Blueberry-Almond Bars

Whew. Just a little time has passed! I'd like to claim lots has happened, but mostly it's just been work work work. Good stuff, but we're here for the food, and we all know it. ;)

Food then! I present Blueberry Curd and Almond Cream bars. They take some work, but oh goodness, they're addicting. There's just one other recipe I've had more requests for - this one even passed the One-Bowl Brownies! I can't say I'm surprised though, for a non-chocolate dessert these are stunning. They start out with a layer of almond shortbread, flavored with cinnamon and lemon. A layer of almond cream, flavored with liquor, makes up the middle. The crowning glory is a layer of homemade blueberry curd. Just... yum.

The recipe is an adaptation, but after a year I'm afraid the link has vanished from my records. Once again recipe gods, please give my thanks to your acolyte!

Blueberry Almond Bars

Shortbread:
* 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup ground toasted almonds
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt

Almond cream:
* 1/4 cup pure almond paste (2 ounces)
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
* 1 egg
* 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Blueberry curd:
* 1 pint blueberries
* 2 eggs
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* Pinch of salt
* 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly butter an 8x8" baking dish.

Crust: To make the shortbread, combine the butter, flour, almonds, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and salt until small lumps form. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press evenly into the bottom. Bake until the shortbread is golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

Almond cream: Purée almond paste, granulated sugar, butter, and a pinch of salt in a food processor until smooth. Add 1 egg, vanilla, and almond extract and purée until incorporated. Add flour and pulse until incorporated.

Blueberry curd: In a food processor or blender, puree the blueberries until smooth. Pass the puree through a chinois set over a bowl, using a pestle to press on the solids and extract as much juice as possible; discard the solids. You should have about 1/2 cup juice.

In the top pan of a double boiler or in a nonreactive saucepan, whisk together the eggs and granulated sugar until blended. Then whisk in the blueberry juice, salt, and lemon juice. Set the top pan over but not touching simmering water in the bottom pan, or set the saucepan over medium-low heat. (If using a saucepan, take care not to heat the mixture too quickly.) Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula or spoon, until the mixture is warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Begin adding the butter a little at a time, stirring each addition until blended before adding more. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan, until a finger drawn across the back of the spatula leaves a path, 8 to 10 minutes more. Immediately remove the pan from the heat. Pass the curd through the chinois set over a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. Whisk to blend.

Assembly: Pour the almond cream over the cooled crust and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven then pour the curd on top, spreading it evenly to the edges. There may be some blending of the almond cream and the blueberry - no worries.

Bake until the curd is set, about 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into individual bars, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Dust the bars with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Mini Lemon Mascarpone Cheesecakes

You'd think I liked cheesecake or something. Actually, I had a container of mascarpone that needed to be used, some extra lemon curd, and a love for my new mini cheesecake pan. Those three ingredients led to this tasty tidbit - a lighter than usual morsel with a refreshing lemon tang.

This will probably be my last cheesecake for a while - I've made other (boring, standard) cheesecakes that I haven't bothered to post here, and frankly, I'm cheesecaked out. I still have plans for that pan though; my birthday is coming up (ed: yea, in two months!) and I am plotting a big ole birthday feast. I have two companies and myself to feed, after all! If anyone has any suggestions or cravings, let me know in the comments and I'll add to my feeding extravaganza menu. I bet you can't wait (I know I can't!).

I used Trader Joe's lemon curd, but lemon curd is one of those recipes that's easy to make and gorgeous to taste.

Mini Lemon Mascarpone Cheesecake (minorly adapted from Diana's Desserts)
* 2 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
* 1/3 c sugar
* 8 tbsp butter, melted
* 1 c blanched almonds, coursely chopped
* 12 oz cream cheese
* 1/4 c plus 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
* 1 tbsp lemon zest*
* 1/3 c mascarpone Cheese**
* 5 tbsp heavy cream
* 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
* 2 tsp lemon juice*
* 2 large eggs, separated

Preheat the oven to 350F. Set mini cheesecake pan on a cookie sheet.

In a medium bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter, and almonds. Put a heaping spoonful in each cup and pat down with a shot glass.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, combine sugar, cream cheese and lemon zest. Mix until smooth. Add the mascarpone cheese and mix until just combined. Add cream, vanilla extract and lemon juice and mix until smooth. Stir in the yolks then transfer to a medium sized mixing bowl.

Wash and dry the electric mixing bowl. Using the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold the egg whites into the cream cheese mixture. Add batter to each cup leaving about 1 cm from the top. Bake at 350 degrees F (180 C) for 20-25 minutes. Let cool, then dollop a teaspoon of lemon curd on top. Refrigerate until ready to eat.

Mini Caramel Apple Pie Cheesecakes

I couldn't get apple pie out of my head. I tend to be naughty - I try to think of desserts that will poke at the boyo's weaknesses, even though I know he'd rather eat ... well, let's say "more wisely" tho I think "less funly" is more apt. My boyo loves apple pie. Pies of all kind, but give him apple and he won't even protest.

He also won't protest over cheesecake - remember those two from the cruise? Hmm, I thought. Could I possibly make him a dessert that is so in tune with his cravings, that he implodes from the tastiness? Hey, who can resist a challenge?

On top of that, I had a new pan I'd been dying to try: a mini cheesecake pan. Now, if the idea tickles your fancy, a word of recommendation - they're cheap, get two. I found myself taking way too long with the baking, just because I only had one pan in rotation. But, then again, I'm crazy and generally bake for 50. If buying pans for single projects isn't your thing (-cough-) you might be able to use a muffin pan .... but I really wouldn't recommend it. The cheesecake pan works because the bottoms come out, allowing you to push the cheesecakes up-n-out with very little hassle.

So. I'm going to give you guys options. There's the way I actually made the recipe, and then there are the tweaks. I'll add the latter in as notes so you can decide how you want to go, but let me just say, either way you go, YUM.

Mini Apple Pie Cheesecakes (adapted from Diana's Desserts)
Ingredients:
Crust:
* 2 c graham cracker crumbs
* 1/2 c granulated sugar
* 7 tbsp (3/4 stick/3 oz/85g) unsalted butter, melted
* 1/2 c pecans, coarsely chopped (tweak: my recommendation would be to omit the caramel swirl and caramelize the pecans instead before chopping them up)

Filling:
* 2 large apples (I used fuji)
* 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature
* 1 1/4 c granulated sugar
* 2 tsp vanilla extract
* 4 large eggs
* 1 tbsp cinnamon (or to taste)
* 1 tsp nutmeg (or to taste)
* 4 oz apple concentrate (or to taste)

Caramel Sauce (from The Food Network)
* 1 1/2 c sugar
* 1/3 c water
* 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 c heavy cream
* 1/2 vanilla bean or 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Serve with:
Leftover caramel sauce

Instructions:
For Crust:
Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C. Place removeable bottoms in mini cheesecake pan.

