When Life Gives You Lemons - Make Lemon Bars!

Mother's day is just around the corner. My mother has naturally given me the old "when life gives you lemons" speech multiple times. The thing is that despite everything which has happened in her life she consistently looks at things in a positive light and expects the best possible result. Recently, she amazed us all by deciding to make a cross country drive on her own. She did it. Now all she can talk about is getting back on the road to go to LA. She has gone from not being able to get on the highway to travel between Ann Arbor and Troy, Michigan - to planning her next road trip. She is a unique person and the more I get to know her the more I realize just how much she embodies the idea of the "lemons" speech.

So, in honor of all those moms with their unflagging positive attitudes and their "turn things around" pep talks, here is a recipe for Lemon Bars. Like moms, these lemon bars are special. They have coconut crust and are naturally made from real, fresh squeezed lemon juice. I also just happen to think moms like lemony things - my mother-in-law had dibs on these every time I brought out the Holiday Cookie Assortment. Make a batch and share them with mom!

Lemon Bars with Coconut Crust

Raspberry Rhapsody Bars, Brownies, Coconut Macaroons,
Lemon Bars with Coconut Crust and Honey Almond
Shortbreads all from Baking Pure and Simple

Crust

¾ cup unsalted butter

⅜ cup sugar

⅛ teaspoon salt

1½ cups flour

2 cups unsweetened coconut*

¾ tablespoon lemon rind, grated

½ cup powdered sugar for dusting

*Be sure to use unsweetened coconut which is usually finely shredded for the perfect crust.

Topping

5 eggs

1⅔ cups sugar

½ cup lemon juice 

1 tablespoon lemon rind, grated

¾ tablespoon flour

A pinch of salt

Crust: Preheat oven to 350°F.  Cream butter and sugar.  Add salt and flour and mix.  Add coconut and lemon rind and mix just until blended.  Press evenly into the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch non-stick baking pan.  If you have one small enough, use a rolling pin to evenly flatten the surface, otherwise use your fingers flattened out to press the dough as evenly as possible.  Bake for 10 minutes.  If the topping is not ready when the crust has baked 10 minutes, remove the tray from the oven until you are ready to pour the topping over the crust.

Topping: While the crust is baking, blend the eggs and sugar until just mixed.  Add the lemon juice, rind, flour and salt and mix until just combined.  Place the crust in the oven with the shelf pulled out slightly but make sure it is secure and level.  Carefully and evenly pour the lemon juice mixture over the top of the partially baked crust.  Slowly push the oven shelf and pan back into place before closing the oven door.  Bake for 20 minutes or until firm.

Allow to cool completely before cutting. Trim away edges if desired.  Dust with powdered sugar before serving.  Makes 3 dozen.

Note:  The edges are great chopped up and sprinkled over vanilla ice cream.

Haven't figured out what to get mom for Mother's Day? 

Baking Pure and Simple is a great present for moms who love to bake.

Sunday Morning - Wake and Bake...

I asked the maid in dulcet tone

To order me a buttered scone;

The silly girl has been and gone
And ordered me a buttered scone.

This poem illustrates the different ways people pronounce the word scone.  These days wake and bake might sound the same as some other activity, but to me it signifies getting up, getting out the flour, butter and cream and making something to go with your Sunday morning coffee.  Use your imagination to come up with all kinds of scones.  Here are just a few ideas to get you started, traditional scones with currants (center), orange scones (right) and cinnamon walnut scones (left.) Enjoy these scones with a little jam or Lemon Curd (recipe below scones) or just plain.  Sharing the platter with the scones are two kinds of bran muffins, orange flaxseed (top) and traditional (bottom right) all from Baking Pure & Simple.

