My Recipe Reviews

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Lemon Cake with Toasted Meringue

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Lemon Cake with Toasted Meringue

I missed the May selection for the Cake Slice Baker’s group. It’s kind of 2020’s fault because I was going to make a cake that uses hibiscus. I ordered it well ahead of time from the wonderful Spice House and delivery was delayed until well after the cake posting was due – about two weeks after!

The ladies in this group are just great, though, and let me slide until June’s selection. This month I chose Limoncello & Toasted Meringue Cake from “The New Way to Cake.”

You may notice a little difference in the name of the cake. Mine became Lemon Cake with Toasted Meringue because I didn’t get a chance to visit the liquor store to get limoncello. I recommend you use it, though, and will include the amounts in the recipe below. Hey, I didn’t want to miss another cake month – have mercy.

Lemon Cake with Toasted Meringue

What a simple little cake to put together! I was kind of wondering about the baking powder (1 tablespoon) because it’s made in a 9×9″ pan and that seems like an excessive amount.

The cake came out fine though – tall, soft, and fluffy.  You’ve really got to stick that testing toothpick all the way down the tall cake to make sure it’s done.

One of the Cake Slice Baker ladies made her cake in a round pan and it looks great! You just need to make the sure round pan is deep enough, because this little beauty rises a lot.

Lemon Cake with Toasted Meringue

The next fun thing – using my new blowtorch!  I almost chickened out and used the broiler, but have had this little food torch for so long that I finally wanted to use it.

It went surprisingly well – it lit like it’s supposed to and nicely toasted the pretty meringue. And I didn’t blow anything up, so I consider that a success.

Lemon Cake with Toasted Meringue

I love this Lemon Cake with Toasted Meringue. The toasted meringue is really quite a good finish for it. It’s a light and lovely little cake.

Lemon Cake with Toasted Meringue

Lemon Cake with Toasted Meringue

Yield: 9 pieces
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

9x9" soft lemon cake with fluffy tasted meringue.

Ingredients

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 C sugar
  • 1/2 C canola oil (or vegetable oil)
  • 2 C all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 C milk, room temperature
  • Zest of 2 lemons (2-3 tsp)
  • Juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 C)
  • 2 tbsp limoncello (I did not use in my recipe)
  • For the Syrup:
  • 1/4 C sugar
  • 2 tbsp limoncello (I used fresh lemon juice)
  • 1/4 C water
  • For the Meringue:
  • 1 C sugar
  • 3 tbsp water
  • Scant 1/4 cup of egg whites, room temperature (the egg whites of 3 to 4 eggs)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Spray a 9x9" deep baking pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
  2. For the Cake: In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat together the eggs and sugar for 3 to 5 minutes, until thick and pale yellow. Drizzle in the oil and continue mixing.
  3. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Turn mixer to low and add the flour mixture in by half cup. Pour in the milk and lemon zest. Mix until smooth before stirring in the lemon juice (and limoncello if you're using it).
  4. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until well risen, lightly brown, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes in the pan before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  5. For the Syrup: Heat the sugar, lemon juice (or limoncello) and water together in a small saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Prick holes in the surface of the cake with a toothpick and pour on the syrup, letting it seep through. Set aside while making the meringue.
  6. For the Meringue: Add the sugar and water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil, swirling the pan to dissolve the sugar (do not stir or it may crystalize the sugar). Heat the sugar until it reaches 238° (again, do not stir). It will get to temperature fairly quickly.
  7. Inspect the bowl of a stand mixer, making sure it is completely dry and clean. Whip the egg whites in the bowl with the whisk attachment on low speed for 1 minute, or until foamy. Increase the speed to medium and whip for 2 to 4 minutes, or until you have soft peaks.
  8. Once the sugar mixture on the stove has reached the right temperature, with the mixer still running, slowly pour the syrup down the side of the bowl, taking care not to pour the syrup onto the beaters or directly onto the whipped egg whites (it's extremely hot, so be careful). Continue to whip the meringue on high speed until you have thick, glossy, stiff peaks and the bowl is fairly cool to the touch.
  9. Spoon the meringue on top of the completely cooled cake, leaving about 1/2" around the edges. Use a blowtorch to lightly toast the meringue. If you don't have a blowtorch, you can place the cake under the broiler for a minute (carefully watching as it will brown quickly).

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Have your lemons squeezed and zested before you begin.  Also, separate your eggs beforehand.  It makes things go much more smoothly.