Stir cracker crumbs, pecans and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Add melted butter and stir until evenly moistened. Spoon a heaping teaspoon into each hole and pat down using the bottom of a shot glass.

For Filling:
Peel, core, and finely dice the apples. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla in large bowl until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reserve 2/3 c batter for caramel swirl; add apple concentrate and spices to the remainder, then gently fold in the diced apples.

Note: The caramel swirl is optional - the contrast on the top wasn't as strong as I was hoping and there was only a hint of caramel in the overall flavor. Caramelized pecans in the crust would do better if you're looking for a caramel punch... but if you're looking for subtlety, the swirl's the way to go (or hey, both!).

For Sauce:
Mix the water and sugar in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cover and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a medium brown, about 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Watch it carefully at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Stand back to avoid splattering, and gradually add the cream and the seeds scraped from the vanilla bean (or vanilla extract). Simmer until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth and thick, about 2 minutes. Let cool before using.

Note: I think this is what is called "dry caramel" and boy is it scary as all heck (mostly because I wasn't expecting it). As a warning - that water you're adding? It's going to evaporate and leave big chunks of hard sugar to very slowly dissolve. I would leave the water out entirely - just watch that pan closely!

To the reserved cheesecake liquid add spoonfuls of the sauce until it turns a light golden and is still fairly liquid. Make sure the sauce is well incorporated into the batter.

Assembly:
Pour ~1/4 c of apple cheesecake batter over each crust (about 3/4's way full). Drop by teaspoons the caramel batter into each cup and swirl around with a toothpick. Place the pan on a cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool before removing.

For those curious - he didn't implode. He did eat five though!

Mini Apple Pies

June marks my boyo's birthday, and there's nothing he likes more than apple pie. He's a pie kinda guy. -snerks- Ok, so, apple pie was the way to go, but I didn't want to make one big one, as we'd then have it sitting around the house to tempt us later (we're trying to cut back on the quantity of sweets around here). Since slices of pie are not at all portable, I decided to send his work pie miniatures.

A note for those of you admiring the lattice: I am a dork. For each of the 50+ pies I made that day, I hand wove the individual lattices. Had I been smart I would have made only one or two large lattices, then cut them up into the sized sections that I needed. Hey, weave and learn, yes?

This post also marks a momentous occasion: the retirement of my camera. It was old and tired, as evidenced by the 5 seconds it would need to take a picture (hold still... hold still... keep holding still... oops, I twitched, shot taken!). The decision to get a new one was brought about by another momentous occasion: me and the boyo's very first vacation together! We've gone on family visits before, but as enjoyable as they are there's always a certain level of stress involved. Plus, this past year we were moving at the same time, so things were at a new level of crazy.

Now that we're settled in and life is relatively calm, we are taking a cruise to Alaska! I'm excited to see the glaciers and (hopefully) wildlife, but you guys know me. I'll be taking pictures of the food. But, under the guise of admiring wildlife, we decided to purchase a new camera. The Canon PowerShot A590 IS slices, dices, makes chili and fries! ... well, ok, not those four. But so far it takes astoundingly beautiful and easy shots. I'm reading up on the manual so I won't have to plead with the eagles to hold still while I figure out which setting to use, but once I've got it sorted, look out Alaska!

So, I'll be gone for the next week. But when I return, expect a deluge of pictures and lots and lots of new oh-my-god-I-gotta-makes.

Mini Apple Pies

Dough (adapted from Simply Recipes):
* 1 1/2 c all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
* 16 Tbsp (2 stick) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
* 1 tsp salt
* 1 tsp sugar (increase to 3 tsp if for a sweet recipe)
* 4 to 8 Tbsp ice water, very cold

Start by cutting the sticks of butter into 1/2-inch cubes and placing in the freezer for at least 15 minutes (preferably longer) so that they become thoroughly chilled.

In a food processor, combine flour, salt, and sugar, pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add water 1 Tablespoon at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready, if not, add a little more water and pulse again.

Remove dough from machine and place on a clean surface. Carefully shape into two discs. Do not over-knead the dough! You should still be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These bits of butter are what will allow the result crust to be flaky. Sprinkle the discs with a little flour on all sides. Wrap the discs in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Filling:
* 8-9 med granny smith apples
* 1 tsp lemon juice
* 3/4 c sugar
* 1/3 c flour
* 1 tsp nutmeg
* 1 tsp cinnamon
* 1/2 tsp mace
* dash of salt
* 3-4 tbsp butter

Peel, core and dice the apples to 1/2" cubes. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and toss. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, flour, and spices. Sprinkle over the apples and gently stir to evenly coat.

Assembly:
* 1 egg, beaten
* turbinado sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F.

Remove both crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle some flour on top of one of the disks. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12 inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, use a metal spatula to check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. Add a few sprinkles of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking.

Cut out circles ~2x the size of your pan (I used a muffin tin; you don't need to grease it). Gently pat the rounds into the bottoms of the muffin tin, leaving the overhang (you may to need to do alternating cups first, then fill the other cups after the first round is finished, for room). Keep any scraps in the refrigerator.

Fill the crusts with the apples, until the top of the mound is ~1/2" over the crust. Dot with the butter. Brush the crust overhang with the beaten egg.

For lattice, roll out the second disk and cut into 1/3" strips. Weave the strips into one large lattice then cut off sections for each mini pie (you want the weave to be tight otherwise a lot of the moisture from the pie will escape). Carefully transfer the lattices to the muffin pan and pinch with the bottom crust to seal. Trim the excess, brush the remaining egg on top, and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, rotating in the middle. You want the crusts to be flaky-golden, not pale, otherwise the bottom crust won't be cooked all the way. Check a couple times during baking and add time as you feel is necessary.

Food for Father

Hold onto your hats: this post is going to be a doozy. Father's Day is still a couple weeks away but this year it falls in a busy month for me, and unfortunately my Dad doesn't live down the street for me to just give him a hug (much as I'd like to). So this year I was forced to plan ahead. I sound like a good daughter -- in reality, I'm a bad sister. You see, I had another reason for sending out my gift early; my brothers' birthdays came and went, and I completely forgot to remark on them. Oops.