Scones

3¼ cups flour

⅜ cup sugar

1½ tablespoons baking powder

1¼ teaspoons nutmeg

¾ teaspoon salt

¾ cup unsalted butter, chilled

¾ cup heavy cream

3 eggs

1¼ cups currants

1 tablespoon cream mixed with 1 egg

2 tablespoons Turbidano sugar

Preheat oven to 425°F.  Sift flour, sugar and baking powder into a large bowl.  Using your hands, cut the butter into the mixture until crumbly.  Add currants.  Mix cream with eggs and add to the mixture, stirring just until combined.  Turn onto a lightly floured board.  Knead by folding and flattening gently 4 or 5 times.  Roll out to ¾-inch thickness.  Cut into triangles about 3 inches per side.  Brush with the egg and cream mixture.  Sprinkle with the Turbidano sugar crystals.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Makes 12 scones.

Orange or Lemon Scones: Add ¼ cup sugar to the dry ingredients, omit the nutmeg and currants and add 1½ tablespoons grated orange or lemon zest.  Offer Lemon Scones with Lemon Curd. Glaze Orange Scones with a mixture of powdered sugar, milk or cream and orange zest all measured to taste and consistency.

Cinnamon Walnut Scones: Substitute 1 tablespoon cinnamon for the nutmeg and walnuts for the currents. 

Ginger Scones: Substitute ¼ cup finely diced crystallized ginger for the currants and omit the nutmeg.

Chocolate Chunk Oat Bran Scones:  Substitute chocolate chunks for currants and substitute cinnamon for nutmeg.  Increase butter by 2 tablespoons, substitute buttermilk for heavy cream and increase by ¼ cup and add 1 cup oat bran.

Dried Cherry or Cranberry Scones: Substitute dried cherries or cranberries for the currents.  Substitute cinnamon for the nutmeg.  Add 1½ teaspoons grated orange zest (optional).  Add 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional).

Lemon Curd

8 egg yolks

½ cup lemon juice (juice of 3 to 4 small lemons)

1½ teaspoons lemon zest (zest of approximately 1 small lemon)

⅔ cup sugar

¼ cup unsalted butter

Whisk together egg yolks, juice, zest and sugar in the top of a double boiler or in a metal bowl over gently simmering water.  Cook until thick, whisking frequently for about 10 to 15 minutes. Add butter and stir until completely melted.  Remove from the top of the simmering water to cool.  Place in a glass container for storage.  Cool uncovered in the refrigerator until chilled, then cover.  Keep refrigerated until served.  Makes 2 cups.

Happy Sunday!

My Favorite Gluten-Free Coconut Macaroons

This is an adaptation of the Coconut Macaroon recipe from Baking Pure and Simple.  I love these even more than the traditional recipe.  Using maple syrup instead of sugar makes them soft with just a little extra flavor. Using either my Gluten-Free Baking Mix (beneath the cookie recipe) or just rice or coconut flour works just as well as traditional all purpose flour.  These are great to have around for snacking or sharing.  They freeze very well either after or before dipping in chocolate.  If you freeze them first just be sure they have thawed before you dip them.  It is always fun to drizzle the chocolate over the top of the cookies too.  When freezing cookies use high quality plastic bags.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies and
Coconut Macaroons with Gateau Anna in the background. 

Gluten-Free Coconut Macaroons

2⁄3 cup egg whites (approximately 4 whites)

1¾ cups maple syrup
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1⁄3 cup gluten-free baking mix or rice flour
1¼ pound unsweetened macaroon coconut*
parchment paper
size 50 kitchen scoop (can be purchased online or at any store that sells kitchen stuff)

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large stainless steel bowl, whisk together egg whites, maple syrup, salt and vanilla and place the bowl over a pan of simmering water.  Stir often with a whisk just until mixture is warm to the touch, do not let the edges cook.

Using a wooden spoon stir in gluten-free baking mix or rice flour and coconut until thoroughly combined and remove the bowl from the pan of simmering water.  Use a size 50 kitchen scoop to form the cookies and place onto pans lined with parchment paper (the cookies will stick to regular non-stick pans).  The cookies should be about 1½ inch in diameter.  Macaroons do not spread out while baking, so you can place them on the pan with just an inch or so between cookies.  If necessary, reshape the cookies after scooping, wet your fingers in cool water first to keep the coconut mixture from sticking to your hands.

