart shell on a baking sheet. Dock the bottom of the pastry with a fork, line the shell with foil and weigh down with dried beans, rice or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes then remove the weights and bake for another 8-10 minutes, or until the centre of the tart shell appears dry and the edges are browned. Let cool while preparing the mousse.
4. For the mousse, whip the cream to soft peas and chill. In a separate bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth and beat in the sugar and lemon zest, scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla. Fold in the whipped cream in two additions. Dollop the mouse (or pipe with a piping bag) into cooled shells. Garnish with fresh raspberries and chill until ready to serve. Gently remove outside ring and bottom of tart pan before plating.

You could also make 8 4-inch mini tarts instead of one big one if you want something cute for a dinner party. Hope you enjoy this recipe!! I'm heading off to enjoy my last weekend of freedom before I have to head back to work.

I've linked up this post with Whatcha Baking Wednesday over at CajunSugarPie.Com - head on over there to check out some more scrumptious dessert recipes to test out (or even just drool over if you're into that!).

Happy Baking my Friends!

Lemon Lime filled Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Icing

Excuse me while I try to stop drooling over these cupcakes long enough to finish this post! These cupcakes were super delicious. Probably the best cupcakes I've ever made! The inspiration came from a friend's blog, Lizardbreath Creations , a month or so ago. She made lemon-lime curd and homemade coconut bread and served the two together! How brilliant! So I made the coconut bread recipe and instead of baking it in a loaf pan as directed, I baked it in cupcake pans. I filled the cupcakes with the lemon-lime curd and topped with a simple buttercream flavoured with coconut. You honestly can't go wrong with this one!


Make the lemon-lime curd first. You will have to cook it and let it cool and set before using it to fill the cupcakes. You can find the recipe here - I followed the recipe exactly using the smaller quantity of sugar. You don't want the curd to be too sweet because the cupcakes + the icing are sweet enough already. You want something a little bit tart to balance out the sweetness.

Next up bake the cupcakes. Let them cool completely before attempting to pipe the curd into the middle of them though. It will be tough to wait that long; trust me, I speak from experience.

Coconut Bread (in cupcake form)

Recipe adapted from Lizardbreath Creations

Ingredients:

• 1 cup shredded coconut, sweetened


• 2 cups all-purpose flour


• 1/2 cup granulated sugar


• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar


• 1 tbsp baking powder


• 1/4 cup vegetable oil


• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk


• 1 egg


• 1 tsp vanilla

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Prepare muffin tins by lining with paper liners.


2. Sprinkle a little of the shredded coconut in the bottom of each cupcake liner.


3. Mix the coconut, flour, sugars, and baking powder in a large bowl.


4. In another bowl add the oil, coconut milk, egg and vanilla. Mix together well.


5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just incorporated. Pour into the prepared muffin tins. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (start with about 12-15 minutes).


6. Cool cupcakes for 10 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack until cooled completely.


7. Once cooled completely, with a sharp knife cut a small tunnel into each cupcake and then pipe full with lemon curd. Pipe coconut icing liberally onto each cupcake in order to cover the hole where the curd was piped in.

For the icing I just dumped ingredients into my mixer bowl without measuring (bad me) and tasted until it was yummy. If you are one of those measuring types, feel free to use this vanilla icing and instead of the vanilla extract, add coconut extract.

Happy Baking my Friends! Hope you're ready for another busy week.

Ginger-Spice Sandwich Cookies with Lemon Cream Filling

I've been having a great weekend! My Dad is here visiting, so we went out for a great dinner last night and spent the day hanging out together. Plus, the weather is nicer than its been in quite some time here, so all in all its been a good weekend! Since I'm feeling pretty joyful, I thought I would share a recipe with you that brought me a lot of joy and satisfaction - ginger-spice sandwich cookies with lemon cream. Mmmmmmm!!! I had never tried sandwich cookies before, but decided plain old cookies weren't really special enough to make for my hubby's Superbowl party last month, so I decided on this recipe from the Best of Fine Cooking Magazine - Tailgating 2010. It was definitely a good call - all of the cookies were devoured during the party and people raved about them! They were so perfect - the right amount of spice in the cookies countered with the sweet lemon cream inside the cookies. Next time I make them I'll be sure to put even more filling in them.


The cookies weren't nearly as much work as I thought they would be which is always a plus. And if you put the filling into a piping bag and pipe the filling onto the cookies, filling them is a breeze - speedy with minimal cleanup. If you make them, put about double the filling you see piped on them in the picture below, and make them the night before that way the cookies can soak up some of the filling making them extra moist and delicious.

