Lime Meltaways

Wanna know a surefire way to get me to bake for you?  Present me with a challenge, coupled with an intimation that I'll most likely fail, and I take the bait every single time: hook, line and sinker.  When it comes to baking chalk it up to my competitive and perfectionist tendencies, which makes me predisposed to fall for the dare.  I refuse to accept defeat! 

 

Such was the case recently when a lime-lover lamented that they'd never had a cookie that successfully captured the taste and essence of the verdant citrus fruit.  While there were dozens of cookie recipes devoted to its well known lemon cousin, the overlooked lime continued to be cast in the shadows.  I set about to rectify the situation with these Lime Meltaways.

I remembered seeing this Martha Stewart recipe years ago but had never bothered making it.  Now was the perfect excuse to give it a go.  The only tweak I made to the original recipe was replacing vanilla extract with lime juice.  In the end my dough boasted more than three tablespoons of freshly squeezed juice.  If that didn't make you pucker up I don't know what would!

 

Once formed into a log the dough was chilled until firm and then sliced and baked.  (The dough also freezes beautifully.)  A final dredge in snowy white powdered sugar and you have a symphony of perfectly crisp, buttery cookies that build to a crescendo of tart lime flavor.   (Pardon the hyperbole..ha!)

 

Lemon Curd Gooey Butter Cookies

 

Pardon the extended hiatus from my blog but I was enjoying a long overdue sabbatical for most of the summer.  I missed my kitchen and baking to be sure, but I kept myself busy with traveling and relaxing...a perfect way to recharge. Now that I'm home I'm easing back into the swing of things.

First up are these Lemon Curd Gooey Butter Cookies, which I'd seen pop up on my Instagram feed from Butternut Bakery.  I've made gooey butter cookies before on this blog, but I loved the idea of combining lemon curd with the chewy, citrus cookie.  Propitiously I had all the ingredients I needed, including homemade meyer lemon curd, and the cookies came together easily.  My only other enhancement was to add a few tablespoons of poppy seeds to the cookie dough.  

One bite of the finished cookie and I was a goner; the perfect marriage of tart, sweet and chewy.

Lemon Pudding Cakes

 

I recently had a friend over for lunch and for dessert I made these individual Lemon Pudding Cakes.  As a lemon lover I will gravitate towards citrus flavors any day over something like chocolate.   The recipe comes from America's Test Kitchen and while it's very simple to make, it packs so much delicious flavor.  

Miraculously, when the batter bakes you end up with a thick pudding on the bottom of the ramekin and a light, fluffy cake on the top.  Don't ask me about the science of how that works because I have no clue.  All I know is that it's divine!  Will definitely be keeping this recipe on hand.

Recipe

Clementine Cake

 

I'm not one to make any resolutions when a new year is upon us, but this year I decided to make an intention.  Who knows if intentions are that much different to resolutions, but I tell myself they are...hahaha.  My intention for 2022 is to be less wasteful, particularly when it comes to food.  Before the pandemic I was always binning food that had expired or was spoiled.  Often times it was because I'd forgotten about it or was just too lazy to cook or bake.    

Out of necessity, especially in the early part of the pandemic in 2020, I was forced to change this behavior.  When we were essentially in lock down I wasn't frequenting the stores as I normally would.  Plus, certain ingredients were out of stock so I had to make do with what I already had.  Pre-planning and creativity, I think, are key to this strategy.

With that mindset I made this Clementine Cake.  I'd been staring at the same bowl of clementines since the holidays that were close to their last legs.  The fruits were too dry to eat on their own so I had to think of a way to use them up.  Guilt prevented me from tossing them in the compost bin.  Initially I'd considered making marmalade, but upon realizing how much time (and sugar) went into the process I quickly changed my mind.  I vaguely remembered watching an episode of Nigella Lawson where she made a clementine cake using every bit of the fruit, skin and all.  Sounded perfect to me! 

The recipe can be easily found on the internet and I had all the ingredients (clementines, almond flour, sugar, eggs and baking powder) on hand.  The only changes I made to Nigella's recipe were to  microwave the fruit for five minutes, instead of boiling it on the stove for 2 hours!, and also adding kosher salt and sliced almonds.  

