Meyer Lemon Cake

Wow! This is one amazing lemon cake.  One bite and it instantly became a new favorite! It's tender, moist and butterlicious. The meyer lemons give the cake a wonderful, unique flavor.  Meyer lemons have a delicious taste combination of lemon and tangerine flavor.  The cake is crowned with a generous helping of yummy, lemony glaze. Seriously, you have to give this cake a try!

 Meyer Lemon Cake: From Britta Pulliman of Britta's Cafe in Irvine

• Butter and all-purpose flour for greasing and dusting pan(s)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, Meyer lemons preferred
• 3 tablespoons grated lemon zest, Meyer lemons preferred, colored portion of peel

For the glaze:

 

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, Meyer lemons preferred
• 1 pound box powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons grated lemon zest, Meyer lemons preferred
•  

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 miniature Bundt pans or one Kugelhopf or large Bundt pan with butter. Dust with flour and invert and tap out excess flour.

2. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

3. Cream together 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy in large bowl of electric mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, and blend well after each addition. With mixer on low, add dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk. Begin and end with the dry ingredients. Add juice and mix until blended. Fold in the lemon zest with spatula.

Spoon the batter into pan.

4. Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes for one large Bundt pan, or 33 to 37 minutes for small pans.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze. In large bowl of electric mixer, beat juice and sugar together. With machine running on medium-low speed, add butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Mix until well combined. Fold in zest with spatula.

6. Allow cake to rest on cooling rack for 10 minutes. Invert on cake plate and lift off pan. Allow to rest another 10 minutes. Spoon glaze on warm-but-not-hot cake.

Baked Ziti with Mini Meatballs

 Is there anything better in life than a hot, bubbly pan of baked ziti coming out of the oven for dinner?!!  Me thinks NOT!!

 Baked Ziti has to be one of the greatest pasta dishes of ALL time.  It's Italian family comfort food at it's best and a perennial favorite at our house.  I've tried many recipes over the years, some good and some just okay.  This recipe from Giada is the one that has become my absolute favorite!  She's added homemade mini meatballs and taken the dish to a whole new level.  These little babies really rock! Here is a link to here original recipe.  Her original calls for tomato sauce. I think she uses the term "tomato sauce" to mean "red sauce or marinara sauce" so that's what I use.  Plain canned tomato sauce wouldn't  be flavorful enough.  I use another recipe I adapted from Giada  that is a really good, quick red sauce.  I also add 1-1 1/2 cups of juilened basil to the dish for extra flavor. This is one Killa Baked Ziti!!!

Baked Ziti: slightly adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients:

    

     1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

     1/4 cup plain dried bread crumbs

     2 large eggs, slightly beaten

2 tablespoons milk

3/4 cup grated Romano

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

     Salt and freshly ground black pepper

           1 pound ground beef

     All-purpose flour, for dredging

     1 pound ziti

     1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

      1 cup fresh basil, chopped

      5 cups Marinara sauce- recipe follows

3 cups whole milk ricotta

2 cups shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

 Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs, eggs, milk, 1/2 cup of the Romano and the parsely, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Add beef and gently combine, being careful not to overwork the meat. Shape into bite-size meatballs. Roll each meatball in flour to coat, shaking off excess.
3. In a large pot, bring 6 quarts of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes. Drain pasta in a colander and set aside. If not using immediately, cover top with plastic wrap so that pasta does not dry out. Do not rinse pasta with water since you want to retain the pasta's natural starches so that the sauce will cling to the ziti.
4. In a large skillet heat the oil over medium-high heat. When almost smoking, add meatballs in batches and without moving or turning the meat, allow it to brown for about 3 minutes. Turn meatballs and brown other side. Continue to cook until all sides are golden brown. Remove meatballs to a plate.
5. In a large bowl, combine the tomato sauce and ricotta and mix well. Add the cooked ziti , fresh basil and meatballs and toss gently.
6. In a large greased baking dish, pour in pasta mixture. Sprinkle the mozzarella, Parmesan, and remaining Romano all over the top.  Place baking dish on top of baking sheet covered with aluminum foil to collect any drippings from the dish. Bake until top is golden brown and bubbly, about 30 to 40 minutes.

