Showing posts with label lemon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lemon. Show all posts
A rose by any other name and all that!
What it is is a magical dessert where the batter splits into two discernable elements, with a delicious light and airy cake on the top and a rich indulgent lemon curd pudding on the bottom.
It is basically a very simple dessert which uses simple every day ingredients in a most delicious way to create something ethereal and wonderfully whimsically magic.
There is nothing out of the ordinary or unusual in it ingredient wise. Nothing magical. Just simple things.
A lemon, butter, flour, milk, sugar, cornstarch. That's all. Simple.
You may even think that if you are a singleton or a couple/smaller family, that this dessert is out of your reach unless you are having company.
You are wrong, if that is what you are thinking. Totally and completely and utterly wrong. Prepare to indulge yourself to the nth degree!
The version of that simple dessert I am sharing with you today is perfectly sized for just two people, or one with leftovers. (And who wouldn't love these leftovers!)
Small in size, yes, but not lacking any of the largesse when it comes to flavor of the larger original sized dessert.
That magical cake topping is perfectly light and airy, beautifully lemony.
A wonderful sponge as light as an angel's wings . . . a delicious angel. A lemony angel. A wickedly delicious angel . . . but that's not all . . .
You have that same beautifully, delicious, rich and lush lemon curd filling on the bottom. Oh my so yummy.
Indulgent and lemony. Not too sweet. Just tart enough.
It goes together quickly and easily. The most difficult part is waiting for it to cool down when it comes out of the oven.
But trust me when I tell you it will be more than worth the wait. You may think that it is something which you couldn't possibly make, but let me assure you it is incredibly easy to make. Just follow my handy tips.
First you will need to create a water-bath to bake the pudding in. This is nothing fancy, just a baking tin large enough and deep enough to accommodate your pudding dish with a bit of space surrounding it.
I used a small casserole dish for my pudding, approximately 7 1/4 by 5 1/4 inches in size. I set the pudding into my 9 by 13 inch cake tin. You then just carefully pour in boiling water to the depth of half the height of your pudding dish.
Just be very careful not to get any of the boiling water into the pudding itself (pour it in from the side of the cake tin) and careful not to splash any of the boiling water onto yourself as you put the whole thing into the oven.
I use oven mitts to transfer the pans and pop them onto the top rack, set in the middle part of my oven.
Another thing you will want to do is to ensure that the bowl you beat your eggs whites in is scrupulously clean. You don't want to be using a plastic boil with any film of fat or oil in it from past baking/desserts.
I always use a glass bowl for beating my egg whites. ALWAYS!!
Whisk or sift the flour and corn starch for the cake together. I know they are only small amounts, but you still want everything evenly distributed.
Its a simple thing really. Just measure them into a small bowl and whisk together with a small wire whisk or even a spoon if that is all you have. You want them evenly combined.
Have all of your ingredients at room temperature for the best results. Very easily done. The amounts are so small, you can just measure them out and walk away for half an hour before beginning to actually make the cake.
This is for a few reasons. Room temperature egg whites give much more volume when beaten. Also if you make sure all of your ingredients are the same temperature, you can be assured of a much better result or finish.
Don't panic if your mixture splits after you add the milk and the lemon juice. This is completely normal!
You will still end up with a perfect pudding. Trust me on this.
Size doesn't matter all that much, just so long as your dish holds three cups. My baking dish is a bit on the deep side, but you could use one that is shallower with a larger surface.
The larger dish will cook quicker, that's all. And the pudding won't be as deep. I find that the size I used for this today is the perfect size. You could even use a small loaf tin. Just make sure you butter it well so that the pudding doesn't stick to it too much.
Above all have fun. Enjoy the experience of making this and enjoy the experience of eating this!!
Maybe you are lucky enough to have a grandchild stay over night. This would serve three alright, because the servings for two people are very generous. I have to say.
You may want to serve it with some pouring cream or some whipped cream on top and that would be really delicious. Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!
Also if you are more than two and wanting to cook a larger version, you can access my full sized version here. Its tasty tasty too!
It serves four to six depending on how greedy you are! No judgement here.
Lemon Delicious for two
Yield: 2
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 1 Hourinactive time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 H & 45 M
Somewhere between a cake and a custard, this simple dessert separates into two delicious layers when it bakes. Soft, light and airy lemon cake on top. Lush, creamy lemon pudding on the bottom. Perfectly sized for two people.
