dessert

Lemon Meringue Pie

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

When life gives you lemons….. make a pie! August 15th is National Lemon Meringue Pie day. I don’t know who makes this stuff up, but it’s an excuse to try something new. I’ve never made a lemon meringue pie before, and actually I’ve never eaten a lemon meringue pie before!

My blog post about Blueberry Bars received the most likes. And I realized that the correlation between like and sugar was probably pretty accurate.  And when my Goat Cheese Cheesecake became my top post, I knew I’d have to venture into the baking world some more.

Stuart was my sous chef in this endeavor. And we had a great time together in the kitchen. Our song (Then, by Brad Paisley) even came on Pandora! Stuart started the lemon filling on the stove while I separated the eggs and made the meringue.

Lemon Meringue Pie Filling Lemon Meringue Pie Filling

Meringue Meringue Meringue

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients:

  • 9 in pie crust, baked and cooled
  • 1 1/4 C sugar
  • 1/2 C flour
  • 1 1/2 C water
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1 1/2 lemons
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 6 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Steps

  1. In a saucepan whisk together flour, water, salt, and 1 1/4 C sugar. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Once at a boil, cook for one more minute – still stirring constantly – or until the mixture becomes gelatinous. Remove from heat.
  2. Temper the egg yolks by whisking in 3-4 tbsp of the mixture. Pour egg yolks into the saucepan, return to the heat, and cook one more minute – stirring constantly.
  3. Stir in butter, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Pour mixture into the baked pie crust.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  5. Use an electric hand mixer to make the meringue by beating the egg whites with vanilla, cream of tartar, and 6 tbsp sugar. Continue to beat until stiff peaks are formed.
  6. Top pie with meringue. Make sure to “seal” the meringue to the crust.
  7. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the meringue is golden.

*This recipe is adapted from http://www.texascooking.com/recipes/lemon-meringue-pie.htm*

Lemon Meringue Pie 1

Lemon Meringue Pie 2

Goat Cheese Cheesecake

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

July 30th is National Cheesecake Day! I have been dying to try baking my own cheesecake, but have never been brave enough. And with a husband who claims not to like cream cheese, there hasn’t been much incentive. (He loved this dessert and simply gave me a “yeah, whatever” when I teased him about his cream cheese aversion.)

And then I started this blog. Stuart has been really supportive with this newest hobby of mine and I think he’s enjoying the side effects of more homemade dishes. It wasn’t until “late” in life that I was aware of my love for cooking. I discovered the Food Network late my senior year of college, and parked myself in front of the TV with a notebook before finally becoming employed. I love trying new recipes and exploring the world of food blogs.

After working for 2 years, cooking every night started to seem more like a chore – well really the piles of dishes were deterrent enough. Making a home cooked meal 6 nights a week turned into 3 nights. But writing this blog has brought me back up to about 5 nights a week. So I have to say thank you to my readers for rekindling my love of cooking.

Baking isn’t something I feel I’ve particularly mastered. Which, being an engineer I find a little amusing because baking is a science; it’s following a recipe and measuring out ingredients properly. There’s more flexibility in cooking, and maybe I need the break from exact, and I get to find that in savory dishes. Regardless, baking a cheesecake seemed to be above my comfort level.

Until I found this recipe! On an episode of Food Network’s Best Thing I Ever Made, Anne Burrell said this cheesecake was the best thing she ever made with cheese. She walked through the steps and I thought to myself, “I could do that!” So, on National Cheesecake Day, I am enjoying a large slice of Goat Cheese Cheesecake.

I will apologize in advance for making your house smell like a gourmet bakery. And I don’t recommend tasting the filling before putting the eggs in because you might just give up on the final product and eat the entire bowl of cream cheesy goodness; taste at your own risk.

Nilla Wafer Crust 1 Nilla Wafer Crust 3

Cheesecake Filling 2 Cheesecake Filling 3

Cheesecake 1 Cheesecake 3

Goat Cheese Cheesecake

Ingredients for crust:

  • 6 tbsp butter, melted
  • 2 1/2 C Nilla wafers
  • 1/4 C sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • pinch nutmeg

Ingredients for filling:

  • 16 oz cream cheese
  • 12 oz goat cheese
  • 1 1/2 C sour cream
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 C sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Put all ingredients for the crust in the food processor and pulse until you achieve the look and feel of wet sand. Press the crust into a buttered spring form pan, pressing it halfway up the sides.
  3. In a stand mixer, beat the cheeses. Add in the sour cream and beat until combined. Add in sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time. Pour filling into the crust.
  4. Bake 30 minutes. Rotate the cheesecake and bake another 30 minutes. Allow cheesecake to cool completely before serving or setting in the fridge overnight for best results.

Goat Cheese Cheesecake 1 Goat Cheese Cheesecake 2 Goat Cheese Cheesecake 3

Blueberry Bars

~ lk529 ~ 1 Comment

It’s PCS (permanent change of station) season here in the military community and a lot of our friends are packing up and moving on to their next great adventure.

I recently made these Blueberry Bars for a going-away party. We were celebrating after an indoor soccer game, and in retrospect I probably should’ve chosen cherry pie filling instead of blueberry because they wear red as a team. But, it’s July and July is National Blueberry Month. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

Blueberry Bars

Ingredients:

  • 1 C room temperature butter
  • 1 3/4 C sugar
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 C flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 1 can blueberry pie filling, or whatever flavor you desire!

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a stand mixer, beat together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add in eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla. Beat until combined. Mix in the dry ingredients until combined.
  3. Spread all but 1 1/2 C of batter into greased 9×13″ cake pan. Spread the pie filling on top and then spoon on the remaining batter.
  4. Bake 40 minutes.

*This recipe is adapted from Alicia at http://www.everydayhomecook.com/2011/08/fruit-squares/*

Blueberry Bars Blueberry Bars

Update May 2017: While this electronic update is occurring end of January 2018, these updated photos are from May 2017! Wow. I made these bars for a church picnic and they were a huge hit. These blueberry bars are incredibly easy to assemble and perfect for bringing to any potluck. You can change the filling with your favorite pie flavor or a fruit that better fits the season.

blueberry-bars-pin.png

A dusting of powdered sugar never hurts!

bb bars (sugar)