So, in repentance, I overkilled. It was great fun though and I felt properly forgiven when they called to thank me and I could barely understand through the mouths-full. Nothing makes you feel more loved than a strong demand that you move closer :D

As I said, I overkilled. As such, I'm going to break the contents of the gift into two posts - these treats are to be savored. So! My first offering: Raspberry Macarons with White Chocolate Ganache and Raspberry Jam. MmmmMmmm. I've been on a macaron kick (like you hadn't noticed!) and as my parents had dutifully ooh-ed and aw-ed my pictures I figured it was fair they got a taste.

There's a little story to how these macarons came about though. I'd been eyeing the dried raspberry powder from L'Epicerie but didn't want to shell out the cash to try some. I resolved to make my own and see if it passed muster first. Drying raspberries isn't hard - they go straight from freezer to oven and sit there for a few hours at a reasonably low temperature (190 F) until all moisture is evaporated. The purpose is to completely dehydrate the raspberries, leaving only the concentrated pulp left for grinding. There are a few stipulations though: 1) The raspberries should be deep-frozen before baking, and 2) you shouldn't live somewhere with 100% humidity (yes, this again.)

Eighteen hours later (I started at 10am, gave up at 10pm and continued again for half of the next day) I finally had dried raspberry shells. Grinding them up in a coffee grinder produced a coarse-to-fine dark maroon powder that tasted strongly of raspberries. Good! This seemed usable. I set it aside for the designated weekend...

....and the day after completing the powder, received a package in the mail. Inside were two packages of dried raspberry powder from L'Epicerie, a gift from my boyo's work. Wonderful people, they are! Now, even if you live in 100% humid climate, the homemade powder will do in a pinch. But oh, the superiority of the bought. This stuff turned the air around it raspberry-y. It was fine as dust and light as a feather, and had none of the grittiness of the homemade to it. Better yet, a tiny amount imparted plenty of raspberry flavor, so there was no need to over-use.

Behold the comparison:

I admit, I used the bought. How could I not? I ended up making two batches though, as through my first batch I learned of the potency of the powder. Too much used and the raspberry became almost aggressive, while the texture turned jammy. I scaled back the amount for the second batch and was left with beautiful macarons that balanced white chocolate and raspberry perfectly. The first batch I ate myself ;)

Raspberry Macarons with White Chocolate Ganache and Raspberry Jam (adapted from LA Times)
* 1 c + 3 tbsp almond flour
* 2 c + 3 tbsp powdered sugar
* 4 egg whites
* 3/4 tsp cream of tartar
* 4 scant tbsp sugar
* 1 scant tbsp dried raspberry powder
* 1 White Chocolate Ganache recipe
* raspberry jam (I used my leftovers from here)

Line two 17-by-12-inch baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside (you may want to fold over the edges to keep the paper flat).

In a food processor, blend the almond flour, powdered sugar and raspberry powder for 1 minute. Sift the blended almond mixture directly into a medium mixing bowl. Set aside. (This can be made up to 2 days in advance.)

Fill a small saucepan halfway with water. Bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Place the bowl over the pot of hot water and whisk quickly until the egg whites reach 100 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Remove the bowl from the pot of water and whisk in the cream of tartar. Place it on a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Whip on medium speed for 2 minutes, then gradually beat in the sugar. Continue whipping for 6 minutes until the egg whites come to medium stiff peaks (tips droop only very slightly) and are shiny.

Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add egg whites to the almond mixture by gently bringing the flat side of a rubber spatula through the center of the egg whites and up the opposite side of the bowl, folding the dry ingredients over the egg whites. Repeat the same motion 50 times, turning the bowl a quarter turn each time.

Fit a pastry bag with a medium round tip (No. 4) and fill with the mixture. On the parchment-lined baking sheets, pipe 1.5-inch rounds (the batter will be slightly wet) by holding the bag at a slight angle and releasing small amounts of batter. Allow one-half inch between cookies; they will spread slightly.

Keep the piped cookies at room temperature, uncovered, for 1 to 2 hours. (This will help form a skin.) If in a high humidity area, place cookies in oven turned off but with oven light on. Remove cookies from oven and heat to 325 degrees, placing the racks in the center and lower shelves of the oven.

Bake the macarons for 12 minutes, reverse the trays on the racks and rotate. Bake 8 to 10 minutes more, or until firm and not wet. Cool on a rack.

White Chocolate Ganache (from JoyofBaking.com)
* 8 oz white chocolate, cut into small pieces
* 3/4 c heavy whipping cream
* 2 tbsp unsalted butter

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth.

Assembly:
Pair up cooled macaron shells to approximate size match. On one half spread a thin glaze of raspberry jam. Pipe ganache onto other half and gently sandwich together.

I had a lot of fun packaging them up:

But now the real question is, now that you know what's in the pink box... what's in the orange? Tune in next time.... (dundunDUN!)

Apple Pie Blondies

Comfort food! I'm generally not a huge fan of white chocolate, but in this combo the overwhelming sweetness of the chocolate is tempered with the flavors of apple, cinnamon and nutmeg. The texture is different from a normal brownie - instead of fudgey cake, it's a moist almost-bread pudding studded with lumps of spiced apples and drizzled with a concentrated white chocolate-apple ganache. It's best cold - the flavors are much more intense and independent than when warm.

UPDATE: Forgot to mention - the recipe is a follow-up to this post, as per request from Losillewen (I got it posted! What's six months between friends? :)

UPDATE 2: Commenter Topher was gracious enough to pass on her recommendations after trying the recipe, so I've incorporated them below. The big change - the ganache recipe has been halved so that even if you love ganache you won't have it coming out your ears for a month!

Apple Pie Blondies (adapted from Tartelette's version):
* 6 Tbsp unsalted butter
* 8 oz white chocolate
* 2 eggs
* 1/4 c sugar
* 1/2 Tbsp vanilla
* 1 cup flour
* 3 medium Granny Smith apples
* 1 Tbsp cinnamon
* 1 tsp nutmeg

Ganache:
* 10 oz white chocolate
* 1/6 c apple juice concentrate
* 2 Tbsp butter
* 1/6 c heavy cream

Blondies:
Preheat oven to 350.

Peel and core apples; chop into 1/2" cubes. Sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg over apples and stir to coat.

Grease and flour an 9"x13" inch square baking pan. Melt butter and white chocolate together in top of double boiler over hot water. When melted remove from heat and stir to blend well. Set aside.

Beat the eggs and sugar until pale and thick. Add white chocolate and butter mixture, vanilla and flour. Beat just until smooth. Add apples and mix in by hand, being careful not to overmix.

Pour into prepared pan and bake 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate for 4 hours then slice into squares.

