Classic Lemon Cream Pie (1960's)

Mmmm...what says "Happy Spring" better than a Lemon Cream Pie?  What about "Happy St. Patrick's Day!"?  It's the ultimate "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow! 

To my knowledge, I've only had Lemon Meringue Pie once in my life, and did not care for it.  But I just knew that I'd like a Lemon Cream Pie- in fact, I was prepared to love it...and I did.  =)

 I wanted to make a really tasty pie, and preferably one from scratch, so I began to hunt through cookbooks that should have held the recipe that I was looking for...and turned up nothing.  That's right- nothing.  So I went to the computer, and the 2nd blog I clicked on was a winner!  (I did try to look around a bit more, but this was the only one I found.)  RECIPE HERE!!!

Notes:
~Mom was very nice to cook up the filling for me! =)  Thanks, Mom!
~We used regular cream cheese, and next time will try upping it from 12 oz to 16 oz.
~I don't think that I'd put the lemon peel on top next time...or maybe just less.

~I made changes to the crust- I used one of Mom's pie crusts (recipe here), and Cooks Illustrated said to roll your regular crust in 1/2 Cup crushed Graham Crackers and pre-bake (lined with fork-pricked foil) for the best cream pie crust. So I did- it was a mess, but worth it!
Place oven rack lower than normal, bake 15 minutes at 400, remove foil, turn pan and bake another 8-10 minutes longer. (I wish I'd covered just the edges at that point.)

Thank you, Erin and Erin's Grandma-- we just love the pie, and you are right, I could NOT find another one like it, not even a cute copy of the original 1960's pamphlet, titled Philly Pies.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(I'll share this post on "Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson")

Pineapple Lush Cake (recipe too)

Let's see...I got this recipe from my new blog & Facebook Friend: Akram over at Akram's Ideas

 I baked a cake from scratch, and not being a fan of Cool-Whip (and feeling like there was enough sugar in this recipe), I replaced it with whipped unsweetened cream.   I would make this cake again~ it was easy and impressive.

 
Notes:
~ Cake: "Hot Milk Sponge Cake" from "Better Homes & Gardens".
~ I did not make this "diet" =)
~For the first time ever, I tried to add Gelatin to the whipped cream to stabilize it-- ended up not miking in, and the result was good sized lumps of gelatin... =(  I guess that I need to practise that technique!  =)
~ Next time, I think that I'd serve additional whipped cream
~ Original recipe for Pineapple Lush Cake is HERE
~ Turning this into a trifle (with pineapple chunks) would be good too!

Easy Lemon Squares (recipe too!)

 Easy Lemon Squares from the Recipe Box

Easy Lemon Squares

Crust:
1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
4 Tablespoons Butter
1 cup white Flour
(maybe add a pinch of salt next time)

Filling:
3 large Eggs (3/4 cup)
3/4 cup White Sugar
2 teaspoons fresh grated Lemon Rind
1/3 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
3 Tablespoons white Flour
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt

1) Preheat oven to 350

2) Using a reasonably sized bowl & large fork, combine the crust ingredients- keep working it till the mixture resembles fine crumbs.  Gently press mixture into the bottom of an 8X8 baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.   
While it bakes, start on the filling!   
Remove from oven...(I let it cool maybe 5 minutes on a wire rack. Cooks Illustrated says to fill while hot, so that's kind of what I did.)

3) To prepare the filling, beat eggs at medium speed until foamy.  Add all the rest of the filling ingredients, and beat until well-blended.  Carefully grease the edges of the pan before you pour mixture over the hot partially baked crust.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until set.  Cool on wire rack.   Cut into 16 squares. 

Topping:
When the bars are cool & on the serving plate, sift Powdered Sugar on them. 

Note: 
~If you sift Powdered Sugar on them too soon, the sugar will melt right in to the Lemon Squares...so you'll have to do like me, and re-sprinkle them when it's time to serve. =)

Photo from a 1954 Family Circle Magazine...

