Lemon Curd

A few weeks ago Mom sent me a text telling me that she had baked herself some scones. To accompany the scones she had bought a jar of lemon curd. Her text informed me that the lemon curd paled in comparison to mine. My girlfriends and I browsed through a tea room while we were at the coast last week and the shop was selling homemade lemon curd for $10 a jar. Yikes! It's so easy to make and very inexpensive, too. Lemon curd was on my mind so I got busy one night after work and made a batch.

I make lemon curd periodically during the year but always for my Christmas tea. The combination of tart lemons with the sweetness of sugar is very addictive to me. I use it to serve with scones, as a filling for cakes and cookies, in mini tarts. I confess that I've been known to just grab a spoon and eat the curd from the bowl!  It's so good!

I invited Mom & my daughter to have tea and scones (and I sent Mom home with her own supply!) My three year old granddaughter was eating a bowl of ice cream as I was spooning the lemon curd into a bowl. She asked for a taste, liked it and wanted some on her ice cream. She loved it! We found a new use for lemon curd!

 

Lemon curd isn't difficult to make, just takes a little stirring and some patience. The recipe I use is from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. I've seen recipes that seem easier, even microwave versions. This recipe is so good, I figure why mess with success? Lemon curd will last about a week in the refrigerator but we always seem to  run out before then!

LEMON CURD (makes 2 cups)

8 large egg yolks
Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

Combine yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a heavy-bottom saucepan; whisk to combine. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (be sure to scrape the sides of the pan), until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 8 to 10 minutes, and registers 160 on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove saucepan from heat.  Add salt and butter, one piece at a time, stirring until smooth.  Strain through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming.  Refrigerate until chilled and set, at least 1 hour.

These lemon curd tarts are easy to make and quite impressive looking for such a quick dessert. Using a flower cookie cutter, I baked the pie crust in a mini muffin pan. Let the crusts cool, add some curd and a dollop of whipped cream. If you don't want to bother with pie dough you can put a dollop of curd in phyllo tart shells, which are found in the frozen food section.

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Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

My Hubbers and I recently had lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. As the name implies, there is a lot of cheesecake to choose from. In addition to a bakery display case full of decadent cheesecakes, they also had TV screens flashing pictures of various cheesecake offerings. How could anyone resist?  My Hubby honed in on their lemon meringue cheesecake and didn't deviate from that when we were presented with the full dessert menu. The cheesecake was topped with lemon curd and meringue.  He ate every crumb and proceeded to ask me if that was something I could replicate for Christmas. I took that as a challenge and got to work looking up recipes. Being the nice Hubby that he is he told me that mine was much better than the restaurant's version. He has a few brownie points in reserve now! All my guests enjoyed the cheesecake so I will definitely make it again.

The starting point of the cheesecake was a recipe from the cookbook Luscious Lemon Desserts by Lori Longbotham. What attracted me to this recipe was the method of grinding sugar and lemon zest together.  Rather than having large pieces of zest in the cheesecake, which some don't find attractive, the zest was finely ground with the sugar providing a subtle lemon flavor. More lemon flavor was provided by using some lemon juice.  I took it one step further and marbled fresh lemon curd into the cheesecake batter. The cheesecake also has sour cream in it.  The result was a lemony, very creamy, cheesecake. More lemon curd was spread on the top of the cheesecake and then a cooked meringue on top of that.  It was pretty and, oh, so, good!

 

 

In my opinion,commercial lemon curd pales in comparison to the fresh version.  It's not hard to make; it's egg yolks, lemon juice, and sugar cooked to a spreadable consistency. It can be made a day or two ahead of time and you will have extra for other uses.  I use this recipe.

Most meringues are uncooked and are applied on top of a hot filling, which cooks the underside of the meringue, before placing in the oven and browning. This method wouldn't work with a chilled cheesecake. The thought of uncooked eggs didn't appeal to me so I went with a cooked meringue.  It's got more of a marshmallow texture, rather than a light and fluffy meringue. 

