Lemons, Limes and Oranges. Oh My!

I made these a few weeks ago and I forgot to share them. Forgive me. I got wrapped up in Hayden's birthday extravaganza that they got lost in the shuffle. I realize Fall is officially upon us but when you have a dessert with this much citrus zest, you just have to share them. Am I right? Besides you have all season long to bake with apples, pumpkins and comforting spices, so today it's all about lemons, limes and oranges. Hooray!

I got this recipe from my friend Memoria of Mangio da Sola. She made these over two years ago and they've been in the back of my mind ever since (Hi Memoria! We miss you!). I love key lime pie and could eat a whole pie by myself, as embarrassing as that is to admit. While I was pregnant with Hayden, I craved it all the time so I was pleased to discover that these bars were very similar. But these are a little different because they have a touch of cream cheese in them that makes these a bit more like cheesecake. 

Busted! Someone discovered toilet paper roll!

Part key lime pie, part cheesecake bar, all goodness. They were creamy, tart, tangy and loaded with flavorful citrus zest atop a buttery golden crust. I misread the directions and baked them in a 9x13-inch pan instead of a square dish so mine were thinner than expected but still great. If you want a thicker, taller bar to sink your teeth into just use a smaller pan. Either way, they're sure to satisfy. Thanks for sharing the recipe with us Memoria. I hope you're enjoying Italy! 

Triple Citrus Bars adapted from Mangio da Sola via Cook's Illustrated

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Crust:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 Tbsp packed brown sugar 

5 Tbsp. butter, melted

pinch of salt

Filling:

2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 1/2 tsp grated lime zest 

1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

1 1/2 tsp grated orange zest

1 14-oz can of condensed milk

1 egg yolk, room temperature

6 Tbsp lime juice 

2 Tbsp lemon juice 

2 Tbsp orange juice 

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8x8-inch pan (for thicker bars) or a 9x13-inch pan (for thinner bars) and set aside. 

To make the crust: In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and salt. Drizzle butter over crumbs and stir until crumbs are evenly moistened with butter. Press crumbs evenly and firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until deep golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack while making filling. Do not turn off oven.

To make the filling: While the crust cools, in medium bowl, stir cream cheese with the lemon, orange and limes zests with a rubber spatula until softened, creamy, and thoroughly combined. Slowly add sweetened condensed milk and whisk vigorously until incorporated and no lumps of cream cheese remain; whisk in egg yolk. Add juices and whisk gently until incorporated (mixture will thicken slightly).

To assemble and bake: Pour filling into crust; spread to corners and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until set and edges begin to pull away slightly from sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature. Cover with foil and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours.

Cut into squares and serve chilled. Will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. 

Summer Fun At The Pool

Whew! It has been a week, let me tell you. Hayden caught a virus that gave him a high fever for several days. He was okay until Wednesday night when he couldn't keep food down. Then he stopped eating and drinking and started to get dehydrated so we took him to the ER Thursday afternoon. The doctor there gave him some anti-nausea medicine that helped settle his stomach, which in turn allowed him to eat and drink and keep it down. It worked, he took a nap, drank milk, felt better then started flirting with the nurses. The doctor was happy with his progress so he didn't have to be hooked up to an IV afterall. Thank goodness. After the fever broke, he got a rash for a few days and that is finally going away. He is just about back to normal and acting like his silly self again. 

Over the weekend we went swimming at a family friends' house. Hayden has never been in a swimming pool before but we hoped he would like splashing in the water. He loved the water and was so relaxed by it. Instead of splashing around and having fun, he took a nap- twice! The water was so soothing and he was so relaxed in my arms that he just drifted off. He did have fun lounging in his floaty too. And I have to tell you, he is so darn cute in swim shorts and a cap :-)

I made these bars about a week before my birthday and they were freaking delicious. If you like key lime pie, you will love these. It's essentially the same recipe but in bar form and it uses lemon juice in stead of lime. These bars also have the summery addition of blueberries too, but raspberries or blackberries would be just as good. Heck if you want to use lime juice, go ahead and make them your way. These bars are the epitome of summer- they're bright and citrusy, fruity, tangy and creamy. I made them on an ordinary day but they're the perfect treat to enjoy poolside to beat the heat. 