Marinara Sauce: adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 large onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped garlic cloves
1 carrots, shredded
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 -28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes


Sauce Directions:
1. In a large sauce pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the red peeper flakes and heat a few minutes to infuse oil with flavor.
2. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the carrots, and salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste.

Coconut Cookie Sandwiches

Here's a sweet little treat that is perfect any time of the year!  I found this recipe in good ol' Martha's holiday cookies magazine.  Yes, another cooking magazine I just couldn't say no to.  We've talked about that little problem of mine! Any who, these babies are flippin amazing.  If you like coconut, and let me tell you I do, you MUST whip up a batch of these.  I mean, two little coconut cookies sandwiching a delicious sugary, vanilla filling?   These really ROCK!  The recipe says to refrigerate the finished cookies before serving. I like them refrigerated overnight to be honest.  This gives the filling a chance to "set" a bit so it doesn't squish out when you eat the cookies.  More importantly, it makes the cookies nice and chewy. Super YUM!  I encourage you to make these as soon as possible.  I think you should just make a batch for yourself. You Sooo deserve it!  Happy early 

Ingredients:

Cookies:

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 package (7 ounces) sweetened shredded coconut-Divided

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

½ cup sugar

½ cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Filling:

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

½ teaspoon vanilla

Instructions:

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2.        In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.

3.       Reserve ½ cup coconut and set aside.  Place remaining coconut in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground.

4.       In a standing electric mixer, beat butter and both sugars on medium high speed until mixture is fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and ground coconut gradually, just until combined.  Do not over mix.

5.       Using a small cookie scoop (I use OXO), scoop a level scoop and place on a silpat or parchment lined cookie sheet 1-2 inches apart.  Bake until lightly golden around edges about 10-12 minutes.

6.       Meanwhile, make the filling.  In a standing electric mixer, beat butter on medium high speed until creamy, about 2 minutes.  Reduce speed to medium and gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar.  Beat mixture until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add vanilla and beat until well combined.

7.       Dividing evenly (eyeball it), spread filling on flat side of half the cookies.  Top with second half of cookies.  Roll edges in reserved coconut and chill until set or overnight for a softer cookie (Yay).  Store cookies in fridge.

I posted this over at Foodie Fridays!

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

 

Oh My!  Oh My!  Red Velvet Whoopie Pies!  Does it get any better than that?  Not for me baby.  This recipe is from Food Network and I really loved it.  The cookie part of the pie had a great texture and was more chocolaty than a lot of Red Velvet treats.  It has a little milk chocolate, semi sweet chocolate and cocoa.  The batter is very thick so I suggest you use a stand up mixer. The cream cheese filling was perfect.  I use one teaspoon of vanilla extract instead of the vanilla bean.  These where AMAZING!  Give them a try.  They're perfect to make for your special Valentine.

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies: from Food Network

Ingredients

For the Cookies:

• 1 ounce semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 ounce milk chocolate, chopped
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Filling:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise and seeds scraped

Directions

Make the cookies: 
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silpats.
2. Combine the semisweet and milk chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 50 percent power until melted, about 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth.
3. In the bowl of a stand up mixer mix the melted butter, sour cream, eggs, vinegar, vanilla and food coloring just until combined.
4. In another bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in four equal batches, mixing each batch completely before adding the next. Stir in the melted chocolate.
5. Scoop batter, using a medium cookie scoop (I leveled the scoop off),  onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the cookies spring back when lightly pressed, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Meanwhile, make the filling:
1. Beat the cream cheese and butter with a mixer until smooth. Beat in the confectioners' sugar and vanilla extract or vanilla seeds.
2. Sandwich a heaping tablespoonful of filling between 2 cookies; repeat with the remaining cookies and filling. Refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.

Note: These obviously need to be stored in the fridge because of the cream cheese.  I thought they tasted significantly better as they came to room temp.