I love trying out new recipes, sometimes they’re great and sometimes they’re not. At the baby shower I just threw I discovered a couple of new favorites. My new favorite lemon bar I discovered in Sunset Magazine, the Lemon-Almond Bar. I was a little wary of the crystallized ginger in the recipe, but I’m a convert now. Another new favorite, Louise Cake, comes from New Zealand by way of my Ladies, A Plate cookbook by Alexa Johnston. Louise Cake is actually more like a fancy bar cookie and the lemony base layer is to die for, jam filling and coconut meringue topping. Welsh cheesecake, which seems rather a misnomer as there is no cheese of any kind in them at all, is another sweet treat I tried out. They were good little tarts, great for a tea party, but didn’t rise up to the favorite level.
Lemon-Almond Bars
adapted from Sunset Magazine (February 2014)
Ingredients:
- 2 3/4 cups (divided) sugar
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 2 T. plus 1 t. (divided) lemon zest
- 3 1/4 cups (divided) flour
- 1/2 t. (divided) salt
- Pam
- 6 large eggs
- 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
- 1 t. baking powder
- 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- garnish: powdered sugar
Cooking Directions:
- Make the base by beating together 1/4 cup sugar, butter and 1 t. lemon zest at medium speed in a kitchen aid mixer until creamy.
- Stir together 2 cups flour and 1/4 t. salt and gradually add to the butter mixture, beating until just blended.
- Coat 13×9 inch pan with Pam and press dough into the bottom of it. Chill 15 minutes. Bake at 250 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
- Whisk together eggs, and 2 cups sugar. Process ginger and 1/2 cup flour in food processor until ginger is finely chopped. Stir in baking powder. Whisk ginger mixture into egg mixture. Whisk in lemon juice and remaining 2 T. lemon zest. Pour over crust and bake at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until filling just set.
- Stir together remaining 3/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 t. salt in a small bowl. Stir in melted butter until well blended. Stir in almonds. Sprinkle over hot lemon mixture and bake 20 to 25 more minutes or until golden.
- Cool completely before serving.
Louise Cake
adapted from Ladies, A Plate by Alexa Johnson
Ingredients:
- 2.5 oz. butter
- 2 oz. (4.5 T.) sugar
- 2 eggs, separate yolks from whites
- 1 T. fresh lemon juice
- 5 oz. (1 cup) flour
- 1/2 t. baking powder
- 5 T. or more raspberry jam
- 4 oz. (8 T.) caster sugar (I just used regular sugar)
- 2 oz. sweetened coconut
Cooking Directions:
- Cream the butter and sugar together until light and then beat in 2 egg yolks. Add the lemon juice. Combine the flour and baking powder and mix into to form a firm dough.
- Press the dough into the bottom of a greased or Pammed 12×8 baking pan. Spread the jam over the dough.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff and then gently fold in the caster sugar and coconut using a metal spoon. Spread carefully over the jam. Sprinkle with a little more coconut.
- Bake for 25 minutes until the coconut is just turning golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cut into squares while it is still warm.
Welsh Cheesecake
adapted from Ladies, A Plate by Alexa Johnson
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound puff pastry
- 2 T. or more raspberry jam
- 2 oz. (4.5 T.) sugar
- 2 oz. butter
- 2 oz. (7 T. + 1 t.) flour
- 1 t. lemon zest
- 1/4 t. baking powder
- 1 egg
Cooking Directions:
- Roll out the pastry to about 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into circles big enough to line mini muffin pans. Put into the fridge for a few minutes when you finish. (When you reroll scraps, make sure to lay them on top of each other – do not ball them up. Cut these into narrow strips to top the cakes with)
- Beat together the butter and sugar, add the egg and flour, then lemon zest and baking powder,
- Put a small dot of jam in the base of each pastry cup, followed by a teaspoonful of the filling.
- Place the narrow pastry strips across the top of each tart.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.