Blueberry Gateau (recipe too!)

Blueberry Gateau (cake) clipped from a Country Living magazine (August 2001)

Delicious, simple, easy, fresh berry cake. I have plans to bake more! =)

Let me know if you need a better copy....

Notes:
~ Next time I think that I would use more salt- say 1/4t.
~ Maybe I would add a little lemon to the cake batter....
~ Thanks to Mom's suggestion, I only baked the cake for 50 minutes, and I probably should have paid a little more attention to it and probably could have pulled it a few minutes earlier. 
~ I could have used Hawkins Berries, but I did not have them at the time. You could~ find them HERE!

~ Here again, I used golden free-range eggs (from:  www.facebook.com/GuadalupeRanch)!

Serve a Blueberry Gateau to anyone, any time of day! =)

Baked Alaska Birthday Cake

Week 28, recipe 24 ~ Baked Alaska Birthday Cake found on page 90

The last cake of this baking challenge is also my very first Baked Alaska! (For my 30th birthday!)  The Baked Alaska is an impressive cake, and really rather easy- keep that in mind if your husband's boss ever comes to dinner (Does that even happen anymore these days?)!  After watching some YouTubes on the subject, I decided to bake the cake, fill (with raspberry jam from Egypt) and freeze it ahead.  Leaving the topping/assembling with the fresh Raspberries, Vanilla Ice Cream & Meringue for last minute...worked pretty well!
 As it was I ended up being a jack-in-the-box! (playing the game & getting the cake in the oven!) 

Notes: 
~(mostly) Step by step photos can be found HERE.
~The Ice Cream I chose was Breyers natural vanilla (the shortest ingredient list!) 
~Changes: I used salted butter, my 3" deep 8" springform pan- I'm glad that I did!
~After being SO careful with the cake baking, the freezer dried my cake out, and I only made it the day before...I don't think that I would freeze it next time.
~I took the cake out about an hour before,but it was still at least partly frozen when I served it.  (not so good I think)
~ The frozen cake may have helped the ice cream not melt!
~I put together a little YouTube playlist of Baked Alaska tutorials for you (& me!). You can find it HERE. 
~The lovely yellow color is due to the fact I used golden free-range eggs (from: www.facebook.com/GuadalupeRanch). I also used the DeLaGarza's egg whites in the Meringue.  I sure do like eating eggs that I know are good healthy eggs, from good healthy chickens, and a good healthy family! =)
~I think that the filling/cake/ice cream choices are limitless. 
~Oh! If you make an Italian Meringue instead of the one in this book, you would use a sugar syrup instead of just adding sugar.  Pro: no crunchy sugar granules   Con: more work 
~I'll bet that it would be easier to make a Baked Alaska style cake with a sheet cake or 9x13 pan...I may have to try that...  

I'd like to think that this baby got a Baked Alaska for his birthday!
(American Standard ad)

Strawberry Ice Cream Angel Cake

Week 25, recipe 22 ~ Strawberry Ice Cream Angel Cake found on page 62

 My first angel-food cake...instead of being about 4" tall, it was less than 2" tall! =)  I think that I had complications during the mixing...I felt like I was folding in the egg whites okay, but I could HEAR the air bubbles popping. =[  Also, the bottom of the cake seemed to be a little crunchy with sugar granules. =]  
This was one of those split in half, fill & freeze in the spring-form pan, and then get it out 30 minutes before serving recipes, and perfect for a Valentine party!
 

I believe that this picture is a gas range ad.

