Blueberry Lavender Lemon Loaf

I've been all about those loaf recipes lately. I also perfected my Copy Cat Starbucks Lemon Loaf, and wanted to take it a step further:

Enter the Blueberry Lavender Lemon Loaf!

This cake/loaf is the perfect addition to a coffee date, a tea party, or just because. It is super moist, and I love the color of the blueberries popping on the top!

The glaze is delicious, and you can be however generous you want to be with it - you can drench it, like I did, or drizzle it on top. I think in hindsight, I might've drizzled it, as I lost all the gorgeous blueberries at the top by covering them. Either way, this loaf is a crowd-pleaser!

oops. my littlest helper approves of the glaze.

Ingredients:

Lemon Pound Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp lemon zest

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup sunflower (or canola) oil

1/2 cup (fresh) lemon juice

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp finely crushed dried culinary lavender

1 cup blueberries

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp cream

1-2 tbsp lavender simple syrup (depending on desired consistency)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F /175 C.

2. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and lavender until combined. Set aside.

4. In a separate, smaller bowl combine lemon zest and sugar with a fork. Set aside.

5. In the bowl of a standing mixer, using the paddle attachment combine buttermilk, oil, lemon juice, eggs and vanilla. Mix on a low speed until the ingredients are combined.

6. Add the flour mixture and sugar mixture, and continue to mix until smooth and fully combined.

7. Carefully stir in the blueberries.

8. Transfer the batter into the greased loaf pan, and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (If the top is starting to brown too quickly, you can tent aluminum foil on it.)

9. Remove from oven, and allow to fully cool. Remove from pan.

10. Combine powdered sugar, cream, lemon juice and lavender simple syrup until glaze forms, then spoon and smooth over the loaf. 

And there you have it! 

As delicious as it is beautiful!

What fruit would you like to see in my next attempt?

Copycat Starbucks Lemon Loaf

You know when you get a craving...

I've been craving a slice of Starbucks lemon loaf. But there is no Starbucks in my COUNTRY!!! And then there's lockdown.

So, I tried another blogger's recipe, and was a little under-impressed. The icing was top notch and tasted just right, but the cake was way to "bread"-y. It dried out fast, too.

That's when I remembered a yummy cranberry and orange loaf I had made at Thanksgiving that was deeeelish, and already reminded me of the lemon loaf when I made it, and thought I could perhaps make it a lemon loaf instead. And it did! And it was fantastic! Way better! Here you go!

Ingredients:

Lemon Pound Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp lemon zest

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup sunflower (or canola) oil

1/2 cup (fresh) lemon juice

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F /175 C.

2. Grease and flour a loaf pan.

3. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt until combined. Set aside.

4. In a separate, smaller bowl combine lemon zest and sugar with a fork. Set aside.

5. In the bowl of a standing mixer, using the paddle attachment combine buttermilk, oil, lemon juice, eggs and vanilla. Mix on a low speed until the ingredients are combined.

6. Add the flour mixture and sugar mixture, and continue to mix until smooth and fully combined.

7. Transfer the batter into the greased loaf pan, and bake for 50-55 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. (If the top is starting to brown too quickly, you can tent aluminum foil on it.)

8. Remove from oven, and allow to fully cool.

9. Combine powdered sugar, cream and lemon juice until glaze forms, then spoon and smooth over the loaf. 

Yummmmmmm...

Man, that hit the spot.

Store it in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The next day it is even BETTER!! Yummy!

What other copycat recipe would you like to see me try? Any special requests?

Lemon Cream Tart Recipe

Umm, hello Spring!!

This tart screams Spring, and I am happy to indulge.

I had friends visiting me this week, and I decided to make a lemon tart for them - and it turned out delicious!  I followed the recipe here, and it's great!  You can definitely go to the original, or scroll down for my breakdown. :)  Here's a quick tip: read instructions to the end before you get started, so you don't miss anything.

What you'll need:

- standing mixer

- tart or pie pan

- metal pot

- metal bowl that is wider than the pot

- whisk

- zester

- blender

Tart Crust:

Ingredients:

- 8 tbs unsalted butter at room temperature (plus a little extra for the pan)

- 1/3 cup powdered sugar

- 1 large egg yolk

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Beat the butter and powdered sugar together in mixer until creamy.

2. Beat in egg yolk until fully combined.

3. Turn the mixer on to a low speed, and beat in flour and salt just until the dough comes together, and no flour is visible.  Be careful not to overmix.

