Lemon Bars

I made these lemon bars per a special request by my wonderful mother-in-law, Mary.   She and her friend Tish came to visit us in Portland a few weeks ago and we had such a blast!   We spent the week on a marathon tour of Portland and the surrounding area complete with a day of wine tasting, a trip to Multnomah Falls, and TONS of good food and drinks.

I’ve never attempted lemon bars and I couldn’t find a recipe in my grandma’s collection, so I did a little research and ended up using Ina Garten’s recipe from the Food Network.  (NOTE: I did reduce the amount of sugar in the filling from 3 cups to 2 ¼ and they were plenty sweet!)   The crust is delicious and the filling is akin to a really nice lemon curd - just as lemon bars should be.   All in all, this sweet treat was the perfect addition to our wine tasting picnic!

Lemon Bars

Crust:

2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

Filling:

6 extra-large eggs, room temperature

2 1/4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons grated lemon zest

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup flour

Powdered sugar, for dusting

 

Technique:

1. Preheat oven to 350.   Grease and flour 9x13 baking dish.
2. For crust, cream butter and sugar (with paddle attachment if available).   Combine flour and salt and gradually add to butter and sugar mixture with mixer on low speed.
3. Dump dough onto well-floured board and work into a ball, then flatten to a disc.
4. With well floured hands, press dough into prepared baking dish, until flat and level.
5. Chill for 15 minutes then bake crust for 15 – 20 minutes until very lightly browned.   Let cool on wire rack.
6. Leave oven on at 350 and make filling as soon as crust comes out of the oven.
7. For filling, whisk together eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour.
8. Pour filling over crust and bake for 30 minutes, until filling is set.
9. Let cool to room temperature, then chill for 2 hours before cutting.
10. Cut into squares and dust with powdered sugar.

 Brittany’s Tips

• I worked the dough for the crust a little bit before forming it into a ball and pressing into baking dish; this seemed to make it hold up a little better.  Also, don’t forget to let it chill before baking it.
• Make sure to let the lemon bars chill for at least 2 hours before cutting into squares.  This allows the filling to set all the way.
• Store in refrigerator and enjoy for up to 1 week. 

Happy Baking!

Decoration Fail

Zach and I happened upon this picture today and we laughed so hard, I just had to share it with all of you.  This is exactly how I feel sometimes with my own decorating endeavors....

Italian Cream Cake

For Father’s Day, I told Dad he could choose his favorite “Grandma Jones” cake and I’d do my best to recreate it.  Of course, he chose the ever popular, somewhat difficult Italian Cream Cake, so I decided to enlist some help from Mom since she has mastered this recipe over the years. 

I learned two things from making this cake with Mom:

1. I MUST invest in a stand mixer!!  It is so much easier (especially anytime you are peaking egg whites) to just set it up and let it go.  Anyone out there want to buy me a Kitchen Aid Mixer? 
2. It’s a lot more efficient to bake as a team – and a whole lot more fun! 

Overall, the cake turned out fantastic!  It is, however, a mammoth and neither Mom nor I could find a cake dome to fit over the top.  I may consider making it as a two layer cake next time as covering and store the three layer variety posed some definite problems.

Also, the original recipe calls for mixing the nuts into the cream cheese frosting, but I found that made it really difficult to frost the cake and it felt more like spackling than frosting.  I suggest leaving the nuts out of the frosting and just covering the sides with crushed nuts after assembly.

Italian Cream Cake

2 cups sugar
5 eggs, separated
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups cake flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup shredded coconut, sweetened
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Technique: 

1. Preheat oven to 325.  Grease and flour 3 round cake pans. 
2. Cream butter and shortening. 
3. Gradually add sugar. 
4. Add egg yolks one at a time beating well after each addition. 
5. In small bowl, mix together buttermilk, vanilla, and baking soda. 
6. Alternate adding flour and buttermilk mixture to sugar mix beating slowly, beginning and ending with flour. 
7. Stir in coconut by hand. 
8. In separate mixing bowl, beat egg whites on high until stiff peaks form, approximately 5 – 7 minutes. 
9. Gently fold in egg whites to cake batter until incorporated. 
10. Divide batter equally into prepped cake pans. 
11. Bake for 40 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center of each cake comes out clean. 
12. Cool on wire rack for approximately 10 minutes.  Then, flip cakes out of pans and cool completely before assembling. 

Cream Cheese Frosting

1-8oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 stick butter, room temperature
16 oz powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Technique:

1. Mix together all ingredients. 

Assembly

3 cake layers
Cream Cheese frosting
1 cup of crushed nuts, walnuts or pecans 

Technique:

1. Place first layer on cake platter and line strips of parchment underneath to keep cake plate clean. 
2. Spread a layer of frosting on first layer and top with second cake layer.  Repeat for third layer. 
3. Frost top and sides of cake. 
4. Sprinkle sides of cake with crushed nuts. 
5. Remove parchment strips. 

Brittany’s Tips 

• I’m officially addicted to Pillsbury Softasilk Cake Flour – the last three cakes I’ve made using this enriched cake flour have turned out wonderfully with just the right texture. 
• Be very gentle when incorporating the egg whites to the cake mixture.  Add about half of the egg whites and fold until almost incorporated; then, add the remainder and fold until just incorporated – try not to over mix. 
• I usually set out the cream cheese overnight that way it will be nice and soft and give you that extra creamy frosting consistency. 
• If the frosting is a little too thick to spread, feel free to add a little hot water to thin it out. 

Happy Baking!!

Mandarin Orange Cake

Summer has finally arrived in Portland, so I thought it was time to dust off my favorite summer cake recipe.  Not only is it super delicious, but incredibly quick and easy too!

I don’t use a lot of cake mixes, but I do have a few “go to” recipes that start with a cake mix base.  I may try nixing the mix next time in favor of making my own butter cake, but for now, we’ll stick to the old faithful method.

Mandarin Orange Cake 

1 Duncan Hines Butter cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1-11 oz can mandarin orange sections, undrained

Technique:

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Grease cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. 
2. Mix cake mix, eggs, and oil together. 
3. Gently fold in orange sections. 
4. Pour into greased pan and bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
5. After cooling cake completely, frost and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. 

Frosting 

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 small vanilla instant pudding mix
1-16 oz undrained crushed pineapple

Technique:

1. Combine whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla.  Beat on high until stiff peaks form. Approximately 5 minutes. 
2. Stir in pudding mix and pineapples until fully incorporated. 

Brittany’s Tips 

• I usually drain the mandarin orange slices just a little before folding into the cake mixture.  I drain about 1/3 of the liquid so it doesn’t make the cake too soggy. 
• Make sure your baking pan has at least 1 inch sides…so obviously a completely flat cookie sheet won’t work. 
• This cake will keep in the refrigerator for at least a week and in fact tends to be better 2 or 3 days after you make it. 
• This is a thin sheet cake, so I like to double up slices and serve it like a two layer cake. 

Enjoy the Sunshine and Happy Baking!