Notes: 

 ~I kind of wonder if British ice cream is harder- more like homemade ice cream, because 30 minutes thaw time is too long & "melty"!
~ Strawberry Jelly is hard to find in all parts of the country I found out, but I did not want to order it from Amazon, so I went to Big Lots, and got the most non lumpy looking preserves with the best looking ingredient list- it was Polish. (I just picked out the whole strawberries) 
  
~READ more clearly next time- the strawberry "jelly" was suppose to be the bottom layer, topped with the strawberry ice cream, but I divided it (& so had to use more) between the top and bottom- like a sandwich!
 ~I thought that I would use the dental floss & tooth pick trick to cut the cake in half...let me tell you- it may work fine on a regular cake, but not the Angel Cake! Angel food cakes are too rubbery/firm...as I was pulling, I could not help thinking of one of those lose weight ads- you know the kind with the tape measure cutting into the flesh... 
~It was not a hard cake to make, I'd try it again. =)
~Rather than buying wimpy off season strawberries to top it, I gave it a dusting of powdered sugar.

Only 9 more days (& 2 cakes!) to enter the cookbook giveaway!  (or tell your friends to enter)

Middle Eastern Orange Cake

Week 24, recipe 21 ~ Middle Eastern Orange Cake found on page 99

This cake was another first for me~ it was a mostly ground almond cake with only a little white flour, but it had 1 & 1/4 cups eggs and most of 2 oranges cooked & pureed for the wet ingredients.  
I thought that this would be a dry cake, or at least not keep very well--but get this: at approximately 36 hours after baking, it is still lovely moist! =)

Notes: 
~a 9" cake pan is NOT big enough! I would suggest using 2- 8" cake pans instead.
~I used 2 Organic juice oranges, because the thought of eating whole non-organic oranges sounded yucky- to me and Mom.
~It needs salt...I don't know how much, but we ended up buttering the cake slices before we topped with lightly sweetened whipped cream.
~I simmered the oranges for about 1h. and 40min. before I pulled them out, cut them in half, removed the "pips" and ran them through the food processor.
~The cake was done baking just shy of 60 minutes.

This is not my kitchen, but I just love it! =) Do you?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Frosted Lime Bars

Week 20, recipe 17 ~ Frosted Lime Bars found on page 58

Elizabeth brought her 3000 piece jigsaw puzzle over- it completely covered the top of our kitchen table!  What we accomplished was a mere drop in the bucket, but it was fun, and we ended the evening with this cake.  I thought that "Frosted Lime Bars" would be something like lemon bars, so I confess I was a little disappointed that it was a cake that looked like cornbread, with green "whiskers" on top!  But it tasted SO good!

How do you like this little kitchen?

Notes:
~The flavor was very good, but that was no surprise because it had 2t. lime peel in the cake, and the topping was 6T. fresh squeezed lime juice, 4t. lime peel & 1/2c. sugar.   Very bright!
~This cake is very much like a pound cake- equal parts butter/sugar/flour/eggs.
~Here again, the lovely yellow color is due to the fact I used golden free-range eggs (from: www.facebook.com/GuadalupeRanch)!
~Be careful with the baking time- Mrs. Mayhew said 40 minutes, it tested done at 35 minutes, but we found the center was NOT done!  I just cut it out, placed it in a little loaf pan- and tossed it in the oven for 15ish minutes. =)

Classic Cheesecake without Blackberry Topping

Week 19, recipe 16 ~ Classic Cheesecake without Blackberry Topping found on page 80

I've only made one other cheesecake before this- and it was your typical cheesecake.  This one called for separating the 3 eggs, and beating the yolks with the sugar, adding the rest of the ingredients except the egg whites, which you beat into stiff peaks, and then carefully fold in.  I can now say that I like folding in egg whites...it is fun!

Dad is a Plain Cheesecake man, and I am NOT a fan of Blackberries, so those are the reasons why I did not make the topping.  
Mom topped hers with Peach Jam.
Dad used Peach Jam & Picalilli.
I ate mine plain.
Sarah had Chocolate syrup.

Notes:
~I used approximately 20 squares/one package/140g Graham Crackers for the crust.
~The baking time was off again- 45 minutes was too long.
~This is a Plain Cheesecake, the lovely yellow color is due to the fact I used golden free-range eggs (from: www.facebook.com/GuadalupeRanch).
~Maggie calls for 2 teaspoons of dry lemon peel, I thought that it was too much- a little bitter or harsh?  Next time I would cut back.
 