Ingredients
- 2 large free-range eggs, at room temperature (yolks and white separated)
- 1/2 cup (95g) finely granulated sugar
- 4 tsp plain all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp cornstarch (corn flour)
- 2 TBS butter, at room temperature
- 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 1/4 cup (60ml) fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup (120ml) full fat milk, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325*F/160*C/ gas mark 3. Have ready a well buttered 7 1/4 inch by 5 1/4 inch baking dish. (should hold 3 cups). Also a 9 by 13 inch cake tin, large enough to hold the baking dish with some space around it.
- Using a hand held electric mixer beat the egg whites until foamy on medium low speed. Increase the speed to high and begin adding 6 tablespoons of the sugar, one at a time. Beat until the mixture doubles in size and has stiff glossy peaks. Set aside.
- Beat the butter, lemon zest and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Scrape the sides of the bowl periodically.
- Sift together the flour and cornstarch. With the beaters on low, slowly add the flour mixture until combined. Add the milk and lemon juice.
- Stir in 1/3 of the beaten egg whites, using a rubber spatula. Fold in the remaining egg whites until no white streaks remain. Scrape this batter into the prepared baking dish, smoothing over the top.
- Place a folded clean dish rag in the bottom of the larger baking tin. Place the dish with the pudding in it on top. Carefully pour boiling water into the larger dish around the smaller dish to come halfway up the sides.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about an hour. When done it should be golden brown and set with a slight jiggle in the middle.
- Remove from oven and carefully transfer the baking dish to a wire rack to cook for half an hour prior to serving. Delicious warm or at room temperature.
One major weakness of mine is cake. Another one is lemon. Combine the two things and I fear I am totally a lost cause. Can. Not. Resist.
Especially when it is a cake that is as delicious as this Lemon Buttermilk Loaf Cake. With its full on lemon flavors and scrumptious lemon glaze topping, this cake spells winner with capital "W" "I" "N" "N" "E" "R!" Make no mistake about it!
I have never met a lemon cake I did not love and this one is no exception. It is a well known fact that buttermilk makes cakes that are wonderfully moist and rich.
There are a lot of lemon buttermilk cake recipes out there, but most are baked in a Bundt tin. This one differs in that it is baked in a loaf pan, and it makes one loaf, not two, or three, etc. Just one incredibly moist and lemony cake.
One 8 by 4 inch loaf. Enough to serve 4 really hungry people, or two hungry people with leftovers, or 8 peckish people. It all depends on if you are peckish, hungry, or you just adore lemon cake.
If you are here, I gather you are at least one of those. But I am pretty sure you at least love lemon cake.
If you have lemons, butter, buttermilk, sugar, eggs, flour and a few odds and sundries like vanilla, baking powder and baking soda, then you already have the makings of this lush, moist and delicious cake!
I used to belong to a baking group, called Tuesdays with Dorie. In that group we used to bake one recipe a week, together as a group from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking with Dorie. Sadly I had to leave all of my Dorie Greenspan books back in the UK last autumn.
I actually learned a lot from baking her recipes however. One thing was that to get a real depth of lemon flavor into baked goods, it helps to rub the lemon zest into the sugar.
Just measure out your sugar, add your freshly grated zest and start rubbing. Before you know it your nose and your kitchen will be filled with the lovely fragrance of lemon, and your bake will be filled with abundant lemon flavours.
This single act helps to release all of the natural oils in the lemon skins/zest and imparts a lovely flavor to the cake. I have done it ever since I learned it from Dorie and have never regretted it. You won't either.
Do you wash your lemons before you zest them? I do. You never know what lurks on the skins of your lemons. Not to be indelicate or anything, but lemons are grown in hot dry climates for the most part, and you know what proliferates in hot dry climates? Flies.
Those clusters of little black or brown dots you may see here and there on your lemon skins . . . fly dirt. SO I wash my lemons. Unwaxed, waxed, no matter. Also there are pesticides which are used.
So I just give the skins a good wash under cold running water and use a veggie bush to give them a bit of a scrub and then dry them with a soft dry cloth.
I could be wrong of course . . . but what then if I am right. Its not a chance I like to take. Mind you, when I was a child I thought banana seeds were spider eggs, lol. I didn't eat a banana for years on that presumption, lol.
Do use real lemon juice in this cake. Please don't use the little squeeze lemon bottles of reconstituted juice. It just is not the same. There is a huge difference in flavor.
It might be re-constituted from real lemon juice, but there's other stuff in there. I can smell it and I can taste it. Just don't. Real, fresh lemon juice is the way to go.
How else are you going to get that lovely fresh zest anyways? Unless you use fresh lemons. Eh?
