Posts Tagged ‘lemon zest’

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Starting Something New

May 30, 2012

I apologize for not posting.  Last week was a whirlwind.  It was my last week at work.

For those of you that don’t know, I’ve been looking for another job for quite some time.  The job I was at for the last few years was well below my skill level.  I took it due to budget cuts in my old department.  A few weeks ago I had a job offer, which I took, but that involved leaving some of the nicest people I know.  Truly, the people I worked with daily made the drudgery of my job seem less like drudgery.  I’ve cried more in the last week, then I have in a while.  I’m excited about the new changes, but it has been a very bittersweet week.

Of course, this week hasn’t been any better.  For the first time ever, I decided to take time of between jobs and I had such grand plans.  I think I’ve been able to accomplish some of those things, but not many.  It’s Meeshie’s last week of school, so I’m making arrangements for summer for her.  It’s been unusually warm, so the plans I had to work in the yard have been put on hold.  Except for the garden.  We expanded the garden this year and added a lovely fence.  I planted all of my veggies over the holiday weekend.

I’ve been trying to get some baking done while I’m home.  I want to bring in a treat to all my new co-workers next week, and I’m trying to figure out what that will be.

These lemon jam bars are a pretty good start.  I used some homemade jam in them, but store-bought will work.  I think either strawberry, raspberry or blueberry would really make this pop.  The jam complements the lemon in the bars perfectly.  I know I’ve been make quite a few things with lemon lately, but why not?  There’s something about lemon in the spring or summer that is so perfect.

Lemon Jam Bars

  • Crust:
  • 1 C Butter, softened
  • 2 C Flour
  • 1/2 C Confectioners’ Sugar
  • 1/2 t Baking Powder
  • 1/4 t Salt
  • Zest from one Lemon
  • Filling:
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 C Sugar
  • 1/2 C Fresh Lemon Juice (I used 6 lemons)
  • Zest from one Lemon
  • 3/4 t Baking Powder
  • 4 t Flour
  • 1/2 C your favorite jam, I used strawberry, but use what you think will work well with the lemon

Line a quarter sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Combine the butter, flour, confectioners’ sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest together in a medium bowl.  Use a wooden spoon to form a soft dough.  Press evenly into the prepared pan.  Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Bake the crust for 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Remove from oven,  but leave the oven on.  Allow the crust to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Combine the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, baking powder and flour together in a medium bowl.  Whisk until well blended.  Spread the jam over the cooled crust.  Slowly pour the lemon filling on to the jam layer.  Bake for 22-24 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  After that, lower the temperature to 325 degrees and continue to bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until the topping has set.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving.

Dust with additional powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

This is another great recipe I found on pinterest.  Here’s the original.

Posted in Desserts, recipe | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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Lemon Brownies

March 26, 2012

I love Pinterest.  I don’t understand it, but I love it.  I love logging in and seeing all the wonderful things my friends have found.  It’s like getting a package in the mail.  Except, of course, I don’t have to leave my house to get it.  All those wonderful pictures and ideas really inspire me.  I don’t go on there every day, because well I did mention that I don’t understand it, right?

But when I do go there, there’s always something wonderful waiting for me.  I blame that on my friend Kathy.  She pinned these lemon brownies and I knew that I had to make them.  It is spring time, after all.  Plus, I love lemon.

The original recipe calls for halving the brownies, but I doubled them.  I then doubled the amount of lemon in the glaze, but kept the original amount of powdered sugar.  I did that for two reasons, one, I knew that a 8×8 pan wouldn’t be enough; and two, I didn’t want to waste half of a lemon.

These are so good.  They are not a lemon square (if you need a recipe for those, you can find it here).  They are not a lemon cake.  They are not a pound cake.  They are the consistency of a brownie but without the chocolate.

Lemon Brownies

  • 1 1/2 C Flour
  • 1 1/2 C Sugar
  • 1/2 t Salt
  • 1 C Butter, softened
  • 4 eggs
  • Juice from one lemon
  • Zest from one lemon
  • Glaze:
  • 1/2 C Powdered Sugar, sifted
  • Juice from one lemon
  • Zest from one lemon

Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl.   Mix in the softened butter.  In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest.  Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture.  Mix well.  Pour in a prepared 9×13 pan (I used a quarter sheet).  Bake in a 350 degrees oven for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.

For the glaze, whisk together the sifted powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest.  Spread on cooled brownies.

Makes 28 pieces.

Here’s the original.

Oh, and Kathy whenever you went to give a tutorial on Pinterest, I’m all yours!

