Lemon

Asparagus, Bread, Breakfast, Citrus, Comfort Food, Lemon, Uncategorized, Vegetables

Asparagus Smashed Egg Toast

May 8, 2021by thebusyspatulaLeave a Comment

Spring is here! …And with it, all the pollen. It might be the new neighborhood that we moved to, but the allergies are out of control. Tissue boxes are everywhere and I had my first dose of non-drowsy allergy medicine that made me foggy headed all day. So I’m soldiering on, no pills, just eye drops and nasal spray to keep the itching away.

As much as I am suffering, springtime also brings fresher produce and we can finally move on from the comforting and hearty roasts and stews that kept our bodies and bellies warm over this winter. Asparagus is a welcome change and it stays crisp and fresh if you blanch it! (Blanch = quick cook in boiling water). It’s also super cheap this time of the year, and as I am a sucker for deals, I tend to over buy good looking, affordable produce. So what to do with all the asparagus? Make asparagus toast!

We happened to have some roasted garlic hummus in the fridge from our attempt to have healthier snacks, (dieting is going terribly btw) and it made the perfect canvas for the asparagus and the soft boiled egg. Then it’s topped with Hollandaise sauce which is made in the microwave (I know, I didn’t know it could be done either), and is the perfect velvety, rich and tangy touch to the healthy toast. Spring is served.

Asparagus Smashed Egg Toast
Makes 2 toasts

Ingredients:
2 slices of bread, toasted (I used Ezekiel Bread)
garlic hummus (whichever brand or hummus you like)
8-10 stalks of asparagus, pending on thickness
extra virgin olive oil
2 large eggs
quick microwave hollandaise sauce (recipe below)
parsley, for garnish
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Fill a medium bowl with ice water and set it aside.
Trim your asparagus about 1-2 inches from the bottom, removing the tough ends.
Boil a pot of water and bring it to a simmer, add your asparagus for about 1-2 minutes until crisp-tender.
Remove asparagus and place into the ice water until cool.
Rub extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of salt on the asparagus and set aside.
Bring the same pot of water to boil and once it does, lower the heat to a bare simmer and submerge your eggs carefully into the water with a spoon.
Cook the eggs for 7 minutes and move into an ice bath.
Once cool enough to handle, crack and peel eggs.
On your toasted bread, spread garlic hummus. Remember to spread it to the edges.
Neatly arrange your cooked asparagus in a diagonal, giving it a push to secure it to the hummus.
Place an egg on each toast, and smash it with a fork.
Drizzle on the hollandaise sauce.
Sprinkle on salt and pepper, if desired and garnish with parsley

Quick Microwave Hollandaise

Ingredients

½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 egg yolks (from a large egg)
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp. milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Whisk egg yolks, lemon juice (start with 1 tablespoon and add more later if needed), milk and a pinch of salt and pepper together in a microwave safe bowl.
Drizzle in the melted butter while whisking the egg yolk mixture until smooth.
Microwave the sauce in 15 second intervals for one minute, whisking in between every interval until the sauce is hot and thick.
Taste and add more lemon juice if desired.

Cakes, Cheese, Cheesecake, Creme Brulee, Desserts, Holidays, Lemon, Uncategorized, valentines day

Meyer Lemon Creme Brûlée Cheesecake

February 4, 2021by thebusyspatula1 Comment

What are you doing this Valentine’s Day? I think Mr. Spatula and I are going to stay in and cook up something tasty. It’s a little different from our usual tradition which consists of going out to a good restaurant and eating delicious food while people-watching other couples. I’d like to think that while many restaurants are no-gos for many of us, that we are all enjoying a delicious meal with our loved ones. Because breaking bread together is always one of the best ways to share love.

This cheesecake bar really is a marriage of a lemon bar with the hint of lemon and the shortbread crust and a creme brûlée cheesecake. The sugar torched topping is not an option. It really gives it the perfect crisp shell for a dessert that is fitting for Valentine’s day. I used Meyer lemons because they’re in season and they’re less intense than lemons. But if you can’t get your hands on Meyer lemons, please feel free to use regular lemons. Just expect a more lemon-y punch. 🙂

**Left:** Before Torching | **Right:** After Torching

Meyer Lemon Creme Brûlée Cheesecake
Makes about 12 servings, pending on how you large you make your squares

Ingredients:

For the crust:
8 tbsp. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp.
½ c. (100 g.) sugar
1 tbsp. Meyer lemon zest (be careful to not grate the pith of the lemon – the white part)
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. (120 g.) all purpose-flour
¼ tsp. kosher salt