Ganache:
Heat concentrate until boiling; remove from heat. Pour concentrate over white chocolate and let sit for a few minutes. Meanwhile, heat butter and cream in a separate bowl. Stir concentrate and chocolate until smooth; add butter and cream and mix thoroughly.

Pipe ganache in a lattice pattern on top or spread across cooled blondies.

Raspberry-Lime Petit Fours

I've been to tea parties before, but lately I've had a strong craving to host my own. The boyo thinks I'm silly, but I've a tea set that's yet to be used and a desire to bake lots of little edibles. In fact, when I saw Jen's petit four post from Use Real Butter, I couldn't wait any longer. Raspberries were on sale and I had a couple of days off from work -- it was perfect timing. I'm just considering it practice!

Jen's recipe is for higher altitudes, but since I'm at sea level and already having various problems adapting my baking to the climate, I decided to piece together some well-known recipes for my own version.

I was expecting to have ~30 petit fours, but I ended up with over 100. Luckily, the boyo's coworkers were gratifyingly appreciative so there weren't leftovers to worry about, but you should scale the recipe accordingly if you're not feeding a small army.

Raspberry Lime Petit Fours
* 2 recipes Hot Milk Sponge (recipe below)
* 1 recipe Raspberry Jam (recipe below)
* 1 recipe Lime Buttercream (recipe below)
* 1 recipe Lime Syrup (recipe below)
* 2 recipes White Chocolate Fondant (recipe below)
* raspberries for garnish (washed and dried before use)

Hot Milk Sponge (compliments of Our Patisserie)
* 1/4 c milk
* 2 Tbsp butter
* 3/4 c sifted cake flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 3/4 c sugar
* 3 large eggs
* 3 large egg yolks
* 1 Tbsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400F. Line the bottom of a jelly-roll pan (I just used a cookie sheet with sides) with parchment so that the paper overhangs the pan at 2 opposite ends.

Heat milk with butter in small saucepan until butter melts. Reduce heat to low, and keep hot, but do not simmer. Sift flour with baking powder twice. Return to sifter and set aside.

In large heatproof bowl, combine sugar, whole eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. Set the bowl in a pan of barely simmering water and whisk occasionally, until lukewarm to the touch. Now take off heat, and beat at high speed until mixture has cooled, tripled in volume, and has the consistency of thick whipped cream.

Sift one-third of flour mixture over batter, and fold in gently by hand, using the largest spatula you have. Fold in half of remaining flour; then fold in the remainder. Pour the hot milk and butter into batter and fold well, scraping the bottom each time and bringing the batter up the sides of the bowl until you can no longer see traces of liquid.

Turn batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 10 minutes. The cake will have browned on top, and started to shrink from the sides of the pan.

Raspberry Jam (compliments of my grandma!)
4 c raspberry (fresh or frozen)
4 c sugar

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Place the sugar in a oven-safe pan and heat for 15 minutes (heated sugar dissolves more easily.)

In a large saucepan mash the raspberries with a potato masher over high heat. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and strain out seeds.

Return raspberry juice to saucepan and bring back to a boil. Add sugar and boil for 5-7 minutes - remove from heat when thickened.

Let cool before using.

Lime Buttercream (compliments of Use Real Butter)
* 8 oz egg whites
* 15 oz sugar
* 1 lb butter, room temperature
* 1 Tbsp lime zest
* 4 Tbsp lime juice

Combine egg whites and sugar in a stand mixer. Whisk constantly over a bain marie until 140F is reached. Place on mixer witha whisk and whip until stiff. Turn down whip speed to 3rd and whip until cool to the touch -- this will take a while, should be cooler than your hand.

Change to a paddle and gradually add soft butter by tablespoons. Mix to emulsify. Once desired consistency has been reached, add lime juice and zest.

Lime Syrup (compliments of Use Real Butter)
* 1 c sugar
* 1 c water
* 2/3 c lime juice

Heat water and sugar in a pot until sugar is dissolved. Bring to a boil and turn off heat. Let cool, then mix in lime juice.

White Chocolate Fondant
* 4 c powdered sugar
* 1/2 c water
* 1/4 c light corn syrup
* 1/2 tsp vanilla
* 1/4 tsp almond extract
* 5 Tbsp butter
* 1/3 c heavy cream
* 12 oz white chocolate
* food coloring (optional)

Combine the sugar, water, corn syrup and flavorings in a double boiler over medium heat. Stir until smooth, then add the cream, butter, and white chocolate. Stir until incorporated, watching that it doesn't burn. Add coloring to preference.

Assembly
Make the sponge and cool completely. Slice into quarters and freeze, placing wax paper liners between sections. When frozen thoroughly, using a long serrated knife (a bread knife is ideal) slice each quarter horizontally. Return to the freezer until jam, buttercream and syrup are finished.

Heat jam until liquid (I did this in small batches). Using one quarter of the sponge, brush the bottom half with the lime syrup then spread the jam over the syrup. Spread the buttercream on the bottom of the top half of the sponge, and place over the jam (sandwich style). Brush the top of the sponge quarter with the syrup again, and refreeze. Repeat with the rest of the sponge.

Once the sponge sections have been sandwiched and completely refrozen, slice into 1"x1" squares (you may need to clean your knife several times during this process). Return to the freezer while you make the fondant.

Place a wire cooling rack over a cookie sheet and arrange the cake cubes about 1 inch apart from each other. The following process works best if the fondant is very warm and liquid. Using a ladle, pour the fondant over each cube, using a toothpick to smooth out any gaps. Garnish with raspberries before fondant cools.

Allow petit fours to sit for a few minutes and fondant to harden. Using a sharp paring knife, free the base of the petit four from the rack and place into a cupcake liner. The leftover fondant from the cookie sheet/rack can be reheated and reused - just make sure it's free of cake crumbs. Keep finished petit fours refrigerated until ready to serve.

Lemony Angel Food Cupcakes

The vote has closed, and we have a by-and-far winner: Angel Food Cupcakes! I'm surprised, I was expecting the Mint Chocolate Cupcakes to win. I should thank you all for voting though, 'cos these wouldn't have been top of my list to make otherwise - the chocolate would have been. What can I say! I'm a chocoholic.

I've read descriptions of summer recipes that always include "airy," "light," and "melts on the tongue." Well, now I'm adding one to the list. Guys, this recipe is airy, and light, and melts on the tongue, and is more than that besides. The angel food is basically foam with a gentle lemon edge to it; the buttercream is rich with a gentle sweetness, but no weight. The overall effect is a fluffy bite that whispers lemon and sugar - the strawberry is by far the most substantial part of the dessert. If I were to hold a tea party (and it is definitely on my to-do list) these would absolutely be on my menu.