Blueberry Lemon Bars slightly adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

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For the crust: 

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Zest of one lemon

For the filling:

• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 (14 ounce can) sweetened condensed milk 
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Stir until graham cracker crumbs are moist. Press crumbs firmly into the bottom and slightly up the sides of prepared pan. Bake the graham cracker crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

To make the filling, combine the egg yolks and condensed milk in a medium bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir until mixture is smooth and begins to slightly thicken. Gently fold in the 3/4 of the blueberries, reserving some for the top. 

Pour the lemon blueberry filling evenly over the graham cracker crust then top with the remaining blueberries. Bake for 15 minutes, or until just set.

Cool for 10 minutes at room temperature, then refrigerate until completely chilled. Cut into bars and serve. 

Pie Party Recipes: Key Lime Pie

Here's one of the recipes I made this past weekend at my Pie Party. I can't decide if I liked this key lime pie or the banana cream pie best. I think I need another slice of each in order to decide. I chose this pie to make because I craved it while I was pregnant with Hayden. I had several slices while pregnant with him and I never tired of it. For some reason though, I never made it, I just ordered it out at restaurants. And at $5 a slice, it's much cheaper to make your own!

This pie could not be simpler to make either. The filling is made up of 3 ingredients- sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks and lime juice. That's it! The combination is like magic. I think it's a great recipe to start out with if you're a beginner baker or just want to get into baking pies because it is so easy and fast. You can purchase your own premade crust or make one like I did. Of course, homemade tastes better, but do what you like. The end result will still be creamy, tangy and delicious.

Key Lime Pie from Nellie & Joe's

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• (1) 9-inch graham cracker pie shell (recipe below)
• 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup key lime juice

Combine milk, egg yolks and lime in juice in a medium bowl. Blend til smooth, then pour filling into prepared pie shell.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.

Allow to stand at room temperature 10 minutes before refrigerating. Refrigerate until completely chilled. Just before serving, top with freshly whipped cream and garnish with lime slices.

Graham Cracker Crust from Keebler

• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Combine crumbs and sugar in medium sized bowl. Stir in the melted butter until thoroughly blended.

Pack mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan and press firmly to bottom and sides, bringing crumbs evenly up to the rim.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes, cool, fill and chill.

Our Bunny and A Cake

It's Cake Slice Time! And the cake chosen for this month was Tres Leches Cake from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott. If you've never had one, a tres leches cake is generally a white sponge cake soaked in a sweetened three milk mixture and topped with whipped cream. I had every intention in making the recipe as the recipe author intended but I have a chocolate loving husband and he turned his nose up to the milky vanilla version. He requested I make a chocolate version and so I did. I made minor changes to the recipe, like substituting cocoa in place of some flour and adding vanilla to the batter instead of lime zest in the milk sauce, but it added a big punch of flavor and changed the cake completely. My husband loved it!

Before I tell you more about this cake, I wanted to thank you all for your kind words regarding the loss of our sweet fuzzy bunny, August. We don't know the cause of his death, all we know is that is happened quickly. All his life he's had respiratory issues but the doctors were always perplexed by him. He'd express mucus from his nose and he'd gasp for air but as soon as he cleared it, he was fine. It happened periodically for really no reason at all and we'd help him along by suctioning and wiping. We changed his diet, we gave him different meds and we eliminated things one by one in his cage thinking it was environmental. This became a part of his life but he wasn't suffering or in pain- it was just an annoyance, kind of like allergies. We tried all kind of things to make his life better and made many midnight trips to the emergency vet and no one ever knew how to "fix" him.

On Wednesday morning he was having another episode. I held him and stroked his fur. He seemed fine then all of a sudden he began to thrash his legs and tried to escape from my grip. We tried to calm him down so he wouldn't hurt himself, but something was wrong. He kicked off of me and fell. I picked him up and noticed he was no longer struggling but he was still breathing. Moments later as Mr. H was holding him, he passed away and it just seemed to happen so fast. We think his passing was a result of being over stressed- they can can work them selves up and give themselves heart attacks along with the fall, though it was a very short one. He was more than a rabbit- he was a member of our family. We got him after the boys died and he's been a joy in our lives when we were at such a low point. His life, as I see it, was cut short, but while he was a part of our family he was very well taken care of and loved wholeheartedly. We miss him so much.

Now it's hard to jump from talking about the passing of our bunny to talking about a cake, so I will just wrap it up by saying that this cake was rich, creamy, delicious and wasn't too sweet. I added chocolate to the milk mixture, but leaving it plain or adding vanilla or almond extract would be great too. The recipe didn't yield enough milk mixture in my opinion so I've increased that amount in the recipe below. I topped my cake with sweetened cocoa cream and served it with berries. The recipe below reflects my changes- I cut the recipe in half and added chocolate, but if you're interested in the larger (9x13) vanilla version, click here.

