Gluten-Free Lemon Pie

As I mentioned in my last post, we recently bought a bunch of bags of gluten-free pie crust. My gluten-free mom was ecstatic when they arrived in the mail, and I have been working on gluten-free pies, quiche etc. for the past few weeks.

Also….. SUMMER!! I had my last day of Junior year last week, and I’m so excited for the best summer yet. I have a bunch of classes scheduled, volleyball camps, and I’m working with an organization called DOROT (check out their adult, child, and teen volunteering programs dorotusa.org. Their work is incredible). Nevertheless, I’ll have 100% more time to cook, bake, and work on my blog.

In the spirit of summer, I decided to make a gluten-free lemon (non-meringue [ew]) pie. I really enjoy preparing recipes in the summer when I can use the freshest in-season fruit. I knew that the best way to celebrate the beginning of the season was cook a citrus focused pie. I wanted to give the recipe a bit more of a punch, so I added a layer of lemon curd on the top of the pie.

This pie is basically a giant lemon bar that tastes even more delicious with the lemon curd on top. The smooth texture of the pie goes perfectly with the very sweet, tangy taste of lemon; you need to have a strong sweet tooth to enjoy this dessert.

ENJOY!!

 

Ingredients

Gluten-Free Pie Crust
1 1/4 cups Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour 

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons cold butter

1 large egg

2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar

Lemon Base

3 egg yolks 

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 1/2 cups water 

3 tablespoons butter or margarine 

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 drops yellow food color, if desired

Lemon Curd Topping

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons of lemon zest

1/2 cup sugar

3 eggs

6 tablespoons of butter cut into very small squares

Directions

1. Whisk together the flour or flour blend, sugar, xanthan gum, and salt.
2. Cut the cold butter into pats, then work the pats into the flour mixture until it’s crumbly, with some larger, pea-sized chunks of butter remaining.
3. Whisk the egg and vinegar or lemon juice together until very foamy. Mix into the dry ingredients. Stir until the mixture holds together, adding 1 to 3 additional tablespoons cold water if necessary.
4. Shape into a ball and chill for an hour (up to overnight). Allow the dough to rest at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling.
5. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 475 and lightly grease a 9″ pie pan
6. Roll out on a piece of plastic wrap, on a silicone rolling mat, or in a pie bag that’s been heavily sprinkled with gluten-free flour or flour blend. Invert the crust into the prepared pie pan.
7. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until the crust is light brown color.
8. When the crust is done remove from over and lower oven heat to 400 .
9. While the crust is cooking beat egg yolks together with a fork.
10. In 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar and cornstarch; gradually stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute.
11. Immediately stir at least half of hot mixture into egg yolks; stir back into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 2 minutes; remove from heat.
12. Stir in butter, lemon peel, lemon juice and food color.
13. Pour into pie crust. Bake 8 to 12 minutes or until the surface of the pie is not longer wet.
14. Cool away from draft for around 30 minutes.
15. While the pie is cooling make the lemon curd. 
    1. Whisk the juice, eggs, and sugar together in a saucepan. Mix in the butter over low heat. CONTINUE TO WHISK, if the eggs become overheated they will cook on their own. 
    2. Whisk for around six minutes or until the curd is thick and the lines of the whisk hold. It will be done when the first bubbles appear.
    3. Remove from heat and pour into a bowl. Immediately cover and cool for 15 minutes
16. After 15 minutes, spread the still-warm curd over the top of the lemon pie.
17. Let sit for another hour and then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Love,

Ally

 

 

 

Lemon Bars with Smooth Lemon Glaze

The moment I LOVE the summer most seems to always be in the middle of the winter. Although drinking hot drinks, wearing cute boots and cozying up to watch a movie may sound fun from afar, by the time February rolls around, all I want to do is lay on a beach somewhere sipping iced tea. As this winter has progressed, my desire to cook and bake winter dishes has slowly decreased, and I’ve evidently begun to make fruity and sweet dishes once again.