4. Butter your pan.

5. Press the dough into the pan, making sure it is evenly distributed.  Using a fork, prick the bottom of the tart.

6. Wrap loosely in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.

7. Preheat oven to 410 F / 210 C.

8. Bake tart for 15 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before filling with anything else.

Optional:

Using a double boiler method, melt down a bar of white chocolate, and poor on the bottom of the tart once it has cooled fully.  Recover with plastic, and chill in fridge until chocolate becomes firm.

*I found this made it really hard to cut into and eat, so I think next time I'll drizzle it on top.

Lemon Cream Filling

Ingredients:

- 1/2 cup and 2 tbs lemon juice (for me it was 3 1/2 lemons)

- 3 large eggs

- 1 egg yolk

- 3/4 cup granulated sugar

- pinch of salt

- 1 cup cold, unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch cubes

(Optional: fresh strawberries and lemon zest.)

Directions:

1. Create a double boiler.  If you're not sure how to do that, here is a tutorial on youtube.

2. Combine lemon juice, eggs, yolk, sugar and salt in the bowl of your double boiler.  Whisk continuously for 10-12 minutes, until very thick.

3. Allow to cool for 20 minutes.  

4. Pour mixture in blender, then add a couple cubes of butter at a time, and fully incorporate. Make sure that the butter is fully incorporated before adding any more.

5. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to chill for 1-2 hours.  (Or overnight - if you do, use a whisk to "fluff it up" before pouring it in the tart shell.)

6. Pour lemon cream into tart, top with fresh strawberries, some lemon zest, and you're good to go!

Store covered in the fridge for 2 days.

I've always been nervous about using a double boiler method, but it really wasn't that hard, and the result was GORGEOUS!!

What's your favorite "ode to Spring" dessert?

Classic Lemon Bar

Lemon bars. They are one of Dan's favorite desserts; his grandma used to make them.  When we were newly married, I made them from a box, and... well, he didn't like them, and didn't eat them.

We've both come a long way since then - he knows to be kinder in criticism, I've learned that honesty really is the best policy, and I've since learned to bake.

So, I decided to revisit them, now that I've got some "legitimate" baking experience under my belt.

I searched the internet, and found this recipe.  I loved that it had both American and European measurements!

What you'll need:

- mixer with whisk attachment (standing or hand held) or pastry cutter and whisk

- 9x13 baking sheet

- baking paper

- non-stick spray

- kitchen scale (optional)

- measuring cups

- lemon squeezer

- sifter for powdered sugar (optional)

Ingredients:

Shortbread base:

• 1 and 3/4 cups (220 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
• 1/4 cup (32 grams) cornstarch
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (230 grams) unsalted butter, softened and cubed

Lemon filling:

• 1 and 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (32 grams) all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 1/2 cup (120ml) fresh lemon juice (for me, that came to about 2 1/2 lemons)

+ powdered sugar and lemon slices for garnishing.

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 °F / 180 °C (325 °F / 162 °C for convection oven).

2. Line pan with baking paper or aluminum foil.  Spray with non-stick spray.

3. We're going to start with the shortbread base. In your standing mixer's bowl, using a whisk attachment, combine flour, corn starch, sugar and salt.  Bring speed to a medium low.  As the whisk is going, start adding the cubed butter (or use a pastry cutter).  Mix until just starting to combine.

4. Press down into the bottom of pan, and level out as much as possible.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until just starting to get golden around edges.  Remove from oven, and set aside.

6. While it's baking, start working on filling.  Whisk together (by hand, or using a mixer) sugar and flour.  Add eggs and lemon juice until fully combined. 

7. Poor over shortbread, place back in oven, and bake at the same heat for an extra 18-22 minutes, until lemon filling is set (when you shake it, it seems pretty firm).  

8. Remove from oven, and allow to cool on wire rack for 1 hour.

9. Lightly cover, and chill further in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

10. Remove from pan, cut into squares (12 squares work out pretty perfectly).

11. Sift powdered sugar over top, garnish with a slice of lemon - and you have the perfect "come on, Spring!" dessert!

There is nothing like a tart, bright yellow dessert to get you in the mood for Spring!

This time around, Dan loved the lemon bars, and told me that they were "almost" as good as his grandma's - I'll take it!! There's really no way to compete with grandma, and I wouldn't even want to. :)

And there you go! :)

Do you enjoy lemon desserts?  What is your favorite?