For the filling:
8 oz. (1 box) cream cheese, softened
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 egg, large, room temp.
1 tbsp. Meyer lemon zest (be careful to not grate the pith of the lemon – the white part)
⅓ c. Meyer lemon juice
a pinch of kosher salt

For the burnt sugar crust:
Granulated sugar, as needed (if you have caster sugar, this is the time to use it)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and line an 8×8 inch baking pan with parchment paper. (This will make it much easier to remove the cheesecake.)
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla on medium speed until well combined.
Switch the mixer speed to low and in the flour and salt, mixing until just combined.
Press the dough into the prepared baking pan, trying to get it as even of a layer as possible.
Refrigerate the baking pan with the dough while you prepare the cheesecake layer.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in another bowl using a handheld mixer), mix the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. Scrape down the sides.
Add the sweetened condensed milk, mix on medium speed and scrape down the sides again.
Add the egg, lemon zest and juice and mix on medium-low speed, scrape down the sides and mix again until homogenous.
Remove the pan from the fridge, pour in the cheesecake filling and bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until the filling does not jiggle when you lightly shimmy the pan.
Remove cheesecake from the oven, and let cool completely.
Refrigerate cheesecake until firm.
Cut the cheesecake into the number of slices that you want.
Sprinkle sugar over the cheesecake evenly, and use your kitchen torch to heat the tops of the cheesecake until amber – a spotted dark brown. (If you don’t have a kitchen torch, you can apparently do this under a broiler. But I’ve never tried and would advise that you keep a close eye on the caramelizing sugar.)

Recipe adapted from Lauren’s Latest

Cakes, Chocolate, Desserts, Easter, Fruit, Holidays, Lemon, Uncategorized, Vanilla

Giant Peeps Doughnut Cake (Meyer Lemon Marshmallow Doughnut Cake)

March 25, 2016by thebusyspatula2 Comments

This Lent season I gave up online shopping. I used to think that online shopping was for people who were too lazy to go to the mall and try on clothing, but as I’ve gotten older I’ve seen the light. With a click of a button, you can see what is available to you in your size instead of rifling through all the different sizes in the stores. What I really like is that the clothes come looking pristine and new (even though I’m pretty sure someone else has tried it on before me). You know what I mean though right? You go through piles of clothing in a store trying to find that perfect dress on sale and when you find it, it has a lipstick or deodorant mark on it and sometimes, a strange stain that may or may not come out in the wash. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the mall and I believe that retail therapy is sometimes best done in stores. It’s just that now I’m in love with two forms of shopping.
What I’ve learned is that online shopping is really hard to avoid. It follows you through email, social media, and even through paper catalogs. I’ve become so used to the thrill of finding a “good” deal that many times I perused through websites just to see what was available without the intention of buying anything. And then when I found something really great, it was very hard for me to not purchase it. Like an alcoholic that goes into a liquor store just to see what is available, I was just torturing myself for no reason.
Why even go through it if it was so difficult? Because it gave me time to reflect on my lifestyle, and on my faith. At the times where I caught myself window shopping (online), I would close the window and spend some time in prayer and meditation. I’ve come to appreciate the things I already have in my life and realize the abundance of needs that are already met despite the lack of the perfect lace up suede flats. I am so thankful and am writing this with an overwhelmingly grateful heart.
When Easter rolls around, seasonal bunny, egg and chick themed candy appear and I think Peeps is the most iconic Easter candy of them all. I know they come in different shapes and colors, (they even have peeps flavored milk these days) but I think the OG is the yellow chick peep. Super bright in color with a squishy marshmallow interior, it makes me feel like it should be lemon flavored. This is where I got my inspiration from. As for the doughnut shape, well anything doughnut is superior to plain cake. No?
I happened to have a giant doughnut cake pan set from Williams Sonoma, which they don’t sell anymore but this cake can be made with two 8” cake pans if desired. Or, you can carve a hole in the middle and make yourself a makeshift doughnut cake too.
Meyer lemons are popping up everywhere this season, so this cake is filled with all things lemon. It’s a lemon cake, filled with lemon curd and topped with a lemon glaze. As for the marshmallow component, it’s filled with my favorite marshmallow frosting and also topped with a toasted marshmallow frosting that when you put the chicks in, the browned top kind of looks like a nest. I decorated mine with a few Cadbury min eggs (the best chocolate egg candy IMHO) to give that nest feel a little more oomph. Seasonal in flavor and themed, it’s the perfect baking project for this weekend. 🙂
Here are other Easter themed blog posts from the past:

Easy Peanut Butter Eggs
Easter Bunny Surprise Cake
White Chocolate Tiramisu Eggs
Bunny Cake Pops

