You'll need a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch star tip to create the decorative rosettes. Begin making this cake two days before you plan to serve it.Yield: Makes 10 to 12 servings
3 8-ounce containers chilled mascarpone cheese* (Heather-I have to be truthful here: I was too cheap to buy all that mascarpone at $5 a pop, so I used 1 container of mascarpone and two neufchatel. I think it still turned out yummy).
Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of bowl to touch water). Whisk constantly until thickened and instant-read thermometer inserted into mixture registers 160°F, about 10 minutes. Remove bowl from over water. Add butter; whisk until melted. Transfer 1 cup curd to small bowl for spreading on cake layers. Reserve remaining curd for filling. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of both curds. Chill overnight. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.)
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Line bottom of two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 1 1/2-inch-high sides with parchment paper (do not grease pans or parchment). Using electric mixer, beat egg yolks and 7 tablespoons sugar in large bowl until mixture is very thick and slowly dissolving ribbons form when beaters are lifted, about 4 minutes. Using clean dry beaters, beat whites in another large bowl until soft peaks form. Add remaining 7 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff and glossy. Fold half of whites into yolk mixture, then sift half of flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt over and gently fold in until incorporated. Fold in remaining whites, then sift remaining flour over and fold in just until combined, being careful not to deflate batter.
Divide batter between pans; smooth tops. Bake until tester inserted into center of cakes comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Cool in pans on racks.
Run knife around edge of pans to loosen cakes. Invert cakes onto 9-inch-diameter cardboard rounds, tapping on work surface if necessary to release cakes. Cut each cake horizontally in half (layers will be thin). Peel off parchment.
Place sugar in small metal bowl. Add 1/2 cup boiling water; stir to dissolve sugar. Stir in lemon juice.
Beat whipping cream and sugar in large bowl until peaks form. Add mascarpone to lemon curd in medium bowl; whisk until blended. Fold whipped cream into lemon-mascarpone mixture.
Place 1 cake layer, flat side up, on platter. Brush with 1/4 of syrup. Spread 1/4 cup lemon curd over, then 1 cup lemon-mascarpone filling. Top with second cake layer; brush with 1/4 of syrup and spread with 1/4 cup lemon curd and 1 cup lemon-mascarpone filling. Repeat with third cake layer, syrup, lemon curd, and filling. Top with fourth cake layer. Brush with remaining syrup, then spread remaining lemon curd over. Spoon 2 cups lemon-mascarpone filling into pastry bag fitted with 1/4-inch star tip (to be used for rosettes). Spread remaining lemon-mascarpone filling as a frosting over sides of cake. Pipe small rosettes of frosting over top of cake, covering completely. Cover cake with cake dome; refrigerate at least 6 hours and up to 1 day.
*Italian cream cheese available at Italian markets and many supermarkets.
Bon Appétit | June 2001
This summery trifle is simple to make since it calls for a purchased pound cake. Begin preparing the trifle one day ahead.Yield: Makes 16 servings
Syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water
Curd
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
Fruit and topping
4 1/2-pint baskets fresh raspberries
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1 16-ounce frozen pound cake, thawed
2 cups chilled whipping cream
For syrup:
Combine sugar, lemon juice, and water in small saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 1 minute. Cover and chill.
For curd:
Whisk eggs, sugar, and lemon juice in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Add butter and lemon peel. Stir over medium heat until curd thickens to pudding consistency, about 10 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface of curd. Chill until cold, at least 4 hours. (Can be made 3 days ahead.)
For fruit and topping:
Combine 2 baskets raspberries and 1/4 cup sugar in bowl. Mash berries coarsely with fork. Let stand until juices form, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
Cut cake crosswise into 8 pieces. Cut each piece into 3 strips. Line bottom of 3-quart trifle bowl with 8 cake strips, trimming to fit. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons syrup; spread with 2/3 cup curd, then half of mashed berries. Repeat layering. Top with remaining cake, syrup, and curd. Cover; chill overnight.
Beat cream and 3 tablespoons sugar in bowl until peaks form; spread over trifle. Mound remaining berries in center.
Ellen James
Lemon Granita:
1 1/4 cups strained meyer lemon juice, with 2 teaspoons zest reserved separately
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Place the lemon juice in a non-reactive mixing bowl and set aside. Combine the water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. When the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Stir the sugar syrup into the lemon juice and transfer to a stainless steel loaf pan. Place in the freezer, uncovered. When the top of the liquid forms an icy layer, scrape through entire pan with a fork. Return to freezer and let another frozen layer form; scrape again with fork. Repeat freezing and scraping steps until all liquid is frozen. Fluff with a fork to create soft, snowy granita. If desired, hollow out lemon shells and freeze to use as serving bowls.