There is something magical about buttermilk that renders every baked good it touches deliciously moist. Some sort of chemical reaction. I am no chemist, but I love buttermilk anything. Cakes, cookies, loaves, pies, biscuits, breads . . .
All are fabulous. If you don't have any buttermilk, you can make a suitable substitute by adding 1 TBS of lemon juice to a measuring cup and adding the amount of liquid buttermilk you need in whole milk to take its place. Let it sit for five minutes to clabber.
Vinegar will do the same thing. I used to have to do this a lot in the UK because I couldn't always find buttermilk. I don't know what was up with that.
Ireland is steeped in buttermilk, but in the UK? Largely an unsung hero. If you could find it at all, it was only ever in 1 cup sized pots. I am so grateful to be back in the land of buttermilk.
Have you ever marinated your chicken in buttermilk before you cook it? Oh boy, but does it ever make for tender chicken.
One of my favorite chicken recipes is this Buttermilk Chicken. Oh boy but it is some juicy and delicious. I haven't made it in a while. Time to make it again methinks.
Even more lemon flavor comes from the lush lemon glazed which gets spooned over top of the cake. Its just icing sugar, cream and lemon juice, oh and a bit of lemon zest.
The cake is lovely without it, but the glaze turns lovely into magnificent. Devine!! Lush!!! Beautiful!!!!
If you have time to bake only one cake this weekend, let it be this one. You won't regret it. I can promise you that!
You could inject even more lemon flavor into the cake by brushing it with a simple lemon syrup when it comes out of the oven. I sometimes do. Simply warm together 1/4 cup of sugar (50g), 1/4 cup of water (60ml) and 1 1/2 TBS of lemon juice, until the sugar completely dissolves.
Using a pastry brush, brush it on top of the lemon loaf, letting it soak in and brushing it on some more, repeating until you have used it all up.
There is no two ways about it. This is one fabulous lemon cake. Enjoy!!
Lemon Buttermilk Cake
Yield: One 8 X 4 inch loaf
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 50 Min
This beautifully moist loaf cake is bursting with lovely lemon flavors1
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 (210 grams)cups all purpose plain flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- 1/2 cup (120grams) butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (195 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 TBS freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 large free range eggs
- 3 fluid ounces of buttermilk
- 2 TBS fresh lemon juice
For the glaze:
- 3/4 cup (95 gram) icing sugar, sifted
- 1/2 TBS heavy cream
- 1/2 TBS fresh lemon zest, plus some for dusting over the top
- 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter your loaf tin really well and line the bottom with baking paper. Set aside.
- Rub the lemon zest for the cake into the sugar in a bowl until it is really fragrant. Add the butter & vanilla. Beat until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Whisk together the buttermilk and lemon juice.
- Beat the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, alternating wih the buttermilk, until everything is fully combined and all of the dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. Scrape into the prepared loaf tin. Bang the tin on the counter a couple times to release any air bubbles.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs. The top should also spring back when lightly touched.
- Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the glaze, whisk the icing sugar, cream 1/2 TBS of lemon zest and lemon juice together until smooth and of a drizzling consistency. Spoon over the cake and then sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon more of lemon zest.
- Cut into slices to serve.
This recipe for Lemon Love Notes is one of the finest love notes recipe you can bake. Love notes are a lemon bar, but not just any lemon bar!
With a buttery shortbread crust flavored with lemon and coconut, and their sweet lemon and coconut glaze, they are a favorite with anyone I bake the for.
I had not made them in a very long time, so today I decided to small batch my original recipe with excellent results!
But don't worry I have also entered the full recipe measurements in the notes section of the printable recipe. That way you can either bake a small batch when you only want a few, or a larger batch when you are wanting more!
If you love Lemon, you are simply going to adore these. They are fabulously tasty!
Shortbread crust??? I am there!!! Shortbread crust flavored with lemon??? I am there!!! Add some flaked coconut??? I am there!!! Lemon coconut glaze??? Count me in, roll me in it, poke me, I'm done!!!
In all seriousness, there is nothing about these bars that you won't love. They are incredibly easy to make, bake and even easier to eat!
You begin by making that beautiful shortbread base. I love shortbread cookies, with their crisp and buttery texture. This is much the same, except it is flavored with fresh lemon zest and sweetened flaked coconut.
You can use an unwaxed lemon, but you will still need to really scrub it. Just think of all the pesticides that are used in Orchards, not to mention spider, fly and bug dirt. You want to get all of that off the surface.
A good vegetable brush and some warm soapy water does the trick beautifully. Once you have done that, just dry it off and zest.
