Happy 100- Lemon Madeleines

I've been holding out posting forever. One reason (besides never uploading photos) is because I was at 99 posts and I wanted to do something above and beyond fancy for my 100th. But...that never happened.

However, I've had this madeleine pan for over a year. I found it while walking around the antique store down the street and believe I paid $2 for it. So what has it been doing the last year? It's been hanging on the wall in my kitchen. Several people have commented on it then asked, "Wait, is that some kind of baking thing?" Yes, but I just haven't used it yet.

So finally over spring break, or maybe the week before I can't even remember, I made madeleines.

Lemon Madeleines

~Adapted from Martha Stewart

3/4 cup unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) melted, plus more for pans

1 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted (not self rising)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon coarse salt

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)

Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Butter madeleine pan; set aside. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl; set aside.

2. Put eggs, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla, lemon zest and juice in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and thickened, about 5 minutes. Mix in butter. Using a spatula, fold flour mixture into egg mixture. Let rest 30 minutes. (I think I forgot that last step!)

3. Pour batter into buttered pans, filling the molds 3/4 full. Bake cookies, rotating pans halfway through until edges are crisp and golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Let cookies cool slightly in pans on wire racks. Invert, and unmold. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired. Cookies can be stored in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 1 day. (Umm...sorry Martha I think they can stick around at least 2 or 3 and be fine)

The cookies were sort of like a lighter pound cake. The lemon was just right. I never got around to the powdered sugar step but I'm sure that would be a nice touch.

Lemon Bars

I've always been a huge lemon bar (or square, whichever term you prefer) fan.  They remind me of when I was little and used to go to this one bakery in town with my mom.  I've been wanting to try out the Barefoot Contessa recipe for them for some time but had never gotten around to it.  Finally on Sunday, I realized I just happened to have all of the ingredients on hand and got to baking.  It's a really basic recipe, which is one of my major loves of Ina Garten.  So basic, so tasty.  

I shared them with my neighbors that night and took the rest to school the next day.  After lunch with the other teachers I still had several left and my students were begging me for them.  So at the end of the day I divided them all up so everyone could have a taste.  To quote my student Jennie: "This is what I would call gooooood baking!"

Lemon Bars

~The Barefoot Contessa cookbook

For the Crust:

1/2 lb unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 cups flour

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Filling:

6 extra large eggs, room temperature

3 cups granulated sugar

2 grated lemon zest (from 4 lemons)

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup flour

confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed.  Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball.  Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2 inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2 inch edge on all sides.  Chill.

*Self tip-Line the pan with aluminum foil!  It makes it so much easier to remove them from the pan.  

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned.  Let cool on a wire rack.  Leave the oven on.  

For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour.  Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set.  Let cool to room temperature.  

Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie at it's purest. Quite possibly the easiest pie ever but if you add some lemon zest on top of the meringue and a twist of lemon peel, people think it's really fancy.


Lemon Meringue Pie
(slightly altered version of Paula Deen's)


1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
Grated lemon zest of one lemon
3 egg yolks
1 prebaked pie shell

Meringue: 5 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup sugar


In medium bowl, combine milk, lemon juice, and zest; blend in egg yolks. Pour into cooled crust.


Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks from. Gradually beat in the sugar until stiff. Spread over filling; seal to edge of crust. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until meringue is golden brown




Refrigerate for at least 2 hrs. before serving.

Meyer Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes

Meyer Lemon Raspberry Cupcakes
Makes 2 dozen

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
5 large eggs, separated
1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 cup plus scant 1/3 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
Meyer Lemon Curd
Vanilla Bean Buttercream
Sanding sugar
24 raspberries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 standard muffin tins with cupcake liners; set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add vanilla; beat to combine. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Sift together both flours, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. With the mixer on low, add flour mixture; mix until well combined. Add sour cream; mix until well combined.
4. In a clean bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

5. Fill each muffin cup half full with batter. Transfer muffin tins to oven and bake until a skewer inserted into the center of one of the cupcakes comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes. Let cupcakes cool completely.

6. Using an apple corer, make a hole in the top of each cupcake, taking care not to push the corer through the bottom; remove cake from hole. Fill a squirt bottle with lemon curd and squeeze curd into holes.

7. Fit a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch plain round tip and fill with buttercream. Pipe buttercream in a circular motion on top of each cupcake; sprinkle with sanding sugar. Pipe a dollop of buttercream in the center of each cupcake and top with a raspberry.

Meyer Lemon Curd

1 cup sugar
Zest of 3 lemons
3 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
1 cup Meyer lemon juice
5 ounces unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

Directions
1. Prepare and ice-water bath. Set a medium bowl in ice-water bath and set aside.
2. Place sugar and lemon zest in a mortar and grind with a pestle to combine and release the oils.

Transfer sugar mixture to a medium heatproof bowl along with eggs and egg yolks; whisk to combine. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until sugar has dissolved. Add lemon juice and continue whisking until mixture is thick and reaches 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary. Add butter and whisk until well combined.
3. Strain lemon mixture through a fine mesh sieve set over prepared bowl. Cover lemon curd with plastic wrap, pressing plastic wrap directly onto surface.
4. Transfer to refrigerator until completely chilled.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup milk

Directions
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter until creamy. Slowly add confectioners' sugar; beat to combine, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
2. Add vanilla bean seeds and vanilla extract and beat to combine. Slowly add milk and continue beating on medium-low speed until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes.

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This recipe is from the Vanilla Bakery in California. I thought that the Meyer Lemons might be hard to find and I'd have to substitute them with regular lemons but I found them at Harris Teeter. They are a hybrid between tangerines and lemons, so they are a lot sweeter. This is my first time making a curd, which sounded a little intimidating but was pretty simple. There was a lot left over so I need to figure out some more uses for it. It tastes a lot like lemon meringue pie filling if you've never had it before. Also, using real vanilla bean makes a huge difference. It's rather pricey but it gave the cupcakes and icing so much more flavor. I was very impressed with these cupcakes.