 

There was definitely some skepticism on my part about how good this cake would taste given how simple it was to make, but one bite and I was a convert.  Nigella claimed this cake would be super moist and taste as if it had been soaked in syrup.  She wasn't lying.  You wouldn't believe the texture; not  mushy at all and it had a custard-like texture.  It actually reminded me of the cakes you would find at a breakfast buffet in an Italian hotel or bed & breakfast.   It needs no embellishment other than a light dusting of powdered sugar.  So delicious!

Lemon Posset and Lemon Cupcakes

 

For the Lemon Lovers Table that I recently created I included some citrus-infused treats.  At each place setting there was a decorated sugar cookie to welcome my guests.  Other desserts included the cutest  lemon petit-fours from Trader Joe's and homemade Lemon Posset and Lemon Cupcakes.

I had my first taste of lemon posset at ad hoc restaurant and I was immediately hooked on the creamy, tangy dessert.  It was so refreshing, especially after having ad hoc's famous buttermilk fried chicken!  Luckily I found a recipe from Cook's Illustrated that couldn't be simpler to make using only three ingredients: heavy cream, sugar and lemons.

For the lemon cupcakes I used a vanilla cake recipe from The Cupcake Project.  It was the winner of a recent taste test from The Kitchen.  While the cupcakes were really tasty, I actually prefer a cake that has a tighter crumb to it.  I frosted the cupcakes with Swiss meringue buttercream that was mixed with pre-made lemon curd. To pipe the buttercream swirls I used a large petal tip (Ateco #126).  I confess it was a decorating technique I pinched from Violet bakery in London. 

Lemon Lovers Table

 

I couldn't wait to put together this Lemon Lovers Table and I absolutely adore how it turned out.  It all began with the most fabulous citrus-themed linens (tablecloth, placemats and napkins) from Mrs. Alice, the tablescape brand.  If you've never heard of Mrs. Alice I urge you to check out their website because they sell so many gorgeous things.   I could easily blow my paycheck on their products!

Lemons always remind me of Capri, the small island off the Amalfi Coast in Italy that I visited a few years ago with friends.  We had the best time there!  Everywhere you turned in Capri there were lemons present, whether it was the actual fruit growing on trees, the scent perfuming the air or as an ingredient in the food.   I long to return there once the pandemic subsides.

 

The linens paired beautifully with Aerin x Williams-Sonoma tableware I already owned.  I found these darling woven straw fruit napkin rings on etsy.  To complete the table I made a few lemon treats such as decorated sugar cookies, cupcakes and lemon posset.  Talk about a citrus explosion, but I love it!

 

Resources

 

Tablecloth, Placemats, Napkins: Mrs. Alice

Woven Straw Fruit Napkin Rings: etsy 

Plates, Drinking Glass with Raffia collar: Aerin x Williams-Sonoma 

Wine Glass: Amazon

Bamboo Flatware: Pottery Barn 

Lemon Bundt Cake

Spring is in full swing in the Bay Area and I am here for it.  After the marathon baking I did in preparation for Easter I was looking for something delicious, yet simple to make and this Lemon Bundt Cake fits the bill.  I've made quite a few lemon cakes for this blog but surprisingly this recipe from Cook's Illustrated was one that I hadn't made before.   The cakes I've made previously had sour cream or cream cheese as an ingredient but this one has buttermilk which helps to create a tender texture. 

As is the case with any bundt cake,  a key to its success is ensuring the baked cake releases nicely from the pan.  I made sure to grease my fleur de lis pan really well with shortening and then coat it generously with a dusting of flour.  My cake released beautifully and you could really see the beautiful design too. 

This cake is really delicious and really doesn't want for anything.  The crumb was light and tender and there was plenty of lemon flavor.   I am definitely going to be making this again.

Lemon Gooey Butter Cookies

San Francisco has no shortage of excellent bakeries and I love sampling as many of them as possible.  Recently Jane The Bakery was awarded the 2018 winner of best croissant and pain au chocolat in the city by French Morning website.  This accolade pretty much guaranteed a visit to the bakery from the likes of me.  While Jane's viennoiserie were delicious and deserving of the title what actually caught my attention were the Lemon Gooey Butter Cookies.  I'm a sucker for citrus flavored desserts so I put my detective hat on to see if I could replicate these cookies myself

I was first introduced to these cake-like cookies many years ago by my friend Jill's family friend Patti.  Patti was known for her Patti Cakes which were cookies made using boxed cake mix.  It was love at first sight when I tried them back then, but the thought never crossed my mind to make them from scratch.  Tasting Jane The Bakery's cookies motivated me to give it a try.  