Here is my recipe for the english toffee last time, in case I never sent it:
English Toffee - Ellen James1 lb. butter
2 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. light corn syrup
3 oz. slivered almonds
Generously grease a large cookie sheet with butter. In a large heavy pan, combine the ingredients and cook mixture on medium-high heat until hard crack stage. A candy thermometer is not necessary, but you have to watch closely and stir constantly. The mixture will become a dark carmel color and start pulling away from the pan. It takes a very long time (15 minutes or so), and you may think it is starting to burn. To test, have a cup of ice water next to the stove top and keep dropping the hot mixture into the ice water and taste it to test it's consistency. It should be very crunchy; if it sticks to your teeth at all, it is not done yet. As soon as it gets to the hard crack stage, take off heat immediately and pour into the pan.
2 pkg. milk chocolate chips
1 c. walnuts or pecans, chopped very fine
Spread chocolate chips over the toffee and continue to spread as it melts. Top with the chopped nuts and press into the chocolate with a spatula. Cool in fridge until the chocolate has set. Pull up one corner, turn over and chop into small pieces with a butter knife.
Karen Harrison:
Coconut and Lime Sour BarsOriginal recipe used lime, I substituted lemon
Crust:
2 cups flour
4 T sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 stick plus 2 1/2 T butter
Mash together (dry but holds together). Pour into a 9x13 pan. Press into pan as evenly as possible. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Filling:
4 eggs
1 cup chopped almonds
3 cups coconut flakes
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
Mix and spread over hot baked crust. Bake for an additional 30 minutes.
Glaze:
4 T lime juice (2 limes)
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp lime zest
Glaze while HOT. Work quickly. Can add a little more lime juice to thin the glaze a bit.
Heather Craw (also on her blog at http://putthatonyourblog.com/desserters/)
Lemon Ice Cream 1.5 c sugar
3 large eggs or 5 large egg yolks (If I use eggs, I call it ice cream. If I use yolks, I call it frozen custard.)
3 c heavy whipping cream
1 T lemon zest
1.25 c fresh squeezed lemon juice
Whisk together the sugar and eggs. Heat the cream in a heavy saucepan just to boil, scraping to avoid burning. Remove from heat immediately, add zest and cover. Let stand for 10 mintues. Add the cream to the eggs and sugar in a slow thin stream whisking vigorously to avoid scrambling the eggs.
Using a candy thermometer, heat the mixture in a saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, until it reaches 170 degrees. Do not let the mixture boil. Strain the custard into a clean bowl and cool slightly. Add the lemon juice pulp. Chill in the refrigerator overnight, then churn into ice cream according to ice cream machine’s instructions.
Blueberry Compote
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
4 cups blueberries or frozen, thawed
Stir water, sugar and juice in saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Add berries; bring to boil. Reduce heat; simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Cool slightly.
I served the frozen custard with the compote warm and topped it with Nilla wafers for crunch.
Mina Kendig
Gingerbread and Lemon Sandwich CookiesRecipe created by Liz Pearson
Servings: Makes about 30 (large batch: 90)
Ingredients
2 cups and 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour (large batch: 6 cups plus 6 Tbsp.)
2 tsp. baking soda (large batch: 6 tsp.)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon (large batch: 6 tsp.)
2 tsp. ground ginger (large batch: 6 tsp.)
1 tsp. ground allspice (large batch: 3 tsp.)
1 tsp. ground cloves (large batch: 3 tsp.)
1/2 tsp. fine salt (large batch: 1 1/2 tsp.)
18 Tbsp. (2 1/4 sticks) butter , divided, at room temperature (large batch: 54 Tbsp. or 6 sticks plus 6 Tbsp.)
1 cup granulated
sugar , divided (large batch: 3 cups)
1 egg (large batch: 3 eggs)
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract (large batch: 3 Tbsp.)
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses (large batch: 3/4 cup)
2 cups confectioners' sugar , sifted (large batch: 6 cups)
2 Tbsp. lemon juice (large batch: 6 Tbsp.)
2 tsp. zest from 1 lemon (use same lemon as for juice; large batch: use two lemons to extract 6 tsp. of zest)
6 to 8 drops yellow food coloring (optional; large batch: 18 to 24 drops)
DirectionsActive time: 1 hour
Total time: 3 hours
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, and salt; set aside. In a second large bowl, beat 12 tablespoons butter and 3/4 cup granulated sugar with an electric mixer on low speed until pale and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg, vanilla, and molasses, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and beat until smooth. Divide dough between 2 large sheets of parchment paper and roll up snugly, twisting the ends like a candy wrapper, to make two 8-inch logs. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Place remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a shallow dish. Cut dough logs into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Dip the top of each in sugar and transfer to prepared baking sheets, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake until just firm around the edges, about 10 minutes; let cool completely on a rack.
In a large bowl, beat remaining 6 tablespoons butter, confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and zest, and food coloring (if using) with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 2 minutes. To assemble sandwiches, spread frosting onto half the cookies, then top with remaining cookies.
Note: Make the dough a day or two ahead when it suits your schedule, then cut and bake the cookies later when you have a free moment.
