Lightened Up Lemon Bundt Cake

My mom gets the weekly Woman's World magazine. You can bet on it, every Sunday she makes her trip to the Walmart and this is in her cart when she checks out. I like this magazine too. It has little stories, tips, recipes and there is always a lightened up recipe. I have made muffins and bread from this magazine and knew that I would want to make this lemon cake. This was another one that I wasn't disappointed with.

Lightened Up Lemon Bundt Cake
From:Womans World Magazine

4 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups refrigerated liquid egg substitute
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup oil
1 container (6oz) low fat lemon yogurt
1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 cups confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 12 cup Bundt pan with cooking spray. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and soda; reserve. On medium-high speed, beat egg substitute, sugar, oil, yogurt and 1/2 cup lemon juice until combined. On medium-low speed, gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in zest. Pour into pan. Bake 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes. Remove from pan to rack; cool completely. Whisk together confectioners sugar and 3 Tbsp lemon juice until smooth; poor over cake.

TWD- Tartest Lemon Tart

Yes, you read that right. I am back on again with the chics of Tuesdays with Dorie. I had started back in the day with Laurie and Michelle, and then it kept on growing, and growing to what it is now. Last Summer, life just happened, and there wasn't enough time to keep up with baking once a week, so I had to step out for a while. Now, I am back on and so excited to get back to baking. Not sure that my thighs are thanking me for this, though!

This week's recipe was chosen by Babette Feasts. I am really excited about it, because it is lemon. I had never made a tart like this though, you used the whole lemon. Just scrub and dry the lemon, cut it in half and remove the seeds and throw it into a blender or food processor. Then you add the rest of the ingredients. A one bowl recipe, gotta love it!

There was some talk about this tart being very tart and bitter, which brought up the question about using the pith of the lemon. Some people used it and others didn't. I chose to use it to see how it would turn out. My tart was not bitter at all, but was very tart. Now, if I am going to make a lemon dessert, I want it to be tart, so this tart made me happy! I also didn't make the nut crust, well, because, I didn't have any and I didn't want to go back to the store. But, I can see where this crust would be a fantastic base for this tart.

You can find the recipe of this tart on page 336 in BFMHTY, or you should be able to find it over at Babette's.

Next week, Fresh Mango Bread. I love mangoes, but really can't imagine it in bread. We'll see how it turns out.

Lemon Bars

This is my all time favorite, go to recipe for lemon bars. I have made them several times, and they turn out every time. This recipe comes from my Southern Living: The best recipes of 30 years, cookbook. This book is right up at the top of my favorites. I would highly recommend adding it to your bookshelf.

This bar has a shortbread crust, gooey lemony center, and a thin, crisp topping. It is not so tart that it makes you pucker, but tart enough with the sweetness. Just perfect for that girls luncheon, or just a pan for yourself!

Lemon Bars
From: Southern Living

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar, divided
1 cup cold butter or margarine, cut up
1/2 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs, beaten
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice

Combine 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.

Spoon flour mixture into a 9x13 inch pan; press into pan evenly and firmly, using fingertips. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Combine 1/2 cup flour and baking powder; set aside. Combine eggs, 2 cups sugar, and lemon juice; beat well. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture, and pour over baked crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until lightly browned and set. Cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup powdered sugar, and cut into bars.

CH July-Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Cheese frosting!

For the month of July, Clara from I Heart Cuppycakes and Nikki of Crazy Delicious Food are hosting this month's challenge. Get this..Red, White and Blue. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, so this is what I came up with. I have made this cupcake batter before except that I used lime instead of lemon and this time I folded in the blueberries. Now, if you look really hard at the frosting, you will see red specks from the raspberries, instead of just pink.

Now, confession time. I really like this cupcake. I use it again and again. But, in my crazy head, sometimes, I tend to skip a few steps or add something....like using 2 sticks of butter instead of just 1. And only realizing this after they are baked and are like a muffin with melted butter. Don't get me wrong...I love that. If I eat a muffin, it has to be loaded with all that fatty butter, but...not really what I was going for in the cupcake. So, I just pretended that there was the only 1 stick and it was the fluffy batter that I love.

And let me just go on to say that I LOVE this frosting! You have the tartness from the cream cheese with the sweetness from the raspberries. I could have stuck my face in the bowl and licked the bowl clean! :)

Blueberry Lemon Cupcakes:
1/2 Cup unsalted butter, softened
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 Cup sugar
2 eggs, room temp
3/4 Cup self-rising flour
1/2 Cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
4-5 Tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Cup Blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and zest in the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed until butter is smooth. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, scraping the bowl and beating until smooth after each addition.-Squeeze the lemon directly into a liquid measuring cup. Add enough milk to total 1/2 cup of liquid, whisk to combine.