Lemon Meringue Cheesecake

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely grated
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh squeezed
3 large eggs
1 cup (approximately) lemon curd, chilled

Position rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter the bottom and side of a 9" springform pan. Have ready a roasting pan.  Put on a kettle of water to boil for the water bath.

Stir together the crumbs and butter with a fork in a medium bowl until combined well.  Press the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until crust is set; let cool on a wire rack. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Process sugar and lemon zest in a food processor until zest is finely ground.

In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat cream cheese beginning on low speed; increasing to medium-high, until light and fluffy.

Gradually add sugar mixture, scraping down the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula, continue beating until smooth.

Add sour cream and lemon juice; beat until well blended.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Wrap the outside of the springform pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil, then pour half the filling into the pan. Dollop large teaspoons of lemon curd on top; with a knife marble the curd into the filling. Repeat with remaining filling and more lemon curd. Set the pan in the roasting pan.  Place the roasting pan in the oven and carefully pour in enough boiling water into the roasting pan to reach halfway up the side of the springform pan.

Bake for 70-75 minutes or until the center is almost set but still slightly jiggly.  Do not overbake, the cheesecake will firm as it cools.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and let the cheesecake cool in the water bath for 15 minutes.  Remove from the bath; let it cool on a wire rack.

Remove the foil; refrigerate the cheesecake in its pan, loosely covered, for at least 8 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled.

Run a table knife around the inside edge of the pan; remove the pan's side.  Spread approximately 1/2 cup lemon curd over the top of the cheesecake.

Top with meringue and brown the meringue using a kitchen blow torch.

Meringue:
4 large egg whites
3/4 cup granulated sugar

Fill the bottom of a double boiler with about 2-3 inches of water.  Bring to a boil.

Whisk the eggs and sugar in the top of the double boiler (or use a bowl and saucepan). Place on top of the pan with the boiling water.  Whisk constantly for about 5-7 minutes, until the mixture reaches 140 degrees (use a candy thermometer).

Immediately transfer the hot mixture to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat at high speed until stiff peaks form.

Meyer Lemon Danish Braid

A friend recently brought in to my office a big box of Meyer lemons from one of her trees. We divided them up and I've been using them ever since. Oh, they are so good! My granddaughter loves scones with lemon curd and strawberry jam.  We recently had a two-person tea party and I made lemon curd for us. With leftover lemon curd in the fridge, I went searching for recipes and ran across this Danish braid on Instagram, of all places! (On a side note, I love the internet for the ability of finding new things but it has to cut down on cookbook sales.  I've not bought a new book in ages!) In addition to lemon curd, the braid has a cream cheese filling. What's not to like about that?

My favorite way to make breakfast yeast breads is to make the dough the night before and let it sit in the fridge overnight. This bread was easy to put together, my stand mixer did most of the work while I concentrated on making dinner. The hardest part was the braiding.  I need practice as my braiding kinda fell apart!  Oh, well, it still tasted great even though it could have looked prettier!

This was an easy and delicious breakfast treat.  My Hubbers had three pieces, which is unusual for him. My next-door neighbors loved it, too. Any kind of jam would work as a substitute for the lemon curd. This bread will be made again and again!

Meyer Lemon Danish Bread

Sponge:
6 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 package yeast
2 tablespoons flour

Dough:
1/4 cup sugar
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 1/4 cups flour, divided

Filling:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon Meyer lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup lemon curd (see recipe here)

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon Meyer lemon zest
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Meyer lemon juice

For the sponge, heat milk in a microwave-safe measuring cup for 45 seconds to 1 minute, until very warm (120-130°F). Whisk together warm milk, sugar, yeast, and flour in a medium bowl; cover loosely with plastic wrap and let stand 15 minutes.

 

For the dough, combine sugar, cream cheese, butter, salt, vanilla, egg, and sponge in a large mixer bowl; beat at medium speed for 1 minute until combined. Add 2 cups  flour and mix in at low speed until a soft dough forms, about 2 to 3 minutes. Switch out the flat beater for a dough hook, and knead dough for 4 minutes until smooth and elastic, adding remaining 1/4 cup of flour 1 tablespoon at a time to prevent dough from sticking. The dough is ready when it feels tacky but doesn't stick to your fingers.