Recipe, recipe! There are several parts to this one: the angel food, the buttercream, a lemon simple syrup, and the strawberries.

Angel Food (adapted from Fresh from the Oven):

Makes ~30 cupcakes

Ingredients:
* 1 cup cake flour
* 1 1/2 cup sugar
* 12 large egg whites, at room temperature
* 1 tsp cream of tartar
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 2 tbsp juice from 1 lemon
* 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
* 2 tbsp grated lemon zest

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325F. Line a cupcake pan with paper liners.

Whisk flour and 3/4 cup sugar in a small bowl, set aside. In a dry, clean electric mixer bowl, beat egg whites on low speed until foamy. Add in cream of tartar and salt, and increase speed to medium high. Continue to beat, adding the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until all the sugar is added and the whites are shiny and form soft peaks. Beat in the lemon juice, vanilla extract, lemon zest until just blended.

Sift the flour mixture over the whites, about 1/4 cup at a time, and gently fold it in using a large rubber spatula. Fill each cupcake liner almost full (a little over 3/4) and smooth the tops so they are flat and touching the liner on all sides (these cupcakes rise only a very little and tend to get malformed and oval if the tops have not been smoothed.) Bake until the tops are lightly golden and spongy to the touch, 20-25 minutes.

Remove from cupcake pan and let cool completely before assembly.


Lemon Simple Syrup (Candied Lemon Peel from The Kitchn - not a misspelling!):

Makes ~ 1 1/2 cups

* 5-6 lemons
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 1/2 cup cold water
* 2 cups sugar
* Superfine sugar (optional)

Peel the lemons with vegetable peeler, taking off long, thin strips (slice to 1/4 inch if yours - like mine - peel off in wider strips). Fill a medium sauce pan 3/4 full with water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add the lemon peels and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, then drain. Repeat, using the other 1/2 teaspoon of salt. This is softening the lemon peels and taking away the residual bitterness of the white pith.

Drain the peels for a second time and set aside. Add the cold water and two cups sugar to the saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring until the sugar dissolves. When the sugar dissolves add the lemon peels and simmer on low for 45-60 minutes. Watch near the end to make sure the sugar doesn't caramelize.

Immediately lift out the peels with a fork and let them cool on a piece of wax paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray. If you want to eat them as candy, roll them in superfine sugar while they are still wet. When they have cooled and dried put in a sealed container in the refrigerator, where they will last for quite a long time. The syrup can also be stored in the fridge and used for flavoring and sweetening.


Lemon Buttercream (from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Cake Bible - best cake recipe book I've found yet. Recipe also here.):

Makes ~ 4 cups

* 6 large egg yolks (4 oz)
* 3/4 cup sugar (5.25 oz)
* 1/2 liquid cup corn syrup (5.75 oz)
* 2 cups butter
* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
* 1/4 tsp lemon extract

Have ready a greased 1-cup heatproof glass measure.

Beat the egg yolks in a stand (or hand held) mixer until light in color. Meanwhile, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan (preferably with a nonstick lining) and heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup comes to a rolling boil. (The entire surface will be covered with large bubbles.) Immediately transfer the syrup to the glass measure to stop the cooking.

If using an electric hand-held mixer, beat the syrup into the yolks in a steady stream. Don't allow syrup to fall on the beaters or they will spin it onto the sides of the bowl. If using a stand mixer, pour a small amount of syrup over the yolks with the mixer turned off. Immediately beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Stop the mixer and add a larger amount of syrup. Beat at high speed for 5 seconds. Continue with the remaining syrup. For the last addition, use a rubber spatula to remove the syrup clinging to the glass measure. Continue beating until completely cool.

Gradually beat in the butter and lemon extract. Place in an airtight bowl. Bring to room temperature before using; rebeat to restore texture.

Assembly:
Once cupcakes have cooled, place a small dollop of buttercream on the top and line the top with thin slices of strawberries (ADDED: after slicing the strawberries, gently pat down with a paper towel. You want them to be as dry as possible so they won't leak juice). Lightly brush strawberries with lemon syrup. Pipe buttercream on top. Brush small slices of strawberries with lemon syrup and use for garnish.

Walnut Cupcakes with Apple Filling and Caramel Glaze

These had a middling effect on me. The idea spawned from leftover apple compote I'd made; it was too delicious to let go to waste, but too tempting to leave for myself. I'd been looking through Cupcake Bakeshop and was wowed by what I saw. When I came to her Walnut Cupcakes topped with Rose White Chocolate Mousse and Baklava, I said "Hold the phone!" (while wiping away the drool), "I should totally make walnut cupcakes for my apple compote!"

Chockylit, you are a culinary genius, but that cupcake recipe made the funkiest batter I have ever encountered. For a while there the texture resembled nothing so much as tar. Now, this should not be taken as a critique against the recipe, for dear god were those cupcakes good. I just have to add the note that if you hit a point in the recipe where the batter's so thick you can't stir, don't panic: you're doing it right.

That said, the combination of soft, mildly-sweet walnuts and buttery, caramelized apples was just gorgeous. Had I stopped there I would have been thrilled. But no! This cook stirred the pot one too many times.

To add the filling to the cupcakes, you have to cut a cone out of the top, dollop a bit of compote in the hole, slice the tip off the cone, and put the top back on. This leaves you with a whole lot of cupcake tips (yum!) and a bunch of mangled cupcake tops. I knew this in advance, and had intended on making a mild caramel buttercream to go on top. However, I started late, finished later, and by the time I was considering making a frosting it was 10pm and my kitchen was full of dirty dishes. And this was where I strayed.

Never, ever, EVER use a frosting recipe that says "5 minute" or "never fail" or calls for a ton and a half of powdered sugar. Unless this is your intent, you will end up with frosting that carves holes in your teeth with each bite. Any other flavor will be mercilessly beaten into obscurity. My four hour endeavor for delicate-and-delicious flavors was utterly trumped by the frosting's predominating flavor of SUGAR. Anything would have been better, but I was loving the walnut-apple-caramel idea without the energy to do it correctly.

So. Sorry guys, no recipe for you. I'm holding out until I can do it right, and not give you mediocre results. If you hate me now I'll understand, but remember that I linked the Baklava Cupcake recipe above and try to forgive me. In fact, you should take it upon yourself to make it just so you can flaunt in my face how good it is. I'll believe you. And I'll drool.

UPDATE: I've had a few requests since, so I'll relent and give you some of the recipe. The cupcake base is here, and I didn't change anything about it: just keep my notes from above in mind. The filling is a caramelized apple compote that is just oh-dear-god awesome -- recipe below. Now, regarding the frosting. Here is the recipe I actually used but as noted, I don't recommend it. This is more along the lines of what I intended: light, fluffy, mildly caramel. Oh well, next time!

