I love Valentine’s Day and always have.  It’s not because I need some grand romantic gesture on that day, it’s just that I am a total girly girl and love all things pink, hearts and chocolate.  I think that these Individual Vanilla Cherry Cakelets would be an adorable and festive dessert to make as a treat for you and your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day.  A simple, yet flavorful vanilla cake is topped with tart and juicy cherries for an individually-sized bite of bliss.

Come on over to Best Friends For Frosting to get the recipe!

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While I was watching the red carpet pre-show for the Golden Globes last Sunday, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as the hosts went on and on about how “freezing” it was in LA.  Living in the midwest my entire life, there is nothing “arctic” about 55 degrees to me!  When the raw temperature drops below 20 degrees people start to add a few more layers before heading outdoors.  But in the spring, by the time the temperature reaches 50, I guarantee you will see people outside exercising in shorts and tank tops.  I feel that our midwest cold winters really allow us to appreciate any warm, tropical vacations that we are fortunate enough to take.  These Lime Coconut Bars will get you feeling closer to a tropical paradise.

Even if you don’t have any plans of putting your toes in the sand anytime soon, these Lime Coconut Bars will make you feel a bit closer to a tropical paradise.

Just the crust of these bars would be great on it’s own as a cookie.  This buttery, white chocolate, coconut crust is topped with a custardy lime mixture that will remind you of a classic lemon bar but with a different citrus as the star.  Go ahead, put a cocktail umbrella in your cup of tea, enjoy one of these tropical-tasting bars and imagine that you can hear the waves crashing against the beach.

in a food processor, pulse butter, brown sugar, flour and salt to combine

add white chocolate and coconut and pulse

press into prepared pan and bake

make filling

pour over crust and bake again

If you are in the mood for citrus my Perfect Lemon Tart will also satisfy your craving!

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A couple of ingredients that immediately invoke panic in me are yeast and egg yolks.  Not just raw egg yolks, but when you are making a custard or pudding-type dessert, and you have to temper egg yolks.  Yep, it sends a bit of a chill down my spine.  I am so afraid of ending up with scrambled eggs or cooked egg chunks in my dessert.  And who wants scrambled eggs and lemon together?  Not me.

Thankfully my mom was in town last week and she helped my conquer this irrational fear I have of cooking egg yolks.

My mom has made many a curd in her day, so she assured me that I wouldn’t end up with an omelet if I attempted to make lemon curd.  And so with a confidence boost from her, I successfully made my own lemon curd!  Now I am already dreaming up other flavors of curd that I can’t wait to try:  lime, clementine…..

We all can use shortcuts from time to time and pre-formed phyllo cups are one of my favorite tricks.  Already baked and perfectly crispy, the sweet or savory filling possibilities are unlimited for the shells.  By simply filling the shells with lemon curd and topping them with a blueberry, the color and texture contrasts were great and the flavor combination was so fresh and perfect for spring.

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Lemon Curd

by Mercedes Porter

Keywords: dessert spread lemon filling spring

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Ingredients (1 1/4 cups curd)

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 eggs
• 4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, frozen and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Instructions

Place lemon juice, sugar and salt in to a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and egg yolks. Slowly pour lemon mixture into eggs whisking constantly to temper. Return mixture to saucepan and heat over medium-low heat stirring constantly until mixture is thickened. It is thick enough when you can drag a spatula along the bottom of the pan and it leaves a trail.

Remove from heat and stir in butter until melted and combined.

Pour curd through a fine metal sieve into another bowl.

Press plastic wrap directly against surface of curd and refrigerate at least an hour before serving.

Recipe adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

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In my last post I shared some of the reasons that I love brunch.  One of the reasons that I failed to mention was that I have so many recipes in the “Breakfast/Brunch” section of my recipe collection that I am dying to try!  I need excuses like hosting or attending brunches to make these recipes because while I do eat breakfast everyday, it is usually not something quite as indulgent as most of the recipes that I want to try are.

My mother-in-law made these muffins with fresh blueberries and the reason that I loved them so much was because of how cakey they were.  Fresh berries can be more expensive this time of year so I made these with a frozen berry blend of blueberries, raspberries and blackberries and they were just as delicious.  The really special part is the crumby streusel topping which provides a nice crunch and extra sweetness.

