Lemon Cake

I love, love, love lemon. I especially love a really lemony cake and this recipe fits the bill.

The recipe says to use a tube pan but I used a bundt pan and I am thinking that it would be better in a tube pan.  I had a heck of a time getting it out of the bundt pan even though I had greased it very well.  The cake has a tender crumb which might have something to do with it.  It’s an easy cake to make and please use fresh lemon juice and zest ~ it makes a huge difference.

Lemon Cake

Cake:
3 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
grated zest of 1 lemon
3 tbsps fresh lemon juice

Glaze:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

To make the cake, mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Beat in lemon zest and lemon juice. Pour into well-greased tube pan.

Bake at 300º (yes, that’s the correct temperature) for 50 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto serving plate.

To make the glaze: Beat the ingredients in a small bowl until well mixed and smooth. Drizzle over cool cake.

Serve with fresh berries if desired.

Makes 12 servings (at least).

Source: Popovers To Panache

Happy Cooking!

 

 

Lemon-Buttered Dill Stuffed Potatoes

I love potatoes and these are wowee awesome!

Making these potatoes are a little more complicated than just mashing but they are worth it.  Even Mr. Meat Eater liked them and he is not really a potato fan. Fresh dill and fresh lemon juice are a must.   Just be careful when scooping out the potato pulp not to split the shell.  It helps to leave a thin layer of potato on the shell to make it more stable.

I think these would be easy to freeze if you have leftovers or want to make them as a freezer meal.

Lemon-Buttered Dill Stuffed Potatoes

4 large potatoes, baked
8 tbsps butter, melted
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tbsps fresh dill, finely chopped
4 tsps fresh lemon
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tbsp onion, finely minced
salt and pepper to taste
paprika for garnish if desired

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut each potato in half lengthwise and scoop out pulp, leaving the skin as a shell. It helps to leave a thin layer of potato still on the skin as it makes the shells more sturdy.

In a large bowl, mix potato pulp with 5 tbsps melted butter and remaining ingredients except paprika. Beat with mixer until smooth.

Scoop mixture back into the shells. Brush with remaining 3 tbsps of butter. Sprinkle with paprika.

Bake 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned.

COOK’S NOTE: Potatoes can be made up and refrigerated several hours or overnight BEFORE baking.

Makes 8 servings.

Adapted from Dining By Fireflies.

Happy Cooking!

Lemon-Sugar Grilled Pineapple

When we lived in Hawaii, we could get pineapples practically off the vine.  They were so sweet and delicious (and cheap!).  We ate so many of them that I’m surprised we still like them!  This recipe is perfect if you get a not-so-sweet pineapple like I did recently.  A super easy grilled dessert that only uses 3 ingredients. The hardest part is peeling and cutting the pineapple ~ although it’s not really hard, just time-consuming.

We grill the pineapple after we finish eating dinner so it’s still warm when we eat it. This would also be great with some vanilla ice cream.

I found the recipe in an old All You magazine.

Lemon-Sugar Grilled Pineapple

1 fresh pineapple
2 tbsps grated lemon zest
1/2 cup sugar

Trim off the top and bottom of the pineapple. Peel the rind off being sure to get as many of the eyes off as possible as they are hard to eat. When peeled, cut the pineapple in half lengthwise and then into sections, making sure to cut the rind off each section.

Mix the sugar and zest in a ziplock bag.

Put a couple of the pineapple sticks into the bag at a time and shake until coated. Transfer to the grill and cook for 5-7 minutes or until you have grill marks and pineapple is softening up.

Cool slightly before eating so you don’t burn your mouth.

Makes 8 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Creamy Lemonade Pie from Simple Shortcut Recipes

Day 9 of 10 days of recipes from by Gooseberry Patch.  If you would like a chance to win a FREE copy of this cookbook, please follow the link and comment on THIS POST!  I’ll be choosing a winner tomorrow so please get your comments in before NOON!

Wow, is this a fabulous pie!  I love citrus anything so that’s why I chose this recipe and it really delivers that wonderful lemon flavor.

I made my own graham cracker crust because I’m not fond of the purchased ones.  I just followed the recipe on the box of graham crumbs.  Otherwise, I made the recipe as posted using sugar free pudding mix and the less fat cream cheese.

This pie would be just perfect for Easter or for a hot day in the summer.  I know it’ll be on my list to make often.

Creamy Lemonade Pie
Submitted by Kathy Grashoff, Fort Wayne, IN

VIEW PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE!

