lemon

• Zest the lemon. Cut lemon in half and squeeze out juice. Set aside zest and juice.
• Preheat oven at 300-degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Place butter, white sugar, lemon zest, salt, and vanilla in a bowl, stirring together until the butter starts to soften and the ingredients come together. Add flour, mixing until buttery crumbs form. Use hands to press dough together into a ball.
• Lightly flour a flat work surface. Set the dough there and press it into a 1/2-inch thick disk. Place a long stretch of plastic wrap on top and roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness. Cut dough with cookie cutter, placing rounds slightly spaced out on prepared sheet. Reroll dough scraps cut out more rounds until it’s all basically shaped.
• If desired, etch a lemon-like effect. Use a sharp knife to form decorative lines atop cookies, pressing in the blade to form 8 triangular wedges on each; make sure to only press into the top of the dough, not all the way through. Use a skewer or chopstick to add decorative holes near the tip of each wedge, creating an effect like a lemon seed.
• Bake cookies until they are light brown around the wedges, 22 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely, but reserve the parchment and pan for the glazing.
• Return cookies to cooled pan. Mix together the confectioners’ sugar and 2 tablespoons lemon juice, adding more if needed to form a thick but spreadable glaze. Use a pastry brush to apply a layer of glaze to each cookie, adding an extra layer, if desired, with any leftover glaze after the initial coat. Let cookies stand for 30 minutes to an hour, until glaze is set. Pack cookies into a sealed container. Store at room temperature.

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• In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until they are light and fluffy. Mix in the eggs one at a time followed by the milk and both extracts. Scrape the bottom of the bowl.
• In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Gradually add to the wet mix to create a cohesive dough (and it makes a LOT of dough!).
• At this point, the dough can be divided to rest in the fridge or placed in the freezer for weeks. If the cookies will be made today, chill the dough, covered, for about 30 minutes. (Note that if the dough is chilled for a longer time, it will need to sit at room temperature for a bit to become soft enough to roll out.)
• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Lightly flour a clean, flat surface. Roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Parcel out using a 2-inch inch cookie cutter. Place spaced out a bit on cookie sheet. If using colored sugar, sprinkle atop each cookie to coat. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, until set. Let the cookies idle on the sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Repeat process to make more cookies. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.
• The full batch of cookies will make 100-120, dependent on the thickness.

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• If baking right away, preheat oven at 350-degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix together the butter and brown sugar until they gain a fluffy texture. Beat in the egg, sour cream or yogurt, and extracts.
• In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, ginger, and salt; make sure to press any lumps out of the cream of tartar and ginger. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the other bowl. At this point, the dough can be wrapped and chilled for a few hours or days; this will also reduce the dough's stickiness somewhat.
• When it is baking time, be sure to preheat the oven. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto a baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the cookies are lightly browned and no longer jiggly. Watch out–they can overbake quickly. Let them rest on the cookie sheet for just a few minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool.

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• Place the flour and salt in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse to combine. Cut the butter into cubes and add, pulsing until the pieces are pea-sized.
• In a liquid measured cup, combine the ice water and vinegar. With the processor running, pour in the liquid until the dough comes together. It will look crumbly but should come together if squeezed between fingers.
• Turn out the dough and divide it in half. Wrap tightly in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours. Store in fridge for a few days or freeze for later.

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the prepared pie dough to be about 1/8-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch cutter, cut dough, reforming scraps to roll out again.
• Dollop about a teaspoon of lemon curd into the center of half of the dough rounds.
• In a small bowl, beat together the egg and water. Brush the egg mix around the edges that surround the curd; do not discard egg wash. Top each with a remaining dough circle, stretching them slightly to cover. Press edges firmly to seal, then apply the tines of a fork to bind the halves. Chill hand pies in fridge for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven at 425-degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place hand pies on parchment. Brush tops with remaining egg wash, then use the tip of a knife to cut a small x in each to vent steam during baking. If desired, sprinkle coarse sugar over the tops.
• Bake for 13 to 16 minutes, until pies are golden. Move to a rack or different sheet to completely cool. Store in a covered container. Best eaten within a day or two.

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• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line 9-inch pan with foil extended up all four sides. Apply nonstick spray.
• Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar, and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs and almond extract.
• To the mixing bowl, alternatively add the flour mixture and the ricotta. Batter will be thick.
• Pour it into the prepared pan. Level off with an uneven spatula. Sprinkle sliced almonds to cover the top.
• Bake for 33 to 38 minutes, until the middle passes the toothpick test.
• Cool in pan for at least 45 minutes, then use foil to lift it onto a rack to completely cool at room temperature.
• Make glaze and drizzle across the top. Let set for 30 minutes before cutting. Cake will keep at least two days at room temperature, or pieces can be individually wrapped and frozen for later.

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• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Cut parchment to fit the bottom of the springform pan. Grease the pan, then place in parchment round, then spray that as well.
• Peel and thinly slice the apples. In a big bowl, coat the apples with 1 Tablespoon white sugar, the citrus zest, and 2 teaspoons of fresh juice. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat eggs, vanilla, salt, and remaining 1 cup of sugar at medium high speed for about 7 minutes. It should turn thick and pale, the batter forming ribbons when the whisk is lifted up. Remove bowl from mixer.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and cardamom. Use a fine-mesh sieve to sift the dry ingredients into the egg mix. Gently fold the flour in until it’s just combined and there are no white streaks.
• Place half the apples in the prepared pan. Pour half the batter over them. Use an offset spatula to work the batter into nooks and crannies. Scatter the rest of the apples on top, followed by the rest of the batter. Again, use the spatula to spread the small amount of batter. For a couple minutes, thump the pan on the counter and tap the sides every now and then to cause bubbles to rise, smoothing batter again after.
• Bake cake. Check it at 30 minutes to see if it is getting too brown; if so, cover it with foil. Continue baking 10 more minutes (40 total) then test the middle with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. Let it cool on a rack for 15 minutes before carefully releasing the sides of the pan.
• Serve the cake warm, at room temperature, or cold from the fridge. Add a dusting of confectioners’ sugar on top for serving; if keeping cake for later, add fresh sugar each time, as it will gradually be absorbed. Store covered in the fridge or at room temperature.

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