In a medium bowl, whisk flours together to combine.-Add the flour mixture to the batter in four parts, alternating with thirds of the milk mixture and beating after each addition until incorporated. Add in the vanilla. Fold in the blueberries.

Divide batter among the 12 cups of a lined standard cupcake pan. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until cupcakes are just starting to turn brown and toothpick comes out clean. Remove cupcakes from pan and let cool completely.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting:
3 oz cream cheese, room temp
1 pint of raspberries
2 lb bag of powdered sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Cream together cream cheese and raspberries. I just put the whole berries in the mixer with a whisk attachment and creamed the 2 ingredients together. Add the vanilla and salt. Start adding the powdered sugar until you get the consistency that you want. You may not use the whole back of powdered sugar.

TWD-Traditional Madeleines

This weeks recipe was chosen by Tara of Smells like Home. I love it when Monday rolls around each week and the weekly Dorie recipe has been chosen. It is like a weekly surprise! I had never made madeleines before this week, although, I had always wanted too. I just hadn't taken the time. I had the pan, one to make minis, but it has just been sitting in my cabinet all by itself, never been used. But now, it will definitely be put to use often!

With just a few ingredients, a chill time of at least 3 hours, bake for a few minutes, and you have a wonderful cake like cookie with a hint of lemon. Yum!

Just like all other weeks, go and check out the TWD chicks as we still continue to grow each week! Next week's recipe is from Madam Chow's Kitchen and she has chosen Pecan Honey Sticky Buns! I can't wait to try them out!

Traditional Madeleines

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 stick (6 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Confectioner's sugar, for dusting

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Working in a mixer bowl, or in a large bowl, rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the eggs to the bowl. Working with the whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the eggs and sugar together on medium-high speed until pale, thick, and light, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. With a rubber spatula, very gently fold in the dry ingredients, followed by the melted butter. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the batter and refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or for up to 2 days. This long chill period will help the better form the hump that is characteristic of madeleines.

(For convenience, you can spoon the batter into the Madeleine molds, cover and refrigerate, then bake the cookies directly from the fridge; see below for instructions on prepping the pan.)

Getting ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter 12 full-size madeleine molds, or up to 36 mini madeleine molds, dust the insides with flour and tap out the excess. Or, if you have a nonstick pan, give it a light coating of vegetable cooking spray. If you have a silicone pan, no prep is needed. Place the pan(s) on a baking sheet.

Spoon the batter into the molds, filling each one almost to the top. Don't worry about spreading the batter evenly, the oven's heat will take care of that. Bake large Madeleines for 11-13 minutes, and minis for 8-10 minutes, or until they are golden and the tops spring back when touched. Remove the pan(s) from the oven and release the madeleines from the mods by rapping the edge of the pan against the counter. Gently pry any recalcitrant madeleines from the pan using your fingers or a butter knife. Transfer the cookies to a rack to cool to just warm or to room temperature.

If you are making minis and have more batter, bake the next batch(Es), making certain that you cool, then properly prepare the pans before baking.

Just before serving, dust the madeleines with confectioner's sugar.

Vanilla-Lemon Pudding Cakes

Nikki from Crazy Delicious Food also hosts Master Baker, where she chooses an ingredient once a month and you can bake anything that your little heart desires. Nikki does a round up at the end of the month and declares the "Master Baker." Unfortunately, this has been going on for a couple of months now, and this is my first entry. This months theme is Vanilla. This was a hard one for me because, you can use vanilla in just about anything.

Pudding cakes always make me giddy when they are finished baking and you have the cake on top, but the pudding on the bottom. Somehow, magically, the pudding just appears on the bottom! I have no idea how that works out, but I LOVE it! It is like getting a surprise!

So, here is the low down on this cake. You have a vanilla cake on the top and a tart lemon pudding on the bottom. Bakes for 30 minutes, let cool for at least 10 and there you go! Spring in a ramekin! :)

Vanilla-Lemon Pudding Cakes
from Chocolate and Vanilla by Gale Gand:

8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup plus 3/4 cup sugar
5 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
Grated zest of 2 lemons
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Brush eight 4-6 ounce ramekins or custard cups with 3 Tbsp of the butter and place them in a large baking dish. Bring a tea kettle or medium saucepan of water to a boil.