Ginger-Spice Sandwich Cookies with Lemon Cream

Recipe from the Best of Fine Cooking magazine - Tailgating 2010

Cookie Ingredients:

• 9 oz (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 6 oz (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling
• 1/4 cup unsulfured molasses
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Lemon Cream Ingredients:

• 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 6 oz (1 1/2 cups) confectioners sugar

Method:

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350F. Line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, baking soda, and salt.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and both sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the molasses, egg and vanilla and continue to beat until incorporated, about 1 minute. Reduce the speed to low, slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated, about 1 minute. Shape the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
4. Put about 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl. Using your hands, roll about a tsp of dough into 1-inch ball. Roll each ball in sugar and arrange about 2 inches apare on the lined baking sheets. Use the bottom of a gladd to flatten the cookies slightly. Bake one sheet at a time until the cookies feel dry to the touch and are beginning to firm up (they'll still feel soft inside), 12-14 minutes. Cool completely on racks.
5. Make the lemon cream: with a hand mixer, mix the cream cheese and lemon zest in a medium bowl until smooth. Slowly add the confectioners sugar and continue to mix until smooth.
6. Assemble the cookies: pipe filling liberally onto the center of a cookie, top with another cookie, then gently press them. Repeat with the remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to two days.

If you want to serve them up pretty, you can put them on a plate with some candied ginger. It adds a nice touch!

I hope you're having an exciting weekend! Filled with friends, family and fun times. I am heading out of town again for work (leaving tomorrow), out to the middle of no where... so blogging may be somewhat intermittent, so please bear with me. :) Hope you enjoyed this post and are inspired to try out these little bits of heaven!

Happy Baking my Friends!

Rosemary Parmesan Coins

I absolutely love crackers! And homemade crackers are soooo much better than store-bought. This is a great recipe! The crackers are so delicately flavoured with an almost short-bread like consistency. I didn't get pictures of the crackers after they baked, but they looked just like the unbaked crackers but the flecks of parmesan turned a beautiful golden brown and made the finished product look so great. I made these for our Superbowl party and they were definitely a hit!

Rosemary Parmesan Coins

Recipe from The Best of Fine Cooking - Party Food 2010

Ingredients:

• 6 oz (1 1/2 cups) all purpose flour
• 1 oz (3/4 cup lightly packed) freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
• 1 generous tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 2 1/2 tsp coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 4 oz (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, chilled
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• kosher salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Method:

1. In a food processor, combine the flour, cheese, lemon zest, rosemary, table salt, and pepper. Process until just blended. Add the butter and pulse until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. Stir the yolk and lemon juice together with a fork and drizzle over the mixture. Pulse until you have small, moist crumbs that just begin to clump together.
2. Pile the moist crms on an unfloured work surface. With the heel of your hand, push and gently smear the crumbs away from you until they start to come together in cohesive dough. Using a pastry scraper or metal spatula, lift up one edge of dough and fold it into the center (dough will still be rough, so don't expect a neat, smooth fold). Repeat withthe opposite edge, like folding a letter. Turn the dough 45 degrees. Give the dough another smearing and shape into 14 inch log thats 1 1/4 inches in diameter.
3. Wrap in plast and refrigerate until firm, about 4 hours, or up to 2 days.
4. Position racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven and heat to 375F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment. Using a thin, sharp knife, cut the log into 1/4 inch slices. Arrange about 1/2 inch apart on prepared sheets.
5. Bake until medium golden around the edges about 15-20 minutes. Rotating the sheets as needed for even baking. Don't overbake them though or you will lose the lemon and rosemary flavours. If you like, sprinkle with a little kosher salt just as baking sheets come out of the oven. Set sheets on racks to cool. When coins are completely cool, store in an airtight container.
   

Stay tuned for some more great recipes this week including a delicious Cranberry Pear Linzer tort! And the upcoming Daring Bakers Challenge which is released on February 27th. :) Can't wait!!!

Happy Baking my Friends!

The Daring Bakers Challenge - Novemer 2010 - Crostata!!!

Wow! I can't believe its that time already - the November Daring Bakers challenge is here! I had such high hopes for this challenge - I intended to make three versions - two sweet and one savory. Unfortunately, time ran out before I got around to doing the third. So I have two sweet versions of the challenge to share with you today.

