While you could easily make these with another type of jam/center, raspberry is one of my favorites, and this recipe does not disappoint in any way, shape or form – even my non-raspberry liking friend loves them! It is basically a very good shortbread ‘bar’ with a strip of jam in the middle and a light piping of sweetness on the top (which you could skip if you wanted). Be sure to use butter, not margarine, and a good quality jam (Bonne Maman my go-to). Ignore the 1/2 cup designation and use what you feel like. I also used heavy cream for the glaze (vs. evaporated milk).
Let me start with the realization in my 60’s that I always thought I loved apple pie, because my mother loved apple pie and I always made it for her, therefore I should love it. I like it, but it actually doesn’t fall into the love category. There are so many other flavors of pie I’d much rather have. (Kind of like NYC – I grew up there and always thought I loved it – until I visited it for the umpteenth time as an adult and realized that I really didn’t like it that much). Anyways, I digress. This dessert combines the goodness of the apple middle of apple pie with a cake like crust that keeps the middle moist and delicious but not loosey goosey. A Polish apple cake, it is just one more of the successes I’ve had in the Baking With Dorie cookbook (which I cannot recommend highly enough). And top it with homemade vanilla ice cream (flavored mine with brandy), and this is as close to heaven as it gets.
Thinking I would make a cake filling, and being midst raspberry season, I tried this curd. While too thin this time around for a cake filling, wow, what an ice cream topper! This kept marvelously in a sealed jar in the fridge for several weeks and was A+ delicious on ice cream – bet it would be amazing on pancakes as well! Be sure to use fresh raspberries! https://bakesbybrownsugar.com/raspberry-curd/ (Photo borrowed from aforementioned website).
Being part British, I can’t help but love scones, though it’s not something I make that often. I have tried a number of recipes but this one takes the cake, er, the scone! It’s got a great taste (got to like cherry and orange of course), but mostly it’s got that dry but melt in your mouth combination that I find so difficult to achieve. A long chilling time is the key: I’ve done 6-10 hours for mine. https://www.chelseasmessyapron.com/cherry-scones/
Good evening, this is The Howard Beakman at the Virginia Rescue Center in Locust Dale, enjoying some evening nibbles.
The food here is fancattic. You see, Meowm has become quite the kook. Every day it’s something deluscious. Tonite was the cat’s meow. Rum-tinged whipped cream. Yummmm. No one can say that life in the geeser ward is dull. We’re kared for well. Our needs re locked afta. Lyf s gud. Felin slippy.
This is a strawberry cheesecake – a homemade graham cracker crust baked, then filled with a combo of whipped cream cheese and whipped cream, and topped with a fresh strawberry compote. You could add whipped cream on top but I didn’t think it necessary. Plan on 6 hours in the fridge prior to cutting but then it sliced beautifully and was absolutely yummy.
Lemon Queen Cakes with Meringue Frosting, Vintage Cakes, pg 50. First of all, this is an amazing dessert if you like lemon curd, lemon cake, and marshmallowy meringue. And it’s a marvel of baking that the water bath allows for a curd to form on the bottom and the cake to appear at the top and it’s all from the same batter. It would be an amazing dinner party dessert and tasted even better on day 2 and day 3. But there are some things to note: I used 6 oz ramekins, filled 4oz up and needed 8 of them. Speaking of 8, note that you need a total of 8 eggs for this – so take them out early to get them to room temp (not mentioned in book, both sets of whites will need to be whipped). When you are ready to distribute the batter into the cups you are using, it’s best to have the batter in a bowl with a spout or a large measuring cup as it’s a little messy otherwise. Note to self to make sure the roasting pan fits in the oven without removal of a shelf; removing the shelf while the oven is hot is always trickier and you lose your oven heat. My bake time was 38 minutes till I saw golden and cracks on top (it is possible my oven temp was closer to 335 than 350). Once you remove the pan from the oven, it’s a little tricky to get the cups out of the hot water without burning yourself or dropping a cup; I needed to use tongs and even then I was worried. For the topping, my whip time was 4-5 minutes (high speed, not medium high speed). Distribute all the topping so you make sure you have enough before shaping it, I found it easiest to distribute with a spatula vs a spoon. The topping was the one thing I might change. It is super sweet and while yummy, I felt it detracted from the amazement of the curd plus the cake. I think next time I would choose a lighter, less heavy and less sweet meringue topping. Still an amazing dessert. YUM!!!! Vintage Cakes’ Lemon Queen Cakes with Meringue Frosting-Famous Fridays — Unwritten Recipes
An interesting no bake recipe from the cookbook “Frosted” by Bernice Baran. And even with no bake, it was a two day ‘bake’, if you will. But oh, how yummy.
You start with a graham cracker crust. Pretty simple. The cheesecake layer is amazing – is it whipping cream, cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, lemon zest and juice, salt and vanilla bean paste. You beat all this to high intensity. Meantime you make a lemon curd (really lemony) and spread the curd on top of the cheesecake layer – and then you freeze the entire thing overnight. The next day you make a Vanilla Meringue Frosting (basically a 7 minute frosting) and layer that on top of the frozen curd, and toast it with a torch. The result? A super airy and light (these two words are key) but very lemony bar. Definitely five stars!!!!
Frosted, by Bernice Baran, scores another 5 stars with the recipe for Lemon Meringue Cookies. Two sugar cookies sandwiched together with a homemade lemon curd filling, and holding the filling in, a meringue frosting piped around the edge. Wowza. They may not look like much but trust me, one is an entire dessert in itself and is SO good.