1 (5 oz) can evaporated milk
1 (3.4 oz) box instant lemon pudding mix
2 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
1 (9 inch) graham cracker pie crust

In a bowl, combine the evaporated milk and the dry pudding mix. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 2 minutes until thickened.

In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add the lemonade concentrate.

Stir cream cheese mixture into pudding mixture, mixing well.

Pour into a crust.

Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Sunshine State Citrus Cupcakes and a Gooseberry Patch GIVEAWAY!!

Time for another giveaway for a great  Gooseberry Patch cookbook!

This giveaway is for ONE copy of the NEW Simple Shortcut Recipes generously donated by Gooseberry Patch.   This cookbook is perfect if you don’t have loads of time to spend in the kitchen.  The recipes are delicious, easy, and you probably have many of the ingredients in your pantry already.  Giveaway rules will follow after the recipe!

For the next 10 days, look for a recipe every day from this cookbook!

I chose to make these cupcakes because I LOVE citrus.  It’s one of my favorite ingredients to cook with.  Everything always tastes so fresh and citrus can be found all year long so I don’t have to wait for a certain time of year to use it.

One of the things I liked about this particular recipe, is that you can use it for a dessert, for breakfast, or for an afternoon snack with a cup of tea.  Plus I love Florida so anything that says Sunshine State is right up my alley!

Three of the four dogs got into them and enjoyed them as well!

Sunshine State Citrus Cupcakes
submitted by Bunny Palmertree of Carrollton, MS

VIEW PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE!

1 pkg yellow cake mix
2 small boxes Instant Lemon Pudding ~ I used sugar-free
3/4 cup oil
1 cup orange juice
4 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients. Beat for one minute on low and then 3 minutes on high.

Fill paper lined muffin tins about 1/2 full.

Bake at 350º for 25 minutes or until golden.

While cupcakes are still warm, pierce with a fork.

Spoon glaze evenly over the top of all the cupcakes, using up all the glaze. It’s easier if you put wax paper under the cooking rack to catch all the drips.

Glaze:
1/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and boil and stir for 2 minutes. Use immediately.

Makes 2 dozen.

FOR THE GIVEAWAY ~ all you have to do is just reply on this post telling me you want to be entered.  Very easy!  The giveaway will run  until April 3.  I will pick a winner using random.org.  If you have any questions, just email me at a_recipe_a_day at yahoo dot com.

Happy Cooking!

Roast Potatoes with Lemon and Horseradish

A recipe that combines my two favorite things ~ potatoes and horseradish!  This is a very simple recipe that goes well with just about any main dish.  I served them with grilled strip steaks and sauteed onions and mushrooms.

The recipe comes from the Land O’Lakes website ~ if you haven’t visited, please do since there are loads of delicious recipes!

Roast Potatoes with Lemon and Horseradish

1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp prepared horseradish (I used more)
2 tsps fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
12 small new red potatoes, peel a small strip around center of potato
1 small lemon, cut into 6 slices (I didn’t do this)
2 tbsps chopped fresh parsley (I used dried as my store had none)

Heat oven to 350º.

Melt butter in 2 quart casserole. Stir in the horseradish, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir in the potatoes until well coated. I melted the butter in the microwave, added the ingredients and mixed, then added the potatoes and poured all into the baking dish.

Cover and bake for 55-65 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

Garnish with lemon slices and sprinkle with the parsley.

Makes 6 servings

Happy Cooking!

 

Blueberry Lemon Tart

This is such a delicious dessert and I made it as low sugar as I possibly could so I could have a piece.  I don’t think I would use the full sugar next time ~ it’s perfect without.

Instead of the vanilla cookie crust, I made a graham cracker crust using the box directions and I did use the amount of sugar called for on the box ~ but I used 3 very scant tablespoons.  It was probably more like 1 1/2 to 2 tbsps.  The rest of my changes you’ll see on the ingredient list.

The recipe came from Food.com and was posted by TasteTaster.  I seem to be cooking from Food.com alot lately.

Blueberry Lemon Tart

Crust:
35 vanilla wafer cookies, crushed (1 1/2 cups)
1 egg white, beaten
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Filling:
1 1/4 cups low-fat milk
4 ounces instant lemon pudding mix ~ I used sugar-free
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel ~ I used grated peel from a whole lemon
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed ~ I used sugar-free

Topping:
2 tablespoons sugar ~ I used 1 tbsp of Splenda blend
1 teaspoon cornstarch ~ I used a heaping tsp
3 tablespoons water
1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen ~ I used frozen wild blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Crust:
Heat oven to 400º. Lightly spray tart pan with removable bottom, 9×1 inch, with cooking spray.

