The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

In honor of Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee I was inspired to whip up something British to eat while watching the Boat Parade in London on the Thames this morning.  Such pageantry despite the rain.  And that Queen and her Prince Philip.  86 and 90 years old respectively, and their they stood through the whole rainy but spectacular flotilla.  Nice to catch glimpses of the handsome Princes William and Harry too.

Being of British ancestry and also loving all things English, I felt a sense of pride and thought what fun it would have been to be in London today and be a part of such a celebration.  Instead though, I nibbled on my tea cake and sipped my coffee, enjoying the festivities on the telly in my warm, dry house!

Long live the Queen!!

Blueberry-Lemon Tea Cakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, divided
2 large eggs
2 cups blueberries

Glaze
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp or more lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray 4 (5 3/4″ x 3 3/4″) loaf pans with nonstick spray. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Combine buttermilk, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice in a small bowl.

Beat lemon zest, butter, and 3/4 cup sugar in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk mixture; fold in blueberries.

Divide batter evenly between loaf pans and bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. While cakes are baking, combine remaining 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and syrup thickens, about 4 minutes.

Remove cakes from oven and transfer to a wire rack; brush tops of cakes with lemon syrup and let stand for 15 minutes. Remove cakes from pans, and cool completely.   Mix powdered sugar and lemon juice together to form a thick glaze. Spoon glaze over cooled cakes and let firm up before cutting. Store cakes in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

Not Ready For Fall

I thought about making a big pot of soup over the weekend but then decided that I'm not ready to give in and start cooking Fall recipes.  I had recently made a shopping trip to the new Trader Joe's in town (it's about time we got one), and I picked up a bag of Meyer lemons for a darn good price. 

I just knew I would be inspired to whip up something with these wonderful lemons if I looked in a recently acquired new cookbook, The Bon Appetit Cookbook.  This cookbook is chock-a-block full of amazing recipes from apples to zucchini, breakfast through dinner, and beyond.  I have a special warm spot in my heart for Bon Appetit as of late, as I was given a little bit of press on their blog site for cooking a recent recipe they published in one of their issues.  It's always been one of my very favorite magazines since I started subscribing in the early '80's.

I found just the recipe for my "I'm not giving up on Summer" lemon dessert.  I share with you this Meyer Lemon Mousse.  It didn't call for Meyer lemons but since that is all I had, that is what I used. Meyer lemons have a much more distinct orange taste and are far less tart then our common garden variety lemons.  They made for a delightful change and a delicious dessert. I also  modified the recipe a bit as it called for toasted coconut layered between the mousse which I opted not to do. Enjoy!

Meyer Lemon Mousse

2 teaspoons water
1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
6 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream

Place 2 teaspoons water in small bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 10 minutes. Whisk sugar, lemon juice, yolks and lemon peel in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Add butter; stir constantly over medium heat until mixture thickens and just begins to bubble at edges, about 9 minutes. Remove from heat. Add gelatin mixture; stir to dissolve. Transfer lemon curd to medium bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface. Chill until cold. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.)

Beat cream in medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold 1 cup cream into curd.

Spoon into serving dishes and let chill for at least one hour. Serves six.

Adult Lemonade

On a vacation in San Francisco a few years ago, some friends who lived there took us to a wonderful Italian restaurant in the North Beach area. My former co-worker use to be a deputy fire chief in the the city and he and his wife obviously knew where to find the good restaurants. We had a delicious dinner and the waiter fawned all over us. At the end of the meal he brought us glasses of chilled limoncello, a delicious lemon liqueur. I had never tasted anything so refreshing after a big meal. It was the perfect ending.Recently I spotted some colorful bottles of limoncello in the local "pop shop" (my father's name for the liquor store) so I picked up a bottle. Coincidentally, later in the week while watching Michael Chiarello on the Food Network, he whipped up a drink utilizing limoncello. It couldn't be simpler and it is a very light aperitif.

Limoncello Spritzer

1 part limoncello

1 part seltzer water

Ice

Fill your glass with the limoncello and seltzer water and fill with ice. Garnish with a slice of lemon and sip away.

Happy Hour

Here is a crisp and citrusy change of pace for you cocktail lovers out there; a Lemon Drop. It is simple to make and very easy to go down so be careful! It is good to have some simple syrup made and in the refrigerator when you go to make these. Simple syrup is just 1 part water to 1 part sugar, boiled for a minute or so until the sugar dissolves. It can then be stored in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

I have had these in restaurants with a sugar coated rim but instead, I bashed up some Lemonhead candies into a fine mess and dipped my lemon juice coated rim of the glass into them for a lemon sugar treat!

Lemon Drop Cocktail

2 oz. citrus vodka

1 oz. simple syrup

1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice

Sugar for the rim of the glass (optional)

Lemon rind twist (optional)

Put 8-10 ice cubes into a cocktail shaker. Add the vodka, syrup and lemon juice into the shaker and shake well for 50-60 shakes. Strain into prepared glass and enjoy.

Shrewsbury Biscuits

While thumbing through one of my English cookbooks I found an interesting sounding cookie recipe called Shrewsbury Biscuits. They originate from the area of Shrewsbury in England and like so many recipes from that wonderful country, they have a long history and there are many renditions for these cookies. As I investigated on the Internet further, I found some recipes had currants and various spices included. I liked the fact that in this recipe the ingredients were simple enough, flour, sugar, butter, lemon rind and egg yolks. The picture of them looked so delightful I just had to try my hand at making them.

They were very simple but the dough was less than malleable when first put together so I added about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice so that it would hold together while rolling out and it worked just fine. I think these will be wonderful with an afternoon cup of coffee or tea. They have a light texture with just a hint of lemon flavor.

The Husband thinks they are too plain and that they need an inch of frosting on top of them. I say that the next time he bakes some cookies, he can frost them any old way he would like!Shrewsbury Biscuits

3/4 cups sugar
1 stick butter, at room temperature
2 egg yolks
2 cups flour
lemon rind from 1 lemon

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time and beat until incorporated. Add flour and lemon rind and beat until batter holds together in a stiff dough. Roll out on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut with 3 inch floured cookie cutter and place on parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10 - 11 minutes until just golden in color. Place on wire racks to cool completely. Makes 24 biscuits.

Lemon Pudding

Here is an easy, lemony dessert to make that is called a pudding but really is more like a pudding cake. Because of the small amount of flour in the batter, it forms a thin cake-like topping with a filling which resembles a souffle. The ingredients are simple and putting it together can be done in a few minutes. I think it is quite old fashioned and very homey.

I found this recipe in The Fannie Farmer Cookbook revised by Marion Cunningham. It is one of my favorite cookbooks and one that I refer to often when I want something basic, be it a dessert or a main course. The recipes are easy to follow and obviously well tested, as I have yet to have a failure when utilizing them.

Lemon Pudding

2 Tbsp softened butter

7/8 cup sugar (an odd measurement!)

3 eggs separated

1 cup milk

1 1/2 Tbsp flour

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

grated rind of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 deg. Beat the butter until soft, then gradually add the sugar, beating until well incorporated. Beat in the egg yolks one by one until combined then beat in milk, flour, lemon juice and the rind and mix well. The mixture will have a curdled look to it. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks then gently incorporate them into the batter.

Turn into a 1 1/2 quart greased baking dish and set it in a pan of hot water that comes halfway up the sides of the dish. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Let cool and serve either tepid or chilled with some whipped cream.

A Tale of Two Frostings

It's birthday celebration time at the office tomorrow and as usual, I was selected to bring the dessert. This usually means a cake of some sort but I wasn't very interested in that as I had just baked a cake a couple of weeks ago.

Instead, I opted for cupcakes which are ALL THE RAGE it seems around the country. What is it with the cupcake phenomenon? There are entire bakeries and blogs devoted solely to the subject. I think the appeal is that each person gets their own mini-cake and for me, they are so reminiscent of childhood lunches. You can hold the little darling in your hand with it's protective paper wrapper and nibble away. Also, when done correctly, it is such a wonderful vehicle for the frosting which after all is the most important part of any good cake.

The cupcake used for this cooking session was a basic yellow cake mix as I had no time to do scratch cupcakes. The frosting choice was difficult though so I decided on two different ones for people to choose from. I made a refreshing lemon buttercream frosting and a more rich, smooth peanut butter frosting. Both turned out to be tasty and I believe a nice contract to each other. I didn't use a particular recipe for either but I will leave you with approximate measurements for each. Peanut Butter Frosting
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup milk (more more to get desired spreadable consistency

Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix on medium speed until a smooth and creamy consistency is achieved. Frosts 12-14 cupcakes.
Lemon Frosting
2 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup softened butter
1/4 cup milk (or more to get desired spreadable consistency)

Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Frosts 12-14 cupcakes.

Grandma's Tarts

My English grandma always had a large decorative tin of tarts ready for us when we came to visit. There were of maids of honor (so named by King Henry VIII for Anne Boleyn who was a lady in waiting to his first wife Katherine of Aragon), coconut tarts, and jam and lemon curd filled tarts, with each layer separated in the tin by wax paper. It was such a treat to sit at my grandparents dining room table with cups of tea and the delicious tarts. My mother also made tarts, but with her busy schedule it was usually at Christmas or at times when she baked a pie she would make jam tarts with the leftover pie dough.

I am very pleased that I was able to get my grandma's recipes for her various tarts and I try to make them at least once a year. When finished, I too always put them in my favorite tin which is decorated with tart pictures and the poem about the Queen of Hearts and her tarts. I hope my nieces will learn how to make them as it would be a shame for those traditional recipes to be lost.

Since I made my gloriously successful berry pie, I decided to throw together a few jam tarts with my leftover pie dough. I was able to do so primarily because The Husband was at work and not stealing and eating the raw dough before I can get to the rest of my baking.

Above: Tarts ready for baking.

For these tarts there is no recipe other than taking leftover dough, rolling it out and cutting into circles to fit the muffin tin, filling each tart with approximately 1 teaspoon of a jam, jelly, or lemon curd and baking at 350 degrees for approximately 12 minutes until crusts are light brown. Let tarts cool in tin for 10 minutes or so, until jam sets then remove and cool them on a rack.

Above: Tarts baked and ready for their special tin.