Posted in Desserts, recipe | Tagged , , | 8 Comments »

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Ah Strawberries!

June 19, 2011

Happy  Father’s Day!

My friend Kathy sent me this wonderful recipe.  As soon as I saw it I knew I needed to make it for today.  I’ll admit that the amount of lemon zest made me do a double take.  I thought it might be too overpowering.  Not so!  Kathy said it was so refreshing and different.  I totally agree.   She also said it was a bowl of deliciousness.  It’s a perfect pairing to any summer gathering, BBQ, or mid-week meal.

I would really like to give this a try with raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries.  Or all the berries together.  This dish is really making me wish it was July.  July is, of course, blueberry picking.  I have fresh blueberries in the freezer from last year, but they would be too soggy, and because I have so many pounds in the freezer I can’t break down and buy any at the store.  I do know that my next trip to Costco will  definitely include raspberries and blackberries.

Oh and after enjoying some grilled meats and various sides, this dish is going to taste wonderful with some sugar cream pie.

Lemon Strawberries

  • 2 lbs Strawberries, cleaned, trimmed and quartered
  • 1 Lemon
  • 1/4 C Sugar, I actually used slightly less than a 1/4 C, but use as much as you want

Place the strawberries in a bowl.  Zest the entire lemon on top of the berries, then juice the lemon into the bowl (roll the lemon on the counter before juicing to maximize your juice yield).  Add the sugar and stir.

This will serve about 6 people.

Here’s the original.

Posted in Desserts, recipe, Salads/Sides/Soups | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments »

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OMG

April 23, 2011

I found this recipe last week.  It’s like monkey bread, but in a pan with lemon.  I know-lemon flavored pull apart bread.

It’s as good as it sounds.  I was planning on making it for Easter, but I couldn’t wait and we had it for breakfast this morning.  There is some left and I may serve it on Sunday.  If I want to share.  I also made a cinnamon brown sugar version that I plan to serve tomorrow.

This bread has a lemon cream cheese icing, but I didn’t make that.  It also calls for some orange zest, but I just kept it all about the lemon.  The steps to put into the pan appear to be complex, but they are really simple.  Once you’ve cut the pieces, tip the loaf pan (short side on the counter) and stack the pieces until the pan is full.  Also, I suggest you line the pan with parchment paper for easy removal and clean up.  The filling does become somewhat caramalized.  Also, it may talk longer than 35 minutes to cook and if that’s the case, cover the bread with foil until it’s done cooking.

Lemon Pull Apart Bread

For the sweet yeast dough
  • 2 3/4 C all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 C  sugar
  • 2 1/4 t (1 envelope) instant yeast
  • 1/2 t fine sea salt
  • 1/3 C Half and Half
  • 1/4 C butter
  • 1/4 C water
  • 1 1/2 t vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs , at room temperature
For the lemon paste filling
  • 3/4 C  sugar
  • 4 T finely grated lemon zest (4 lemons)
  • 1/4 C butter , melted
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, the yeast, and the salt and set aside. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and set aside.  In a small saucepan, melt together the half and half and butter until the butter has melted.  Remove from the heat, add the water and vanilla, and set aside until warm (115 to 125°F) , about 1 minute.    Pour the milk mixture over the flour-yeast mixture and, using a rubber spatula, mix until the dry ingredients are evenly moistened.  Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter.  The eggs will feel soupy and it’ll seem like the dough  and the eggs are never going to come together.  Keep stirring.  Add the remaining 3/4 C flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes.  The mixture will be sticky, that’s just right.  Place the dough in a large, greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel.  Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size.  You can then refrigerate the dough overnight for use in the morning.  Just allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes before rolling out.
While the dough is rising, make the filling.  In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, the lemon  zest and melted butter.
Make the bread.  Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line a  9x5x3 loaf pan with parchment paper. Or, lightly coat the pan with nonstick spray.  Gently deflate the dough. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 20-by-12-inch rectangle.  Spoon the  melted butter/sugar mixture generously over the dough. Cut the dough crosswise into 5 strips, each about 12 by 4 inches. (A pizza cutter is helpful here.)   Stack each strip on top of one another.  Cut the strip into six equal slices again.  You’ll have six stacks of six squares.  Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan.  While there is plenty of space on either side of the strips widthwise in the pan, fitting the strips lengthwise is tight. But that’s fine because the spaces between the dough and the sides of the pan fill in during baking. Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until puffy and almost doubled in size.  Bake until the top is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes.
Enjoy!

Here’s the original.

Posted in Breads, Breakfast | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments »

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