 

Place dough in a large bowl coated with nonstick spray and cover with plastic. Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 50 to 60 minutes. To check if dough has doubled, lightly flour two fingers and press them down into center of dough. If indentations remain, dough has risen enough.

 

While the dough rises, prepare the filling. Combine cream cheese, sugar, salt, Meyer lemon juice, and vanilla in a food processor and process until smooth.

 

Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and dust lightly with flour. Gently punch down dough and roll out into a 12 x 15-inch rectangle on prepared baking sheet. Use an offset spatula to spread cream cheese mixture down the center of the dough, leaving a 4-inch border on each side and a 1-inch border at the top and bottom. Spread Meyer lemon curd over the cream cheese filling. Using a sharp knife or kitchen shears, cut 15 1-inch strips on both sides of dough (be careful not to cut parchment paper).

 

Remove the four corner strips and fold top border down over filling. Work from top to bottom and fold strips over filling, alternating strips diagonally (begin by folding over the top left strip, then fold the top right strip, then a left strip, and so on). When all the strips are folded over filling, fold up the bottom border and press to seal. Cover braid loosely with plastic and let rise 25 minutes. (Prepare ahead: After braid rests, cover and refrigerate overnight. Bring to room temperature before baking).

 

Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake braid until golden, about 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before glazing. For the glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, Meyer lemon zest, and juice in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze over braid and let set before serving.

 

Recipe adapted from:  www.tutti-dolci.com

Lemon Tart

The last few weeks found my Hubbers and I having to spend a lot of time in San Francisco.  Doctor's visits, labs and scans, and emergency surgery meant that we drove back and forth three times and spent numerous nights in the City by the Bay. San Francisco is one of my favorite places.  However, the only sightseeing we were able to do was driving from hospital to hospital! I can say I saw parts of the City I had never seen before!

The City has wonderful restaurants, I always have loved to explore the eating scene there.  On two nights we were able to get out and  have a nice meal. At one place my Hubbers ordered a lemon tart for dessert.  Anytime he tells me he enjoys the meal and/or dessert, with the comment that I could do better, I take that as a personal challenge to recreate that dish.  So making a lemon tart went on my to-do list!

I started with homemade lemon curd (made the night before), using my favorite recipe from Martha Stewart (recipe here). I whipped 1/2 cup whipping cream and lightly folded into the curd.  It all got poured into a baked tart shell and refrigerated. My Hubbers ate two pieces so I think he enjoyed it!

The restaurant served the tart with fresh raspberries. I love raspberries so I put them on my grocery list. I forgot to buy them. My excuse is either that I'm having general anesthesia brain, tax season-tired brain, or, as we say in the drag racing circles, "all cylinders aren't firing".  But the tart would be extra good with raspberries or strawberries!

Lemon Tart

I pre-baked pie shell
Lemon curd
1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped

Prepare lemon curd, per recipe.  Refrigerate overnight.

Gently fold whipped cream into lemon curd, pour into baked pie shell.

Top with a dollop of whipped cream and fresh berries.

Stitch 'n Bitch

I first began cross stitching when I was home on maternity leave with my son...30 years now. I find it very relaxing, I can unwind from a busy day with the repetitive motion of making cross stitches while also creating something beautiful. I always travel with my latest project, what little television I watch is done while stitching. I'm not very prolific, only get a few projects done a year. Perhaps if I didn't have so many other hobbies I would be more productive! So many projects, so little time!  That's ok, it's not a race (I even take my cross stitching to my drag races, stitching while waiting for my next run!)

About 10 years ago a group of 5-6 women began meeting 2-3 times a month.  I nicknamed our gatherings "Stitch 'n Bitch".  It really should be "Stitch, Bitch & Eat" because we do all three! We sit and work on our latest projects, whether it be cross stitching, appliquing a quilt top, knitting or crocheting. We usually have lunch together, each of us bringing something. Often we will share a pot of tea or two after lunch. It's nice to get together with other women who share a love of handwork.




Kathy's sampler.



Linda's appliqued quilt blocks.