Giant Peeps Doughnut Cake (Meyer Lemon Marshmallow Doughnut Cake)

You will need:

1 batch of meyer lemon cake (recipe below)
1 batch meyer lemon curd (recipe below)
1 batch meyer lemon glaze (recipe below)
1 batch marshmallow frosting (recipe below)
Cadbury mini eggs
yellow marshmallow chick Peeps

Instructions:

Carve a small ditch around each half of the doughnut cake, making a tunnel for the filling.
On the bottom half of the doughnut, fill the cavity with the lemon curd.
On the top half of the doughnut, fill the cavity with marshmallow frosting.
Sandwich the bottom and half together and set the cake on top of a wire cooling rack and pour the lemon glaze over the top, letting it dribble down the sides.
Fill a piping bag with a large open star frosting tip (the one with a lot of teeth, not the one with 5 teeth) with the rest of the frosting.
Make a swirl pattern all over the top of the cake.
Use a kitchen torch to toast the tops of the marshmallow frosting.
Place a marshmallow Peep all around the cake.
Decorate the empty spaces with the mini eggs.

Meyer Lemon Doughnut Cake

Ingredients:

8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ¾ c. granulated sugar
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
¼ c. grated meyer lemon zest (3-4 meyer lemons)
3 c. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
¼ c. meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
¾ c. buttermilk, at room temperature
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

Grease and flour the two doughnut pans. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. (The cake pan I used is discontinued but this product is similar.)
In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix lemon juice, buttermilk and vanilla extract. Set aside.
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream sugar and butter together until light and fluffy.
Add eggs one at a time until blended and then the zest.
Add the flour and buttermilk mixture alternatively to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour.
Divide the batter evenly between the two pans, smoothing the tops.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan onto a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Meyer Lemon Curd

Ingredients:

2 tsp. meyer lemon zest
½ c. meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed
½ c. sugar
2 large eggs
pinch of salt
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

Instructions:

Simmer about an inch of water in a small pot.
In a medium metal mixing bowl, whisk together the zest, juice, sugar, eggs and salt.
Add the butter to the mixing bowl and set the bowl over the pot of simmering water and whisk mixture continuously until mixture thickens and reaches 160˚F, about 5 minutes.
Strain the curd through a fine meshed sieve and refrigerate to thicken completely.

Meyer Lemon Glaze

Ingredients:

2 c. confectioners’ sugar
¼ c. meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Instructions:

Whisk together sugar and meyer lemon juice until smooth.

Marshmallow Frosting

Ingredients:

3 large egg whites
¾ c. sugar
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions:

Simmer about an inch of water in a small pot.
In the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk together egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar.
Place the bowl over the pot of simmering water and whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved, 3-4 minutes.
Transfer the bowl to the standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk on high speed until white glossy, stiff peaks form.
Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined.

Meyer lemon cake and glaze recipe adapted from Ina Garten.
Meyer lemon curd adapted from Epicurious.
Marshmallow frosting adapted from Martha Stewart.

Cookies, Desserts, Fruit, Lemon, Macarons

Lemon Basil Macarons

March 25, 2015March 25, 2015by thebusyspatula7 Comments

The first day of spring came and went with a generous dose of snow in New Jersey and there are still patches of snow here and there. Like many of you, I’m craving warm weather like a breath underwater. I kind of feel like I’m at the end of a race and I can see the finish line, but no matter how fast I run it’s not getting any closer.
As I stared blankly into my fridge on a frigid Saturday morning, I saw a bag of lemons I bought a couple of weeks ago. Isn’t it funny how we tend to forget things in the crisper drawer? I swear, once I found a few grapes that were beginning to become raisins. Okay, that was kind of gross. Anyways, something about the bright yellow of lemons conjured up thoughts of springtime, warm weather, fresh flowers, sandals, dresses without tights, picnics and longer days, and I just had to use them right away.
These lemon basil macarons are made with lemon macaron shells and filled with a vanilla basil buttercream and homemade lemon curd. The flavor of the basil is subtle and hits you at the very end. I should tell you that as the days go by, the basil becomes less and less pronounced so it is better eaten sooner than later. I thought about incorporating a stronger basil flavor by steeping some basil in warm milk before making the buttercream, but I got cold feet. In fact, I wasn’t sure if lemon and basil would make a good pairing. I’m a little wary of adding a savory element to my desserts but it turned out very tasty. If you love basil though, it might not be enough of a “punch” for you. I suppose you could add more basil to the frosting to increase the basil factor.
For the lemon macaron shells, I used crystallized lemon. I happened to have some True Lemon lying around and I think it’s a better alternative to using lemon juice. As you know, macarons are very finicky and I’m not quite sure how the extra liquid in lemon juice would affect the batter. If you want, you can omit the crystallized lemon in the recipe. I feel that the lemon curd has enough of a citrus punch but if you can use it, I recommend it.
The lemon curd recipe makes more than you need, but it’s so delicious that I’m sure you won’t mind having extra around. I’m already thinking of another recipe to use it in. These macarons really taste like springtime in your mouth. I think you’ll love it.
Lemon Basil Macarons
Ingredients:
212 g. almond meal
212 g. powdered sugar
172 g. egg whites, divided to 82 g. and 90 g (aged, if possible)
236 g. sugar
158 g. water
1 ½ tsp. crystallized lemon
yellow gel food color
green gel food color (optional: for decorative brushstrokes)
vanilla basil buttercream (recipe below)
lemon curd (recipe below)

