Lemonies

Happy Easter everyone! I was lucky enough to get out of Dallas for a night and head out to Possum Kingdom which is about 2 hours away. It was great to get out for some fresh air and no concrete. Since we still have a few weeks before the hellish Dallas summer begins everything is still green and pretty. So with the nice green drive and the fact that Easter is tomorrow I decided to make some Lemonies.

Lemonies are basically brownies and lemon squares combined. I got this recipe from Tates Bake Shop in Southampton, NY. I grew up eating Tates chocolate chip cookies - (some of the worlds best) from my Mom's store. I have since moved away and now I get the Tates newsletter each month which features a recipe from the shop. This month it was lemonies, perfect for easter or just a light sweet dessert for a girls lunch or anything else like that. I hope you guys like them...

Lemonies:

• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup salted, softened butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs, room temperature
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• Zest of one lemon

Glaze

• 1 cup confectioner's sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• Zest of one lemon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper or wax paper. Spray sides with pan spray. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and mix until fully combined.

Scrape down the bowl, mix again.

Add lemon juice and zest. Mix until blended.

Add flour mixture and mix until fully blended, scraping down bowl and mixing again until batter is smooth.

Spoon batter into prepared pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 30 minutes or until firm to the touch. They will not brown.

While the lemonies are cooling, make the glaze.

In a small bowl, mix confectioner's sugar and lemon juice together. Stir in zest.

When the lemonies are cool, remove them from pan, peel off the wax paper or parchment from the bottom and turn them back over onto a cutting board.

Spread the glaze evenly over the top. Let glaze set, about 1 hour, then cut into squares.

Yield: Makes 16 squares.

Baby Monkey Dessert Table

Whew! Finally doing another blog post with yet another baby shower dessert table. I realized it was time to sit down and post these images since the baby was born this weekend that this shower was held for. So exciting, and baby Avery is a beautiful healthy baby boy with two great parents.

Tracy (mommy) wanted a blue and brown monkey theme which I thought was great. Not only are monkeys cute they provide some great inspiration for banana themed desserts. I included the labels I made to show the full menu as well as to show the simple design. Just like the last dessert table I posted I hope to post some of the individual recipes but for now here are some images...

Color palate

labels - click to enlarge

Peanut butter chocolate layer cake

Mini Dirt Cakes

Chocolate and vanilla cake balls

Oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies

Mini banana nut cupcakes

mini monkey breads

Supply sources:

Brown and white striped cups and blue and white polka dot cups, and blue and white striped straws: http://www.shopsweetlulu.com/

Blue and white polka dot platter: www.ikea.com

Ruffled edge platter: www.sweetandsaucysupply.com/

Brownies for Julia

Melt the chocolate and butter over a double boiler

Until smooth and glossy like this

Mixture of eggs and sugar - put half of this in the melted chocolate and whip the other half for 3 min

almost done...
Perfect- light fluffy and double their size

Egg mixture and chocolate

Slowly fold in eggs to the chocolate

Once egg mixture is almost mixed in slowly add the flour and salt mixture - folding gently

Pour into the pan and sprinkle with extra chocolate chips if you like

I have never made brownies from scratch before... I know, it's sad. So I decided to try and master a recipe that I had found on another blog ... I bet you are wondering who Julia is? It is actually Julia Child, here is the story:

Dorie writes “In 1995, when I was working with Julia Child filming the PBS series Baking with Julia and writing the companion book, Boston-based pastry chef Rick Katz was running the prep kitchen in Julia’s basement. Working between the washing machine and the dryer, Rick was in charge of getting the recipes of each of the twenty-six visiting chefs ready for their close-ups. An ordinary human would have had his hands full, but superman Rick always found time to make us extra little goodies, among them these very dark, very fudgy brownies. The way he prepares the batter is different from any other brownie recipe I know. Half of the eggs and sugar are mixed in with the chocolate, while the other half are beaten until they double in volume and are as light as a sponge. Whipping the eggs creates the surprisingly creamy, soft and definitely fudgy texture."

So that was it, I had to try them. I like recipes that elevate classics to a new level. This is one of those recipes. These brownies are pretty much amazing and taste different then most brownies - almost lighter but still amazingly chocolatey!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1/2 cup of bittersweet 60% cocoa chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used another 1/2 cup here since I prefer a stronger chocolate taste)
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Step by step:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 with the rack centered.
2. In a small bowl whisk the flour and salt together - put aside
3. Create a double boiler - bring some water to a boil in a pot and place a heatproof bowl over the top. Add the chocolate and butter. Stir frequently until the butter and chocolate are just melted - you don't want them to get so hot that the butter separates.
4. Add 1 cup of the sugar to the chocolate mixture and whisk gently just to incorporate it then remove the bowl from the pan of water. Stir in the vanilla.
5. In another bowl or a stand mixer put the other cup of sugar in with the eggs - mix with the whisk attachment until just incorporated and transfer HALF this mixture to the bowl with the chocolate. Whisk in gently until just incorporated.
6. Whisk the remaining egg and sugar mixture for 3 min on high speed or until the are double in volume. Using a spatula and a very light touch fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate, stopping just short of blending them in completely.
7. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the batter and delicately fold them in, working only until they disappear. Scrape the batter into a 9 inch brownie pan (I use pyrex and spray with Pam Baking Butter spray)
8. This part is optional- you can throw a few extra semi-sweet chocolate chips on top if you want
9. Bake for 25-28 min, or until the top looks dry. Poke a knife in the center and take a peek; the brownies should be only just set and still pretty gooey.
10. Cool the brownies completely and sprinkle with powdered sugar for extra fun. These brownies are pretty fragile so be careful when removing them from the pan.

Enjoy!