Bake for 13 to 16 minutes, just until lightly brown on top, the bottom edges will be a little browner than the tops.  Cool slightly on the pan before removing to cooling racks.

If desired, dip the bottoms of fully cooled macaroons in melted semisweet chocolate and place on trays lined with parchment paper.  Allow the chocolate to harden before serving or storing.  Makes 5 dozen.

*If substituting sweetened coconut, reduce the sugar to 1¼ cups.

Gluten-Free Baking Mix

If you can find a good gluten-free baking mix that you like then by all means use the commercial product.  I have found these gluten-free mixes to be very good.  You can also make your own gluten-free mixture using the following ingredients.  Make a batch and keep it on hand.  In general you can substitute this one-to-one for white or whole wheat flour. Sometimes you may need to add a little more of the baking mix.

1 cup coconut flour

1 cup potato starch

1 cup tapioca flour

1 cup sweet white sorghum flour

1 cup amaranth flour

Combine all ingredients and store in an air-tight container.  Makes 5 cups.

How to Make a Wedding Cake

Photo by Sunflower Productions

Once upon a time wedding cake was made of fruitcake and royal icing.  It was the equivalent of bricks and mortar to put together.  Fruitcake being very dense would stack up - no problem, each cake on top of the next with only the cake beneath to hold it up.  Royal icing becomes very hard once it has set so it too could withstand the weight of the cake on top.  These days wedding cakes come in all shapes, sizes and flavors and are rarely fruitcake.  This means they require some special treatment in order to stand up tall for hours before they are cut.

Base: For the base of the cake I use a round piece of wood which is approximately 2" bigger than the largest layer of the cake and about 3/8" thick.  I cover this with white contact paper and then use double-sided tape to adhere satin ribbon all round the edge for a finished look once the cake is delivered.  I have several of these rounds in various sizes and if there is a separation between the layers I use the smaller round which is slightly thinner with thinner ribbon for that tier.

Support: Modern wedding cakes are made of any type of cake and usually either buttercream or cream cheese icing so they require support in the form of either commercially purchased plastic pillars or, my personal favorite, the 1/4" thick dowel rod.  I learned to use dowel rods for support in Culinary School, so while it may seem odd to put something you buy at the hardware store in a wedding cake, it's okay.  The great thing about wooden dowel rods is that they are soft enough to score and cut with a French knife on a cutting board.  You only need the dowel rods for cakes which are supporting another cake.  So you will not need them in the smallest top layer.

To measure the height to cut the dowel rod simply push the dowel rod down into the fully iced and decorated cake and when it reaches the bottom twist it just a bit so that the icing marks the top of the cake on the rod.  Remove the rod from the cake and score the dowel rod all the way around with your French knife on a cutting board.  Then continue to roll the dowel beneath the knife until it either cuts through or you are able to break the dowel off.  Tap the dowel rod on the cutting board and use the side of the knife to flatten the end until it is smooth.  Use that dowel to measure all the rest for that cake tier.  Cut about 7 dowels for a 14" tier of cake supporting a 10 or 11" tier and about 5 dowels to support an  8" or 9" tier and 3 dowels to support the top tier of 5" or 6" cake.  Measure the dowels individually for each cake, though your layers are probably all about the same height they may vary by 1/4" or so.  You will want the dowels to sink into the cake and be perfectly flush with the top of the top layer of icing once you put them in.  Put the dowels into the cake so that they will be underneath the next tier of cake, evenly spaced and about half way from the center of the cake to the outside of the cake being supported.

Timing: I recommend making the cake two days prior to the wedding, filling it and covering it with a thin layer of icing (and wrapping it completely) the day before the wedding and then early the morning of the wedding putting on the final icing and decorations.  The final icing and decorating can take 3 to 4 hours and you will want to have the cake back under refrigeration for another 3 to 4 hours before you set it up so work backwards in your mind about when to begin the final phase.  The last piece is that you will want to deliver the cake about 2 hours prior to the wedding reception in order to give yourself time to stack and decorate and clean up before the guests start to arrive.  The times given here are for a large cake for about 150 to 200 people, if it is a smaller cake then you can adjust your timing. Example: For a 5 pm wedding reception, begin final decoration at 8 am so you are finished by 11 am, allowing 3 hours for the cake to chill, then plan to arrive at the reception location by 3 pm for set up.