Mix crushed cookies, egg white and butter until crumbly. Press onto bottom and up the side of pan. Bake 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown; cool.

I made a graham cracker crust and followed the directions on the box for a pie crust.  To make a good crust, I take a measuring cup and press it against the corner of the pan like so:

Filling:
Beat milk, pudding mix and lemon peel in medium bowl with electric mixer on low speed about 2 minutes or until smooth.

Chill 5 minutes.

Fold in the whipped topping and spread the filling over the crust.

Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours until chilled.

Topping:
Mix sugar, cornstarch and water in 1-quart saucepan the stir in 1/2 cup of the blueberries.

Heat to boiling then reduce heat to medium-low and cook about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Stir in lemon juice and remove from heat. Cool 10 minutes.

Stir in remaining 1 cup blueberries and cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour until chilled.

Spread over prepared tart.

Keep tart in the refrigerator.

Makes 8 servings

Happy Cooking!

Lemon Muffins

I baked these delicious lemon-y gems quite some time ago and forgot all about them.  They are easy to make and nice and lemony.  I’ve seen this recipe all over the internet and decided it was time to make them and I’m glad I did ~ there is also a recipe floating around out there that uses the same basic recipe (a few differences) and makes a loaf of quick bread.

Lemon Muffins

Muffins

1 3/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest, grated
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces lemon yogurt
2 tbsps sour cream
1 eggs
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Glaze
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon zest

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease or spray muffin pan with pam.  Don’t use paper liners as the muffins soak up for glaze if not in liners.

Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl and make a well in the center. In a separate bowl mix together wet ingredients.
Pour wet ingredients in to the well of the dry and stir together gently until there are no flour streaks, it’s ok if there are some lumps.

Bake 20 minutes, edges should get just a little brown, test as usual.

While muffins are baking, prepare glaze.

Glaze ~ mix glaze ingredients together in a small saucepan over medium heat, stir until sugar dissolves and mixture simmers slightly. Keep warm low heat.

As soon as muffins are removed from the oven poke each one several times with a skewer, then spoon glaze over the muffins, using up all of it.

Makes 12 muffins

Happy Cooking!

Lemonade Chicken

In my July/August issue of the Food Network magazine, I found this recipe in the “A Picnic for Six” article.  It’s an easy recipe but I would have liked more lemony flavor so next time I make it, I’ll add more lemon.  Other than that, we really enjoyed this chicken.

I do have to apologize for the picture but I was late with dinner and the hoardes were starving and refused to wait while I took a picture, LOL!

Lemonade Chicken

2 tbsps grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup water
3 tbsps packed brown sugar
1/3 cup buttermilk
12 chicken drumsticks
2 cups panko
1 tbsp fresh thyme (don’t leave this out as it adds really good flavor)
pinch of cayenne
1/4 cup mayonnaise
olive oil cooking spray

Mix 1 tbsp. zest and lemon juice in a bowl. Add the water and sugar and stir to dissolve the sugar. Whisk in the buttermilk. Place mixture in a large ziplock bag. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to the ziplock bag and marinate in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400º.

Mix the panko, thyme, 1 tbsp zest, cayenne, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Put mayonnaise in a shallow bowl.

Place a rack on a baking sheet with sides (like a jellyroll pan) so the juice won’t go all over your oven and cause a fire and spray the rack with the olive oil cooking spray. Use two sheets if you don’t have enough room on one.

Drain the chicken and get rid of the marinade. Dip each drumstick in the mayo and then in the panko mixture and place on the rack. Spray the tops of the chicken with the spray.

Bake for 35 minutes, turn, and continue to bake for another 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 6 servings.

Happy Cooking!

Fresh Lemonade

Lemonade is so good on a hot summer day and we love this version.   It takes quite a few lemons (don’t sub the stuff in a bottle ~ use fresh lemons) but it’s well worth it!

Fresh Lemonade

1 3/4 cups sugar
8 cups water
1 1/2 cups fresh lemon juice

In a saucepan, mix 1 cup water and sugar together. Bring to a boil and boil until the sugar is dissolved. Cool syrup to room temperature than refrigerate until it is chilled.

Remove seeds from lemon juice but keep the pulp.

In a pitcher, stir together the chilled syrup, lemon juice and the 7 cups of water. Mix well. Add lemon slices and ice if desired.

Makes 12 or so servings (or more if you are using small cups). This is really a guess, you’ll have to judge for yourself.

Happy Cooking!