After poking holes in the cake and pouring in the syrup, I set the cake in the freezer to cool off more quickly.  You don't want to put the meringue on a hot (or even warm) cake or it will turn to goo.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 519Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 84mgSodium: 279mgCarbohydrates: 89gFiber: 1gSugar: 65gProtein: 7g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Benjamina Ebuehi
Category: Cakes
 
 

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The New Way To Cake by Benjamina Ebuehi. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th – never before – we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the thumbnail pictures below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends.  This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

 
 

It is a new year and a new book – The New Way To Cake – and our choices for June 2020 were ~

 

Ina Garten’s Lemon Bars

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Ina Garten's Lemon Bars

As much as I love lemon bars, I’ve never made them before. Being under the shelter-in-home mandate (or is it stay-at-home?) is a great time to pull out those ‘to-do’ recipes and Ina Garten’s Lemon Bars have been on that list a long time. Besides, it delays my plans to clean out my office and junk room (which isn’t as much fun and has no tasty flavor).

I halved Ina’s recipe because Bret doesn’t enjoy lemon flavor like I do. Oh, and because it calls for 6 eggs and I don’t want to use all my eggs up in case I can’t get anymore.

Luckily, it’s easy to half and came out nicely. There’s a big lemon flavor and nice short-bready base. I didn’t bake my crust long enough, but the bars are terrific anyway.

Ina Garten's Lemon Bars

I didn’t get very good photos because I’d already dug into the bars to “test” them. These lemon bars are tangier than sweet, but that’s OK – they’re still terrific. I’ve made Ina’s lemon curd before and it’s a little smoother and sweeter than this filling. Next time a couple of more tablespoons of sugar will go into these bars or maybe smaller lemons would help. I had huge lemons.

Have a favorite lemon bar recipe? Send it to me and I’ll try it. I’d love to make the perfect lemon bars. Don’t get me wrong – these are really good, but it’ll be lots of fun (and tasty) to see if I can top them!

I’m posting the original Ina Garten’s Lemon Bars recipe below. If you want to half it, use an 8×8″ pan to bake them in.

Ina Garten's Lemon Bars

Ina Garten's Lemon Bars

Yield: 20 triangles
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Refrigerate: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

More lemony tangy than sweet, these are really good lemon bars with a nice crust.

Ingredients

  • For the Crust:
  • 1/2 lb (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1/2 C granulated sugar
  • 2 C all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 tsp kosher salt
  • For the Filling:
  • 6 extra large eggs at room temperature
  • 3 C granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
  • 1 C freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 C all-purpose flour
  • confectioners' sugar, for dusting (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a 9x13" pan with aluminum foil long enough to extend over the edges so you can pull out the bars after they're baked. Spray the aluminum foil with baking spray.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, for the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light and blended. In a medium bowl, combine the flour and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour slowly to the butter until just mixed. It's going to be a fairly dry dough, but add a teaspoon of water if it doesn't come together.
  3. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and bring together until it forms a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into the prepared pan, building up the edges to about 1/2 inch. Chill in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.
  4. Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes until very lightly browned. Let the pan cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
  5. For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour the lemon mixture over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature then cut into squares or triangles and dust with powdered sugar.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

I used salted butter in the crust and cut down the salt a little.

Note that she uses 6 extra-large eggs in this recipe.  Since I halved it and only had large eggs, I used 4 large eggs.

I had large lemons, so it only took 3 lemons for the zest. 

Please don't use bottled lemon juice for this - use the juice from the fresh lemons you just zested.

Mine took the entire 20 minutes for the crust to bake and the entire 35 minutes for them to bake.  The filling should be set when baked with an ever so slight wiggle to the middle of the bars.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 20 Serving Size: 1 bars
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 237Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 71mgSodium: 47mgCarbohydrates: 51gFiber: 1gSugar: 36gProtein: 4g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Ina Garten
Category: Bars

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

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Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Buh-bye strawberry season. The last batch of strawberries was indicative of the season coming to a close. They aren’t as sweet and had more white on the tops than the June and July strawberries. Don’t get me wrong; they’re still good, but not quite perfection.

So I have a bunch in the little plastic container that need to be used and I came across this old Pinterest pin for Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake from BakingWithBlondie.com. It looks scrumptious. (I don’t think I’ve ever used the word scrumptious before.)

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake is soft and delicious with chunks of those closing-season strawberries scattered all throughout. No fancy ingredients unless you call Greek yogurt fancy. The lemon zest and lemon juice add just the perfect amount of light citrus flavor – oh, and don’t forget the tart-sweet lemon drizzle.

The texture and taste are like a very light, fluffy pound cake.  For not having vanilla in it, it’s an awesome vanilla cake base.  I really like this cake.  Took it to work, set it in the break room, turned around and it was gone!

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Moist, soft and tender – this is a terrific strawberry cake.  A nice farewell to those summer strawberries.

Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Cake

Yield: 10-12 slices
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Beautiful blonde cake sprinkled with sweet strawberries and topped with a zingy lemon drizzle.

Ingredients

  • 1 C (2 sticks) butter, softened
  • 1 3/4 C sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided (1 tbsp, and 2 tbsp)
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 2 1/2 C flour, divided (2 1/4 C, and 1/4 C)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 8 oz. Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)
  • 11-12 oz. fresh strawberries, diced
  • 1 C powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325°. Spray and flour a 10" Bundt pan.
  2. In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (4-5 minutes on medium-high). Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and incorporate well. Add 1 tbsp of the lemon juice and mix for about 30 seconds.
  3. While the butter is mixing, in a medium bowl sift together 2 1/4 cups of the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to the butter mixture about 1 cup at a time, alternating with the Greek yogurt and ending with the flour. Mix just until blended (don't over mix). Remove the bowl from the mixer stand.
  4. Put the diced strawberries into a medium bowl and toss with the remaining 1/4 cup of flour until coated. Fold the strawberries into the batter until distributed throughout. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 60 to 70 minutes (checking at 60 minutes) until a toothpick comes out clean.
  5. Cool in the pan for about 20-25 minutes, then gently slide a knife around the sides and middle to loosen. Turn out onto a rack and cool completely.
  6. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and the powdered sugar, whisking until smooth. Drizzle the mixture over the cake. Store, covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

Have your lemon zested and juiced, and the strawberries diced before you begin the cake.

Don't skip the step where you sift the flour, soda and salt together (i.e., don't just dump them together in a bowl - use a sifter)

Be gentle with the batter.  It's light and fluffy and if you over mix it, the cake will end up tougher than it should be.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 378Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 178mgCarbohydrates: 85gFiber: 7gSugar: 55gProtein: 8g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Baking with Blondie
Category: Cakes

John Thorne’s Lemon Icebox Crumbles

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Lemon Icebox Crumbles

John Thorne’s Lemon Icebox Crumbles are simple, soft, crisp around the edges and lightly lemony. It’s another classic recipe from Richard Sax’s Classic Home Desserts (an original recipe from his friend John Thorne).

I’ve made eight recipes from this book and all but one (don’t worry, I didn’t post that one on this site) has been terrific. One of my favorite is the unusual, delicious Lemon-Molasses Marble Cake.

I like this cookie because it’s easy and straightforward. It’s not an in-your-face lemon flavor like the wonderful Mellow Lemon Crinkle Cookies I made quite awhile back, but it’s a nice rather addictive cookie that’s great to snack on.

Lemon Icebox Crumbles

This is a small-batch recipe – it only makes 24, 2″ cookies. That’s a good thing for us since Bret doesn’t eat fruit-oriented cookies. Only fruit-oriented pies. Don’t ask.

The name of these Lemon Icebox Cookies implies they’re crumbly, but they’re really not. They hold together well and last a good 3 to 4 days if stored well-sealed.

Lemon Icebox Crumbles

You’ll enjoy John Thorne’s Lemon Icebox Crumbles. Try them out and dunk them in your morning coffee (yes, I have been known to eat cookies for breakfast) or afternoon tea.

Or eat one every time you walk by the kitchen. Any way you can get them. Just get them. I don’t know who John Thorne is, but I thank him for these little cookies!

Lemon Icebox Crumbles

John Thorne's Lemon Icebox Crumbles

Yield: 12 cookies
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Inactive Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 58 minutes

Small batch of lemony cookies, soft with crispy edges.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 C (1 stick) butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
  • zest from 2 lemons
  • 3/4 C granulated sugar
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp powdered sugar

Instructions

  1. Combine the softened butter, flour and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and mix together with your fingers until mostly crumbles form.
  2. Add the sugar and egg yolks and continue mixing with your fingers until a dough is formed. Add the teaspoon of fresh lemon juice and gently mix in. Form into a ball, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  3. Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly butter 2 baking sheets. Form 1" balls with the dough and place on one of the cookie sheets. Flatten each ball with the back of a fork, making a crisscross pattern with the tines. Bake the cookies 12-13 minutes, until edges are barely browned. Tops will not brown.
  4. Cool the cookies for about 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack. Place a piece of waxed paper under the rack and sprinkle cooled cookies with powdered sugar. Store in a sealed container.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

The original recipe calls for unsalted butter, but I used salted.

Be sure and move the cookies to the rack after 2 minutes or all that butter in them will kind of stick to the cookie sheet.