Delivery: Whenever possible transport the cake in separate tiers each sitting on the flattest area of your car. I have an SUV so the back area folds down to be completely flat which is great.  Bring icing, icing spatulas, decorating tips and bags to make any borders or in case you need to fix anything once you get there. Also bring the double-sided tape and ribbon to finish off the base.  While driving try to accelerate and decelerate as smoothly as possible and take corners slowly.  In general, the cakes are heavy enough that they don't move around much so you should be fine.  Once you arrive find out where the cake will go before taking in any of the tiers.  Sometimes there is a closer entrance and you will want to carry the cake tiers as few steps as possible to avoid any issues - besides they are usually pretty heavy.

Finishing on Site: Place the bottom tier on the cake table and then using the icing spatula put just a little icing over each dowel rod before placing the next cake layer down on top.  Use a clean icing spatula to support the cake as you release it down slowly onto the tier below and gently pull the icing spatula out from between the layers holding it horizontally. Use either fresh flowers which the bride has provided or you have brought along to decorate the area between tiers or pipe a border around the seam between one tier and the next.  Even if you pipe a boarder it is still fun to add a few fresh flowers on the other tiers.  Fresh flowers are great on top of the cake too if their is not a bride and groom statue.  Most of the time fresh flowers are the way to go.  Although sometimes a creative bride and groom will have something else like a bicycle built for two, etc.  Once you finish the cake be sure to clean up all the flowers and get a few photos.  I was a guest at this wedding and so had to go change and never actually took a photo myself so I would like to thank Sunflower Productions for sharing these photo which they took with me.  The last thing to remember is to talk with the bride and groom or directly to the catering staff about how to get all your bases back.

Photo by Sunflower Productions

The cake I made in June was 4 tiers high with each tier stacked upon the other.  Sometimes cakes have separators in the center for space and flowers, etc.  In those cases the crystal pillars and plates which are available commercially are great and very sturdy.  I loved the style this bride and groom choose for their cake.  The wedding was in a barn - a real barn on a real farm - with chickens out back where you parked and a John Deere tractor for the kids to play on out front.  They had made a base for the cake which was from the stump of a tree.  They wanted the icing to mimic the base's bark.  This was a fun and simple way to decorate a cake.  I loved how they brought nature into the theme of the cake and how it fit into the surrounding atmosphere of the raw wood sides of the barn.  It was a beautiful day and so being inside the barn with the sun streaming through the spaces in the wood added to the charming country atmosphere.

The most important thing to remember when making a wedding cake is to breathe.  Weddings are always so happy and icing is pretty forgiving so as long as you have everything you need with you to make any last minute adjustments and plenty of flowers to decorate or cover any areas you cannot adjust, things will turn out great.  Good luck and happy baking!

Experimenting is Good! Simple Tips for Making an Existing Cake Recipe More Moist

Every now and then I need to try something new.  Usually, it's because someone asks me to make something I don't have a recipe for in my collection.  This time it was Lemon Poppy Seed Cake. Now, I have recipes for Lemon Pound Cake, Lemon Chiffon Cake, Almond Cake with lemon zest, and I have recipes for Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins and Breads, but I did not have a recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Cake.  So, I had to look around for one.  I wanted one made with butter and buttermilk and as luck would have it the first one I found had both. Perfect!

I made this perfect Lemon Poppy Seed Cake and the flavor was good, but it was just a little dry.  So I did some more research on what to do when you want to make a cake more moist.  After much experimenting here are my favorite tips for making a cake more moist.

Tips for Making a Cake More Moist

These first two are both changes to make to the actual recipe before baking and are intended for a recipe which yields an 8" to 10" cake.

1)  Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in with the liquids. 

2)  Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of sour cream or plain yogurt.  Fold it in at the end or with the wet ingredients. 