I made dessert this week, making a favorite of ours from Martha Stewart, Meyer Lemon Crepe Cake . It's 15 alternating layers of crepes and lemon curd cream. Though not a difficult recipe it does take some time as both the crepe batter and lemon curd cream need to be made ahead of time. You can use your favorite crepe recipe or Martha's recipe.  The lemon curd cream has a little gelatin added to it which, in my opinion, is needed to give the curd a little more substance so that the crepe layers don't slide off! If you are a fan of lemon curd (and I am!), you will love this recipe. My husband got the leftovers and told me I should make it more often!

 

I kicked it up a notch by topping each cake slice with some sweetened strawberries. See all the layers?

 

And my latest cross stitch project? I started this back in January but the grueling demands of Tax Season 2013 kept me away from my thread and needle. I've barely got one flower done, in what will be many flowers and a hummingbird.

 

I'm linking up to Foodie Friday! Be sure to check out the other great recipes posted there!

Lemon Molten Cake with Raspberries

For our recent Valentine's dinner I made these cakes for dessert. Similar to chocolate molten cakes, or lava cakes, the cakes have a soft center once baked.  The sweet-tart of the lemons, combined with the sweetness of the raspberries, made for a winning combination. They are easily made ahead of time as the batter can be refrigerated up to 24 hours before baking.  I baked ours as we were doing the dishes (hardly romantic, I know, but we didn't have a bus boy!)

The original recipe calls for purchased lemon curd.  The food snob that I am, I used my homemade curd.

As it was only the two of us for dinner, I halved the recipe and had no problems doing so.

Lemon Molten Cake

1/2 cup butter
1 (4-ounce) white chocolate baking bar, broken into chunks
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
4 whole eggs
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup lemon curd
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

Garnish
Raspberry coulis
Whipped cream
Powdered sugar
Fresh raspberries

Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Grease (I used cooking spray) 8 (6-ounce) custard cups or ramekins. Place onto ungreased 15x10x1-inch baking pan; set aside.

Place butter and baking bar in a bowl.  Microwave 1 minute; stir. Continue microwaving, stirring every 15 seconds for 60-90 seconds or until melted and smooth.

Stir in flour and powdered sugar; mix well. Add eggs, egg yolks, lemon curd and lemon zest; beat with wooden spoon or whisk until blended. Pour evenly into prepared custard cups.

Bake 12-14 minutes or until edges are golden brown and center is puffy and just beginning to set. Let stand 10 minutes. Run tip of knife around edge of custard cup to loosen. Spread or pour some raspberry coulis onto individual dessert plates; invert cakes on top. Shake to loosen. Sprinkle tops with powdered sugar. Serve with whipped cream. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Raspberry Coulis

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
1 (12 ounce) bag frozen raspberries, thawed

Heat the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring from time to time, until the sugar dissolves completely, about 5 minutes.

Put the raspberries and the sugar syrup in a blender and puree.

Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.

The sauce keeps well, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for 4-5 days.

Proof that both the dessert and wine were great!

"Classic" Cream Scones

One of my duties as hostess of our annual family tea party is to bake scones. I serve scones with homemade lemon curd and strawberry jam.  The scone course is my Mom's favorite part of the tea.  I don't know if she likes the scones or curd more but she always looks forward to this tea time treat!

Scones are basically a sweet biscuit.  They have a nice flaky texture and are a great accompaniment to tea.  They can be made in all shapes and sizes, and include whatever "add-ins" sound good.  As we have so many other food options at our tea, including the lemon curd and jam, we prefer our scones plain.

For our "Let It Snow"-themed tea I used a snowflake cookie cutter to make these scones. I brushed them with water and sprinkled with baking sugar for a little sparkle.

The day after our tea found me done with chores, ready to relax, do a little reading, and with some leftover lemon curd. I baked a batch of scones, brewed a pot of tea and had a little quiet time. Such a nice treat!

"Classic" Cream Scones

Add 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh grated lemon peel to the dry ingredients as a great way to have lemon with your tea!