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Triple Berry Muffins with Streusel Topping

by Mercedes Porter

Keywords: bake breakfast dessert blueberry fruit raspberry muffin

Ingredients (12 muffins)

• 1 1/2 cups flour, plus 1/3 cup for streusel
• 3/4 cup sugar, plus 1/2 cup for streusel
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup berreis (fresh or frozen berries, thawed)
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease or line muffin pan with liners.

In a large bowl, combine 1 1 /2 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder.

Add oil, egg and milk and mix with an electric mixer until well blended.

Fold in blueberries.

To make streusel, in a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, butter and cinnamon with a fork.

Fill muffin cups 1/2-2/3 full of batter and sprinkle tops with streusel.

Bake 22-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean.

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combine dry ingredients for muffins

add oil, egg and milk and mix

fold in berries

combine streusel ingredients in a small bowl

fill muffin pan 1/2-2/3 full

sprinkle the streusel over the batter

bake

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My holiday break left me feeling very refreshed and optimistic about the year to come.  There is something about spending time with family and friends that just seems  to re-center me and remind me of what is truly important in life.  It is our relationships and how we treat each other that makes our lives meaningful and that will leave a lasting impression after we are gone.

With my job, I get to develop at least 10 new relationships every 4 months or so and I just love it because I always get to interact with different personalities.  Have you ever met someone and you are just instantly drawn to that person because he or she seems to exude a positive energy and attitude?  That is the type of person I strive to be.  Some people would consider this to be a negative desire.  They would say that “you cannot please everyone and this is an unrealistic goal”.  But getting everyone to like me is not what I mean.  I know and accept that not every single person that I interact with will like me.  But regardless of how they feel about me, I can sleep well at night knowing that I treated people nicely that day.  I think if we all made a small effort to be conscious of the way that we communicate with others  and do some simple good deeds, it could greatly improve the condition of our society.

Hold the door for someone behind you.  Ask someone if they need help carrying their groceries.  Tell someone that you appreciate their service.  You do not have to be rich or Mother Teresa to make a difference.

Ok, I will get off of my soapbox now and move on to the sweet of the day.

I love recipes that are fairly simple but result in something that looks fancy and impressive and tastes delicious.  When I saw recipes for these pastry braids over at Willow Bird Baking I hoped that the recipe was as easy as it seemed and that the resulting pastry was as yummy as it looked.  I was not disappointed.  The filling in my braid was a simple mixture of strawberry preserves and frozen blueberries, but you could really be creative and use anything you can think of to fill it (i.e. apple butter, nutella, fresh or frozen fruit, etc.).

The pastry itself is flakey and pie-crust-like and it is scrumptious when drizzled with a simply glaze and eaten warm out of the oven.

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Strawberry-filled Pastry Braid

by adapted from Willow Bird Baking

Keywords: bake breakfast dessert bread fruit pastry

Ingredients

For the pastry and filling

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 ounces cream cheese
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 3/4 cup strawberry preserves (or filling of your choice)

For the glaze

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 Tbsp of milk
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Instructions

For the pastry and filling

Preheat oven to 425 and grease a baking sheet.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

Add butter and cream cheese and pulse to combine.

Add milk and extract and pulse again until the dough just comes together.

Place dough onto floured work surface and knead gently for 15 seconds.

Roll out dough between to pieces of wax paper and form into long rectangle.

Remove top sheet of wax paper and flip rolled-out dough onto prepared baking sheet.

Mentally divide the dough into 3 equal sections lengthwise. The filling will be placed in the middle section, but before placing the filling, cut the outer thirds of dough diagonally in 1 1/2 inch strips.

Place filling in middle third leaving 1/2 inch between the filling and the strips.

Fold the strips over alternating sides to give the dough the braided appearance.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until pastry is lightly browned.

For the glaze

In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and almond to make the glaze.

Pour over warm pastry and serve.

NOTE: The pastry may be formed a day ahead without baking and then kept in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap until ready to bake.

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 combine flour, baking powder and salt in a food processor

add butter and cream cheese and pulse to combine

add other ingredients and pulse into a loose dough, then turn out onto floured work surface and knead for 15 seconds

roll out dough between two sheets of was paper until long rectangle is formed and place formed dough onto baking sheet

cut outer thirds of dough into 1 1/2-inch strips at a diagonal

place filling in the center leaving 1/2 inch between filling and cut strips

fold strips over on top of the filling alternating sides to give the braided appearance

 bake about 15 minutes or until lightly browned

make glaze and pour over warm pastry

slice and enjoy while still warm (or re-warm)

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