These last three are done during or after the cake is already prepared per the existing recipe.

3)  Check the cake 5 minutes before its baking time is up.  Do not under bake the cake, instead test it with a long wooden skewer to see if it might be done.  It the skewer comes out wet it is not done.  If it is dry but has crumbs then it is probably done.  Totally dry and it is done for sure, perhaps too far.  You can also test by touching it lightly with the flat part of your finger, to see if it springs back into its shape, if so then it's done. One more way to tell if it is done or very close is to check the sides of the cake.  If they are pulling away from the cake pan then the cake is probably done. Over baking will dry out the cake, so if you can become an expert at knowing when cakes are done that will help you bake a moister cake.

4)  Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool only 5 minutes on a rack, then put it right into the freezer - still in the pan.  Hopefully, you have a relatively empty area in your freezer for this and can put it on a shelf so that the cold air is all around it.  Leave it there for 30 minutes, then remove it and allow it to cool the rest of the way as needed on a cooling rack before refrigerating it or removing it from the pan. This tip is one is my favorites and took me completely by surprise.  I had seen it on-line but did not believe it could really work.  I was just taking a cake out of the oven when my friend Nico came over and told me that she had tried it.  So I gave it a try and it worked great. Thanks Nico!

5)  Once the cake is fully cooled and while preparing to fill the layers with icing, brush the layers with simple syrup.  This is typically done whenever you are making a genoise style cake and I often recommend it for a chiffon cake as well.  A genoise cake is meant to be dry when finished baking and should always be soaked or brushed with a simple syrup.  It works the best if the layers are being split horizontally as when preparing them for a torte since that opens up the cake and allows the syrup to soak in.  Often the simple syrup can have a small amount of liqueur added to it, such as orange or coffee flavored liqueurs. This is traditionally done when making a trifle. 

The recipe for Simple Syrup from Baking Pure and Simple is in last weeks blog.  It is unbelievably simple as are all of these tips.   

6)  Here is one last tip - try combining one of the tips for changing the recipe along with one or both of the tips for after the cake is baked.   

I hope this is helpful.  Soon I will reveal the revised and perfected Lemon Poppy Seed Cake recipe.  Until then have fun experimenting on your own recipes!

Inspiriation from Disaster! Irish Stout Cake and Irish Cream Cheese Mousse Trifle

Sometimes inspiration springs from disaster.  I was making the Irish Stout Cake from Baking Pure and Simple and as I was taking it out of the oven with my new, stiff hot pads I dropped it right on the edge of the oven rack, splitting it in half.  I quickly flipped it over and saw that about half of it was fine, and half of it was smashed.  So, I made it into this trifle and I think it is my favorite trifle of all time!  It never would have happened unless I had dropped the cake.  Since this was an impromptu inspiration I don't have a photo of this particular trifle.  The closest I could find was for a trifle made with 3 kinds of mousse and strawberries instead of raspberries. Either way I think you get the idea...  

Irish Cream Cheese
Mousse Trifle

1 recipe Irish Stout Cake (below), sliced in half vertically 

1 recipe Irish Cream Cheese Mousse (below), 

4 pints fresh raspberries, 3 pints rinsed once and dried with paper towel 3 times

½ cup raspberry jam (optional)

½ cup Simple Syrup (below)

¾ cup chocolate shavings

In the bottom of a 5-quart trifle bowl begin with a layer of Irish Stout Cake, cut side up.  Top with half of the washed and dried fresh raspberries, lining raspberries up around the outside first then filling in the center with the rest and half the raspberry jam (if desired).  Top with one third of the Cream Cheese Mousse.  Repeat the process with the remaining cake, another third of the mousse and washed and dried raspberries.  Place the remaining mousse into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip and pipe into rosettes around the edges of the trifle bowl then make a circle of rosettes in the center of the top layer of raspberries.  Sprinkle the open area between the whipped cream rosettes with the unwashed raspberries and the chocolate shavings.  Serves 16 to 20.