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup unsalted butter, chilled
1/2 cup (heavy) whipping cream
1 large egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup currants or raisins (optional)
1 egg mixed with 1 teaspoon water for glaze (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and distribute them over the flour mixture. With a pastry blender or two knives used scissors fashion, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. In a small bowl, stir together the cream, egg, and vanilla. Add the cream mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Stir in the currants or raisins, if desired.

With lightly floured hands, pat the dough into a 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured cutting board. Using a floured 2 1/2-inch-diameter round biscuit cutter or a glass (or a cookie cutter), cut out rounds from the dough and place them on the prepared baking sheet. (Alternately, the round can be cut into wedges.  Do not separate the wedges until after baking). Gather the scraps together and repeat until all the dough is used. Lightly brush the tops of the scones with the egg mixture, if desired.  Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Serve warm or cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Sprinkles Scones

I made a batch of lemon curd a few days ago.  I was going to make some lemon curd-filled cupcakes and take to my parents. Coincidentally, I made the curd on the same day that I pick up my granddaughter after school. I mentioned to her that I had made the curd.  Well, that girl loves lemon curd!  She instantly said, "Nana, can we make scones when we get home and have a tea party?" How could I resist? We came home and made scones, set the table, and had tea. I heard all about her day and her friends.  She even brought in her doll to join us. I cherish these times, I know how fleeting they will be as she gets older.

I've been wanting to make these scones ever since the May/June 2017 issue of Bake From Scratch came out.  Previously I made the Rainbow Sprinkle Loaf from the issue, which was wonderful. I knew my granddaughter would enjoy the sprinkles in the scones and I'm a sucker for anything with almond extract in it. These were so good, very flaky and sweet. If you want a less sweet scone, the glaze cam be omitted.  But, why?  Save the diet for another day!

Birthday Cake Scones with Vanilla Glaze

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, divided
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk, divided
1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup rainbow sprinkles
Vanilla glaze (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 forks, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Make a well in center of flour mixture; add 1 cup milk and the extracts. Using a wooden spoon, stir until a shaggy dough forms. Add sprinkles, and stir to combine.

Turn out dough onto a heavily floured surface and knead for 1 minute. Pat dough into a 9-inch circle, about 1 inch thick. Cut into wedges.  Transfer to prepared pan.  Brush with remaining 2 tablespoon milk and sprinkle with remaining 1 teaspoon sugar.

Bake until lightly golden, about 30 minutes. Let cool on pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack. Drizzle with vanilla glaze and garnish with extra sprinkles, if desired.

Vanilla Glaze

1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1 tablespoon whole milk
1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth. Glaze should form a sturdy ribbon when drizzled from a spoon.

Lemon Cream Puffs

Mom has been making cream puffs for as long as I can remember.  Lately, they have become a Christmas Eve staple with her grandchildren often requesting them.  Flaky pastry, filled with cream, topped with chocolate or powdered sugar.  What's not to like, right? 

 After the recent tea I hosted I found myself with leftover lemon curd.  It's so good, that I never want to waste any! I make a crepe cake that has a lemon curd/whipped cream filling in it so decided to do something similar with cream puffs.  I whipped a cup of heavy whipping cream, then folded in about 1 1/2 cups lemon curd. After filling the cream puffs, I sprinkled them with confectioners' sugar.  They were very good!

Mom has an old cookbook she got when she was a young bride.  It was put out by Fluffo shortening and is called Creative Cooking Made Easy: The Golden Fluffo Cookbook.  I think it's the most dog-eared and stained cookbook in her vast collection.  This cream puff recipe comes from that book.  I love the description in the cookbook.  Fluffo melts so quickly, blends so easily that six minutes only from saucepan to oven is all the time needed to make the simple cooked paste known in France as pate a chou, or cream puff paste. But even the pastry-making experts in France cannot make a cream puff more golden, fragile or crisply tender than one made with Golden Fluffo. Golden Fluffo hasn't been produced in many, many years so Mom now uses regular shortening for this recipe.