Random cute family, in Grandma's kitchen

Passion Cake (recipe too!)

Week 16, recipe 14 ~ Passion Cake found on page 95 

 I'd never had a Passion Cake before...or even heard of one...come to find out, it's a carrot cake with mashed banana in it!  =)
2 of the Hutchins' girls (ahemm...ladies) came and helped us eat & critique this cake.  
I confess...as much fun as it is to make all these new cakes, I'm really wanting to make  something tried and true. =/
 

Notes:
~The cake would have been MUCH better had I remembered to SET the kitchen timer!   ....as it was it was perfectly over baked. (I'm being sarcastic, you know!)
~I added 1/2 tea. Salt...another time I think I may increase that a little.
~Mara Hubbard's Organic Pecans (that we soaked and dried) are IN and ON this cake! =)
~The frosting:  Not having the fresh Orange Peel that the recipe called for, I used about 1 & 1/4tea. Powdered Orange peel & maybe 1T. Orange Juice Concentrate. The light orange flavor was really nice with the carrot/banana cake.  
~Another time I would add crushed pineapple to the frosting.

Iced Lemon and Ginger Cake (recipe too!)

Week 15, recipe 13 ~ Iced Lemon and Ginger Cake found on page 16 

3 Hales joined the 3 McKees for a game (Sequence) and cake evening...we had fun, served the cake with fresh, raw cow's milk (from P&E dairy).  The surprise in this cake, is that besides the powdered ginger, the recipe calls for minced crystallized ginger!

Notes:
~It needed salt. First I would use salted butter instead of unsalted, and maybe even up the salt to 2 pinches. 
~I baked it for only 50 minutes (because of the glass pan), and it was definitely underdone.   Next time I think that I'd try the 60 minutes that the recipe called for.
 ~I used a Pyrex glass dish 7 1/2 X 11 inches (2.2 quarts) and we cut it into 8 generous servings.
~While the recipe called for some Light Corn Syrup, in the future I would try Agave Syrup or Honey or some kind of blend of Agave/Honey/Vegetable Glycerin.

~FYI: for the frosting I used 3T. fresh squeezed lemon juice and 1&1/4cup powdered sugar....another time I would want to try and add a little butter.

Pumpkin and Nut Muffins with Brown Butter Frosting

Week 13, recipe 12
 ~ Pumpkin and Nut Muffins with Brown Butter Frosting 
                                                                                found on page 48

Yum.  We called them (& served them as) Cupcakes.  I rushed the frosting butter, so it did not brown properly, but it was good anyway!  =)  We served them at Papa & Grandma's 36th wedding anniversary/night before Thanksgiving Dinner.

Notes: 
~I substituted organic white flour for whole wheat.
~Next time I would cut the vanilla a bit in the frosting...it was a little strong and add a pinch of salt to the muffins

 Did you have a good Thanksgiving?

 

Summer Fruit Roulade

Week 11, recipe 10 ~ Summer Fruit Roulade found on page 70

This is not a lemon cake (It's actually coconut!), but the eggs were VERY rich with golden yolks.   
Before I baked this cake I was discussing it with Mom & Sarah...I was so afraid that it would have the same problems as the last Roulade that I made...Sarah suggested that I bake it for less time, and Mom suggested that I try rolling the cake up in a towel.  So, I did followed both suggestions and it turned out!!!  It was actually nicely round, but by the time we ate it the cake had sagged into an oval shape.  Oh well, it still tasted good!  


 Notes:  
~I baked it for 15 minutes instead of 20 minutes (spring back, not firm)
~And I rolled it in a powdered sugared towel. 
~It called for "creamed coconut" , I used Coconut Cream, that I weighed up, chilled & grated).
~My filling plans didn't turn out so I ended up using a half-pint of our homemade tart plum jam (very good btw).
~The recipe called for Kirsch, but we used 3 parts raspberry syrup and 1 part brandy for the filling cream and I whipped extra cream for serving and used only raspberry syrup, no brandy and about 1/2 T of powdered sugar.  
~Another time I wouldn't bother with the brandy.  The raspberry syrup was great!  
~The lovely yellow color is due to the fact I used golden free-range eggs (from: www.facebook.com/GuadalupeRanch).

