Dreamy Lemon Meringue Pie Bars

I'm mourning the loss of my pictures on my laptop right now. Sniff, sniff. *Tears trickle down face*

I'd say I lost around a hundred pictures, and yes, they are officially gone. I've tried to retrieve them from my laptop, but no luck.

But now it's time to look on the positive side of things. My new hard drive should be here today (I think Eric is going to help me install it, although it isn't as hard as I made it seem like it would be), I can relax a bit about the blog design/changes, because I've pushed them back for a while, and I can always bake my recipes again and take more pictures.

So that's what I did yesterday, and that's what I'll be doing today as well.

And maybe some pool-side lounging with Bon Appetit?
Oh, and I have to buy yeast. Don't let me forget to buy yeast!

I also had some time today to catch up on my blog reading and it was very nice. I really enjoy reading everyone's blogs, getting to know them, and learning more about food. I love our little food blogging community!

I really, really like my readers too. You all leave such nice comments and I'm so thankful! They definitely brighten my day. Never, never feel like you have to leave a comment, though. I enjoy reading a lot of different blogs, but I don't always feel like leaving comments.

Anyway, I don't have many pictures of these Dreamy Lemon Meringue Pie Bars, because I didn't take a lot, and the ones I did take weren't that hot.



I used these lemon sandwich cookies as the base for my bars. I crushed them, mixed the crumbs with melted butter and pressed the mixture into a baking dish. After baking, the crust is topped with a homemade lemon filling, consisting of fresh lemon juice and zest, sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks, vanilla and butter.

I then topped the lemon filling with a meringue made out of egg whites, cream of tartar and marshmallow cream. Ohhh yes! Marshmallow cream! Isn't it dreamy? I think it's dreamy.

OH! Also, you could bake this recipe as a pie, and not bars. I haven't tried it but I think it would work perfectly.

These were really good, but maybe not my favorite thing I've ever baked. I'm not a huge lemon meringue pie person, and not really a meringue person at all. So why did I bake lemon meringue pie bars? Because bags of lemons were on sale for $2.


Dreamy Lemon Meringue Pie Bars
Printable Recipe

Crust
2 cups shortbread cookie crumbs (I used lemon sandwich cookies)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling
3 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Meringue
3 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup marshmallow cream

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13x9-inch baking dish with foil; coat foil with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, stir together cookie crumbs and melted butter until combined; evenly press into bottom of baking dish. Bake 10 minutes or until light golden brown.

To make the filling, whisk egg yolks together in a medium mixing bowl. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together sugar, water, lemon juice, cornstarch, lemon zest and salt until well combined. Bring mixture to a boil, whisking constantly; whisk half of hot mixture into yolks until combined. Whisk yolk mixture back into saucepan and cook for about another minute, whisking constantly, until thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Strain filling into a medium mixing bowl; whisk in butter and vanilla until combined. Evenly spread lemon filling on top of crust.

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

To make the meringue, beat egg whites and cream of tartar together, in a large mixing bowl using a mixer on high speed, until stiff peaks form. Beat in marshmallow cream until just combined. Spread meringue over lemon filling. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour before transferring to refrigerator to cool completely. Lift out foil and slice into bars.

Makes 15 bars

Out With the New, In With the Old

There are two things that make me cranky.

1. Being hungry (don't mess with me!)
2. Not having a computer

After two weeks of having my new laptop, it's now broken. Yup.

That's what $400 will get you these days. A laptop that lasts two weeks.

Yesterday my laptop got very hot, and then it started locking up where I couldn't do anything. I would turn it off, turn it back on, and two minutes later it would lock up again. Now when I turn it on I can't do anything at all!

Today I was on the phone for 45 minutes talking to Compaq support, and now they're shipping me a new hard drive.

To install myself.

Did you read that correctly? To install MYSELF.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahah.

Do they really think I can install a hard drive myself?

What am I GOING TO DO?

Then I talked to Eric and he doesn't even think the hard drive is the problem. I have a feeling it's going to be a long time before I get my laptop fixed...



This is so frustrating and now I'm in a terrible mood. Now this is going to push back my blog changes even more. I'm thinking about cancelling the changes for the time being and maybe change everything in a few months.

OH, OH. Here's another problem: I have a dozen recipes typed up in my drafts on Blogger, but all of the pictures to the recipes are on my broken laptop.
I should have backed up. But who knew a brand new laptop could break so quickly?

