Ingredient: fresh lemon juice

Blueberry Lemon Crumb Cakes

Blueberry Lemon Crumb Cakes

Do you ever feel like a three year old child who doesn’t want to share? That’s how I feel about this crumb cake. I didn’t want to share so I made six 4-inch personal crumb cakes. You’ll understand once you taste the soft, fluffy lemon scented cake with juicy blueberries, a ton of sweet crumb topping and a lemony cream cheese icing. You’ll want every bite for yourself! I was also hesitant to share the recipe. But I was taught to share recipes by my two grandmothers who were amazing cooks and bakers. They shared their knowledge and recipes with anyone who asked. Recipes are a legacy that should be passed on to family and friends. If you’re reading this, I consider you a friend. So enjoy this recipe that’s especially dear to me because it’s based on my Grandma’s Apple Crumb Cake recipe.

I used a six serving shallow jumbo muffin pan to bake the cakes. The muffin cups are 4 inches across by 1 inch deep. To find the pan, click here. A hamburger bun pan for 4-inch buns will work too. If you happen to have six 4-inch cake pans, those work nicely. I used jumbo muffin liners to line the muffin cups, which fit perfectly by pressing them in around the inside bottom edges.

Print Recipe
 Blueberry Lemon Crumb Cakes
Fluffy, soft lemon cakes with blueberries, crumb topping and lemon cream cheese icing
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Keyword blueberry lemon, cake
Servings
4-inch crumb cakes
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
Crumb Cakes
Cream Cheese Icing
Course Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert
Keyword blueberry lemon, cake
Servings
4-inch crumb cakes
Ingredients
Crumb Topping
Crumb Cakes
Cream Cheese Icing
Instructions
Crumb Topping
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, sugar, brown sugar and salt together.
  2. Work in butter with your fingertips until the mixture looks like the consistency of wet sand. Press together to make chunks. Set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Crumb Cakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line a 6-serving shallow jumbo muffin pan* with jumbo muffin liners.** Jumbo muffin liners will fit by pressing them around the inside bottom edges.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
  3. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest with an electric mixer on medium speed, until light and fluffy.
  4. Beat the egg, egg yolk and extracts into the butter mixture in 3 separate additions, making sure each addition is incorporated before adding the next.
  5. In a small bowl, whisk the milk and sour cream together.
  6. On low speed, mix the flour mixture into the batter in two additions alternating with half of the milk mixture after each addition. Beat just until combined.
  7. Transfer batter to the prepared baking pan, evenly distributing the batter and filling the cups about half full.
  8. In a medium bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 teaspoon of flour and place them into the cups on top of the batter, about 1 ounce (28g) in each. Top each one with crumb topping.
  9. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean, about 25-30 minutes. Let cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Cream Cheese Icing
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, melted butter, powdered sugar, salt and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Add additional lemon juice, a little at a time until the desired consistency is reached. Drizzle over the cooled cakes.
Recipe Notes

*To find the muffin pan I used, click here.

**To find jumbo muffin liners, click here. To find 4-inch cake pans, click here.

Glazed Lemon Muffins

Glazed Lemon Muffins

However your day is going today, it’s about to get better. I can confidently say these lemon muffins are some of the best you will ever taste. Follow the recipe exactly, weigh your ingredients and you’ll be enjoying these soft, tender muffins in no time.

These delightful muffins are perfect for breakfast, brunch or an anytime snack. I love enjoying one with a cup of strawberry or chamomile tea.

Print Recipe
 Glazed Lemon Muffins
Soft, tender lemon muffins glazed with lemon icing
Course Breakfast, Brunch
Keyword lemon, muffins
Servings
muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
Icing
Course Breakfast, Brunch
Keyword lemon, muffins
Servings
muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
Icing
Instructions
Muffins
  1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Line a 12-serving muffin pan with tulip baking liners.* (You can also use standard muffin liners. They hold less batter so you may end up with a couple of extra muffins.)
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar and lemon zest, with an electric mixer, until light and fluffy.
  4. Add eggs one at a time and beat until well combined.
  5. Add extracts and beat until well combined.
  6. On low speed, mix in flour mixture in two additions alternating with half of sour cream after each addition. Mix just until combined. Batter will be thick.
  7. Divide batter evenly into muffin liners. (If using standard muffin liners, fill 3/4 full.)
  8. Bake at 375ºF for 5 minutes. Turn oven heat down to 350ºF and continue baking muffins until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, about 12-16 more minutes. Do not over bake.
  9. Transfer muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely. Brush icing onto muffin tops with a small pastry brush.
Icing
  1. Whisk icing powdered sugar, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice together until smooth. Add additional lemon juice until desired consistency is reached.
Recipe Notes

*To find  tulip muffin liners, click here.

