Goodies By Anna

Meyer Lemon Blueberry Streusel Cake

With all the Meyer Lemons available this time of year I like to incorporate them into my baking as much as possible. Meyer Lemons have a milder tartness compared to a standard lemon so you get a less intense tart lemon flavor that works well when combined with other flavors. I paired the Meyer Lemon with fresh blueberries to create this easy to make and delicious Meyer Lemon Blueberry Streusel Cake. The cake is a delicious cross between a coffee cake and a fruit crisp.

The lemon and blueberries are a natural pair and lend a lightness and sweetness to the cake that makes it a perfect Sunday morning brunch favorite! The topping is a simple streusel that gives a little crunch and texture. I used fresh berries but if you use frozen berries make sure that you thaw them and drain any excess liquid before incorporating into the batter. Here is how you can make your own.

Meyer Lemon Blueberry Streusel Cake (adapted from several recipes)

Streusel:

1/4 cup + 2 TBL. flour

1/4 cup + 2 TBL. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

4 TBL. cold butter cut into cubes

Cake:

1 3/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups butter room temp.

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp lemon extract

Zest of 1 Meyer Lemon

2-3 TBL. Meyer Lemon Juice

3/4 cup non-fat greek yogurt (I used FAGE)

8 ounce fresh blueberries mixed with 1 TBL. flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" round cake pan with Pam for Baking. Set aside.

Streusel: In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. Add the chilled, cubed butter and work into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter or your hands until it looks crumbly. Keep streusel in the fridge until ready to use.

Cake: In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time until incorporated.

Mix in the vanilla extract, lemon extract, lemon juice, lemon zest and yogurt. Add the flour mixture and beat until just combined. Remove bowl from mixer and slowly fold the blueberries into the batter. Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top.

Cover batter with cold streusel mixture and bake for 55-65 minutes or until the top no long looks jiggly and is a golden brown. Let the cake cool for 15 minutes then run an offset spatula around the edges to loosen. Invert cake out of pan and then turn upright onto a plate to cool completely before serving.

Blueberry Cream Biscuits with Mixed Berry Sauce

The latest edition of Better Homes & Gardens has the most delicious and easy recipe perfect for a spring Sunday morning breakfast: Blueberry Cream Biscuits with Mixed Berry Sauce. This simple biscuit recipe is studded with fresh juicy blueberries and topped with a delicious berry sauce (I used a combination of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries) for even more flavor.

There is no butter or shortening in these biscuits and no need to roll the dough before baking. The recipe calls for shaping the dough into a 7" x 8" square then cut into 12 squares. I like my biscuits browned all over so I used a scoop to create 12 separate drop biscuits that I topped with colored sparkling sugar for a little color and sweet crunch. Here is how you can make your own.

You can find the entire recipe here. Start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment or Silpat and set aside. 

Biscuits: In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and freshly grated nutmeg.  Toss in 1 cup of fresh blueberries with flour mixture. Stir cream (I added 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Bean Paste to the cream for a little extra flavor) into flour/blueberry mixture until moistened and dough comes together. I used an ice cream scoop to portion out 12 portions of dough onto the prepared baking pan and topped with a little colored sparkling sugar.

Bake the biscuits for 17 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with Mixed Berry Sauce.

Mixed Berry Sauce: In a medium sauce pan combine 1 cup of berries (I used a raspberry, blueberry, blackberry mix) with 1/3 cup sugar and 2 Tbsp. water and bring to a simmer. Cook until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tsp. vanilla extract and another 1 cup of berries. Serve warm or room temperature with biscuits.

Easter Recap- Easter Goodie Buffet

I've posted a little recap of our Easter Goodie Buffet. The Bunny S'Mores are all bagged and tied with pretty ribbons as are the Pinwheel Cookies.

The Rockroad Fudge was made with leftover marshmallow scraps from the Bunny S'Mores. Lots of  spring colored candies and foil covered chocolates galore.... sugar overload!

 

Pinwheel Lollypop Sugar Cookies

These vibrantly colored cookies on a stick are another Easter treat that I made, but I really think these would be cute enough for any occasion! I love the Alice In Wonderland Ride at Disneyland and these cookies are my interpretation of the zany pops of color and bright wild accents seen throughout the ride.

Easter seemed like the perfect time to try them out and I think they look super festive and fun for adults and kids alike. The cookie is a basic slice and bake sugar cookie with the added twist of the different colored layers of dough to give the colorful spiral effect and then rolled in non-pariel sprinkles.

Once the dough is cut, a stick is inserted and then the cookies are baked. No need for icing, these cookies are fabulously fun looking already! Here is how you can make your own.

Make a double batch of your favorite sugar cookie recipe ( I used this recipe) and divide the dough into three equal pieces. Place one piece of dough back into the mixer and add desired food coloring. I used a bright green, fuchsia and orange. Mix dough and food coloring until completely incorporated. When the dough is the correct color, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes before rolling. Repeat with other two pieces of dough. When dough is chilled, remove one color from the fridge and roll out to an approximately 1/8" thick rectangle that is approximately 12" wide x 17" long. Place rolled rectangle aside and roll out next color of dough into the same size rectangle. Brush first rectangle with a little water and place second rectangle evenly over the first rectangle and press together. Roll out remaining color of dough into a rectangle, brush a little water on top the dough and place on the top pressing all three layers together. Starting on the 12" side, tightly roll up the rectangle into a fat roll. When you get to the end, pinch the seam of dough together to seal.

Fill a 9" x 13" baking pan with non-pariel sprinkles and carefully press the dough roll into the sprinkles covering all sides of the dough. Wrap sprinkle covered dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until very firm.

Using a sharp serrated knife, slice the dough into approximately 1/2" thick rounds.  When all the dough rounds have been sliced, carefully slide a stick into each of the rounds and place in the freezer for at least 1 hour before baking. Half an hour before baking line a baking sheet with parchment or silpat and set aside. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

When the oven is preheated place the dough rounds with sticks evenly on prepared baking sheet and bake for 16-20 minutes. You want to cookies to bake up pretty firm so they don't fall off the stick! Let cookies cool completely on a wire rack before placing into a stand or wrapping for gift giving. I was lucky enough that some great friends (Hi Chris & Gayle!) gave me an extra piece of butcher block left over from their kitchen remodel and my super clever dad turned it into this handy-dandy cookie pop holder that you see in the pics. 

Bunny S'Mores

With Easter right around the corner I decided to make some sweet treats perfect for the holiday and one of these is the Bunny S'More. The Bunny S'Mores is just like a regular s'more only shaped like a bunny and made with delicious homemade buttery crunchy graham crackers and homemade pillowy soft Vanilla Bean marshmallows. The grahams are dunked in bittersweet chocolate and decorated with a bit of white chocolate and sparkling sanding sugar.

Each Bunny S'more is around 4" tall and around 1 1/2" thick but you could use any size bunny cutters to make these sweet treats. Mini Bunny S'Mores would be really cute too! Here is how you can make your own.

 

 

Graham Cracker Bunnies: Start by making the graham cracker bunnies. I made a double batch of this graham cracker recipe and I got 15 four-inch sandwiches. After rolling and cutting the bunny shapes, place cut bunnies in the freezer. Let the bunnies freeze for around 30 minutes then bake for 14- 16 minutes or until golden brown. Let bunnies cool completely.

Vanilla Bean Marshmallow Bunnies: To make the marshmallow bunny centers you will need a half sheet pan to create marshmallow that isn't too thick. You can find the entire marshmallow recipe here. Line the half sheet pan with aluminum foil and spray with Pam. Set pan aside. Make marshmallow according to the directions but to make these Vanilla Bean Marshmallows you will need to add a teaspoon or two of Vanilla Paste or scrape out the inside of a vanilla bean for the seeds. After spreading the marshmallow evenly in the prepared pan, top with sifted powdered sugar and let sit for a few hours or overnight. When marshmallow is set, carefully peel it away from the aluminum foil and cut out the bunny shapes using the bunny cookie cutter sprayed with Pam. Set bunny marshmallows aside.

Assembly: Line a baking sheet with parchment or Silpat and set aside. Separate the bunny grahams into "tops" and bottoms". Melt and temper bittersweet chocolate (you can use candy melts if you don't want to temper real chocolate). Carefully dunk the outside of the "tops" into the chocolate pressing down into the chocolate to cover the sides of the graham cracker. Flip over letting the excess chocolate drip back into the pan and place the graham cracker on the parchment lined baking sheet. Continue until all the "tops" are covered. Repeat with the "bottoms", the chocolate will cover the outside of the bottoms. Of course you can completely cover your graham crackers in chocolate too!! Set chocolate covered grahams aside to allow the chocolate to dry.

 Melt a little white chocolate in the microwave and place in a piping bag. Pipe a little white chocolate onto the inside of the bottom graham cracker and top with a marshmallow bunny. Pipe a little white chocolate on the inside of the top graham cracker and press onto the top of the marshmallow. Repeat with all bunnies.

When all the bunnies are assembled us the remaining white chocolate to pipe a small eye and a tail on each bunny covering the white chocolate with sanding sugar before it dries. Let sanding sugar sit for a few minutes then tap off extra and brush away any stray sugar crystals. Store the finished bunnies in an airtight container or package individually in clear bags tied with a ribbon for gift giving!

Update: I think it is important to coat both sides of the bunny graham crackers in chocolate. I found out the hard way that the exposed graham crackers soak all the moisture out of the marshmallows and leave them dried out and crumbly while the graham crackers get soggy....Still edible but not the taste I was going for.... However, if the graham crackers are completely coated in chocolate and the marshmallow are lightly toasted (like i did with the heart s'mores here).  The chocolate creates a barrier between the cracker and the marshmallow and toasting the marshmallow gives a more s'mores like flavor!