Luckily, I had some pictures on my camera from these Almond Joy Brownie Wedges that I just made. Just made! You usually see recipes I baked one or two (or three!) weeks ago, but I made these yesterday. They're still in the kitchen if you want to come over and have a bite.



Eating an Almond Joy Brownie Wedge makes me feel better about all of my PC problems. For the time being.



I made up a really chocolatey brownie batter and placed half of it in a cake pan. Then I topped it with toasted coconut and salted almonds, and covered the coconut and almonds with the remaining brownie batter. The final touch was a sprinkling of Almond Joy Pieces. They're very tasty - have you tried them?

Gah I love coconut so much. Here's a fact you don't know. I smell like coconut. I wash my hair with coconut shampoo and I wear coconut lotion. And my breath smells like coconut brownies. You're welcome.


Almond Joy Brownie Wedges
Printable Recipe

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
2/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
1/2 cup salted almonds
1/3 cup Almond Joy Pieces

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a (9-inch) cake pan with foil; coat foil with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder and salt. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together butter and sugar until well combined - about 1 minute. Whisk in eggs until well combined - about 1-2 minutes. Whisk in chocolate until combined. Whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

Scrap half of the batter into prepared pan; evenly sprinkle with coconut, and top with almonds. Evenly cover with remaining brownie batter. Sprinkle Almond Joy pieces on top. Bake 25-30 minutes or until well risen and crusty around the edges. Cool on a wire rack before slicing into wedges.

Makes 8 servings

Black Forest Cake

Well, um, no new design yet. I'm having some issues with Wordpress, the design, and the hosting company. I kinda wish I hadn't started all of this. It has given me a huge headache this week. I've realized I'm way in over my head. I just want to blog like normal again!

I was very stressed the other night over some issues, so I designed an owl header and it made me feel better.

I also added some new features and updated some stuff tonight, as I watched Jersey Housewives. Such drama! My, my. What will I watch now that it's over?

How about Top Chef Desserts? I might review or blog about the show every week. I'm not sure yet... I suppose it depends on how the show is. I hope it's good! It starts September 15th.



Also coming up in September...

I'm going to be taking a cake decorating class with my mom and sister, Kristin! It's a continuing education class and it meets once a week for about a month. I'm planning on taking pictures and showing you all what I learn.

I'm looking forward to the class because I need help with my cake decorating skills. I know I've mentioned before that I need help with my decorating. See examples above and below.

That's a delicious, moist, perfect cake, but it's kind of ugly.



I made a cake for my sister's (Rachel) birthday recently. It was my interpretation of Black Forest Cake. I wasn't going for traditional black forest cake, mind you, so it doesn't look like one. A classic black forest cake would be a layered chocolate cake with kirschwasser (a German cherry brandy) in the batter, and then the layers would be topped with cherries, whipped cream and chocolate shavings.



I baked a double-layer chocolate cake and placed a mixture of fresh cherries and sweetened cream cheese in the middle. I then frosted the cake with whipped chocolate ganache = best thing everrr. I forgot to mention I also used this in the cherry-cream cheese mixture:



Sweet cherry wine! This is delicious! It's cold and sweet and refreshing. We drank this when the power went out and had some leftover, so I added a big splash to the cherries. Mmmm.

I need some more of that right now. Glug glug glug.

Pairs perfectly with CAKE.


Black Forest Cake
Printable Recipe

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup milk, warmed
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips (Hershey's Dark), melted

Whipped Chocolate Ganache
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Cherry Cream Cheese Filling
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/3 cup sweet cherry wine (sub kirsch or POM juice if desired)
1 cup coarsely chopped cherries
4 ounces cream cheese, softened

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat 2 (9-inch) cake pans with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat butter, oil and sugar until creamy - about 2 minutes; beat in vanilla and eggs until combined - about 1 minute. Beat in sour cream until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually beat in flour mixture alternating with milk until just combined. Beat in chocolate and and mix until ingredients are well incorporated - about 1-2 minutes.

Divide batter into cake pans. Bake 20-25 minutes or until well risen, slightly crackled on top and cakes pull away from the pan. Cool 12 minutes before running a knife around outside edges and inverting cakes onto wire racks to cool completely.

To make the Whipped Chocolate Ganache, bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Place chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl and pour hot cream on top; whisk until well combined and chips are melted. Cool completely in refrigerator. When well chilled, beat chocolate cream using a mixer on high speed, until stiff peaks form - about 5 minutes.

