Tag Archives: lemon zest

Recipes - Desserts

Lemon-Lime Custard Meringue Pie

This week is the first time I baked this delectable pie; I found the recipe on a cooking blog I enjoy and made a few adjustments to the recipe.  I added the word custard to the name of the dish because this isn’t a traditional lemon meringue pie; the filling is thicker than that recipe and there is no cornstarch or flour in the filling at all.  I also made a traditional meringue for the pie today because I was running low on time and the brown sugar meringue included with the original recipe required boiling brown sugar and water for 20 minutes and I didn’t have time for that.  I will definitely try that meringue next time I bake this, however; a traditional meringue is just fine but since the filling is already different, the brown sugar meringue would be terrific!

You have 3 steps to the finish line: roll out and bake your best pastry shell then make the filling and bake it in the shell.  At this point you can refrigerate the pie overnight then before serving, make the meringue and bake the pie again just until the meringue browns. That’s it and it’s a sweet finish line indeed! The sweet custard is nothing more than eggs, a little sugar, heavy cream and the fresh citrus juices and zest, a terrific combination!

I am including the directions for the brown sugar meringue but if you find yourself in a hurry as I did today, you can also make a quick meringue using egg whites, cream of tartar, vanilla, and sugar. I apologize for not having a pic of the pie cut but things were too busy at the café today at lunch hour to stop for pics; I will do that tomorrow if the pie lasts.

Lemon-Lime Custard Meringue Pie

Ingredients

1-deep dish 9” pie shell, baked

For the Custard:
5 eggs
10 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cups fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about 1 1/2 lemons)
3/4 cup heavy cream
Zest from two lemons

For the Meringue:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup egg whites (about 4 eggs)

Directions Bake your pastry shell first and allow it to cool. Turn the oven to 325.

TO MAKE THE CUSTARD: In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, lime juice, lemon juice, heavy cream and zest together until well combined. Pour the mixture into the pre-baked pie shell and set the pie on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. To check the custard, gently jiggle the pie. Once the custard sets, it will shake as a firm unit; if underdone, waves of custard will shiver in the center. If the custard needs more time, continue cooking, checking every 5 minutes, until done. Remove the pie from the oven.

Cool the pie for 15 to 20 minutes before refrigerating. Cover the pie with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

TO MAKE THE MERINGUE: Preheat the oven to its highest setting. In a small, heavy-bottomed pan, dissolve the brown sugar in the water. Cook the sugar over medium-high heat until it registers 240 degrees F on a candy thermometer; this will take about 20 minutes. In an electric stand mixer, beat the egg whites to soft peaks and carefully add the hot sugar to the egg whites, avoiding the rotating whisk. Continue to beat until the meringue is stiff and glossy. With a flexible spatula, pile the meringue over the pie. Bake until the meringue turns golden on top, about 3 to 5 minutes. NOTE: Use the ingredients in the text above to make a traditional meringue using white sugar.

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Recipes - Desserts

Ice Box Pies

The current issue of Southern Living Magazine has a feature on ice box pies this month that I knew I would be giving a good whirl. I adore Ice Box Pies and can foresee making every one of these pies and so I’ve laid in the ingredients I need and in the spotlight today is the Lemon-Buttermilk Ice Box Pie I made yesterday. I felt it wasn’t quite ready for serving having set in the freezer for only four hours so I left it overnight and finished it up today by mixing together the Sweetened Whipped Cream before serving it from mama’s room at Woodland Hills. Yum-Yum GOOD!

I love these pies for their ease of preparation; if there is one thing a busy cook needs it is a good and fast basic recipe that is tweaked by changing just one or two ingredients for a new and different flavor every time. Ice box pies have been popular for years because they are simple to put together and so refreshing served up icy cold on hot summer evenings. Today I am also posting the basic crumb crust recipe (which is easily adjusted four different ways depending on what kind of crackers, wafer, or cookies you choose) and the recipe for Sweetened Whipped Cream. Not every pie needs the sweetened cream but it also wouldn’t harm a one of them on any given occasion. I will post the crumb crust and the sweetened whipped cream recipe today and you can easily refer back to it here.

This Lemon-Buttermilk Pie is creamy with the tart taste of fresh lemon juice and lemon zest with an added tart bonus of buttermilk. I would recommend using a 9″ pie plate only as you want the filling to come all the way to the top of the crust. I think the plate I used when I made this one was a 10″ plate which was one reason I wanted to top it with the sweetened cream to cover that little blooper.  Once I tasted the finished product, I was very glad I made the sweetened cream topping as the powdered sugar in that added a rich bit of texture to the pie. Once the pie bakes and cools, pop it in the freezer for 4-6 hours (or overnight as I did) then prepare the sweetened cream.  A real spot of sunshine will then be ready and waiting to grace your summer table!

Ice Box Pies
Southern Living Magazine – June 2015

Ingredients – Crumb Crust
1-1/2 cups crushed cookies or crackers such as
* vanilla wafers
* graham crackers
* gingersnaps
* saltine crackers
* buttery Ritz crackers
1/4 cup sugar
1 t. sea salt (omit when using saltines or ritz crackers)
6 T. butter, melted
Vegetable cooking spray

Process crushed cookies or crackers, sugar, and (if using) salt in a food processor until finely crushed and well combined. Add melted butter and process until thoroughly combined. Press on bottom, up the sides, and onto the lip of a lightly greased (with cooking spray) 9-inch regular pie plate or 9” deep-dish pie plate. Freeze 30 minutes to 1 hour while preparing filling unless otherwise directed.