On that note, I wanted to make something summery and lemony. I decided to bake lemon bars with a twist. I made a tart lemon glaze and spread it over the top of the lemon bars, adding a unique, zesty kick. Since lemon bars are already so sweet, adding the sour glaze didn’t change the level of tartness, but perfectly complimented the flavor of the actual lemon bars making everything more smooth, balanced, and flavorful.

 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 lemons, juiced

Glaze

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 tablespoons lemon zest

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden.
4. While the crust is baking, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. When the crust is done, pour evenly over the top.
5. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will continue to firm as they cool. Let cook in the pan and then cup into squares.
6. To make the glaze, whisk the confectioners sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice together until smooth.
7. Pour the glaze over the top of each lemon bar square. Cover the bars fully with the glaze as a top layer.
8. Enjoy!!!

Love,

Ally

White Cake with Strawberry and Lemon Frostings

Birthdays can often be difficult for me, as I am sure they are for many others. I never seem to know what someone truly wants to do and how to ensure that they feel important on their special day. Are they the type who want a long and thoughtful card or do they just want a really good gift? Do they want to just spend the day chilling or do they want a crazy, spontaneous day filled with surprises?

When trying to figure out what to do for birthdays, I seem to always find myself going back to the cake. If I know someone well enough, I can make a flavor and ‘genre’ of cake that will help them appreciate that I took the time to think of them and worked to make their birthday special. The other day was our family friend Laura’s birthday, and I ultimately decided to spend the day making her a cake.

After speaking with her husband, I decided that Laura was more of a fruity, sweet person rather than a warm, chocolatey, savory person, and that I would make a simple white cake with fruit frosting. Laura loves the summer (who doesn’t), so I decided to make a summer cake, filled with a lemon filling and topped with a fresh strawberry frosting. The middle layer of the cake was a tie-dye purple and pink pattern and the cake was topped with bright sprinkles. Laura, and the rest of the guests who came to our apartment to celebrate, raved about the cake.

 

 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup white sugar

3/4 cup butter

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup milk

FRESH STRAWBERRY FROSTING

4 cups of Powdered Sugar

1 cup Butter (We use Salted Sweet Cream Butter)

1/2 cup Pureed Fresh Strawberries

1/2 tsp vanilla

LEMON ICING

1/2 cup Butter

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 cups of confectioners sugar

 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter for 7-9 minutes (the timing is very important!). Beat in the eggs one at a time for 3 minutes each, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, sift and add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.
4. Meanwhile, make the strawberry frosting and lemon icing.
   1.  For the strawberry frosting blend the butter and sugar for around 5 minutes and then add the vanilla and strawberry puree.
   2. For the lemon icing, Combine all ingredients and beet until fluffy (3 minutes). Add more confectioner’s sugar, or lemon juice to adjust the consistency as needed. For stronger lemon flavor, add a little lemon test.
5. Frost the white cake with both frostings and enjoy!!

Love,

Ally

** I tripled the recipe to make a three-layer cake.

Lemon Cupcakes with Blackberry Frosting

Taking a small step away from Fall-themed baking, I decided to try making this cupcake recipe that I have seen on AllRecipes.com for sooooo long. It was on my ‘To-Bake’ list all Summer, but I just never got around to trying it out. Last week, we had a ton of extra lemons laying around, and I was in the mood to make something unique. These lemon and blackberry cupcakes seemed to fit my mood perfectly.

I was planning on selling the cupcakes at a bake sale that my volleyball team was holding on Thursday, but unfortunately Wednesday was Yom Kippur. The only thing harder than fasting, is fasting while baking. I decided to see if I could push through it, and bake anyway. Although it was really difficult, I finished baking the cupcakes without having taken a single bite!  After I broke the fast, and tried a cupcake, I decided that it was definitely worth the wait.

