Lemon Bars

I was looking for something in my bedroom, when Anna said "Cecilia! Can you make lemon bars? Please??" I say, "Umm, I wasnt planning on it." I walk downstairs, and Tamsin confronts me immediately. "CC! I want lemon bars!!!" I roll my eyes. In the living room, Alex asks, "Hey! When are you gonna make those lemon bars? I really want them. Please soon!" I say, "Okay! If everyone wants them so much!" When I wake up, I realize that this was all a dream. So, basically, my subconscious was telling me "YOU WANT LEMON BARS! MAKE SOME SOON!" So, by all means, I decide to listen :)

Lemon bars:

servings: about 12

What you need:

• oven
• food processor
• 8 inch baking pan (orig. recipe says 9 inch)
• whisk
• mixing bowl
• refridgerator
• cooling rack

Crust:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces

How to make:

1. preheat oven to 350 F
2. in food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, and salt
3. add in butter, and pulse together until there are coarse crumbs
4. press dough into bottom of baking pan
5. bake until golden brown (took me 35 minutes)

Filling:

Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (I used one lemon, but get two just in case)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

How to make:

1. whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, cream, zest, juice, and salt until combined

how to finish

1. when crist is baked, rewhisk lemon mixture and pour onto hot crust
2. bake until just set
3. transfer to rack to cool
4. refriidgerate bars, covered, until cold (at least 4 hours)
5. sprinkle with confectioners' sugar
6. enjoy!

How they turned out??

Delicious! I will absolutely make these again! The letting it sit in the fridge for hours is actually necessary. I tried them before, and they weren't the right texture or flavor. I actually think they were better the last day than the first!

white chocolate raspberry mousse cake -- my style!

This cake called out to me from the heavens. White chocolate! Raspberry! Mousse! Cake! How could you go wrong? Well, I found out many, many ways you could go wrong with this recipe. Although the difficulty level on the recipe website says "moderate" I found it very difficult indeed (well i guess im a beginner, but still!) Oh well. Despite all the setbacks, it ended up tasting good (and i ended up having a LOT of leftover mousse) Still, I dont think I will EVER be making these again.

White Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake

Sounds absolutely delicious! I just had to make it :)

White Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake:

Makes: 6-8 servings

Materials:

• Oven


• Stove


• 2 Mixing bowls (L)


• 2 saucepans (s)


• 1 saucepan (M)


• Beater (optional)


• Refridgerator


• Food processor


• Sieve


• Mixing things

To make the cake:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar


• 1 cup all-purpose flour


• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter


• 1/2 cup water


• 1/4 cup vegetable oil


• 1 egg


• 1/4 cup buttermilk


• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

How to make it:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F


2. In large mixing bowl, combine flour and sugar


3. In small saucepan, melt unsalted butter, water, and vegetable oil over medium high heat


4. Once boiling, pour into mixing bowl and mix


5. Add egg, buttermmilk, baking soda, and almond extract (if using) and mix thoroughly


6. Pour into greased baking pan and cook for 10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (mine took 20 minutes)


7. Remove from oven and cool

Peach and Blueberry Crisp

This recipe seems quick and easy, and with an added bonus: it kills two birds with one stone, peaches and blueberries in the same recipe! Not many in my household are fans of cooked blueberries (me being one of them) so the peaches in this recipe should dilute the blueberry flavor some. Here's the recipe:

Peach and Blueberry Crisp*:

makes: 12 servings

Things you need:

• Stove
• Oven
• Saucepan
• Mixing bowl
• Fork
• Two quart baking dish
• Optional: cookie sheet

Ingredients:

• 2lb peaches-peeled, pitted, and sliced
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup blueberries
• 1 1/2 cups oatmeal
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) butter chilled and cubed
• Optional: vanilla ice cream

How to make it:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Combine peaches, granulated sugar, water, cornstarch, first teaspoon cinnamon, and vanilla, in a saucepan over medium heat
3. Cook for 10 minutes until it seems more jam-like than liquidy
4. Add blueberries, and cook for 5 more minutes
5. In mixing bowl, combine oatmeal, flour, rest of cinnamon, brown sugar, and salt
6. Add cubed butter and cut in until it forms crumbles
7. Pour fruit into baking dish and sprinkle crumbles evenly on top
8. Place baking dish on a cookie sheet in the oven (to prevent drips) and cook till the topping is golden brown (30 minutes)
9. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream

How it turned out:

Delicious! We had it the morning after it was made at room temperature (and without vanilla ice cream *gasp :O* ) but it still came out delicious. Anna rates it 8/10, Alex gives it 9.5/10, Tamsin gives it 10/10, and so do I :) Mom rates it delicious. Apparently, Anna got a piece with very little crisp, while everyone else had tons of it. Oh well. The blueberries were barely taste-able, but gave it a beautiful magenta color. For how much I liked it alone, and the agreeing votes, I will definately try to make this again.