Apple Compote (from The Los Angeles Times):
* 6 tbsps butter, cut in 1-inch pieces
* 1/2 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise and scraped of seeds (I just used 1 tsp vanilla extract)
* 3 large or 4 medium Fuji apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/4 cup (light) brown sugar, packed
* 2 tbsps heavy cream
* 2 tbsps lemon juice

In a large skillet over a medium flame add the butter, vanilla bean and seeds, cook until the butter turns golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add the apples, letting them caramelize on one side, then turn, about 5 minutes total.

Sprinkle the sugar and brown sugar over the apples and cook, turning occasionally to caramelize and soften the fruit, about 10 minutes. Add the heavy cream and continue to cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Remove the vanilla bean and put the apple mixture in a food processor, add lemon juice and pulse until smooth. Cool over ice, 45 minutes to 1 hour. (This can be made and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 1 week.)

Yes, yes it is.

Someone has a sense of humor, and I think I love them for it. This is one of the ugliest fruits I have ever seen -- when it is ripe it looks moldy -- but dang is it good. It's milder than a grapefruit, more comforting than a tangerine, juicier than an orange. The peel is disconcerting in that it is barely attached to the fruit within, but hey, that just makes for easier peeling. In short, between an awesome name and an awesome flavor, I'm going to have to indulge in a few more of these!

Just your normal sugar cookie

Bear with me here: this was my first attempt at making sugar cookies. I know, I know, it's the staple of the cookie-diet but for my entire childhood I left that to my middle brother. For some inexplicable reason, there were a couple things I was much more comfortable having my brother make for me. Sugar cookies was one of them. Bacon was the other.

Ok, I was just lazy. But dang he made good sugar cookies/bacon! Anyhow, I figured it was time to try my hand at them. I had lemons I wanted to use though, so these are special sugar cookies. Lemon zested and glazed, you've got a chewy cookie with a tangy bite that fades into comforting sugar. Mmmmm.

But see, I shouldn't be allowed to blog. This talk of sugar cookies and bacon has me pondering a combo. I'm not crazy: it's a fad! Or if I'm crazy I'm in good company.

Ingredients:
* 1 cup unsalted butter
* 1 2/3 cup granulated sugar
* 2 large eggs
* 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
* 3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 3/4 tsp. salt
* 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
* Zest of 2 lemons
* 1-2 cup powdered sugar
* Lemon juice (sorry I can't be more precise)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, vanilla and lemon zest. Mix together the flour, salt and baking powder. Fold the flour into the butter mixture.

Roll dough into a log and wrap in wax paper; refrigerate at least 1 hour. Slice into 1/4 inch slices and arrange on an ungreased cookie sheet (they will not expand much.) Bake 10-12 minutes, until very lightly golden. Remove and cool completely before adding glaze.

For glaze: combine powdered sugar and lemon juice (a tbsp at a time) until you have a thick almost-paste that falls slowly from the fork (you can test this within your mixing bowl.) Drizzle over cooled cookies.

Mozart Cake

This is a Mozart (cake) - I have to add the cake in there because it seems too snobby to call it by a title. The original recipe is here; my adaptation is below. Regarding the flavor: the component parts were good, but nothing requiring the choir of angels that sang when other reviewers tried it. There are two major changes I would make if I try the recipe again:

1) Roll out the dough to wafer thin before baking - you roll it out on parchment paper so you don't need to worry about ripping it in the transfer.

2) When assembling the pieces, brush two of the pastry rounds with apple jelly before covering them with mousse. The apple flavor in this cake is very subtle; adding a little more does not hurt.

By the way -- did I mention the need for fire in this recipe? Fire is fun, but very very scary. A few notes about fire and alcohol:

1) Fire hurts. Skin and fire don't play well together.

2) Alcohol catches fire most easily when heated -- I found this out after several attempts at lighting room temperature alcohol.

3) When actually lighting the alcohol, keep your hands and face as far away as possible. Best method I found was to light a match, tilt the pan with the heated alcohol away from yourself, and quickly, lightly brush the match head against the top of the liquid. It may appear to have failed to light for a moment; don't put your face close to check. If you don't see a blue flame, strike another match and try it again. The only truly difficult part of this step is using matches; if you have a butane lighter (long and thin) there's much less of a concern about getting close.

Now that the book of notes is done, prepare for the book o' recipe!

Mozart
Prep Time: 3 1/2 hours
Serving Size: 10

Ingredients:

Cinnamon Pastry
* 2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons (10 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
* 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
* 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon finely ground blanched almonds (no skins)
* 3 hard-boiled large egg yolks, cooled to room temperature and pressed through a fine sieve
* 2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 tablespoon dark rum
* 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Mousse
* 1 large Granny Smith apple - peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch dice
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
* 2 tablespoons dark rum
* 1/3 cup heavy cream
* 1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
* 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
* 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
Garnishes
* 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, at room temperature, shaved with a vegetable peeler
* 1/4 Granny Smith apple
* 1 teaspoon lemon juice
* 1/4 cup + 2 teaspoons apple or quince jelly
* 2 cinnamon sticks

Directions:

Notes: While assembling the pastry and mousse, I wished I had doubled or at least halved-again the mousse recipe. It's also better if you leave the mozart in the refrigerator overnight before serving as it allows the pastry to mellow out and soak up some of the moussey goodness.

1. Make the cinnamon pastry: Cream the butter in a food processor. Add the confectioners' sugar, ground almonds, egg yolks, cinnamon and salt and process until smooth. Add the rum and pulse to blend. Add the flour and baking powder and pulse to blend. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and gather into a ball. Cut the dough into thirds; roll out on parchment paper into a 11-inch round. Using the bottom of a springform pan as a guide, cut out a 10-inch round (do not cut through parchment paper). Carefully move parchment paper onto cookie sheet; put in refrigerator for 30-60 minutes each.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°. Prick the rounds all over with a fork, then bake them one at a time for 20 to 25 minutes, or until lightly browned. Transfer the pastry to a rack and let cool completely.

3. Make the mousse: In a bowl, combine the apple with 1 tablespoon of the sugar and the cinnamon. In a large heavy skillet, melt the butter over moderately high heat. Add the apple and cook over high heat, stirring, until lightly crusted and tender but not mushy, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the rum, carefully ignite it and stir the apple to coat. Transfer to a plate and let cool to room temperature.

4. In a small saucepan, heat the cream with the cinnamon sticks until bubbles appear around the edge. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from the heat. Strain the hot cream over the chocolate; discard the cinnamon sticks. Gently stir until smooth and let cool until tepid.