Irish Stout Cake 

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate

½ cup unsalted butter

1½ cups brown sugar

½ cup molasses

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup stout beer

2 cups flour

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler or a metal bowl over simmering water in a saucepan, set aside.

Cream butter and brown sugar.  Add one egg at a time, mixing until thoroughly incorporated and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  Add molasses and vanilla and mix until combined, scraping down the bowl.  Add a little of the batter to the melted chocolate and stir to combine completely.  Add the chocolate mixture back to the batter and mix until combined.

Slowly add the beer to the batter in intervals, scraping down the sides of the bowl between additions.  Sift the flour, salt and baking soda.  When the beer has been fully incorporated, add half of the flour mixture to the batter and mix until thoroughly combined.  Add the buttermilk, again scraping down the sides of the bowl and mixing until fully incorporated.  Add the remaining flour mixture and mix thoroughly.  Pour the batter into a greased 10-inch round spring form pan.  Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a wooden pick comes out clean when inserted in the center.

Allow the cake to cool completely.  Run a knife around the edge of the cake before removing the outer ring of the spring form pan.

Simple Syrup

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup water

Combine water and sugar in a saucepan.  Cook on high heat until boiling and sugar has dissolved.   Cool.  Store in the refrigerator.  Makes ½ cup.

Irish Cream Cheese Mousse

12 ounces cream cheese

1 cup sugar

½ cup Irish cream liqueur such as Bailey's

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 quart heavy cream

Whip heavy cream and set aside in the refrigerator.  Using the paddle attachment of your mixer, cream the cream cheese and the sugar.  Stop mixing and scrape down the bowl at least once then resume mixing.  Add vanilla and continue to mix, stopping to scrape down the sides often.  Add the Irish cream liqueur and scrape down the sides at least once during mixing.  When the cream cheese mixture is soft and well combined, fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture in thirds.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

More trifle recipes are available in Baking Pure and Simple.

Happy Birthday Baking Pure & Simple!!!

Happy Birthday Baking Pure & Simple.  One year ago today after 4 and a half years of baking, testing, writing and rewriting, editing and proof reading, *sigh*... Baking Pure & Simple became a real book.

It has been an amazing year, learning about self-publishing, hearing from people who love the book, getting cookies, scones and linzertorte from my own recipes given back to me as gifts and finally overcoming my fear of marketing.  Yes, fear of marketing.  I am pretty sure it is a real thing.  But I am over it now and yesterday I had my first opportunity to talk about the book in public followed by a book signing where I sold out!  Many thanks to everyone who made it happen and participated.  Many thanks also to everyone who has put a review out on Amazon.  BP&S currently has 5 stars and 7 reviews.  A few of them almost made me cry!  Amazon seems to also be celebrating Baking Pure & Simple's Birthday by offering it on sale. Thanks Amazon!!!

So, to celebrate here is a recipe from the Holiday Cookie Assortment/Marathon section of the book.  A creative favorite which is even naturally gluten-free.  A woman named Vino gave me this recipe back when I was working at Weber's Inn in 1987.  It is an alternative to regular Coconut Macaroons, which are just about my all time favorite thing.  You can see the Orange Almond Macaroons tucked under the Corn Flake Wreaths and the brown Basler Brunsli cookies, and across from the Almond Cookies, another one of my favorites.

Orange Almond Macaroons

5 egg whites
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2¾ cups ground almonds
3 cups unsweetened coconut
¼ cup orange zest (zest of 2 oranges)
2 tablespoons orange liqueur

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whip whites, adding powdered sugar slowly. Once whites are stiff, gently fold in nuts, coconut, orange zest and orange liqueur.  Drop by rounded tablespoons onto non-stick trays. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes.

When cool, dip the bottom half of each cookie in melted chocolate and place on a tray lined with parchment paper. Drizzle the tops with melted chocolate to finish. Allow the chocolate to harden before serving or storing. Makes 4 to 5 dozen.

Thanks again to everyone who has purchased, given or shared info about the book.  I am so happy and grateful that these recipes are out there, getting crazy in your kitchens!  Happy Birthday Baby!