NOTE: For baked crusts, pre-heat oven to 325. Bake crust 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Lemon-Buttermilk Ice Box Pie

Ingredients

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1 T. loosely packed lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (2 lemons)
3 large egg yolks (discard whites of eggs)
1/4 cup buttermilk
Graham Cracker Crust baked recipe (above)
Vegetable cooking spray

Directions Preheat oven to 325. Whisk together first three ingredients in a bowl. Beat egg yolks with a handheld mixer in a medium bowl at high-speed 4-5 minutes or until yolks become pale and ribbons form on surface of mixture when beater is lifted. Gradually whisk in the sweetened condensed milk mixture, and whisk until thoroughly combined. Whisk in the buttermilk. Pour mixture into the prepared crust. Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes or until set around the edges (the pie will be slightly jiggly still in center). Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Cover pie with lightly greased plastic wrap (sprayed with cooked spray) and freeze for 4-6 hours. Serve with sweetened whipped cream (recipe below).

Sweetened Whipped Cream

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Directions: Beat the cream and vanilla at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until foamy; gradually add the powdered sugar, beating until soft peaks form. Spread on pie just before serving.

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Bakery Miscellaneous

Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake

I was SO excited to find raspberries at my local market because I had almost given up on the idea of making this delicious coffee cake for Easter, and when I spotted those raspberries yesterday, my arms went up in a victory sign and i danced a jig right there in the produce section! I have made this coffee cake for many years now and especially love enjoying it for Easter morning when we are visiting my sister and her family in Illinois.  Everybody likes this moist cake, from great-granny to the little kids, and because it is so beautiful to behold that is our  Added Bonus for this dish!

It might seem a good deal of work for only a small one-layer cake, but it bakes tall and small wedges make it a perfect breakfast offering. Although the recipe in my “Missouri to Maui” cookbook says you can use frozen raspberries also in this cake, I never do; fresh berries are definitely worth the wait. The tart berries contrast with the sugar, flour, and eggs in a dense batter flavored with fresh lemon zest. Do press the raspberries gently into the half-baked batter so they aren’t merely decorating the top of the cake (save that happiness for just a sprinkle of powdered sugar).

Because this cake usually travels, I bake it the day before, and it is even more delicious on the second day. Every bite is moist and sweet, and every berry, perfection! This is, of course, just made for coffee, but I know that our little kids like it with milk. Whatever works for you, you will be glad the cake is on the table. Wishing you and yours a Happy and Blessed Easter morning as well!

Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel (zest)
1 egg
1 cup fresh raspberries (or frozen if you must)
Powdered sugar

Directions Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease bottom of 9×1-1/2” round cake pan. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Grease and lightly flour bottom of parchment; set aside. For cake, in a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In separate large bowl, beat 1 cup of the sugar and the softened butter with mixer on medium until combined. Add 1 egg and the vanilla. Beat on low for 1 minute. Alternately add flour mixture and the 3/4 cup buttermilk, beating just until combined after each addition; set aside.

For cheesecake filling, in a small bowl beat cream cheese and remaining 1/4 cup sugar with mixer on medium until combined. Add lemon zest and 1 egg. Beat well until combined.

Spoon half the cake batter into prepared pan, spreading to edges. Spoon cream cheese mixture on cake batter, spreading carefully to edges (so the two layers don’t combine). Dollop remaining cake batter on top of cream cheese layer, carefully spreading to edges of pan.

Bake 20 minutes or until puffed then take out of oven and gently press raspberries into cake. Bake another 25-30 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen edges of cake from the pan then turn out to a plate then turn out again on serving plate so cake is right side up. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired; so pretty!

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Bakery Miscellaneous

Lemon Sunshine Bursts


Day 2 of “use-up-the-buttermilk” cookie baking plan led straight to preparing these fabulous shortbread-type cookies on Wednesday. I added the “burst” to their name because the lemon zest in the cookie dough bursts through with every bite, and there is  NO gloomy winter day that isn’t brightened by taking the time to bake these flavorful morsels.

These are not at all sweet but they are buttery and crumbly and tangy all in one bite! Like all shortbread batters, the ingredients are simple: butter, sugar, vanilla, and flour. Set your butter out early to soften and don’t skip chilling the dough for 30 minutes once mixed; once chilled you can slice the logs easily before baking them resulting in pretty and uniform pieces to enjoy with a cup of tea and your book.  Allow the powdered sugar-fresh lemon juice glaze to dry before storing the cookies in an airtight container. The glaze does ‘sink in’ to the cookies and while you can’t see it, when you taste a cookie, you definitely will enjoy a pop of lemon.  If you love sunshine, lemons, and rich buttery flavor, this is the cookie for you!

Lemon Sunshine Bursts

Ingredients

6 T. unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 large egg yolk
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup flour
2 T. buttermilk
1-1/2 tsps. finely grated lemon zest
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 T. lemon juice

Directions

In a large bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and vanilla and beat until well combined. Add flour and beat until dough begins to form. Add buttermilk and beat well.  Add lemon  zest and salt, fold well, and stir until dough comes together. Divide dough into two parts. Roll each part into a log that is about 1.5″ wide. Wrap each log in plastic wrap. and chill dough in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Take dough out of refrigerator and cut into 1/4 inch” slices. Arrange cookies on baking sheets and bake until dry and turning golden at the edges, about 14 minutes.

Cool cookies completely. In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners sugar and lemon juice. When cookies are cool enough to handle, dip the top of each cookie in the glaze. Let dry for 10 minutes before storing, airtight.  Yields 2 dozen cookies.

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