This is the way it is supposed to work!

Simple Almond Cake

Week 10, recipe 9 ~ Simple Almond Cake found on page 22

The only sweetener was in the cake- the strawberries & cream were unsweetened, so on the whole this dessert was not too sweet!  Rather like a European pastry.  =)

Notes:
~Baked faster- mine was done at 21-22 minutes.
~We did not have "Orange Liqueur", so we used 1 part Brandy and 3 parts Organic Orange Juice Concentrate.
~Next time, I would put all the orange & brandy on the underside of the top layer, or double the amount, because it was NOT enough to be divided between the 2 layers. (does that even make sense?)
~This cake would (to quote Sarah) "be perfect for a tea party".

Pineapple and Coconut Squares

 Week 8, recipe 7 ~  
                  Pineapple and Coconut Squares found on page 42

Mmm...this week's cake has butter, coconut and pineapple in the cake,  topped with a butter & cream cheese frosting, sprinkled with toasted coconut!   (yes, the cake had the taste of butter)
I think that my Papa would like this one....

 Notes:
~I strained the crushed pineapple as instructed, and then went and accidentally dumped the whole thing in the cake anyway...but I don't believe that it suffered any.  =)
~Check it early, the cake was a little (at least) over done at 27minutes, so my suggestion is 20-25min. 
~This recipe called for toasted coconut...I've never toasted coconut before, so I looked around and found the instructions ((HERE- I used the stove top method)).
~This cake made me think of what an old cookbook or magazine may call  "lunch box cake"...just a quick, easy cake that a good wife or mother could just pop in the lunch box.

Maybe this Mother made such a recipe for her three girls!?  =)

Detour ahead~ Fall Pear (or Apple) Cake from the Recipe Box (recipe, too!)

Week 6 ~ Fall Pear (or Apple) Cake

Why did I take a detour this week?  Because Fall is in the air, and I've attended 2 bonfire parties,  and the pears & apples are in season (or coming in season),  and I just HAD to make an old favorite this week!  =)

Notes:
~We like to put our extra pears in the freezer pre-measured, and ready to go.
 ~If you make cupcakes, check them in 12-15 min.
~The original cake recipe came from a C&H sugar package, but the following is the way I make it:

                     Fall Pear (or Apple) Cake
3 eggs
3/4 Cup Oil (rice bran or olive)
1 tea. Vanilla

2-1/4 Cup flour (wheat, white or white spelt)
Or:  ((((Gluten-Free: 3/4 cup Brown Rice flour, 3/4 cup White Rice flour (the sticky kind- you can get it at the Asian markets) & 3/4 cup Sorghum flour (Bob's Red Mill) and 1/2 tea. Xanthan Gum (you could use unflavored gelatin- look up how much to substitute))))
1 Cup Sucanat (or brown sugar, or white with a bit of black strap molasses)
1 tea. Baking powder
1/2 tea. Baking soda
1 tea. Salt
1-1/2 tea. Cinnamon
1-1/4 tea. Nutmeg

3 Cups (18 oz) Grated Pears or Apples
1/2 to 1-1/2 Cup chopped/ground nuts

Heat oven to 350.
Stir together flour, sweetener, powder, soda, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg- set aside.
With and electric mixer beat eggs, oil, and vanilla.
Gradually beat the dry ingredients into egg mixture until blended.
Stir in pears and nuts.

Spoon batter into a greased Bundt pan.
Bake 45-50 minutes (Gluten-Free cooks a bit faster, so check on it sooner), until skewer inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in pan.