Chocolate Tres Leches Cake adapted from Southern Cakes

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Adapted from this Original Recipe

Cake:

• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 6 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cups (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup milk

Three Milks:

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1 oz. melted chocolate or chocolate syrup (optional)

Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 8x8-inch pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder and stir with a fork to mix.

In a large bowl, combine the butter and sugar and beat with a mixer at high speed to mix well.

Adds the eggs one at a time, beating well each time and stopping to scrape down the bowl now and then until the mixture is light, fluffy and smooth. Add the vanilla.

Add one third of the flour mixture and then half the milk, beating at low speed each time just until the flour or milk disappears into the batter. Add another third of the flour and the remaining milk, then the remaining flour in the same way.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes (mine took 40 mins), until the cake is golden brown, springs back when touched lightly in the center and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.

While the cake bakes, make the milk sauce. You want the cake to still be warm when you add the milk mixture.

Milk Sauce: Combine the milk, sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and the semisweet chocolate or chocolate syrup (if using) in a medium saucepan. Heat gently over medium heat, stirring often until the mixture forms a smooth, steaming hot sauce. Do not let it come to a boil.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes before using.

To Finish: Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Poke holes with a toothpick all over the cake.

Slowly pour the warm milk sauce over the warm cake, in stages stopping to let the cake absorb the sauce before adding more. You may not need it all but you can add more later if you need it.

Let the cake stand at room temperature for one hour before covering and refrigerating. (I let it chill overnight, but a few hours is plenty). Top with cocoa whipped cream (recipe below) and serve it straight from the pan.

Cocoa Whipped Cream from Monica H

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

In a medium bowl, combine heavy cream, sugar and cocoa powder. Mix at medium speed til creamy and fluffy, but don't overbeat or you'll be left with a curdled mess.

Top the cooled tres leches cake with the sweetened cocoa cream. Serve with fruit if desired.

I was going to link this post to The Cake Slice Bakers blog so you could go check out their cakes, but for some unknown reason that blog isn't up and running at the moment. When that issue gets resolved, I'll link it up. Until then, I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Caffeine Is My Friend

It's no secrect that coffee and I are best friends. I love it and it loves me. I don't like paying $5 per coffee drink but every now and again I need a fix and give in. We generally like to make espresso at home in our stovetop espresso pot, but that's usually only on the weekends with breakfast. When we do drink it, we like it lightly sweetened with raw sugar and half-n-half. It hits the spot every time. That's really the only time I can drink hot coffee, especially in this heat! When cooler weather comes, it'll be a different story but for now I'll stick to the sweet, cool and icy coffee drinks.

Keeping with the same theme of how I like my coffee, I decided to make David Lebovitz's Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream. Now I've never had a traditional Vietnamese coffee (strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk), but if it's anything like this ice cream, I'm quite sure I'd like it. There are only 3 ingredients in this ice cream- brewed espresso, sweetened condensed milk and half-n-half. That's it! Well actually you can add a fourth ingredient, a pinch of ground coffee, but I left that out since I wanted the ice cream to be completely smooth.

This ice cream could not be simpler. It comes together in a matter of minutes, you chill it thoroughly and put it in your ice cream maker. Mr. H is even more of a coffee junkie that I am and while he thought the espresso flavor really came through, he thought it was a little too sweet. It was sweet but if you savor it one spoonful at a time, not only will it last longer but it will fulfill your cravings and your sweet tooth. Blend a little ice cream with milk, ice and chocolate syrup and you have an awesome Mocha Frappe. Add caramel sauce in lieu of the chocolate and you'll have a Caramel Macchiato Frappe- yum!

Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream from The Perfect Scoop

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• 1 1/2 cups sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups brewed espresso or very strongly brewed coffee
• 1/2 cup half-n-half
• Big pinch of finely ground dark roast coffee (I omitted this)

Whisk together the condensed milk, espresso, half-n-half and ground coffee. Chill the mixture thoroughly (overnight) then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Do You Believe In Magic?

Before I tell you about this recipe, I wanted to tell you about another blog I started. I know. The new blog is a photo blog called Natural Lighting where I'll post a new photo a day of the things around me. I just started it a couple days ago so don't expect too much :-) I hope you'll go check it out!

