Lavender Mint Lemonade

The forecast highs for today and tomorrow are 104. No. Just…no. It's MAY for goodness sakes. I expect this in July, but May??

The pool hasn't even opened for the summer yet.

End of rant.

So while I had planned to make lemon curd, and therefore yummy baked goods this week to post I gave up. It's time to call an audible on all cooking plans this week because my oven is not going on if I can help it for the next two days. The roast chicken that was going to be our dinner tonight is getting bumped to the end of the week when it will be a comparatively chilly 93.

Instead of lemon curd and it's ensuing frilly baked goods, I bring you refreshing lemonade.

It is so easy to make, and a really fun way to get the kids into the kitchen in the summer. I amped up the flavor here with some lavender and mint to make it a touch more sophisticated, but you could easily leave those out of the recipe if you want.

I think this is the base for all sorts of lovely summertime treats…you could freeze it to make popsicles, add some gin or vodka to make an adults only version or make a really killer Arnold Palmer.

If this heat keeps up, there's a good chance I will try all of those by Friday!

What's your favorite way to cool down when the weather heats up? 

Lavender Mint Lemonade
Ingredients:

1/4 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup culinary lavender
2 cups sugar
2 cups water

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
5-6 cups cold water

To start, make a simple syrup. Put the sugar and water in a saucepan and boil. When it comes to a steady boil, add the lavender and mint. To infuse the mint and lavender you have a few options. I used an oversized loose tea/spice infuser (like this one), but you could also tie them inside a bundle of cheesecloth or just add them directly to the water/sugar mixture and strain it at the end.

Boil until the mixture reduces slightly and thickens so that it will coat the back of a spoon dipped into it.
Take off the heat and let come to room temperature. At this point, remove the herbs by taking the infuser out or straining.

Add the lemon juice and 1 cup of simple syrup to a pitcher and stir in 3-4 cups water. Taste and then continue adding water slowly until you are happy with the flavor, usually about 5 cups for me.

Any leftover simple syrup can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container.

Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This week has been frigid in Oklahoma. We've had snow and ice (much less than our northern counterparts of course!) and subzero wind chills. Oh that wind! Rogers and Hammerstein were not kidding when they wrote those famous lyrics: "Oklahoma! Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain!"Some days I feel like it is just going to sweep us all right over the border into Texas.

In the midst of these cold dreary days this week I wanted to make something with a bright flavor for contrast. Somewhere around Tuesday my brain became fixated on lemons and I could not stop thinking about them until I had made something with them. Am I the only that happens to? Yes? That's what I was afraid of.

Lemon cakes are one of those recipes that work in almost any occasion. It will brighten things up in the dead of winter and cool you down in the worst of the summer heat. It's like the little black dress of the food world: always appropriate and chic.

I've tried a number of lemon cakes over the years and while they were all good, they weren't quite what I wanted. So I took my favorite pound cake and started tweaking. I added some lemon zest to the cake to bring the flavor in there without it going over the top lemon. Then I made a glaze to soak into the top layer of the cake and make the flavor pop without making the whole cake sticky. The result was perfect. It was crisp and bright without being cloyingly sweet or overly tart.

What are your favorite ways to brighten up these dreary winter days? 




Lemon Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Adapted from Joy the Baker Cookbook and Cup of Jo
Ingredients

For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup butter softened (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
zest of 2 lemons
4 eggs

For the glaze:
juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp water plus more if needed
1 cup confectioners sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prep a loaf pan by spraying with a nonstick spray.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer beat the softened cream cheese for one minute. Add in the butter and the sugar and beat for 3-4 more minutes until it gets light in color and fluffy in texture. Add the vanilla and the lemon zest and beat until mixed through.

Next, add eggs one at a time, beating for a minute after each one is added in. Scrape down the sides if needed between additions.

Add flour mixture and slowly beat until it is just incorporated. Finish mixing by hand.

Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Check the pan every 30 minutes and rotate so it browns evenly. When a skewer comes out clean, the cake is done.

To make the glaze, whisk ingredients together in a small bowl. Add more water as needed to get the right consistency. It shouldn't be too thick so it will be absorbed into the cake itself.

As the cake cools, use a skewer to poke holes over the top and pour the glaze over so that it soaks into the cake. Let cake finish cooling and slice to serve.

Lemon Sorbet

Even though schools are starting up again, I still have a little time to sneak in some last gasp summer recipes. The zest makes the lemon flavor stand out while the sugar balances the natural tartness. It works really well at the end of a cookout when you just don't want anything really heavy, or on one of these crazy hot days where you just can't bear the idea of turning on your oven.

The downside? If you happen to make it on one of those really hot days it's going to melt. Fast.  Even faster if you're attempting to take pictures of it in the sun for good lighting...so fast that you might spill it all over the kitchen floor and your favorite sandals. Ahhh, the joys of being a klutz and a food blogger :) At least it was my shoes and not my camera, right?