Serve warm or cold. With or without frosting.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cream Cheese "Frosting"

1- 8oz package of cream cheese (really soft)

1 cup powdered sugar** (sifted)

2 dribbles of vanilla**  Beat (with an electric mixer) the really soft cream cheese,
and add the powdered sugar & vanilla- keep beating till well mixed and gooey/goopy! =)

(This was a nice amount of frosting- 15 cupcakes had a generous amount- if I used less, it would have gone further)
If it is too stiff, add a tiny amount of milk or cream.


** You can use as little as 1/4 c. powdered sugar, and if you do, only use 1 dribble of vanilla.

Orange and Almond Sponge Cake (recipe too!)

Week 5, recipe 5 ~ 
                Orange and Almond Sponge Cake found on page 21

First let me say a big thank you to my sponsors~ whether you gave me cash for butter, eggs & chocolate or more encouragement than I deserve...it all means a lot to me and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!  Love you guys!  (you can see the list at the bottom of the right sidebar)

Thinking of this cake in particular, thanks goes to my Mom, who showed me (one more time) how to "fold", did a lot of cleaning up after me, and most importantly declared the cakes done baking at 17 minutes (instead of the prescribed 20-25)!    

I may be prejudiced, but I think that this was hands down THE BEST cake I have made so far (yes, I realize that I've only made 5!).  The almonds in the cake gave it a depth of flavor and combined with the lovely butter flavor...YUM is all I can say. Happy sigh!   
Thank you you game-playing-cake-eaters for coming to the party! =)   There were 7 of us, and we polished off that lovely, not very sweet 2 (short) layer cake.  European desserts are some of the best!

Was this an "Orange and Almond Sponge Cake" baking Grandma?

Notes:
~FYI: My very favorite kind of cake to make is a frosted one.
~This cake cooks faster than Maggie said- it was "springing back" at 17 minutes.
~I used dry orange peel & OJ concentrate & water instead of fresh, NEXT time I would use just OJ concentrate.
~The batter is more like a runny biscuit dough than a cake batter- just be brave, and smooth it in the pans as well as you can! 
~I added the extract to the eggs.
~And just so you know, I've been weighing out the ingredients, not measuring them.  =)

Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake (recipe too!)

Week 2, recipe 2 ~ Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake found on page 15

I have never made a real live, official, honest-to-goodness Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake before this!  (I've made lemon poppy seed muffins - both the good recipe from Mrs. Vrazo & the cheater recipe from Betty Crocker, but never a cake!)   It was good...I would make it again. =)

Notes:

~I have come to the conclusion that Maggie Mayhew did not (at least as a general rule) time the baking of her cakes very well.....as an example, look at this cake:  The recipe said to bake it "1 & 1/4 to 1 & 1/2" hours!  I set the timer early (52 min), and it was still over cooked and very brown (the apple cake was over done, too...)...I think that hereafter I shall have to set the timer for less time...or even less time....sigh! 

~Because the cake was brown, I served it upside-down. =)

~And because the cake was a little dry, I served it with melted Apricot Jam (leftover from the last cake) and a little spray of "tinned cream".   Happy thought indeed...the flavors went very nicely together!

~Speaking of flavors, the lemon in the cake is lovely- bright but not excessive. =)
 ~(Mom says that it would be better if twice as much glaze was made, and the cake was glazed on both sides)

 The Recipe:

Applecake Bars

 Week 1, recipe 1 ~ Applecake Bars found on page 56  

I think they look very pretty- I've never made a layered treat of any kind before this one...half the batter, half the apples and do it again. =)  The glaze is just "Lady Liberty" Apricot Preserves from Egypt (melted), found at Big Lots for only one dollar!

Sarah said that she liked the topping:  (Demerara sugar/Cinnamon/Apricot glaze)
"It's a really nice topping for people who don't like frosting"

Notes:
~You should serve this cake while still somewhat warm- it kind of dried out in a few hours.
~The recipe calls for "3 Tbsp. baking powder", I did not think about it being a lot and just put it in- while baking it smelled really strong...but it tasted fine! =)
~I would make this again, but would use more apples!

Maybe this recipe should be served in a kitchen like this one: