Citrus Tart

It’s dark, rainy, and gloomy here today. I used to swear up and down that I preferred rain to sunshine. I have no idea why - maybe it was true then, but it’s definitely not true now. I like a good rainstorm, especially in the summer, when they are quick and full of thunder, but in the winter when they last all day, make it so dark outside it seems like evening all day long, I don’t care for it at all. I crave sunshine and the warmth it brings along with it.





Since there’s no chance of that today, I decided to create some sunshine of my own, in the form of this yummy citrus tart. It has a delicious buttery shortbread crust and a tart but sweet lemon & lime curd-like filling. It’s brightened up my day, for sure.






Citrus Tart
from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
Serves 12 to 14

FOR THE CRUST
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup whole blanched almonds
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 large egg yolk

FOR THE FILLING
5 large eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 6 lemons), plus 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 4 limes)
2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)
Garnish: red currants or raspberries and confectioners' sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the crust: Butter an 11-inch fluted tart or quiche pan with a removable bottom (or use a pie plate). Whisk together flour and salt. Pulse almonds with confectioners' sugar in a food processor until finely ground.

2. Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in almond-sugar mixture. Add yolk and flour mixture, and beat until combined.

3. Press dough evenly into bottom and up sides of prepared pan. Prick dough all over with a fork. Freeze for 20 minutes.

4. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Press down bottom and up sides if needed. Bake until golden brown, about 13 minutes more (I pressed down the bottom and sides again). Transfer pan to a baking sheet, and let cool for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

5. Make the filling: Beat eggs, granulated sugar, and salt with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add juices, zest, and cream, and beat until incorporated. Tap bowl on counter to release air bubbles. Pour into prepared crust. Bake until set, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Garnish with currants or raspberries and a dusting of confectioners' sugar.
6. Garnish just before serving.

Lemon Whoopie Pies

A couple of weeks ago I emailed Charity of Sweet Charity Pie and asked if she wanted to try out a new recipe again, after our very successful zucchini cheddar bread. She said yes and suggested we make these lemon whoopie pies.

I was ecstatic, I love whoopie pies. I remember the first time I had one - I was in Amish country in Pennsylvania. I went into this little shop run by mennonite women and saw them. They looked like giant oreos, I had to try one!



It was a culinary experience. So delicious. I’ve tried several time so recreate the whoopie pie I had that day, but I’ve never come close.

So it was nice to try this variation on the chocolate cookie/cream filling. The lemon version is much lighter than the traditional one, slightly more tart. The cream cheese filling was so nice, creamy and lemony. I’ll definitely be making these again.

Thanks for the suggestion, Charity! I loved them.

Lemon Whoopie Pies

the Big Fat Cookie book via Joy the Baker

makes 8 giant cookies

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) usalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 large egg

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup buttermilk.

Lemon Cream Cheese Filling

6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

6 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 3/4 cup powdered sugar

Position a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest until smooth, about 3 minutes. Stop the mixer to scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during the mixing. Add the egg, lemon juice and vanilla, mixing until blended, about 1 minute. The batter may look curdled. On low speed, add half of the flour mixture, mixing just to incorporate it. Mix in the buttermilk. Mix in the remaining flour mixture just until it is incorporated and the batter looks smooth again.

Drop heaping tablespoons (about 3 level Tablespoons each for a giant cookie) of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 3 inches apart. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops feel firm, about 12 minutes. With the exception of a time line at the edges, the tops of the cookies should not brown. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for 10 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the filling-

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat the butter, cream cheese, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice until thoroughly blended and smooth, about 1 minute. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. If the filling is too soft to hold its shape, chill it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Turn half of the cookies bottom side up. Leaving a 1/4-inch plain edge, use a thin metal spatula to spread each one with about 1/4 up of filling. Gently press the flat bottoms of the remaining cookies onto the fillings.

Wrap each cookie in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Serve cold. The wrapped cookies can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread.

This bread gave me lots of trouble. The recipe is simple enough, it was me that kept messing it up. First, I forgot to put the eggs in at the right time, so I had to throw them in at the last second. Then it wouldn’t come out of the pan. When it finally did, a whole chunk of it came flying out and landed in the cats water bowl.

But, it was delicious. The lemon glaze is so good, i was breaking off bits and just dipping it right in the bowl. This bread was originally just lemon bread, but I added some poppy seeds in there for fun.



At first, I was trying to figure out how to disguise all it’s ugly spots (and there are many!) but then I decided to just accept it, photograph it, chunks missing and all.





Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
The original recipe is here.


Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter,
at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 Tbs. finely grated lemon zest

A couple of teaspoons of poppy seeds


For the lemon syrup:

1/4 cup sugar

3 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour a 1-lb. loaf pan.

In a bowl, stir and toss together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture along with the milk and lemon zest. Beat until blended and smooth, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Stir in the poppy seeds. (I just kept putting them in there until it looked like enough, I don’t have an exact amount)

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. (mine only took 45)

Meanwhile, make the lemon syrup: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon juice. Set aside, stirring occasionally; don’t worry if the sugar does not dissolve completely.

Remove the bread from the oven and transfer the pan to a wire rack. Using a fork, gently poke the top in several places. Stir the syrup, then slowly drizzle it over the hot bread. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn the loaf out onto the rack, top side up, and let cool completely. Makes 1 loaf.