5. In a bowl, beat the egg whites until very foamy. Gradually add the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar, beating until stiff glossy peaks form. Using a large rubber spatula, fold one-quarter of the beaten whites into the chocolate. Fold in the remaining whites, then fold in the apple.

6. Set 1 cinnamon pastry round in the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and brush the top with 1/8 cup of the jelly. Spread half of the chocolate mousse on top. Cover with a second pastry round, pressing gently until the mousse is within a quarter-inch from the edge of the pastry. Repeat for the second layer and cover with the last pastry round. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours.

7. Garnish the cake: Remove the side of the pan and pat a thin layer of chocolate shavings against the side of the cake. Cut 5 thin slices from the apple and rub with the lemon juice. Fan the apple slices on the cake. In a small saucepan, melt the apple jelly over moderately high heat and brush a thin layer over the apples. Garnish with the cinnamon sticks and serve.

Christmas Cakes!

I'm not going to bother reiterating the recipes here; I'm just going to direct you to the genius who first came up with these recipes: Zinnur of Our Patisserie. Unfortunately I don't have cross-sections for you -- we're bringing these to a party and I'd feel a bit weird whipping out the camera. "Ok! Everyone freeze, I'm taking pictures for my blog! You in the Santa sweatshirt, hold that bite just a little closer to the plate. Closer.... Clooooooooser.... " Yeah. No. Luckily, Zinnur has some beautiful cross-section shots of her own, and I'm just going to assume mine look the same :)

Links:
Yule Log
A Romantic Cake with Raspberries

Apple Pie Blondies

Please don't hate me! This is an experiment of mine and, while it turned out very, very well, I didn't take notes on what I was doing. The end result was gorgeous though. A blondie (white-chocolate brownie) with spiced apples throughout it, covered in a white chocolate-apple ganache: mmmmmmm.

Lemon-Blueberry Cupcakes

These are a variation of the delicious black-bottom cupcakes from joyofbaking.com -- chocolate base with a cream-cheese dollop in the center. Instead these have a lemon pound cake base with a blueberry center. I pondered giving them a lemon glaze, but boyo claims they're sweet enough already. The blueberry is more prevelant this way!

Lemon Cake:
* 1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
* 1 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 1 c unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 c granulated white sugar
* 4 large eggs
* 3-4 tbsp lemon juice
* Zest of one lemon

For Pound Cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put paper-liners in a cupcake tin.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream the butter until soft and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy (about 3 - 5 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Add the lemon juice and eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With mixer on low, add the flour mixture beating just until batter is smooth. Stir in the lemon zest and juice, making sure you do not over mix.

Fill each cupcake holder almost full (slightly greater than 3/4.) Move on to the filling!

Blueberry Filling:
* 1 package frozen blueberries
* 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
* 1/4 c sugar (or less, to taste)
* 8 oz cream cheese, softened
* 1/3 c sugar
* 1 egg

Heat the blueberries until thawed, press berries through a strainer back into saucepan and discard the skins. Boil the juice, lemon juice, and 1/4 c sugar until there's about 1/2 cup left; set aside to cool.

Beat the cream cheese, 1/3 c sugar, and egg until smooth; add cooled blueberry sauce and stir until combined.

Dollop ~1tbsp of the blueberry filling on top of the cake batter. Bake for 20 minutes.

Strawberry Lemon-Curd Trifle

Happy Memorial Day! The boyo and I got invited to a bbq, and I was put in charge of dessert! Since the boyo loves fruit and strawberries were on sale, I went searching for a light, strawberry-ey dessert that was easily portable. Compliments of JoyofBaking.com, this is a Strawberry Lemon-Curd Trifle. I was slightly pressed for time, since dessert wasn't all I was responsible for, but next time I would add ~1/4 cup more sugar to the pound cake, use vanilla beans in the whipped cream instead of extract, add 1-2 tsps of balsamic vinegar to the strawberry puree to bring out the full flavor, and double the lemon curd recipe. I'm still very pleased with it though, although I've only tasted the individual parts. Overall taste to be determined this afternoon!

Please note: it is very important, especially for the cake, that the ingredients be room temperature. They don't blend together correctly otherwise.

Pound Cake:
* 1 3/4 cups (230 grams) cake flour, sifted
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/8 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup (226 grams) (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
* 1 cup (200 grams) superfine or castor sugar
* 4 large eggs, room temperature
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* Zest of a lemon or orange (optional)

Strawberry Puree:
* 1 - 20 ounce bag (570 grams) of frozen unsweetened strawberries or 20 ounces of fresh strawberries
* 1/4 - 1/3 cup (50 - 65 grams) granulated white sugar, or to taste
* Freshly squeezed lemon juice, optional

Lemon Curd:
* 3 large eggs
* 1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do not use the bottled lemon juice)
* 1 tablespoon (4 grams) finely shredded lemon zest
* 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar
* 4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into small pieces

Also:
* 1/2 pound (225 grams) fresh strawberries, sliced
* 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) heavy whipping cream
* 2 - 3 tablespoons (25 - 35 grams) granulated white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 4 crushed Amaretti Cookies or ginger cookies (home made or store bought)

For the cake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter or spray with a pan spray, a 9 x 5 x 3 inch (23 x 13 x 8 cm) loaf pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and butter or spray the paper. Set aside while you prepare the batter.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until creamy and smooth. Gradually add the sugar, beating continuously on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (this will take about 5 minutes). Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. After about five minutes the batter should be light in color and fluffy in texture. Then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. You will notice that the batter will look curdled. Don't worry as the batter will come together again after you add the flour mixture. Add the vanilla and lemon zest, if using, and beat until incorporated.

Add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Bake for about 50 to 60 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely. Serve warm or at room temperature. Will keep several days well wrapped or it can be frozen for a month.

Makes one 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf.

For the Puree:
Place the unsweetened frozen strawberries in a large bowl and thaw. This may take a few hours. Once thawed, put the strawberries and their juice in the bowl of a food processor or blender and process the berries until they are pureed. Pour the puree into a 2 cup (480 ml) measuring cup. You should have about 1 1/4 cups of puree. Add 1/4 cup (50 grams) of the sugar to start and stir until the sugar dissolves. Taste and add more sugar if needed. Can also add a little lemon juice to taste.

Store covered in the refrigerator for one week. The sauce can also be frozen.

Makes approximately 1 1/4 cups (300 ml).

For the Curd:
In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, stirring constantly (to prevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes thick (like sour cream or a hollandaise sauce) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C). This will take approximately 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Add the lemon zest and let cool. The lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools. Cover immediately (so a skin doesn't form) and refrigerate for up to a week.