To make the Cherry Cream Cheese Filling, in a small saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch and cherry wine until combined; whisk in cherries. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat. Continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until cherry mixture is thickened and bubbly. Cool completely in refrigerator. Beat cream cheese in a large mixing bowl using a mixer on medium speed, until creamy; stir in cherry mixture until well combined.

Spread Cherry Cream Cheese Filling onto bottom cake layer. Place additional cake layer on top. Spread Whipped Chocolate Ganache over sides and top of cake.

Makes 10 servings

Cinnamon Quick Bread

The changes I'm making to my blog are taking longer than expected. I'm updating a lot of stuff and changing the design. I'm moving to Wordpress and going to be hosted though Triskele! That's huge! Those are some major changes.

Right now I'm designing the new blog layout and trying to navigate my way though Wordpress. There's a lot more to Wordpress than Blogger. I'm so slow and confused!

I will survive, though. If you have any tips, I would be grateful.

Hopefully I'll have it all finished in the next couple of days, so you should swing by and check it out. Well, you should automatically be directed to the new site. I guess we'll see.

I've also been baking like crazy this week. I bought bags of lemons and oranges and now there's lots of citrus-y desserts everywhere.

Now for a quick post featuring a quick bread: Cinnamon Quick Bread.
I just typed quicky bread. Heh heh heh.



I'm not sure why it never occurred to me to create a recipe for cinnamon bread. When I went to Silver Dollar City a few weeks ago, people were lined up to buy their cinnamon bread. They sell little loaves of cinnamon bread there, and I think they put a glaze on it.



I couldn't stop thinking about cinnamon bread, so when I got home I whipped up a recipe for one.



Basic, simple ingredients (flour, leavening, salt, butter, cinnamon, sugar and eggs) are mixed together and poured into a loaf pan. A cinnamon-brown sugar topping is sprinkled on top before baking.



Forty minutes later you have a beautifully baked loaf of bread and your kitchen smells like cinnamon and brown sugar.

It tastes delicious, too!

Tootles... off to Wordpress I go.


Cinnamon Quick Bread
Printable Recipe

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumb Topping
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into small pieces

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a (9-inch) loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; whisk in sugar. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, eggs, milk and vanilla until well combined; whisk dry ingredients into wet until combined. Place batter into prepared pan.

To make the crumb topping, in a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon until combined. Knead in butter using fingertips until well incorporated and clumps form; sprinkle over bread batter.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown, well risen, and a toothpick inserted into loaf comes out with moist crumbs attached. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 1 loaf

Crumbly Peanut Butter Cookie Dough-Chocolate Chunk Cookies

M mmm these Crumbly Peanut Butter Cookie Dough-Chocolate Chunk Cookies were so good! They're not the prettiest cookies out there, but the flavor and texture is really unique. I'll get to that in a second.

But first, the Great Blackout of 2010. It happened the other night around ten in the evening when I was working on my blog and Eric was doing some Facebooking. All of a sudden, the lights flickered off, the air conditioning stopped and the TV shut off...ending our Jersey Shore marathon.

We were left in complete darkness. Eric stumbled over to his desk, searching for a candle to light, and knocked over my huge glass of blueberry juice on to the carpet.

Then utter chaos happened as we scrambled to grab towels and blindly scrub the carpet, swearing up a storm. We cleaned it up as best as we could, lit some candles, and tried to see if there was a stain. But it was too dark - and we don't have flashlights. Note to self: Buy flashlights and batteries.
And chip clips and toilet paper.

We peered out the windows and saw that our neighborhood and the surrounding area were completely black. Neighbors started gathering outside, trying to figure out what happened. Eric and I watched them as they pulled out their lawn chairs, their six packs, and started to have a party in the parking lot. ? Weirdos. I'm serious.

Eric and I refuse to join the mob of people. He plays on his phone, I read a book by candle light.

Hours pass. My head hurts from candle fumes and I have to stop reading. Eric's phone dies. There was absolutely NOTHING to do. No TV, no internet, no baking.

At that point it was time for wine. We drive to Walmart, buy cherry wine, return home and drink wine immediately.
Oh look, it's all gone. It was tasty and made us feel better.


At that point, it was getting hot in our townhouse but there was nothing we could do. We broke out our emergency mini fans.


They were fun, but very little comfort to us. After four hours of the power being off, it was late and we decided to try and sleep, even though it was miserably hot. As I drifted off to sleep, I worried about my ice cream sandwiches melting away in the freezer.

Three AM. Power comes back on and all is well. The end.