In this recipe, the subtle sweetness of the blackberry blends perfectly with the fruity lemon cupcake interior. I packaged them up the next morning, took the cupcakes to the bake sale, and they were sold in minutes. I would 1000% recommend this recipe for anyone who wants a unique cupcake that everyone will love. Enjoy!

 

 

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1 lemon, juice and zest

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup seedless blackberry jam

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners.
3. Cream sugar and 1/2 cup butter in the bowl of a stand mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and mix 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract into mixture with the second egg.
4. Beat in flour and baking powder until thoroughly combined; beat in milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest to make a smooth batter.
5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.
6. Bake in the preheated oven until cupcake edges are slightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool cupcakes completely.
7. Beat 1 cup butter with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and salt until smooth and creamy. Beat in confectioners’ sugar, 1 cup at a time, to make a creamy frosting. Beat in blackberry jam. Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes.

Love,

Ally

 

(http://allrecipes.com/recipe/220884/lemon-cupcake-with-blackberry-buttercream/)

Lemon Cookies with Lemon Icing

There is not much to say about these tasty treats except that they are the best cookies that I have probably ever made. The smell alone is so satisfying, and I can’t begin to describe how great the flavor and texture is. I gave me brother a cookie, and he immediately started harassing me for a second and third. The lemon flavor is bright, tangy and sweet, and I would recommend making this recipe 100,000 times over. If you are tired of baking the typical chocolate chip, sugar or snickerdoodle cookies, this is the perfect new recipe for you. It’s also an amazing way to impress your family and friends with your baking skills over the summer. ENJOY!

 

 

 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter, softened

1½ cups sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 Tablespoon Lemon zest

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking powder

2¼ cups flour

Lemon Glaze

1½ cup powdered sugar

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 Tablespoon lemon zest

1 Tablespoon milk

¼ teaspoon vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together.
3. Add lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla and mix until well blended.
4. Add salt, baking powder and flour and mix until well incorporated.
5. Roll cookies into 1 inch balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Space cookie dough balls about 2 inches apart from each other.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges of cookies.
7. Combine glaze ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth glaze is formed. Drizzle as much as desired over slightly warmed cookies and let finish cooling completely before eating.

Lemon Blueberry Scones

If you didn’t know, I moved to New York City almost three years ago from the Bay Area. In Berkeley CA, there is an amazing cheese store called “The Cheese Board Collective” which sells hundreds of types of fresh and delicious cheese. My family, being the cheese addicts that we are, frequented the place. The Cheese Board also has a pizza shop next door, where they make one specialty pizza every day. If you’ve seen the animated film “Inside Out”, a pizza shop that only served Broccoli Pizza is mentioned. Pixar, which is based in Emeryville, CA, was referencing the many pizza joints in the Bay Area with this concept. Nevertheless, it is delicious. The Cheese Board is probably one of the restaurants that I miss the most in California.

Anyway, my brother has been absolutely obsessed with cheese since the day he was born. After reading about how much I liked The Cheese Board, you can imagine his love for it. He bought a recipe book from the store when he was 10 years old and found an amazing scone recipe that he absolutely LOVED (even though it doesn’t have cheese). While my brother rarely baked and cooked, he loved making these Lemon-Blueberry scones with his friends. But, since he is now a teenager, with tons of school work and would rather go out with friends than bake, he hasn’t made the scones since we’ve moved.

I had some extra buttermilk and heavy cream laying around from my last recipe. I didn’t know what to do with it and discovered that we had all of the ingredients for the scones. My brother immediately took me up on my offer to bake with him. The scones were so good and it felt like were back in our old (not tiny) kitchen in California for a few minutes. In case you didn’t know, scone batter is pretty much heaven in a mixing bowl, and I think my brother ate half of the bowl of dough before actually putting them on the cookie sheet in the oven. 

ENJOY (both the dough and the scones)!!!