Lemon Sorbet
adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen

1 1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1 1/2 cups water
pinch salt
1 tbsp limoncello (or vodka-this will just keep it from freezing too hard)

Heat all ingredients gently in a pan on the stovetop until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Pour into a bowl and place in fridge or freezer until completely cold. Place into ice cream maker and process following manufaturer's instructions. The sorbet will look more like soft serve than ice cream at this point. You can eat it immediately, but I prefer to freeze it for another hour or two until it is more solid. Works better in a cone that way :)

Strawberry Icebox Cake

One of my favorite about the military life is having friends all over the country. It's especially fun this time of year as I watch the end of the school year announcements pour in. Here in Oklahoma we are already halfway through summer since our school year ended in May, but my friends in New England (where I grew up) just got out a week or two ago. Every time I open up Facebook I feel a twinge of jealousy at all the pictures of the beach and sailboats!  

It occurred to me this year that the end of school seems to be tied with the beginning of strawberry season. Our Oklahoma strawberries peaked in late May/early June. Up in New England though the berries are still in full swing, just as the kids are getting out of school. Maybe that is why I love to see the fresh strawberries begin to appear in the garden and on the grocery store shelves. They are the first real harbinger of summer. They epitomize the bright, fresh feeling I have at the start of the season. Of course, the summer I love is really the New England or San Francisco summer, where you are still wearing sweaters and jeans half the time. Summer in the Great Plains, with 100+ degree days and no clouds is taking some getting used to. 

This icebox cake is perfect for the beginning of summer. The flavor of the strawberries is front and center, with a dash of lemon to enhance them even more. Alternating layers of strawberries, whipped cream and graham crackers turn into a light and refreshing dessert after sitting overnight in the fridge. The whole thing is assembled in less than 20 minutes and can be made ahead. An added bonus for those of us in the middle of the heatwave? No oven required. 

No-Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake
adapted from The Kitchn


Ingredients:
2 pounds strawberries
4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 c confectioners sugar
zest of one lemon
1 tsp vanilla
4 sleeves graham crackers

Wash, hull and thinly slice the strawberries. Put the cream, sugar, lemon zest, and vanilla into the bowl of a stand mixer (or a regular bowl to use a hand mixer). Place the bowl of ingredients and the whisk attachment to the mixer into the fridge for about 10 minutes. Once they've chilled a little bit, whisk the mixture until stiff peaks form.

Place a few spoonfuls of whipped cream on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Place 6 graham crackers on the bottom of the pan and then cover with a real layer of whipped cream. Then cover the whipped cream with the sliced strawberries. Do this 3 more times until you have four layers total of the graham crackers. Cover the top with whipped cream and one last layer of strawberries.

Refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours, but overnight is even better. Serve cold.

Lavender Lemon Bars

I don't really subscribe to the idea that desserts have their seasons. I will happily eat gingerbread in the summer and ice cream in the winter. Every once in a while though I make something that just feels right for a particular moment in the year. These lemon bars epitomize a summer dessert for me. The lemon is crisp and refreshing, while the lavender adds a depth of flavor to set it apart. The lavender is in the crust and sprinkled on top so that it won't detract from the lemon, only enhance it.

 I served these at a book club event as well as a backyard barbecue and they were equally at home at both. Summer calls for recipes that can do double duty, don't you think?  already brainstorming different ways to use these two flavors together again. Lemonade? Lemon cake? Lemon drop martini's sweetened with a lavender simple syrup? You'll probably be seeing more of this combination this summer!

Lavender Lemon Bars
adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook by Joy Wilson

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 sticks softened unsalted butter
3/4 c sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
2 c flour
pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon dried lavender

Filling:
4 eggs
1 1/2 c sugar
6 tbsp flour
juice of 3 lemons (approximately 1/2 cup)
1 tbsp lemon zest

Topping:
powdered sugar
dried lavender

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep 9x13 inch pan by spraying with non-stick spray or coating in butter.

For the crust:
Mix together butter and sugars in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Within a few minutes the mix should be light in color and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the flour, salt and lavender. Mix until just combined and then finish mixing using a spatula. Pour into pan and push the dough into the bottom using your fingers to create an even crust. Beware of any uneven sections because those might show through the filling. Bake crust for 20 minutes until it browns slightly.

For the filling:
Whisk eggs and sugar together until light in color. Add in the rest of the filling ingredients and whisk until completely combined.

Take the crust out of the oven and pour in filling mixture right away. Pop it back into the oven for another 25 minutes (check at 20 if you have a hot oven, but mine needed the full 25). It should be slightly brown around the edges no longer wobbly in the center.

Cool in pan. Cut into slices and sprinkle with powered sugar and dried lavender. Store in airtight container in the fridge.