The 2010 November Daring Bakers Challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi's Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

As I mentioned above, I made two sweet versions of crostata. The first was a lemon blueberry mascarpone cream crostata. I chose to make minis of that version. Here is the pasta frolla recipe I used for the shell of the crostata:

Pasta Frolla

Ingredients:

• scant 3/4 cup icing sugar
• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 stick or 8 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• grated zest of one lemon
• 1 large egg & 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten

Method:

1. Combine sugar, flour, salt and lemon zest in bowl of food processor. Pulse a few times to mix.
2. Add butter and pulse a few times until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal. Empty bowl of food processor onto your work surface and make a well in the center.
3. Add eggs to the well in the center and use a fork to combine the mixture until it starts to come together.
4. Use your hands to combine the mixture until it forms a ball. Don't over mix here - it will be a little crumbly. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours.
5. Remove from fridge and roll out on a lightly floured work surface. Line tart pan with dough that has been rolled out. Line the dough with parchment paper and place pie weights, raw rice or beans in the center to help the crust hold its shape while you blind bake it.
6. Blind bake the shell in the oven at 350F for about 15 minutes, then remove the parchment and the pie weights and bake another 10-15 minutes or until cooked through.
   

Now that you've baked the shell, you can make the filling! For the blueberry crostata I followed a recipe from briciole's blog. I adapted the recipe to be a little bit more lemony to go with my lemon blueberry theme.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 250g mascarpone
• 1/2 cup chilled heavy whipped cream
• juice from 1/2 - 1 lemon

Method:

1. Combine blueberries & 2 tsp sugar in a small saucepan on the stove. Heat over medium heat until completely thawed and they have started juicing a bit. Remove from heat and let cool.
2. Mix sugar, mascarpone, and lemon juice until smooth. Whip the cream and gently fold into the mixture. Spread 1/2 the cream mixture over the crust. Top with the blueberries and then top with the remaining cream mixture. Garnish with blueberries and a bit of lemon zest.

Next version was a toasted hazelnut cream crostata. It was amazing!! I followed the same recipe for pasta frolla as above, but substituted 1/2 cup ground toasted hazelnuts for 1/4 cup of the flour and omitted the lemon zest. The crust was slightly more difficult to work with when I added the nuts, but the taste was absolutely amazing!

For the filling, I used a recipe I found on the Food Network website. I omitted the chopped hazelnuts, storebought meringues and the raspberries. But other than that I followed the recipe! It was rich and decadent and so smooth tasting. I topped the crostata with little rounds made from the leftover pasta frolla that I baked in the oven, sweetened whipped cream and some more toasted hazelnuts. It turned out beautifully and tasted delicious.

Thank you Simona for such a wonderful challenge and for sharing with us the wonderfully versatile crostata! I had never heard of crostata, let alone attempted to make it prior to this recipe and I was very excited that this recipe gave me the opportunity to purchase a much needed tart pan!

Until next time, Happy Baking my Friends!

Lemon Squares

Hubby loves lemon... a lot! So I'm always looking for new things to do with lemon. I found this delicious recipe for lemon squares in one of my favorite cookbooks - The Girl Can't Cook by Cinda Chavich. They are delicious and super easy to whip up, but the best part about the recipe is how down-to-earth the ingredients are - they're all things you would normally stock in your pantry. So no pesky trip to the grocery store is necessary to make this recipe!

Lemon Squares

Recipe from The Girl Can't Cook, p 308

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/4 cup icing sugar
• pinch salt
• 2 tbsp finely minced lemon zest, divided
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cubed
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• icing sugar for dusting

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Combine one cup of the flour with the icing sugar, salt, half the lemon zest and the butter. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is fine and crumbly. Press the mixture evenly into the baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes until light golden.
2. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of flour with baking powder and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat eggs with granulated sugar until doubled in volume. Slowly add the flour mixture, beating until just blended. Stir in lemon juice and remaining zest. Pour the filling over the warm crust, put on your oven mitts and put the hot dish back into the oven to bake for another 20 minutes, until the filling is just set.
3. Cool on a wire rack. Lightly sift a layer of icing sugar over top, then cut into small squares to serve.

I hope you enjoy this simple and delicious recipe. Everyone really liked the squares and they would be great to bring along to a get together with your friends or family. Or if you need to whip something up at the last minute and don't have time to run to the store!! Hope you've had a fantastic weekend and are enjoying your Sunday afternoon. I know I am!

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Lemon Meringue Dessert

Ok, I've been procrastinating about writing this blog post ALL day. Now the day is nearly finished and I haven't blogged yet. :( So since I have nothing to do while my latest batch of bread dough rises, I will blog! I don't have any wine to tell you about today, so I'll tell you about an easy dessert to make this weekend. My inspiration comes from Jamie Oliver's TV show - Jamie at Home. He made his with lovely pears, chocolate, orange and hazelnut... but I didn't have that stuff on hand, so I made mine a little differently (and far more simple). There are three parts to this recipe - the meringue, lemon curd, and whipped cream.