When I first starting dating Mr. H in high school, I would go to his house and his mom always had containers of these Magic Cookie Bars. She would make a large batch and once they were cool, she'd cut them into one inch cubes and freeze them. We'd eat those frozen little nuggets right out of the recycled Country Crock container while watching TV together.

We haven't had them in a long time since his mom hasn't made any but I started to think about them and remembered how sweet, sticky and good they were. I also remembered how much my husband loved them and how much more he'd love me if I surprised him with these. And I just so happened to have all the ingredients in my pantry. Brownie points :-)

If you've never had them, you must make them. You start out with a graham cracker base, pour sweetened condensed milk on top of the crust, then layer the coconut, chocolate chips and nuts on top. Bake and you're done. They're a little sticky and gooey in spots. They're sweet but not too sweet and they have great texture. The nuts are crunchy, the crust is buttery, it's just good. You could always add dried fruit or omit the nuts and switch out the chocolate of your choice.

Magic Cookie Bars from Eagle Brand

• non-stick cooking spray
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cups (12 oz. pkg.) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13 x 9-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in small bowl. Press into bottom of prepared pan. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with chocolate chips, coconut and nuts. Press down firmly with fork.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Loosen from sides of pan while still warm; cool on wire rack. Cut into bars or diamonds.

After looking at these pictures, I want to make them all over again!

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Here are a few furry and feathery friends that we saw in snowy DC.

These pigeons were seen at the White House.

This bird was seen at The Lincoln Memorial.

This bird and the squirrel below were both seen in front of The Smithsonian's Natural History Museum.

This little girl in her cute sweater is named Sophie. She looked up at me but when I took the picture she looked down. She was so cute and made me miss my little girl. The snow was frozen in her little ringlets...so cute.

How can you resist those eyes? Her brother was around but he was too busy playing in the snow and wouldn't slow down enough for me to take this picture.

Cookie Sandwiches & Secret Giveaway Winners

As the title of these cookie states, these really are the BEST oatmeal cookies I've ever had. They do not need, the addition of raisins or craisins or chocolate chips. They are delicious as they are. They are perfectly sweet and crisp around the edges, but a slight chew towards the center. They may look plain but they are anything but.

I made these a couple months back and I filled them with homemade dulce de leche. My mom used to make dulce de leche when we were kids. I used to think it was magic because she'd boil a can of sweetened condensed milk and a couple hours later it was something completely and totally different. And better!

There are a few ways to make dulce de leche. You can make it in the oven, you can make it in the crock pot and you can make in on the stove top. I chose the stove top because that's how my mom made it. And for those of you that don't know, dulce de leche is sweetened milk that has been slowly cooked til thick and golden. The longer you cook it the thicker it is. If you prefer a thinner sauce like consistency, cook it less.

The combination of these two sweets was way over the top albeit luscious. I suggest if you plan on making sandwich cookies with the dulce de leche, then decrease the amount of sugar in the cookies. The cookies themselves would be a great addition to any cookie tray this holiday. They really are the best.

Best Oatmeal Cookies from Thineault's Table

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 2/3 cup flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• dash nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until smooth then add vanilla.

Combine flour, soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir into butter mixture then add rolled oats. Roll into small balls (about the size of large gumballs or the size of a quarter) and flatten with glass dipped in sugar.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until bottoms are golden. Cookie should not get brown. Cool on wire rack.

NOTE: Original recipe said to make balls the size of golf balls. The first batch I baked were this size and they spread out and flattened into huge 5 inch cookies. The next few batches I cut in half and they made the perfect size.

Dulce De Leche

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk

Remove the label from your can and place the unopened can in a large pot and fill with water making sure to completely submerge the can.

Bring the water to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 2-4 hours depending on how dark and thick you want it. I boiled mine for 3 hours.

Turn the heat off and allow it to cool in the water until it's safe to handle. Allow can to cool completely cool before using.

NOTE: This is IMPORTANT- Make sure that the can is constantly submerged in water. You don't want the can to boil in the pot without being covered as it can cause stress points on the can and possibly explode. This has never happened to me or anyone I know, but I thought I'd put it out there. Just make sure the can stays under water at all times and you'll be fine.

Now onto the winners of my surprise giveaway........

• Confections of A Closet Master Baker goes to #5 Lissaloo of One Step At A Time
• Planet Cake goes to #7 Michelle of One Ordinary Day

Congrats ladies! Email your addresses and I'll get these out to you as soon as possible.

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I think I may have lost my mind, but I plan on posting 6 days of Christmas morning breakfasts, starting tomorrow! So come on back ya hear!