Makes 1 1/2 cups (360 ml).

For the Trifle:
Have ready the pound cake, the strawberry sauce, sliced strawberries, lemon curd, and whipping cream.

To make the whipping cream: In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream, sugar, and vanilla extract until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

To start: In the bottom of your trifle bowl place thick slices (about 1/3 inch thick) of the home made or store bought pound cake. Fill in any gaps with pieces of the cake. Pour half of the strawberry sauce over the pound cake. Top the strawberry sauce with half of the sliced strawberries. Then pour half of the lemon curd over the strawberries. Top with half of the whipped cream. Repeat the layers. Cover and refrigerate for 8 and up to 24 hours to allow the flavors to mingle. Just before serving sprinkle the top of the trifle with the crushed Amaretti cookies.

Serves 10 - 12 people

Hazelnut Fingerprints

In making the macarons from my prevous post, I ended up with 2X+ the ganache I actually needed. Not wanting to have a container of strawberry chocolate sitting around to tempt me, I went searching for a quick way to use it. I found something that halfway suited; I forgot how hard it is to shell hazelnuts. These turned out to be well worth it. They're like soft shortbread: dry, with a gentle crunch from the nuts, made moist by the chocolate topping. Yum.

Ingredients:
* 2/3 cup Sugar
* 1 cup softened Butter
* 2 tsp Vanilla Essence
* 1 tsp grated Lemon Peel
* 1 Egg Yolk
* 2 1/4 cup Fine Wheat Flour (Maida)
* 1 1/2 cup ground Hazelnuts
* 1/2 cup Jam (I used chocolate spread instead)

How to make hazelnut cookie recipe:
Preheat the oven at 325 degrees. In a bowl mix sugar and butter, beating the mixture till soft and fluffy. Add vanilla essence, lemon peel and egg yolk, mix well.

Add the flour and the hazelnuts. Make 1 1/4 size balls out of the dough. Take a ungreased cookies sheet and place the balls on it 2 inches apart. Press the cookies in the center with the thumb.

Bake the cookies at 325 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown around edges. When completely cool fill the cavity of each cookie with ½ teaspoon jam.

Chocolate-Strawberry Macarons

After reading through Zinnur of Our Patisserie's adventures with macarons, I decided it was time to try them myself. Luckily for me, I had the benefit of her experiences to draw from, as well as those from David Lebovitz's blog (he's in France, where they have ingenious recipes like Salted Caramel Ice Cream. -droooooools-) I decided to use David's recipe, with a few minor changes. The end result was gorgeous: crunchy, chewy, sweet and fruity all at once. My ganache for the center was a little too soft: I didn't drain the strawberry juice before adding the puree because I wanted to keep the full flavor. In retrospect this was a mistake; next time I would add the juice to the cream and boil it a little.

Macaron Batter
* 1 cup (100 gr) powdered sugar
* ½ cup powdered almonds (about 2 ounces , 50 gr, sliced almonds, pulverized)
* 3 tablespoons (25 gr) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
* 2 large egg whites, at room temperature* 5 tablespoons (65 gr) granulated sugar

Chocolate Filling
* ½ cup (125 ml) heavy cream* 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
* 4 ounces (120 gr) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon (15 gr) butter, cut into small pieces

Strawberry Filling
* 15 medium strawberries (pitted), about 5 ounces (150 gr) strawberries
* 2½ ounces (70 gr) best-quality milk chocolate, finely chopped
* 2 tablespoons Amaretto

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and have a pastry bag with a plain tip (about 1/2-inch, 2 cm) ready.

Grind together the powdered sugar with the almond powder and cocoa so there are no lumps; use a blender or food processor since almond meal that you buy isn't quite fine enough. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat the egg whites until they begin to rise and hold their shape. While whipping, beat in the granulated sugar until very stiff and firm, about 2 minutes.

Carefully fold the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the beaten egg whites with a flexible rubber spatula. When the mixture is just smooth and there are no streaks of egg white, stop folding and scrape the batter into the pastry bag (standing the bag in a tall glass helps if you're alone).

Pipe the batter on the parchment-lined baking sheets in 1-inch (3 cm) circles (about 1 tablespoon each of batter), evenly spaced one-inch (3 cm) apart. Rap the baking sheet a few times firmly on the countertop to flatten the macarons, then bake them for 10-15 minutes. Let cool completely then remove from baking sheet.

Strawberry Filling:
Smash the strawberries with a fork until you have a rough puree. Using a sieve and a wooden spoon, push the strawberry juice into a small saucepan. Keep the pulp. Melt the milk chocolate and the Armagnac in a double boiler or microwave, stirring until smooth. Stir into the strawberry puree. Cool completely to room temperature (it will thicken when cool.)

To make the chocolate filling:
Heat the cream in the small saucepan with the corn syrup and strawberry juice. When the cream just begins to boil at the edges, turn down the heat so it simmers for 2-5 minutes. Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate. Let sit one minute, then stir until smooth. Stir in the pieces of butter. Let cool completely before using.

Assembly:
Spread a bit of batter on the inside of the macarons then sandwich them together. (You can pipe the filling it, but I prefer to spread it by hand; it's more fun, I think.)I also tend to overfill them so you may or may not use all the filling.

Let them stand at least one day before serving, to meld the flavors. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or freeze. If you freeze them, defrost them in the unopened container, to avoid condensation which will make the macarons

Peanut Butter Raisin Cookies

I found these last minute, and it turned out to have the best (and funkiest) texture I've ever found. Although the dough was soft, these cookies crumbled with you touched them and melted in your mouth. The boyo tried one under duress but was soon begging for "just one more!" Recipe compliments of Diana's Desserts.

Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup raisins
* 7 tbsp. (3/4 stick/3 1/2 oz/100g) butter, softened
* 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter (I used smooth)
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C). Cream butter, peanut butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. 2. Sift together the flour and baking soda.
2. Mix in sifted dry ingredients to butter mixture to form a dough. Add raisins and mix well.
3. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls and place on cookie sheet; flatten balls with fingers.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes in preheated 350 degree F (180 C) oven.
5. Leave cookies to cool on cookie sheet. Makes 16 cookies.

Banana Cake with Mango Curd and Pineapple Buttercream

I know, I know, it's very boring looking. It won't be, ultimately, but this is how the customer wanted it -- a blank canvas for her own decoration. It's mango curd and pineapple buttercream layered between two banana cakes and covered over with white fondant. The fondant was a new thing for me, and it turned out to be a lot of fun, if a lot of work.