First up - the meringue! I took this recipe from the Joy of Cooking cookbook. It's easy, but be sure you have the time to to allow them to bake and dry out sufficiently.

Meringue

Recipe from Joy of Cooking p. 741

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup sugar

Method:

1. Beat egg whites, vanilla and cream of tartar in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar one tablespoon at a time and beat on high until meringue holds very stiff peaks.
2. Preheat oven to 225F.
3. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Turn out meringue onto the lined tray and smooth it out into a rough rectangle shape. Leave it a little uneven so it looks rustic.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 1 1/2 hours. Turn oven off and open door a crack and leave meringue sit in oven while it cools - for about one hour until its sufficiently dry.

Now that the meringue has been baked, make the lemon curd topping. Or, if you are really efficient, make the lemon curd while your meringue bakes!!

Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• juice from 2-3 lemons
• 3-4 tbsp butter

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring 1 inch of water to a simmer. In a heat-proof medium bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar for about 2 minutes or until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice until combined.
2. Place the mixing bowl on top of the pot of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir the mixture constantly, scraping with a spatula, until it begins to thicken. Remove from heat when it coats the back of the spoon.
3. Whisk in the butter, one tablespoon at a time, adding the next tablespoon when the piece before just about disappears into the mixture. Place in clean glass container with plastic wrap laid on top. This will prevent skin from forming. Store in refridgerator until ready to use.

Whip about 1 cup of whipping cream with vanilla and sugar to taste.

Now you're ready to assemble your dessert! Place the meringue (careful - its delicate and will break easily) on a wooden cutting board (remember we're going for the rustic look here!). Spoon the lemon curd over top and smooth out in a layer on top of the meringue. Sprinkle with graham crumbs (however may or few you like!). Then spoon the whipped cream over top. Garnish with more graham crumbs and grated lemon zest. Enjoy!

Remember not to assemble this dessert until right before you're ready to serve (you don't want the meringue to get soggy as the moisture is allowed back into it!) I hope you enjoy this dessert as much as we did. It is a rustic, casual dessert that is just fantastic following a family dinner. :) Happy Baking my Friends!

Delicious Lemon Raspberry Cake

If you are looking for that "summery" cake for the next barbeque or dinner party you're invited to or hosting, look no further! This cake has a very summery taste and since the cake is a bit more dense - it is served in very small pieces - thus a little cake goes a long way! I made this cake for my parents 30th anniversary BBQ at the end of July and it was a great hit - I used fresh, handpicked raspberries between the layers and it tasted amazing! Unfortunately I didn't have time to get a photo of the finished product, but I did take pictures during the baking and assembly phases.

You can use any type of icing for the cake, but I chose to use a lighter tasting icing since the cake is rather dense. I used a Lemon Meringue Icing recipe from the Foodnetwork. It is a really fluffy icing and is so easy to work with!

Lemony Yellow Pound Cake

Recipe minimally adapted from Cinda Chavich, p 451 The Guy Can't Cook

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cubed, unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 325F. Butter an 8-inch springform pan and cut parchment paper to fit into the bottom of the pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until the mixture is silky smooth.
3. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the batter in small amounts, alternating with a bit of the lemon juice and zest, stirring with a whisk until smooth.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 40-50 minutes in the preheated oven or until the top is golden and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan before transferring to a plate.

**Note: for the cake in the photos - I doubled this recipe because I was feeding a large number of people! For an ordinary dinner party or just for your family, you will only need the recipe as listed above!

I cut this cake into three layers. Once the layers are cut (and the top of the cake has been leveled), brush both sides of the layers with a mixture of fresh lemon juice mixed with icing sugar until it tastes sweet, not tart. Be sure to brush generously - this intensifies the flavour and ensures your cake will be moist and decadent!

Since I used a fruit filling, I didn't want it to make the cake soggy, so I put down a thin layer of buttercream icing on each layer prior to laying out the raspberries. Once the layers have been assembled, make the icing and ice the cake.

Lemon Meringue Icing

Recipe from the Food Network

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Pinch cream of tartar
Pinch fine salt

Method:

1. Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a mixer's bowl above the water. Whisk the egg whites, sugar, lemon juice and zest, cream of tarter and salt in the bowl by hand. Set the bowl above the boiling water and continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar dissolves, about 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Transfer the mixture to a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat at medium-high speed until meringue is cool and holds a soft peak, about 5 minutes. Add a few drops of desired food coloring and continue beating until it holds stiff peaks.

Once I iced the cake, I garnished it with fresh raspberries and a little bit of lemon zest grated over the top of the cake! It looked beautiful and tasted awesome! Thanks for stopping by! See you again soon.