Cream Puffs

1/4 cup shortening
1 cup water
1 cup less 1 tablespoon sifted flour
4 large eggs

Put shortening and water in a small saucepan and stir over high heat until shortening is melted and liquid is boiling rapidly.  Add flour all at once, raise saucepan a few inches above heat, and stir briskly.  The paste will come away from the sides of the pan and form a smooth ball in center. Cook, stirring, for 30 seconds longer.  Remove saucepan from heat, break an egg into the pate and beat vigorously until paste becomes smooth and fluffy.  Break in other eggs, one at a time, and beat vigorously after each addition until paste is smooth and glossy.  Drop paste from a tablespoon into large mounds 2 inches apart on baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes; reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 20 minutes longer. Cool puffs, split them horizontally two thirds of the way through and fill them with whipped cream, sweetened and flavored to taste, or with any of the cream pie fillings or ice cream.

Tea For Two!

My youngest granddaughter loves having tea.  We frequently have quiet tea parties for two at home. A few weeks back I took her to a local tea room that has opened in our area.  I want to like the place more than I do, but we found the food just ok and I thought it was rather pricey. As we were enjoying our tea my granddaughter said that we could do a better tea at home.  Ha, ha, that's my girl! We decided we needed to have a small tea party, set a date, and invited her best friend.

The day before our tea I made lemon curd, egg salad, and set the table.  I used the china set that had recently been gifted to me by a client. The day of the tea I picked up my granddaughter early in the morning and we got to work in the kitchen.  She loves to help me bake.  We made mini lemon cupcakes, brownies, and madelines for the dessert offering.  We made egg salad sandwiches, PBJ's, and salami/cheese stacks for the savory course.  No tea at Nana's would be complete without scones, so we made a batch that we served with the lemon curd, strawberry jam, and clotted cream.  We were busy, busy!

Baking with a young child is fun, but challenging.  At one point, she spilled powdered sugar on the floor and down the cabinet. Ugh, that was a mess! I'm rather OCD with my house but had to push past the messes and focus on the lessons she was learning.  In the end everything was clean again and we still love each other!

The girls enjoyed their tea.  I was their waitress, so poured their tea and waited on them. My granddaughter requested "tea music" so I found some Disney lullabies on my Alexa that the girls enjoyed. They grinned and chatted the whole time. But, 7 year old girls can only be lady-like for so long.  Soon they were off to swim in the pool and I got left with the clean-up! We will have to further define all that having a tea party consists of! That night I was exhausted so asked my Hubbers to take me to dinner! She has asked to have another tea party, inviting a few more girls.  I'm happy to open my home for such fun events! We are making memories! Too soon, she will have better things to do than hang around with Nana.  I suspect, when I'm old (older?) and feeble, she will be taking Nana out to tea!

Strawberry Pavlova

Besides looking forward to the end of tax season and a more manageable schedule, mid-April is also when my favorite local strawberry patch is open for the season. This fruit stand is about 1/2 mile from my house, I often ride my bike there.  It's a small husband-wife operation, every time I go out there he is usually in the field picking berries and she is assembling baskets.  There is nothing that compares to fresh, locally grown strawberries!

My first after-tax season desserts usually consist of these fresh strawberries.  We had guests over for dinner and I decided to make individual pavlovas rather than a shortcake, something a little different.  A pavlova is a dessert made of meringue-like shells.  The edges are crispy and airy and the centers are softer, almost like a marshmallow. The center is smoothed out so that the meringue will hold a whipped cream filling, forming a little indentation. They are very easy to make, impressive to serve, and are suitable to making ahead of time.  When it's time to serve dessert it's just a matter of adding the whipped cream and topping them with the fruit. Any kind of fruit can be used but I especially like them with any sort of berry, or combination thereof.

They can be filled with a simple sweetened whipped cream or embellished with more flavor.  On this night, I added a few dollops of lemon curd as I love the flavor combination of lemon and strawberry.  A strawberry puree can be mixed in and the berries drizzled with chocolate. Cinnamon flavored whipped cream is a great base for an apple topping.  Mix and match to whatever fruit you have on hand!

