It was so miserably cold and rainy around here today, so I got all my tools ready and did what I always do…bake!

As you know, I am a lemon lover through and through. Even when I was younger, I would pass over the chocolate dessert and go for lemon one every time. I have baked lemon bars before, however, these bars caught my eye because of their name. I couldn’t think of a more beautiful combination than sweet and tart. I knew I had to try it. 

When you think of lemon tart so many words come to mind, such as vibrant, bright, and tangy. For this recipe, you add a little bit of sweet to it and it becomes heavenly. 

This is the perfect dessert, it is light and smooth with a great lemon flavor and wonderful silky texture. It is sitting on top of a nice thick, buttery shortbread crust that is just enough to hold up to it without getting soggy. The tanginess of the lemon gets tamed by the sweetness of the sugar. The creaminess of the filling is enhanced by the delicate, crunchy crust. I must say, this gloomy day turned out pretty damn good.

This recipe is courtesy of Jessica Battilana and will make 20 small bars that bring a unique flavor experience like you have never had before.

Ingredients for Sweet and Tart Lemon Bars

For the crust:

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling:

5 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
1/2/3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pinch of kosher salt
1 cup of lemon juice (from 5 to 6 large lemons)
1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
2 tablespoons heavy cream
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.

To make the crust:

Line a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on both of the short ends of pan (this will make it easier to remove bars from the pan).

In a bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl with a handheld mixer), cream the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Reduce the mixer to low and add the flour and salt.

Mix until the dough comes together into a ball.

With your fingers, press the dough into the prepared pan in an even layer.

Transfer to the oven and bake until golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and reduce the oven temperature to 325.

To make the filling:

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolk, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth.

Whisk in the lemon juice and zest and the heavy cream.

Pour over the warm crust, then return to the oven and bake until lemon mixture is set, about 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack (if you want to try them chilled, pop the pan into the fridge once it’s cooled down to room temperature).

Just before serving, dust with a generous snowdrift of confectioners’ sugar and cut into bars.

It’s that simple!

Now that we have said goodbye to 2018, there are a lot of good things to look forward to in 2019. My husband and I have not gone to a wedding for so many years, and I have been impatiently waiting for my niece to get engaged to her boyfriend. Happily (not because of me) they decided to take the next step and their wedding will be in March! The whole family is very eager for the event.

Oddly enough, my three best friend’s daughters are all to be married this year as well. Now, I have four weddings in the same year, and all are women whom I love dearly. This is a perfect reason to put 2018 behind me and happily ring in 2019. It is also a big birthday year for both myself and my husband, (we are the same age) so we may also make some wonderful plans to celebrate.

Among all this madness, I will of course still be cooking and doing the holidays, as well as my blog. There will be more great recipes to be found and shared. I enjoy the pursuit of a new recipe, preparing it and deciding if it is worth putting it on my blog. I love every minute of it. On that note, here is today’s lovely recipe.

The marrying (pun intended) of the sweet potato and apple results in a delicious pairing of tastes. The sweet potatoes and apples are roasted to perfection and mixed with two savory spices that make each bite a unique experience. There is no reason not to make this, it’s likely you have all the ingredients in your pantry, so let’s get started!

This recipe is loosely adapted from Anne Burell and will serve 4 to 6 people who will want to replicate this wonderful dish once they’ve tried it!

Ingredients for Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Apples

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 Honeycrisp or Granny Smith Apples, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
Juice of 1 lemon
2 sprigs fresh thyme, picked and finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, toss the sweet potatoes generously with some olive oil, salt, cinnamon and cayenne. 

Lay the sweet potatoes out on a sheet tray, place them in the oven and roast until they are very soft and mushy, 30 to 35 minutes.

Peel the apples and cut into 1-inch dice. (They should probably be smaller than I made them!)

Toss the apples with the lemon juice, some olive oil, salt, and rosemary.

Lay them out on a sheet tray and place in the oven during the last 15 minutes of the cooking time for the sweet potatoes.

When done the apples should be soft and cooked through but still hold their shape.

Sprinkle the walnut over the apples during the last 5 minutes in the oven.

Transfer the sweet potatoes to a large bowl and coarsely mash them with a potato masher.

Stir in cooked apples and walnuts.

Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

It’s that simple!

Whenever my husband and I go out to dinner, if there is bread pudding on the dessert menu, we have to try it.

Bread pudding is one dish I simply can’t pass up. There are endless possibilities, so I am always looking for interesting combinations of flavors. You can combine caramel and apple, blueberry and white chocolate, pecan pie, or cinnamon raisin, just to mention a few of my favorite!

Most bread puddings include pretty basic ingredients, like eggs, whole milk, vanilla and heavy cream which are reminiscent of “grandma’s cooking”.

This recipe stood out to me because of one ingredient: bourbon. It is so unique and the moment I saw it I knew I had to make it. I really enjoy recipes that have this elegant liquor, because it has such a deep, bold flavor. I may have “accidentally” used a just a little more bourbon than the recipe called for. It’s the holiday season, so why not?

