Posts by Beth

• Preheat oven at 300-degrees. Line a 13x9 pan with foil and apply nonstick spray or butter.
• In a bowl, sift together flour and cornstarch; set aside.
• In another bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon zest. Using fingers, break apart the zest within the sugar to distribute the threads and release the oils. The result should be more yellow in coloration and quite fragrant.
• In a big bowl, beat together the butter, lemon juice, salt, and vanilla extract until it becomes creamy, scraping bowl as needed. Gradually mix in the sugar and zest. Slowly work the flour/cornstarch mix into the big bowl. The dough should become pliable and cling together, until it can be formed into a ball.
• Press dough evenly into the pan. Bake for 40 minutes.
• Immediately make glaze. Stir together everything to form a thick, spreadable glaze; thicken with more sugar, if necessary, or add extra lemon juice or water to loosen it. Spread glaze over bars.
• Cool completely, stashing dish in fridge to speed process if desired.
• Use foil to lift contents onto a cutting board. Slice into bars. Store in a sealed container, with waxed paper between stacked layers, either at room temperature or in the fridge. Keeps for at least 2 days.

OM NOM NOM!

• Mix flour and confectioners' sugar in a large bowl. Add pieces of butter and rub in with fingertips to break into smaller, flatter morsels. Make a well in the middle and add the beaten egg and one tablespoon of water. Use fingers to work in a bit before adding the second tablespoon.
• Work dough until it begins to lump together! Drizzle in tiny increments of additional water, if needed, to make it cohesive. The dough should be able to come together in a ball, not gluey.
• Wrap dough in plastic wrap and stash in fridge for at least 20 minutes--or for a few days, or freeze until ready to use.
• When ready to blind-bake crust, preheat oven at 375-degrees (180 C, Gas 5). Lightly grease pie plate.
• Lightly flour work surface. Use rolling pin to roll dough into proper size for your pan, at about 1/2 cm thickness. Gently set dough into dish and press into place. Make sure excessive amounts of dough don't stick out over the edge but do NOT trim exactly to edge yet.
• Cover the pastry surface with parchment paper. Use dried beans or other pie weights to completely fill plate. If using a 9-inch pie plate, bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until crust takes on a light golden color; for a smaller plate, reduce time and monitor color.
• Use parchment to lift out pie weights. Use a knife to trim excess dough from edge to form a nice, neat line. Follow filling recipe from here on and bake again as necessary.

OM NOM NOM!

• Preheat oven at 375-degrees (190C, Gas 5).
• Warm the lemon curd in the microwave for only 5-10 seconds, long enough to make it looser and more spreadable. Brush all over the bottom of the crust.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add almond flour, flour, and lemon zest. Follow up with a tablespoon of lemon juice and the milk. Mix until just cohesive.
• Pour filling into crust. Bake for 25 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test in center. If parts of the filling uplift in crazy ways, worry not--it should even out as it cools.
• Cool pan for an hour at room temperature for an hour to set. Cut into it then, or chill in fridge to enjoy later. Keep stored in fridge with foil covering.

OM NOM NOM!

• In a large bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, and cinnamon. Melt the 3 tablespoons of butter so they can cool a few minutes. Preheat waffle iron.
• In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the milk, melted butter and vanilla extract. Pour the milk mix into the dry ingredients until just combined.
• Apply non-stick spray to the waffle maker. Use a 1/2 cup to add batter to the iron and close the lid. While the waffle cooks, melt the butter for the topping and in a separate bowl combine the cinnamon and sugar.
• Remove the waffle from the iron. Brush butter all over a side, then sift or spoon the cinnamon and sugar over it. Flip over waffle and repeat. Add more batter to the waffle iron and repeat the process.
• OM NOM NOM!

Make the filling

• In a small bowl, mash together the cream cheese, white sugar, lemon zest and 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice; reserve the remaining juice for the glaze. Once the filling is combined, spoon it into a piping bag with large tip or a gallon Ziploc bag with the corner cut off.

Make the cake

• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Apply nonstick spray to a large bundt pan.
• In a big bowl, cream together the butter and eggs. Add the cake mix, scraping bottom of bowl as needed. Add the lemon curd, beating until mix turns fluffy.
• Spoon about half the cake mix into the prepared pan. Pipe the filling in a circle around the top of the batter. Try to keep the filling from touching the sides. Add the rest of the batter on top and smooth it out.
• Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the middle passes the toothpick test.
• Cool on a wire rack about 20 minutes, then invert the cake onto a wire rack to completely cool.

Make the glaze

• Whisk together the confectioners' sugar, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, and 1 Tablespoon lemon curd to form a thick yet oozy glaze. If necessary, add more juice or water to thin, or more confectioners' sugar to thicken. Drizzle atop cake.
• Store under a cake dome or plastic wrap in fridge.

OM NOM NOM!