Instructions:

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
In the bowl of a food processor, add the almond meal and powdered sugar and pulse until thoroughly combined.
Sift the mixture over a large mixing bowl, throwing out the lumps as they appear. Add the crystallized lemon and 82 g. of the egg whites and stir until you get a thick mixture.
In a small pot attached with a candy thermometer, combine the sugar and water over medium heat and boil until the syrup reaches 200˚F.
Once the syrup reaches 200˚F, start whipping the remaining 90 g. in the bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment on medium speed until soft peaks are reached.
Once the syrup reaches 248 ˚F, remove the pot off the burner and slowly pour the syrup down the side of the mixing bowl with the egg whites on medium speed.
Once the egg whites are fully incorporated, increase the speed to medium high until egg whites form glossy, stiff peaks.
Add yellow gel food coloring little by little until the desire color is reached.
Mix a ⅓ of the egg white mix to the almond mixture and stir together until the batter is slightly lighter and less pasty. From then on, fold in ⅓ of the egg white mixture at a time until the mixture “flows like magma”. The mixture should be smooth and run thick ribbons off the spatula.
With a pastry bag fitted with a ½ in. plain tip, pipe 1¼ – 1½ in. rounds.
The piped batter may have peaks but should smooth away in a minute or two.
Let the batter stand until the tops of the macarons are dry to the touch, about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 275-325˚F. If your oven tends to run hot go for 275˚F, if not then 325˚F.
Bake 10-13 minutes, until the feet are formed and the tops are smooth. The batter is done when you slightly wiggle it and it starts to come off of the parchment paper / silicone mat.
Once cool, mix a tiny bit of water with a small amount of green gel food color and with a small (food use only) paintbrush, paint small strokes onto the macaron shells. Let dry.
Pipe a small circle of vanilla basil frosting on the outer border of a macaron shell. This creates a dam so the lemon curd does not ooze out.
Fill the center of the macaron with the lemon curd and top with another macaron shell.

Vanilla Basil Buttercream

Ingredients:
½ c. whole milk
3 tbsp. flour
⅛ tsp. salt
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
½ c. sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
3 tbsp. fresh basil, finely minced and stems discarded

Instructions:

In a small pot over medium heat, whisk milk, salt and flour until combined.
Continuously whisk mixture until thickened to a pudding like consistency.
Once thickened, strain through a mesh strainer into a bowl with a spatula to remove lumps.
Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the flour mixture (to prevent skin from forming) and put bowl into the fridge until fully cool.
In a mixer bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, mix the sugar and butter on high speed until fluffy and pale about, 5-10 minutes.
Add the chilled flour mixture and continue to whip on high speed until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is no longer gritty, about 5-10 minutes.
Add the vanilla extract and minced basil and mix until combined.

Lemon Curd

Ingredients:
5 egg yolks
1 ¼ c. sugar
⅓ c. lemon juice
zest of 4 lemons
1 pinch of kosher salt
4 oz. (1 stick) cold butter, cut into 8 pieces

Instructions:

Start a double boiler by adding water in a small pot and bringing it to a simmer.
In a medium metal bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until smooth. (Make sure the metal bowl is wider than the small pot of water.)
Add the lemon juice, lemon zest and salt and mix until combined.
Place the metal bowl above the small pot of simmering water and whisk until the mixture is thickened. About 8 minutes or around 170˚
Once thickened, remove from heat and stir in butter one piece at a time, making sure each piece has melted before adding the next.
Place a piece of plastic wrap on the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming and refrigerate up to 2 weeks.

*Macaron recipe adapted from Bouchon Bakery by Thomas Keller, Sebastien Rouxel.
** Lemon curd recipe adapted from Alton Brown.