Lemon Meringue Pie

Fort the Filling:

·         1 cup of sugar

·         2 cups of water

·         6 tablespoons of cornstarch

·         2 tablespoons of butter

·         6 tablespoons of lemon juice

·         1 teaspoon of lemon zest

·         3 egg yolks

·         Salt

Fort the Crust:

·         2 cups of flour

·         2 tablespoons of butter

·         2 tablespoons of shortening (Crisco)

·         1 tablespoon of sugar

·         5 or 6 tablespoons of cold water

·         ¼ teaspoon of salt

For the Meringue:

·         3 egg whites

·         6 tablespoons of sugar

·         ¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar

·         ¼ teaspoon lemon juice

Instructions:

1.       In a sauce pan, bring water, sugar, salt, and butter on medium heat

2.       in another bowl, mix the corn starch with ¼ cup of water, then add the egg yolks and beat together

3.       Once the water comes to a boil, add the lemon juice

4.       Slowly, add in the egg yolk and corn starch mixture

5.       Mix rapidly until it is well cooked

6.       Remove from heat and add the lemon zest. Let cool.

7.       In a bowl, bring together the shortening and the flour and mix together softly with your hands

8.       Next add the butter, which has to be hard and chopped

9.       Then add the water, salt, and sugar and mix well with your hands

10.   Let the dough rest for 20 minutes in the refrigerator

11.   After 20 minutes, roll out the dough and place it on a pyrex (you don’t have to grease it before hand)

12.   Brush some water on the dough to avoid shrinking and let it rest for 20 more minutes in the refrigerator.

13.   Then, bake the cookie in a 350 degree oven for approximately 25 minutes

14.   Let the cookie cool before adding the filling

15.   Prepare the meringue, firstly beat together the egg whites

16.   Add in the sugar, cream of tartar, and lemon juice and keep beating until the desired consistency is reached

17.   Once the cookie is cooled, add the meringue, the frosting, and bake in the oven for 5 more minutes just so that the meringue can turn slightly brown

18.   Garnish as desired and serve preferably

cold

Butter Lemon Cookies with Glaze

As I have mentioned before, my love for lemon-anything does not stop with Lemon Bars or Lemon Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting. Why not try a little lemon zest on a classic sugar cookie recipe? The secret to the addiction behind these cookies is merely a bit of lemon zest and a bit of lemon juice. These cookies are so easy and fun to make and a whole batch can make up to a hundred cookies (depending on what size you make them). My mom used to make these cookies for almost any celebration in elementary school-Christmas, Easter, and even Valentine's Day-and all of my classmates loved them instantly. My friends and I once baked them for a visit we made to an orphanage and the bright smiles on the kids faces were priceless. Today was one of those summer days where you're so bored you just wanna eat. I must confess I almost ate the whole cookie dough and ended with a stomach ache afterwards. As a request from my brother, I decided to make these cookies and top them with a rich, sweet glaze (although I personally like them better with the lemon glaze at the end of this post). I ended up making a third of the whole recipe posted below-a total of 18 cookies-and in a matter of hours, he literally ate six. Now that is what I call success.

Butter Lemon Cookies 
Baking Time: About 12 minutes at 350 degrees
One-third of this recipe makes about 18-20 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3 sticks of butter
• 1 1/2 cup of sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 cups of all purpose flour, sifted (More might be needed)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt

Directions: 

• Beat together the butter and the sugar until creamy
• Add in the eggs and lemon zest and continue beating
• In another bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients
• Slowly add the dry ingredients to the rest of the mixture while beating
• Roll the dough and cut out shapes with a cookie cutter, or make round balls of dough with about 1 tablespoon 
• Place the cookies on a greased baking sheet
• Bake for approximately 12 minutes at 350 degrees

  

 

Glaze #1:

 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup of confectioner's sugar
• 4 teaspoons of milk
• Food coloring

Directions: 

• Add the milk to the confectioner's sugar until it has a thick-ish consistency and add food coloring
• Add the glaze to the cookies once they are cool

For a cookie with a more lemony flavor, top the cookies with the following glaze:
Glaze #2: Lemon Glaze:

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups of confectioner's sugar

Directions: 

• Add the lemon juice to the confectioner's sugar and add the glaze to the cookies once they are cool

Lemon Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting

As I mentioned before in the Lemon Bars post, my love for lemon-anything grows day by day. This time, it was the fluffiness, softness, and fresh sweetness of these cupcakes that caught me off guard. These cupcakes were incredibly easy to make and the result was a well-deserved round of applause. To be honest, I was a little scared at first to use lemons in such a classic cupcake recipe, but in the end I was not disappointed by these babies. To get the cupcakes to taste right, just make sure to test the batter every once in a while before putting them inside the oven (just to make sure it's not to sour or not too plain). Other than that, these cupcakes were wonderfully light and tasteful. 

Lemon Cupcakes

This recipe makes about 21 cupcakes.

Baking Time: 20 minutes at 350F

Ingredients

•          1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
•          1 cup granulated sugar
•          2 eggs
•         2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•          1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
•          2 teaspoons baking powder
•          1/2 teaspoon salt
•          1/2 cup milk 
•          zest + juice of two medium lemons (about 1/2 cup of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon zest)

·          

Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream

•          1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
•          3-4 cups powdered (confectioners') sugar
•          1/4 cup heavy cream 
•          2 teaspoons vanilla extract
•          1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste
•          additional lemon zest for decoration, if desired

Instructions

1.  Preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
2.  Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed in a large bowl until creamed. About 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until everything is combined, about 2 full minutes. Set aside
3.  In a medium sized bowl, toss together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in 3 additions, stirring by hand after each addition. Batter will be thick. Add the milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Mix until just combined, do not overmix.
4.  Pour batter evenly into cupcake liners (I recommend to use an ice cream scoop for evenness). Bake for about 20 minutes. Check at 18 minutes, then again at 20. A toothpick inserted in the middle will come out clean when done. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
5.  To make the frosting, beat softened butter on medium speed with an electric or stand mixer. Beat for about 3-4 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes. Add more powdered sugar if frosting is too thin or more cream if mixture is too thick. Add more salt if frosting is too sweet. Frost cooled cupcakes. If topping with lemon zest, do so right before serving. There may be leftover frosting depending how much you use on each cupcake.

Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/04/11/homemade-lemon-cupcakes-with-vanilla-frosting/