I have a fine micro-plane zester/grater. I use it for all of my citrus zesting and also for grating fresh parmesan cheese. It works a charm.
I always just use lightly salted butter for all my baking. Unless the recipe actually specifies unsalted, salted works fine. There is really not much of a difference.
If you use regular salted butter, however, you may want to leave the salt out of the recipe.
Icing sugar is used because of its propensity to melt right into the butter when you are creaming the two together. This helps prevent you from having a gritty finish.
Icing sugar is also known as powdered sugar or confectioner's sugar. Sift it to get any lumps out.
I have never made these with unsweetened coconut, or desiccated coconut, so I cannot answer to how the end result is with either of those. I just use regular sweetened flaked coconut.
It works fine and no, the bars are not too sweet. They are just right. Lemon requires things to be a bit on the sweeter side.
The dough for the shortbread base for these bars is a bit on the tacky side, although not extremely so. For ease in pressing it into the pan, you can lightly flour your fingers, or use an off-set spatula if you have one.
It doesn't have to be totally smooth, but you should try to make it pretty even throughout.
Do NOT over bake these. You want the crust/base to be mostly off-white in color, with just a bit of brown around the edges. This is perfect. If you overbake them, they will be hard.
You don't want that. I find that between 20 to 25 minutes is just perfect in my oven. Start checking them at 20 minutes just to be sure.
Do not skip the glaze. The glaze is essential to the integrity of these bars. In other words, you need it.
Its simply sifted icing sugar, whisked together with some more coconut and then lemon juice until smooth. You want a thickish drizzle. Not thin enough to flick. You want to be able to spread it without it running off the sides of the bars.
If you add it while the base is still warm, it spreads a lot easier. I dollop it in small dollops all over the base and then spread it out with the back of a metal spoon.
I then sprinkle a tiny more coconut overtop before it sets. I think its really pretty this way.
To get perfect shaped bars, cut three times in one direction and four in the other. This will give you 12 bars in an 8-inch square pan.
If you are making the full batch in a 9 by 13-inch pan, you can cut it three times in one direction and 8 times in the other, giving you 24 perfect bars.
I am not sure where I got the original recipe from, or where this recipe gets its name. I had it written down in my big blue binder. Probably copied it out in the 1980's, perhaps from a ladies magazine or a book I got from the library.
I used to be always taking cookbooks out of the library and copying out recipes from them. I never put the source, unless it was a recipe I got from a friend. Then the source was always carefully noted.
I never dreamt that one day I would be sharing these treasures with the world, or I might have been more careful. In any case, you are sure to fall in love with these beautiful lemon bars.
Buttery and crisp, with a beautiful texture and lush lemon flavors these will go down a real treat. Beautiful with a hot cuppa during your morning break, and, when we get back to socializing, these are the perfect addition to any tea party or ladies' luncheon!
Lemon Love Notes
Yield: 12 bars
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 35 Min
This is a small batch of a full recipe for the most lovely lemon bars with a lemon and coconut shortbread base and a lush lemon coconut drizzle. Delicious! (See note for measurements to make full batch of 24 bars)
Ingredients
For the base:
- 7/8 cup (123g) all purpose, plain flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (120g) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup (65g) icing sugar, sifted
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- 1/2 cup (50g) flaked sweetened coconut
- the finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
For the icing:
- 1 cup (130g) icing sugar, sifted
- the fresh juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 TBS flaked sweetened coconut, plus a bit more to sprinkle
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Butter an 8 inch square baking tin and line with baking paper. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and icing sugar until light. Beat in the egg yolk. Stir in the salt, coconut, and lemon zest. Add the flour gradually until well combined. Using lightly floured hands, press this mixture evenly in the prepared baking tin.
- Bake on the center rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until set and just turning brown at the edges. Take care not to over bake.
- Remove from the oven and let cool slightly on a wire rack.
- Whisk together the icing sugar and coconut for the glaze. Whisk in the lemon juice until smooth. You should have a drizzle icing. Drizzle over the base to completely cover and then smooth it out with an off-set spatula. Sprinkle with a bit of coconut to finish.
- Leave to cool completely. Cut into 12 bars to serve.
Notes:
To make a full batch: You will need a 9 X 13-inch pan.
1 3/4 cup (245g) all purpose plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup (240g) butter
1 cup (130g) icing sugar
1 large free range egg
1 cup (100g) sweetened flaked coconut
1 TBS finely grated lemon zest
For the glaze:
2 cups (260g) sifted icing sugar
1/4 cup (60ml) fresh lemon juice
4 TBS flaked sweetened coconut, plus more to finish
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