Ina mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the remaining 5 Tbsp butter with 1/3 cup of the sugar until it's light and fluffy. One at a time mix in the egg yolks and then fold in the flour. Don't worry if the mixture separates. On low speed stir in the milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla until combined.

In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (and in a dry, clean bowl), whip the egg whites on medium speed until they're foamy. Gradually add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, whipping on medium speed until the whites are glossy and stiff but not dry. Using a rubber spatula, stir a large spoonful of the whites into the lemon mixture just to lighten it and then fold in the rest of the whites.

Divide the batter among the prepared ramekins, filling them three-quarters full. Pour boiling water in the baking dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake the puddings for 30 minutes, or until puffed and set.

Remove the puddings from the oven, uncover, and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

TWD-The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Tart!

Try saying that title 3 times fast! :) This weeks recipe was chosen by Mary from Starting from Scratch. We had the choice of either lemon, or orange cream. My friend Chelle, who is anti-lemon, chose the orange version, and she compared it to a creamsicle. I am going to try that version too. I have to say that I absolutely LOVED this choice! This has become my "go to" lemon tart recipe. Easy to throw it together, and was probably devoured in less than the time it took to make it. The only problem that I ran into was cooking the lemon curd to 180 degrees. I never got to that temp, I could only get to 165-170, but, the lemon cream came out perfect. Not runny at all!! Very firm, and creamy, and lemony!

Our chick list over at TWD continues to grow, go and check them out!

If you are looking for a great lemon dessert, this would be the one to make!

Next week has been chosen by Judy at Judy's Gross Eats....Marshmallows!! This will be the time that I play with flavors!

Tart

1 cup sugar

Grated zest of 3 lemons

4 large eggs

¾ c fresh lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)

2 sticks plus 5 T butter (10 ½ ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces, at room temperature.

1 9-inch tart shell made with sweet tart dough (see below).

Getting ready:

Have a instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender (1st choice) or food processor at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy, and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.

Set the bowl over the pan and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture fees tepid to the touch. Cook the lemon cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As you whisk- you whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling- you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point- the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience- depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp may take as long as 10 minutes.

(I never got to this temp, and it took 30-45 minutes to get to the temp 165-170, but turned out perfect!)

As soon as it reaches 180F, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of the lender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

Turn the blender to high (or turn on the processor) and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going- to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests, and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.

Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight. (the cream will keep in the fridge for 4 days or, tightly sealed, in the freezer for up to 2 months; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator)
When you are ready to assemble the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell. Serve the tart, or refrigerate until needed.

Sweet Tart Dough

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

¼ tsp salt1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 T) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in- you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal fakes and others the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses- about 10 seconds each- until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change- heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate and dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

To press the dough into the pan: butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Don’t be too heavy handed- press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferable longer, before baking.

To partially or fully bake the crust: center a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

Butter the shiny side of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, against the crust. (since you froze it, you can bake it without weights). Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, carefully press it down with the back of a spoon. For partially baked crust, patch the crust if necessary, then transfer the crust to a cooling rack. To fully bake the crust, bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown. Transfer pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.

Lemon-Buttermilk Poundcake

Lemon desserts run really close to chocolate desserts in being my favorite. I love anything lemon..but then again, I really like anything sweet. Go figure.... Anyways, this will be a recipe that I refer to again and again to make for anything. It is dense like a pound cake should be, but moist from the lemon vanilla simple syrup you make to brush over it while it is still warm, so that all this yumminess soaks all the way through. Maybe the only thing that I would do differently would be to maybe add a thin lemon glaze to it after it cools, but it is just fine without it.

Lemon Buttermilk Pound cake
1/2 lb. butter, at room temperature
2 Cups Sugar
2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
4 large eggs
1/3 Cup lemon juice, about large lemons
2 tsp. vanilla
3 egg yolks
1/2 Cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest

For the simple syrup:
1/2 Cup water
1/2 Cup sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla

Prepare a 10 inch bundt pan-buttered and then floured.

Combine butter, sugar, flour and baking powder in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients into a bowl and add to mixer in 3 additions, beating 1 minutes between each addition. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake about 1 hour. Place cake on cooking rack in pan.

Prepare the simple syrup: Combine water and sugar in saucepan and bring to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and add the lemon juice and vanilla. Unmold the cake and brush the syrup over the cake-allow to cool.