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1 cookie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 131Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 46mgSodium: 13mgCarbohydrates: 27gFiber: 1gSugar: 14gProtein: 3g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© sblades
Category: Cookies

Lemon-Molasses Marble Cake

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Lemon-Molasses Marble Cake

Even though it’s September, we’re still feeling the 95 degree heat every day. Actually, in Texas that’s considered a cool front after the 100 degree-plus temps every day in July! I have to admit a twinge of jealousy when other food bloggers start posting soups because it’s Fall-ish where they are (which seems to be everywhere but here).

Which brings me to this Fall-inspired Lemon-Molasses Marble Cake from Classic Home Desserts (Richard Sax). If that sounds familiar, it’s because because you’ll find Ligita’s Quick Apple Cake, Double Chocolate Pudding, and Shoo-Fly Cake on past posts from the same cookbook.  All of these have been just outstanding, although I must admit I’ve tried a couple of other of his recipes and they didn’t come out quite right (hello, Crème Caramel).  Probably the nut behind the mixer, though.

When I get a new cookbook, I read it like a novel. First the author’s perspective on cooking, then thumbing through the recipes, one-by-one. I end up with a bunch of tagged recipes and try to make them as the mood strikes.

The combination of a molasses cake swirled with light lemon cake sounded so intriguing to me that this Lemon-Molasses Marble Cake was definitely next on the to-make list.

You’ll essentially make two cake batters, each a little different. One batter is thick and deeply molasses-flavored, and the other is a thicker, almost dough-like lemon batter, and they’re lightly swirled together for a pretty marbling effect.

Each bite of this cake gives you a rich molasses flavor that’s then finished off with a lightly lemon bite. I added a lemon glaze, but the recipe calls for a sprinkling of powdered sugar. Next time I’ll go with the powdered sugar for a little less sweetness.

The flavors are so different in this cake! If you like molasses, you’ll like this cake a lot. I really enjoyed the soft texture and flavors, although Bret wasn’t as big of a fan. When we have a family gathering this Fall, this will be the cake I’ll take!

So there. I’m ready for Fall.

Lemon-Molasses Marble Cake

Lemon-Molasses Marble Cake

Yield: 12 - 14 slices
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

An intensely molasses-flavored cake with bites of light lemon cake swirled in. 

Ingredients

  • Molasses Batter
  • 6 tbsp. (3/4 stick) butter, softened
  • 1/4 C. plus 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 3/4 C. molasses
  • 1 2/3 C all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp each of nutmeg and ground cloves
  • 1/4 C. plus 2 tbsp. plain yogurt
  • Lemon Batter
  • 6 tbsp. (3/4 stick) butter, softened
  • 1 C sugar
  • Grated zest of 1 medium lemon
  • 1 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 1 2/3 C all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
  • 3/4 C plain yogurt
  • 3 large egg whites
  • pinch of salt
  • Powdered Sugar for Sprinkling

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Butter and flour 9" Bundt pan and set aside.
  2. Molasses Batter:  In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium-high until creamy and light.  Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time.  Beat in the molasses. 
  3. Sift the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and spices together and add to the batter, alternating with the yogurt.  Begin and end with dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. (Don't Overmix!)
  4. Lemon Batter:  In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest until very light.  Mix in the lemon juice.  Sift the flour, baking soda,  and cream of tarter together and add to the batter, alternating with the yogurt and ending with the dry ingredients.
  5. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites and salt until almost stiff peaks.  Fold about 1/4 of the beaten egg whites into the batter to lighten it up, then gently fold in the remaining whites.
  6. Drop 3 or 4 large dollops evenly around the bottom of the prepared pan.  Top with 3 or 4 dollops of the molasses batter.  Continue layering the batters.  Gently drop the pan once against the countertop to settle the batter some.  Swirl the batters together with a butter knife, 2 or 3 swirls - don't overdo it or they'll mix together!
  7. Bake until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted toward the middle, 45-50 minutes.
  8. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it from the edges (don't forget to loosen from the tube, too).  Turn out onto a rack to cool completely.  Sprinkle the cooled cake with powdered sugar and serve in 2" wedges.

Notes

Tips and Stuff:

The original recipe called for 1 tsp of lemon extract in the lemon batter, but since I had zested a lemon for it I used fresh lemon juice.

Don't forget to scrape the bowl as needed while preparing the batters.  This instruction stands for any batter you make on any recipe!

I made a glaze with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar, a couple of tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and a tablespoon or so or cream because I wanted it to look prettier when turned out. 

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 14 Serving Size: 1 slice
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 363Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 155mgCarbohydrates: 81gFiber: 1gSugar: 57gProtein: 6g

Nutrition Values are Approximate

© Richard Jax, Classic Home Desserts
Category: Cakes