 

 

INGREDIANTS:

31/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp table salt

1 cup sugar (3/4 cup used in scones, 1/2 cup for exterior)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter cut into small squares

the zest of 1 lemon (around 1bsp)

1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries (frozen will bleed less into scones)

1/2 cup heavycream

2/4 cup buttermilk
DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the over to 375F
2. Sift the baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour and 3/4 cup sugar together in a large bowl. Add the butter squares and beat or stir until the butter is the size of small peas and the dry ingredients are completely mixed in. This will take up to 5 minutes, so be patient.
3. Gently fold in the lemon zest and blueberries.
4. Make well in center and fill with the heavy cream and buttermilk. Stir until just combined. Over mixing will cause the scones to turn grey.
5. Shape dough into 2 inch balls with rough rocky exterior.
6. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar on top of scones.
7. Bake 25-30 minutes, until golden brown and the internal temperature in 165F. Remove the scones from the baking sheet and let sit on a cooling rack until cool.

 

Love,

Ally

Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Curd Filling and Frosting

I am the kind of person who gets really excited about changing seasons. In Summer, all I can do is think about how amazing Fall will be. When the Fall begins, all I do is imagine the upcoming snowball fights and movie watching I’ll do in Winter. While we human beings have ruined the changing seasons with global warming (especially this year), I still usually know and look forward to the exact date in which the seasons change. Since Winter was so late this year, when I heard that the first day of Spring was last week, I had a small internal freak out. I ran home and decided that as a celebration I had to make something fruity and Spring-ish. I asked my volleyball team, and they were in the mood for lemon flavors. So I decided to make VERY lemony vanilla cupcakes. I think we all went to lemon-heaven for a few minutes while eating them.

Every other time I’ve made cupcakes, I spend a long time searching for a recipe that consists of ingredients that I already have. I do this so I don’t have to do too much shopping. This time around, I decided that instead of finding a recipe that conforms to my needs, I would choose the most highly rated recipe and buy all of the ingredients. This was a COMPLETE success. The cupcake was so good that it didn’t need any frosting. It’s definitely worth taking the extra trip to the grocery store to buy the cake-flour and buttercream.

Enjoy your first taste of spring!!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1¼ cups cake flour  (If you don’t have cake flour and don’t wanna buy it, all-purpose flour works, it just won’t be AS delicious)

1¼ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 large eggs

¾ cup sugar

1½ tsp pure vanilla extract

½ cup canola oil

½ cup buttermilk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cake flour (or all purpose flour), baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set flour mixture aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat in the 2 eggs until combined (20ish seconds).
4. Add sugar and continue to beat on medium speed (30 seconds). Add vanilla and oil and beat on medium speed (1 minute)
5. Reduce mixer speed to medium/low and slowly add about half of the flour mixture. Add half of the buttermilk, then the rest of the flour mix and the rest of the milk. Beat until just combined and smooth, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl. The batter should be thin.
6. Pour batter into a lined muffin pan. Fill to about ½ full for flat topped cupcakes. For a rounder, muffin life top fill 3/4 full.
7. Bake for 12 -14 minutes at 350°F. Let them cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then remove and let sit until cooled.
8. Once the cupcakes are cooled to room temp, cut a hole in the middle of each cupcake or use corer. Fill with lemon curd. Then pipe on the lemon frosting.

 

Lemon Curd

1. In a medium saucepan, combine 3/4 fresh lemon juice, 1 tbsp lemon zest, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 eggs, and 1/2 cup (one stick) butter.
2. Cook over medium-low heat until thick enough to hold marks, and first bubble appears on surface, about 6 minutes. Don’t let boil.
3. Refrigerate until cool. It will continue to thicken as it cools.

 

Lemon Buttercream Frosting

1. Beat 1/2 cup butter or margarine until soft in a medium sized bowl.
2. Beat in 1 package of confectioners’ sugar (1lb) with 1/2 tsp lemon rind, dash of salt, 3 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp milk and drop of yellow food coloring.
3. Continue beating until smooth and spreadable. For thicken frosting add less milk or more sugar. For thinner, add more milk or less sugar.