I needed to bring cupcakes to work recently for a co-worker who was transferring to another location. He had mentioned that he loves anything lemony, so I decided to make these lemon cupcakes for his last day of work. I thought, what a perfect season to use the abundance of citrus fruits this winter. I really love the basic white cake that I use from Dorie, and decided to use that recipe for the base of this lemon cupcakes. I basically added tons of lemon zest to boost up the lemon flavor for the cupcakes, and I love that I can see the flecks of lemon zest in the finished products. Another co-worker suggested that I top them with vanilla frosting, so that’s what I did. But if you want extra lemon, you can definitely make lemon or cream cheese frosting as a variation. My co-workers told me that by far, this was their fave cupcake! Mine too! 
Ingredients
For the cake:
2 ¼ cups cake flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
3 tbsp. grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ tsp. lemon extract
For finishing:
1 recipe of fluffy vanilla frosting
Directions
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350°. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment paper. Dust both pans with flour, shaking out the excess. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk and egg whites. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Mix them with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant. Add the butter to the sugar mixture and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Beat in the lemon extract.
Add one third of the flour mixture, continuing to beat on medium speed. Beat in half of the egg mixture, then half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated. Add the rest of the milk and eggs, beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients. Finally give the batter a good 2-minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated. Divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans and smooth tops with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well-risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted in the centers should come out clean.
Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes. Run a knife around the sides of the cakes, invert the cake pans to remove the cake, peel off the parchment paper, and invert once more so cakes are right side up on the cooling rack. Cool to room temperature.
Using a sharp, serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half. Place one layer on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate, cut side up. Spread one third of the preserves on top. Cover the jam evenly with about 1/3 of the white chocolate whipped cream. Top evenly with fresh berries. Top with another cake layer, and again layer with jam, whipped cream and berries. Repeat once more with a third cake layer. Place the last layer of the cake cut side down on top of the cake. Use the whipped cream frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake. Top with fresh berries.
Because of the whipped cream, this cake should be stored in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes before serving.
Yield: 18
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
I think everyone needs a recipe like this in their repertoire: a delicious dish that can be prepared in less than 15 minutes. And when I mean, 15 minutes, I seriously mean one person can get it done in 15 minutes. But don’t let the fancy title fool you to think that it’s a fancy dish, because it’s literally translated to “Lemon Pasta”, spaghetti cooked with lemon paste. Most of the ingredients can be found in any well-stocked pantry, all you need to remember to have lemons and fresh basil. As you can see in my picture above, I forgot to grab some fresh basil this time, and it turned out delicious without them. There are so many variation of this recipe, but I really appreciate the simpleness of this dish, it is light and refreshing from the lemon flavoring, but still hearty… because it is still a pasta dish after all. When I use whole wheat spaghetti, I usually double the amount of lemon paste to make sure that the light lemon flavor can stand up to the whole wheat flavor in the pasta.
Ingredients
3/4 pound (3/4 box) spaghetti
Coarse salt
1 lemon
1 1/2 cups finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3–5 tablespoons of pasta water, to thin
Handful fresh basil leaves (from 4 leafy stems)
Directions
Boil the spaghetti in salted boiling water, according to the package directions.
Meanwhile, using a Microplane, grate the zest from the lemon into a large mixing bowl. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice into the bowl (I like to use the grater as a strainer—one less thing to clean). Add the 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, pepper, and a pinch of salt, and mix in the olive oil to form a wet paste.
When the spaghetti is perfectly cooked, add 2 or 3 tablespoons of the cooking water to the lemon and cheese mixture. Add the spaghetti to the bowl and toss thoroughly, adding another tablespoon or 2 of pasta water if necessary so that the sauce coats each strand. Roughly tear in the basil leaves.
Serve each portion with a sprinkle of coarse salt, a fresh grind of black pepper, and a few gratings of extra Parmesan.
Yield: 2-3 servings
Adapted from My Father’s Daughter
Recently, I hosted a dessert theme baby shower for a friend and co-worker. After a lot of discussions on theme and menu, we agreed on having a dessert and drink shower for a small group of her co-workers. There were only two desserts that she requested: carrot cake or cupcakes and lemon bars; and I was basically left to go with the rest of the menu. I wanted to take more pictures of the party; but really ran out of time but here are a few pictures of the desserts I made. I thought that this was really a fun idea for a baby shower.
In addition to the desserts I listed below, her family made dessert crostini with ricotta spread, sliced strawberries and balsamic vinegar glaze and baked brie with apricot jelly, sugar cookies and Italian fried cookies (I have no recipes for those). For drinks, we had coffee, iced tea, cold soft drinks, and bottled water.
Here are the desserts I made:
Carrot Cupcakes and Cream Cheese Frosting with Royal Icing Yellow and Purple Pansies
S’mores Pops (recipe coming up soon, I promise–these were divine!)
Lemon Bars (No pictures)
Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipster (No pictures)
Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies (No pictures)
After all of the cookies with chocolate, butterscotch, toffee, and caramel goodness that I enjoyed during the holiday, I thought I would give my palette something bright and even spring-like… like these lemon bars. Yes, it is still freezing outside; but trust me… a bite of this lemony bar with smooth and delicate curd with buttery shortbread crust will transport you into spring. I followed the recipe exactly and made no substitutions; and they were perfect. I baked the crust for 19 minutes total, just until the edges were lightly browned. As far as the custard, I did a gentle shake test to ensure that it was set, and it looked done at 30 minutes.
The only issue that I had was that when I cut them into squares, the skin that formed on top of the custard broke and made a rather messy cut. I decided to refrigerate the entire pan for a few hours and went back to cut them into triangles, and they cut a lot better. Next time, I’d have to remember to do this. But there was nothing else that I would have done differently. They were lemony; with a little bit of tartness, and just enough sweetness.
UPDATE: I have made this several other times since then, and I always let them sit in the refrigerator overnight to make sure that the crust doesn’t crack when it is cut!
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties
Ingredients
Crust
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Filling
6 extra large eggs, at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixeron low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners’ sugar
Yield: 40 triangles, or 20 squares
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home
I have been wanting to make this cake when I first saw it Barefoot Contessa at Home. It uses yogurt instead of butter, which was intended to have lower calories. I was surprised at how moist and fluffy this cake considering the omission of butter. The lemon zest added another depth of flavor and the glaze was a must as well! We absolutely enjoyed it!
For the cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Glaze
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.