You can make a big pavlova and serve it like a pie or individual ones.  You can spoon the mixture into a piping bag and pipe the circles or spoon mounds of the egg-white mixture onto the parchment paper and shape with a spoon.  It's all in how fancy you want to get!  Either way, it's best to draw the desired sized circles onto parchment paper.  I used a ramekin.  Once the circles are drawn, turn the paper over so that the meringues aren't on the penciled side of the paper. Pipe or shape the meringue onto the marked paper and bake.  Easy, peasy!

Before baking!

After baking!  Cracking of the shells is normal.

Pavlova Shells

4 eggs whites
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Trace 6-8 circles (or one 9-inch circle) onto a piece of parchment paper with a pencil.  Flip paper over and lay on baking sheet.

Place sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl and whisk together.  Place egg whites in a stand mixer with whisk attachment.  Beat for 1-3 minutes, until soft peaks form.  With mixer running at medium-high speed, slowly add the sugar mixture, until all is incorporated. Increase speed to high and continue mixing 3-4 minutes longer, until mixture is smooth and glossy and holds stiff peaks.

Add the vanilla and vinegar to the mixture and mix to combine, scraping down edges of bowl with a spatula.  Place mixture into a piping bag and pipe rounds onto the prepared sheet (or spoon mixture onto the marked rounds and shape with a spoon).

Use a spoon to make a little indentation in the center of each mound.

Place pan in oven and decrease temperature to 250 degrees.  Bake for 45-50 minutes, until the edges are set and sound hollow when tapped.  Turn off the oven and crack the door open, let pan cool completely.

Spoon freshly whipped cream (lightly sweetened) into center of each shell.  Top with desired fruit.

Pavlovas can be stored in an air-tight container for a day or two.

Food Fun in Wine Country!

My Hubby & I recently got to take a day off from tax returns and clients to attend a 35th wedding anniversary/vow renewal for dear friends of ours. The ceremony and dinner were held at the Hall Winery in St. Helena in the picturesque Napa Valley. We arrived to the area the night before and had dinner reservations at Michael Chiarello's Bottega, in the little town of Yountville. This restaurant has to be one of my favorite restaurants of all time. We've eaten there six or seven times now and I've never been disappointed. We've not had much rain this winter. As fate would have it, the one weekend we got to be out of the office it rained!  It stopped for a brief time during our dinner at Bottega. Our table overlooked the Bottega gardens and it was such a pretty sight with everything wet and the sun beginning to set. (And the wine? We drank the whole bottle, I will confess!)

Every time we eat at Bottega I say I'm going to try a different appetizer. Each time I lose that resolve and order the house specialty, Polenta under Glass. It's a stone-ground polenta cooked with cream and Fontina cheese. It's topped with sautéed chanterelle mushrooms, then served with a reduced balsamic vinegar sauce and a parmesan crisp. It’s amazingly creamy and dreamy.  If someone dropped me in a vat of the balsamic sauce and I drowned I would die a happy woman, it’s so yummy. Once again I chose this as my appetizer.  I’ll have to try something new next time!

For my entrée I ordered a whole fish, roasted in their wood oven.  It was very simply seasoned with salt and pepper, very flavorful and light. My Hubby had the short ribs.  Oh, my goodness, they were divine!

Meyer lemon crostadas were the dessert choice for both of us. The filling was quite similar to lemon curd, very flavorful.

I fell in love with this chandelier in the back dining area of the restaurant.  It is made with spoons!

The next morning we did some antique shopping and  food shop browsing.  One of my favorite shops to visit is the Olivier Olive Oil Co.  They sell amazing olive oil, vinegars, mustards and tapenades. Their balsamic vinegar is the one I use most often. On this day I also bought a bottle of their Green Apple White Balsamic vinegar.

Balsamic jelly!

Various flavors of balsamic vinegar.

Various flavored olive oils for tasting and self-bottling.

The vow renewal ceremony was held in a barn-like structure at the winery.  The view overlooking the vineyards towards the foothills was beautiful.

Our dinner was in a stone-lined room.  Wine barrels, in various stages of fermentation, surrounded our table. The table was made from a whole tree and fitted with glass. It was decorated simply with votive candles and rose petals.  Truly breathtaking.

We were gone 36 hours, were back at our desks Sunday morning at 9:30, very relaxed and probably a few pounds heavier!