A Google search resulted in quite a few recipes and I ended up trying this one from West via Midwest.   The results turned out fantastic and tasted just like the ones from Jane's.  Score!

Lemon Tea Cookies

My work had a team meeting at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco recently.  It's an annual conference that's also one of the most anticipated events on my office calendar.  I always look forward to it because it's a chance to connect face to face with global colleagues who are based in North America, Europe and Asia. 

The catering at the hotel over the course of the three days was your typical fare, good but not spectacular.  However, the one thing I and many others absolutely loved were the lemon tea cookies the Hyatt served during a coffee break.  As soon as I took a bite of the soft, tender cookie topped with a thin layer of lemon glaze I knew I had to replicate it at home.  

 

Success all came down to getting the actual cookie, without the glaze, right.  The cookie itself reminded me a lot of a black and white in that it's texture was more cake-like.   I tried googling "Hyatt lemon tea cookie" in the hopes that someone may have posted the hotel's recipe online, but alas, no such luck and I was left to my own devices.

I ended up tweaking Cook's Country's Black and White Cookie and the results were fantastic.  By adding more flour to the recipe I got the thicker cookies I was looking for.  I also substituted lemon juice for the vanilla extract, but next time I think I'll use some lemon extract along with grated lemon peel to give it a real citrus punch.  The glaze couldn't be simpler, powdered sugar mixed with freshly squeezed lemon juice.   I don't think I'm bragging when I say I have a legitimate replica...eat your heart out Hyatt!

Lemon Curd Cake

Can you feel that spring is just around the corner?  I'm loving all the sunny weather in the Bay Area right now and the promise of longer days to come.  For all my friends on the East Coast who have lived through a crazy winter I'm sure there is no season they are looking forward to more.  

I recently hosted a brunch at my house and because the main course I was serving was a little heavy, a version of eggs benedict served on buttermilk waffles with spinach and bacon, I thought dessert should be light and fresh and seasonally appropriate.  Citrus is a favorite flavor profile of mine and I thought this Lemon Curd Cake fit the bill perfectly. 

The inspiration for the cake came from one I saw on Not So Humble Pie.   I took the high ratio butter cake from the blog and filled it with Cook's Country Lemon Curd and Martha Stewart's Swiss Meringue Buttercream.     So delicious!   

I'm definitely reading for spring time to commence!

Top Crust Lemon Bars

Lemon bars are one of my favorite bar cookies and I definitely prefer them over the more popular brownie.  I have a tried and true recipe that I've turned to without fail.  Now don't get me wrong, I love it, but my only gripe is that I whenever I dust the top with powdered sugar it inevitably melts in to a sticky goo - not so pretty. 

My co-worker raved about the fabulous lemon bars from Devil's Teeth Baking Company and brought one in for me to try.   Their lemon bar was different from ones I'd tasted (or made) before.  This bar had a crispy and brown top "crust" that allowed the powdered sugar that was sprinkled on top to stay dry.  

I searched online to see if Devil's Teeth might have a recipe posted but to no avail.  By happy coincidence I was watching some baking videos by one of my favorite websites, Woodland Bakery Blog, and saw a recipe for lemon bars.  Even better, I could tell from the video that they had a top crust.  Eureka!  I tried the recipe and while the filling was exactly what I was looking for I found the crust to be a bit too soft.  So I combined my favorite shortbread recipe with this new filling to come up with a lemon bar that had a crispy bottom AND top crust! 

Clementine Loaf Cake

I know it's winter when stores start stocking Cuties California clementines.  I love them!  My mom says that when I was a kid I used to eat oranges like a fiend so it's no surprise that Cuties are one of my absolute favorites. 

The December 2011 issue of Everyday Food featured a tangerine cake with citrus glaze on the cover and I knew I had to try it with the Cuties.  They baked their cake in a bundt pan but I went with small loaf pans which are the perfect size for gift giving.  

The cakes turned out slightly dry so next time I'm going to poke holes all over the tops then brush them with a clementine-infused simple syrup before pouring on the glaze.