*original recipe found at www.recipetips.com

What to do With Fresh Fruit:

Today we went blueberry, raspberry, and peach picking at Bishops Orchards, and now we have bags and boxes of fresh fruit lying around the kitchen counter. What to do, what to do?!? Well, here are some recipies I want to try!

Raspberries:

• raspberry and custard tart with caramel raspberry sauce: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/raspberry-custard-tart
• chocolate sin raspberry truffle brownies: http://www.recipe4all.com/recipe/Chocolate-Sin-Raspberry-Truffle-Brownies-450/
• white chocolate raspberry mousse cake: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=7193146

Blueberries:

• blueberry struesel coffee cake: http://www.joyofbaking.com/BlueberryCake.html
• 'the best' blueberry muffin recipe: http://www.examiner.com/x-4208-Providence-Food-Examiner~y2009m3d25-Best-blueberry-muffin-recipe
• blueberry white chocolate chip muffin recipe (said to be more dessert like): http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/blueberry-white-chip-muffins/Detail.aspx

Peaches:

• homemade peach ice cream: http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/fruits/peach-recipes.asp#icecream
• fresh peach cobbler: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1813,143165-239205,00.html
• quick and easy peach crisp: http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1937,146178-254195,00.html

More than one of these previously mentioned fruits:

• Peach and blueberry crisp: http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t--4164/peach-and-blueberry-crisp.asp
• blueberry raspberry tart: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/blueberry-raspberry-tart
• raspberry peach pie: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/raspberry-peach-pie/Detail.aspx

Milk Chocolate Brownies

Last week, I had a dream that I was in a foodstore. I casually glanced through the boxes of pasta, cans of tomatoes, and jars of pickles, until I came upon the fresh vegetable section. A crowd of people surrounded one particular stand, and when I got closer, I found out why: instead of zuchini, there were pans of freshly baked brownies filling the stand. Working my way to the front, I reached out, grabbing as many brownies as I could. They all tasted pretty good, but this one in particular was amazing. I called out "What brownie is this?" They said its a milk chocolate brownie. And so it was. It was chewy, but not too chewy, cakey, but not too cakey, sweet, yet savory, and filled with chunks of milk chocolatey goodness. It was heaven. And so today, I attempt to recreate that heaven, and to bake my first milk chocolate brownie.

Milk Chocolate Brownies*

Materials:

1 1/2 quart heavy saucepan
8 inch square baking pan
oven
stove
spoon
1, 1/2, and 1/4 cup measurers
1 tbsp, 1/2 tsp, and 1/4 tsp measurers
optional:
electric beater
ruber spatula
wooden skewer
sift

Ingredients:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
8 oz (1 1/2 cups) good quality milk chocolate chips (or chunks, or chopped pieces)
3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

How to make it:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F, grease 8x8 baking pan
2. Melt butter and 1/2 the chocolate (4 oz, or 3/4 cups) in the 1 1/2 quart saucepan on low, stirring until smooth
3. Remove from heat, and cool to lukewarm
4. Stir in brown sugar and vanilla
5. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, until batter is glossy and smooth
6. Sift in baking powder and cocoa powder (to get rid of any lumps) and add flour and salt
7. Stir until well combined
8. Stir in the rest of the chocolate
9. Spread batter into prepared pan and bake until the wooden skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs (about 30 minutes)
10. Enjoy

How they turned out:

We decided to try them refrigerated, like what other comments said, but everyone agrees that they would be a lot better warm. When you first bite in, it seems like a regular brownie, but then the distinct milk chocolate flavor comes out. Alex votes: "Make it again!" and rates it 9/10 cold, and 10/10 warm. Anna says: "Sure." and rates it 8/10 as is. Tamsin says: "Yeah! Of course!" and gives it a full 10/10. Mom likes it, Dad likes it, both Maddy and her parents like it. Seems like yeah, sure, of course I'll make it again :)

*original recipe found on www.epicurious.com