So I was going to tell you about the unique texture and flavor of these cookies. These peanut butter cookies are crumbly, like, they crumble into big pieces - not tiny little pieces. They crumble like that because I made these cookies differently than I usually do.



I didn't use a mixer; I made them basically how you'd make scones or biscuits. I whisked together the eggs, sugars, vanilla and peanut butter in one bowl. In a separate bowl, I kneaded together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and tiny pieces of cold butter. Then I gently stirred the dry ingredients into the wet, along with chocolate cookie dough candy, peanut butter chips and chocolate chunks. Oh my, yes - I wasn't messing around.



I then formed large balls of dough and froze them on a cookie sheet. After chilling for a while, I baked the cookies at 375 degrees (relatively high for cookies) for 12 minutes. The result was a crumbly peanut butter cookie with a crispy outer shell, and a moist, slightly gooey inside.

I wish I had more right now, but sadly they're all gone

Have a wonderful weekend! I'm most likely going to be making some big changes with my blog over the next week. So wacky things might happen or the site might be down. Just letting you know.

Crumbly Peanut Butter Cookie Dough-Chocolate Chunk Cookies (By Me)
Printable Recipe

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 package chocolate covered cookie dough candy
1/2 cup chocolate chunks
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, whisk peanut butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla and egg until well combined and shiny - about 2 minutes.

Knead butter into flour mixture until well incorporated and small lumps form; stir flour mixture, cookie dough candy, chocolate chunks and peanut butter chips into wet ingredients until just combined - do NOT overmix! Batter should look shaggy and floury.

Gently form balls of dough and place on greased cookie sheets. Place in refrigerator or freezer and chill 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes or until light golden on top. Cool 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes 16 big cookies

Blackberry Plum Pie

Y es, I baked a pie when it was a hundred degrees outside, but I don't regret it.

Blackberry Plum Pie=amazing.

But first, our float trip recap! Some of you asked what "floating" was and I'm going to show you. Okay, so to float, this is what you do.

First, you pack up your boyfriend's parents' kayaks in a truck, and then drive out to the countryside. Be sure to pack some water, a fishing pole, and a book if your boyfriend plans on fishing.

Once you get out into the country, don't be alarmed. You will see things you've never seen before. There are things that won't make sense. Just drive by them.

Once you arrive at the river, unload the kayaks and pack them up with whatever you'll need for a few hours. Most people bring beer or some time of "Summer Brew" when they go floating. I don't want to sound like a dud, but I'm not big on drinking and floating. Floating on a river can be dangerous, so I think it's a good idea not to get completely wasted. Also, I feel sick if I drink very much when it's so hot outside.

Floating for us is more about relaxing and enjoying nature. Is that lame?
I don't care if it is.







Then you paddle upstream as far as you want to go, and float back to your starting point.

Sometime you stop along the sides (bank?), on the rocks, and relax. Eric did some fishing and I did some reading.




Hawtness

We didn't stay very long on this trip - three or four hours, maybe.



It's pretty, isn't it? This was a good way to spend a Friday afternoon.



And there you have it. Floating on the James River in Missouri! There's not much to it. Do you float where you live? How is it different?



Now it's time for pie; my favorite dessert to bake. I love making pie crust. It's worth the time and effort I think. Store bought pie dough doesn't taste the same! I know some people say pre-made pie crusts are good, but I don't think so. The flavor of a homemade, all-butter pie crust is much, much better.





How can something so simple be so delicious? The filling is just blackberries, plums, sugar, cornstarch, honey and lemon juice. It's all depends on the fruit, I suppose. I had wonderful blackberries and plums to work with.

I absolutely loved this pie; it tasted like summertime. Blackberries and plums go SO well together.

Blackberry Plum Pie (Recipe by Me)

Double Crust Pie Dough
Printable Recipe

1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 lb. blackerries
1 lb. plums or pluots, peeled, pitted, thinly sliced
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Roll out pie dough, thinly, on a lightly floured surface, using a rolling pin; fit into (9-inch) pie dish.

In a large mixing bow, stir together lemon juice, honey and cornstarch until combined. Stir in blackberries, plums and sugar until combined. Place fruit mixture into pie crust.

Roll out additional pie dough round and place on top of fruit; trim and flute edges. Brush a little milk or cream over crust and sprinkle with some sugar if desired. Slice pockets into center. Bake 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Turn heat off and leave pie in oven for an additional 30 minutes. Transfer pie to rack to cool completely.

Makes 9 servings