Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

This recipe brings back many sweet memories of my Mom. My Mom loved muffins of every kind. When she was undergoing treatment for her cancer, she had a very hard time swallowing. She could however, still eat and swallow muffins. I would make different flavors a couple of times of week. Lemon Poppy Seed muffins were her favorite. In your memory Mom with love. 

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 stick butter, room temperature 

2 eggs, room temperature 

1 teaspoon vanilla

Zest of  2 large lemons

Juice of two large lemons*

3/4 cup of sour cream

1 1/2 Tablespoons of poppy seeds  

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk flour, salt and soda and set aside. Blend sugar and butter together in a separate bowl. Add eggs, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice. Blend in sour cream. Blend or stir in poppy seeds. 

Line with baking cups or spray your muffin with nonstick cooking spray. I bake muffins either way, so it’s your choice. Fill each muffin cavity about 2/3 full. Bake for 13 minutes or until a cake tester is inserted and comes out clean. Yields a bakers dozen, lucky 13! Enjoy!
*Using fresh lemon juice produces a subtle taste of lemon. If you prefer a stronger taste, omit the juice and use lemon extract. I actually prefer real lemon juice and lemon zest. Also, make sure you microwave your lemon(s) for 15 seconds on high and you will easily get twice the juice. This tip works on all citrus.

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Mile High Lemon Meringue Pie

  I love lemon meringue pie but I never made one. I understand that meringues do not like humidity. I really don’t care for it either. 😉  So I decided to try it but it had to a mile high meringue. 

  
Pie Crust:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

1 stick of butter melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup of crushed macadamia nuts*

1/2 cup granulated sugar

in a bowl, mix together butter, graham cracker crumbs, nuts and sugar. Press into a 9 1/2 inch deep dish pie plate. Bake at 375 degrees for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely before making the pie. 

*If you are allergic to nuts, use 2 cups of graham cracker crumbs and omit the nuts.   
Pie Filling:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk 

8 egg yolks

3/4 cups fresh lemon juice (I used 5 lemons)

2 teaspoons of lemon zest

In a large bowl whisk sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks. Whisk in lemon juice. Add in zest and whisk until it all blended. Pour into pie crust and bake for 14 – 17 minutes until custard is set. Mine was done in 14 minutes. Remove from oven and make meringue.  You want to cover your pie while it’s still hot. Do not turn your oven off. 

  
Meringue:

8 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Use a metal or glass bowl only. Wipe the inside  of the bowl and and attachments with with white vinegar. This will remove any oil from the bowl and whipping attachments. Beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks are formed. Add cream of tartar and continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks are formed. Add sugar and mix to combine. Finally add vanilla. Top your pie with meringue and seal the edges. I tried to make spikey tips on my meringue but it was too stiff. Live and learn! It still tasted great, spikes or no spikes! Bake in oven at 325 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes until golden brown.  Cool completely before slicing.  (I cut mine too soon.)  Store at room temperature covered an inverted bowl as a dome or with a cake cover on top.  

  

  

Please stop by and check out the other spring desserts from my blogger friends.

  
http://crumbsinmymustachio.wordpress.com/2016/03/14/chocolate-strawberry-tart/

Chocolate Strawberry Tart

  
🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

http://www.therowdybaker.com/?p=4395/

Irish Coffee Macaroons 

  
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http://cookingfromasahm.blogspot.com/2016/03/easy-reeses-peanut-butter-cup-pie.html

Easy Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Pie

  

Luscious Lemon Pound Cake

I love lemon desserts. So light and refreshing. I love pound cakes. Moist and yet not too sweet with layers of frosting. 

Ingredients:

2 sticks of butter, room temperature 

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon extract*

2 3/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

3 cups sugar

6 eggs, I used extra large, room temperature

1 cup of sour cream

*for a bold zesty taste of lemon, add the zest and juice of one lemon, in addition to the lemon extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray a bundt pan with nonstick and flour combination.  In a bowl whisk together flour, flour and baking powder.

In a mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar, and extracts till creamy. If you are adding zest and lemon juice, do so now. Add eggs one at a time. Add half of the flour. Add the sour cream, finish with the remaining flour mixture.  Pour into bundt pan and bake for 65  – 75 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for 25 minutes and place on cooling rack until cake is completely cool before adding the glaze. My cake was baked in a Pampered Chef Bundt pan. 

  
  Beautiful Classic evenly browned bundt cake.  
A perfectly glazed Luscious Lemon Pound Cake. 

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

2 – 3 Tablespoons of milk or half and half*

Mix well and pour over cooled cake. Enjoy!

   
 

Dig in!

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes

I love lemon. I love blueberries. This recipe is a match made in heaven. The key is using real lemons and blueberries in season. 

 Cupcake ingredients: 

3/4 cup cake flour 

3/4 cup all purpose flour, plus an additional 2 Tablespoons for blueberries 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 

1 stick of butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar 

2 eggs, room temperature 

 Zest of one large lemon
Juice of 1 lemon, about 2 Tablespoons, strained 

 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature

 1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 container of blueberries, reserve about 16 for garnish, if desired 

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a cookie sheet, place blueberries in the freezer and partially freeze. This will help all of the blueberries from sinking to the bottom. Line cupcake pans with liners. In a bowl, combine and whisk flours, salt and baking powder. In a mixer, combine butter and sugar. Add one egg at a time and combine. Add lemon zest and juice. Add 1/2 of flour mixture and then pour in the buttermilk and add the vanilla. Add the rest of the flour and combine. By hand, stir in blueberries. Fill cupcake liners up 2/3 full and bake for 20-24 minutes. This recipe yields 14-16 cupcakes. Cool completely before frosting. 
 Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting: 

1 stick of butter, room temperature

 1 8 ounces block of cream cheese, softened

 Zest of one large lemon
Juice of 1 lemon, about 2 Tablespoons, strained 

 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

4 cups of powdered sugar 

 Combine butter and cream cheese. Add lemon zest and beat till combined. Add lemon juice and mix well, once combined, add vanilla. Slowly add in powdered sugar, scrapping down the sides after each addition. Frost or pipe on cooled cupcakes. Garnish with reserved blueberries. Store in refrigerator if not serving immediately.

Cupcake recipe adapted from Vanilla Bakery.