I used plenty of vanilla in mine, but feel free to cut down the amount depending on your palette. I also used challah bread because I really believe it is the best choice. It is thick, moist and absorbs rich liquid and sauce beautifully. 

This is definitely not your grandmother’s bread pudding, and it exceeded all of my expectations. There is a lovely, savory goodness in the pudding, which is so gratifying. The addition of both vanilla and almond extract makes this extra-special. The flavor from the bourbon hits this pudding out of the park.

This recipe courtesy of Southern Cooking and will serve about 10 people who will fall in love at first bite.

Ingredients for Bourbon Bread Pudding:

For the pudding:

1 8-ounce baguette (or egg-rich bread, like challah, which I used), preferably stale
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
4 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
1 tablespoon bourbon
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon pure almond extract

For the bourbon sauce:

1/4 cup of butter, cut up
1/2 cup sugar
1 lightly beaten egg yolk
1 tablespoon water
2 to 4 tablespoons bourbon

To make the bread pudding:

Have a nonreactive 9 x 5-inch loaf dish (I used an 8 x 8 square baking dish) or pan on hand (Pyrex is perfect here), as well as a roasting pan big enough to hold the baking dish (I used a large aluminum roasting pan).

Bring a teakettle or pot of water (about 2 quarts) to a boil; when the water boils, turn off the heat.

Cut bread into 1-inch cubes. If your bread is not stale, spread cubes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in a 350F oven for 10 minutes.

Place bread in baking pan.

In a small saucepan bring the milk and cream just to a boil. (Watch this carefully! It boils over very easily.)

Turn off heat.

In a small bowl whisk together the eggs, yolks, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in about one-fourth of the hot milk mixture. 

Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining milk.

Add the bourbon and vanilla and almond extracts; whisk gently to blend.

Tap the bowl against the countertop to pop any bubbles that might have been formed, then the custard all over the bread and press gently with the back of a spoon to help cover it with custard.

Cover the dish lightly with waxed paper; leave it on the counter, pressing the bread into the custard now and then, for 1 hour.

Center a rack in the oven; preheat to 350F.

Discard the waxed paper and cover the pan snugly with a piece of aluminum foil.

Place loaf dish in the roasting pan.

Slide the pan into the oven and carefully pour enough of the hot water into the roasting pan to come halfway up the sides of the loaf dish.

Bake the pudding for 30 minutes, then remove the foil.

Bake the pudding about 15 minutes more (it took 25 minutes for me), or until puffed and golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Transfer roasting pan to a rack; cool the pudding until just warm or at room temperature.

To make the bourbon sauce:

In a small saucepan, melt butter.

Stir in sugar, egg yolk, and water.

Cook over medium heat just until bubbles forms around the edge, about 8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in 2 to 4 tablespoons bourbon.

Pour bourbon sauce over bread pudding, making sure to get into every nook and cranny.

Beautiful!

It’s that simple!

If I haven’t made this glaringly obvious, I am a huge lemon lover. That is why when I saw this recipe for iced lemon pie, I couldn’t resist. As I read on, and learned it includes graham cracker crust with only seven total ingredients, I knew this was something I could whip up fast and absolutely love.

The directions called for a hand mixer, but I have no patience for that, so I used a standing mixer and it worked out perfectly. Separating the eggs yolks took some time, (I am not very good at it) but I worked slowly until I had all eight of them.

I also consistently tell you to double the crust when it comes to making desserts. For this recipe, I did not heed my suggestion and of course, I had to make another half of the crust to fit it all on the bottom and up the sides. Try to make at least one-half more graham cracker crust than the recipe calls for.

Words can’t describe this scrumptious, decadent dessert. The delicious graham cracker crust is a perfect container for the lemon filling. The condensed milk and egg yolks ensure a rich and creamy texture. The oh-so-lemony filling will have your taste buds dancing. This is a perfect dessert to bring to any holiday celebration. I am just warning you, this one is going to go fast!

This recipe is courtesy of Food and Wine and will serve 8 or more people who will devour each dreamy bit of deliciousness.

Ingredients for Lemon Icebox Pie:

14 whole graham crackers, broken
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Two 14-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 cups fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
8 large egg yolks

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers with the sugar and salt until finely ground but not powdery. (Don’t forget to make one-half extra.)

Add the butter and pulse until the crumbs are evenly moistened.

Transfer to a 9-inch springform pan and press into the bottom and two-thirds up the side. 

Set the pan on a rimmed baking sheet.

Whisk the condensed milk with the lemon juice.

In another bowl using a hand mixer, (I used a standing mixer) beat the lemon zest with the egg yolks until pale.

Beat in the condensed milk mixture until smooth.

Pour the filling into the crust.

Bake the pie for 25 minutes, until the center jiggles slightly and the edges are set.

Transfer the pan to a rack; let cool for 1 hour.

Loosely cover the pan with plastic wrap and freeze the pie for at least 6 hours.

Wrap a warm, damp kitchen towel around the side of the springform pan to release the pie; remove the ring.

Using a hot knife, slice the pie, transfer to plates and serve.

It’s that simple!