To find floral tulip muffin liners, click here.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

Lemon Crinkle Cookies by Brownie Mischief
Click here to watch the video

Crinkle cookies, also known as crackle cookies, have been around for a very long time. The pretty, crispy, cracked exterior and the soft, moist interior are what we love about them! There’s definitely no shortage of recipes for crinkles out there, everything from chocolate to red velvet. I even saw an audacious cookie company selling lemon crinkles for twelve dollars each, more money than it will cost for this entire batch! So many of the recipes I tried were disappointing, especially the ones made with cake mix. So I created my own version and I’m sharing it with you. Here’s to making sure delicious lemon crinkle cookies are available for all to enjoy, not just a select few.

This recipe requires a bit of chilling, which I know many people don’t like because they’re impatient. I happen to be one of those people. Old fashioned crinkle cookies require about 3 hours of chilling. My recipe has the addition of cornstarch, which helps prevent spreading and allows for a shorter chilling time. As an added bonus, cornstarch makes the cookies more tender. Win win!

Fresh lemon zest and lemon juice in these cookies is crucial to the best lemon flavor. A bit of pure lemon extract is added to enhance that flavor. Don’t be tempted to use imitation extracts. The flavor will disappoint you. I added two drops of lemon yellow food color, which made them so pretty they look like pure sunshine!

Print Recipe
 Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Lemon cookies with a crackled, crispy exterior and a soft, tender interior
Course Dessert
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Course Dessert
Servings
cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
  2. In a large bowl, cream the butter, sugar and lemon zest together until light and fluffy.
  3. Beat in the egg until well combined.
  4. Mix in the lemon juice, extracts and food coloring until well combined.
  5. Add the flour mixture and mix just until combined.
  6. Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30 minutes to one hour.
  7. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  8. Roll the dough into balls, about 2 tablespoons each. **I used a #30 portion scoop.
  9. Roll the dough balls generously in powdered sugar.
  10. Place two inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets.
  11. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet for one minute then transfer to a cooling rack.
Recipe Notes

*To find Americolor lemon yellow gel food color, click here.

**To find a #30 cookie scoop, click here.

To find the striped wax paper pictured above, click here.

 

Lilac Vanilla Mini Cakes

Lilac Vanilla Mini Cakes

Once upon a time, there was a little black bear who woke up from a long nap. As she stretched, she felt her tummy growl. She ventured into the morning sunshine and smelled something sweet. She sniffed the air, following the sweet fragrance until she came upon a beautiful purple tree. She climbed up to a comfy branch and ate the tender, purple blossoms to her heart’s content.

Bears, butterflies and bees know something good when they see it. We humans can also enjoy lilacs. I knew lilacs were edible, but I hadn’t tasted them until recently. The flavor reminds me of beets, slightly sweet with a vegetable aftertaste. I really wanted to try lilac syrup after seeing so many photos of pretty purple syrup online. I discovered that lilac syrup is not purple. It’s more of a dull, brownish blue-green. Many people use food coloring or blueberries to color their syrup. I also discovered that lilac syrup will turn a pretty shade of mauve by adding a small amount of lemon juice to the finished syrup. Since I would be using my lilac syrup inside of cake layers, I let it remain its natural color. I made a simple syrup with lilac blossoms and let them steep for a couple of hours. It was just long enough to give a subtle lilac flavor without being too floral. If you want a stronger lilac flavor, I suggest using more lilac blossoms rather than steeping longer to avoid bitterness.

I paired the lilac syrup with this soft, fluffy vanilla cake and silky Swiss meringue buttercream. If you aren’t a fan of lilac syrup, feel free to use vanilla simple syrup instead and just use the lilac blossoms to decorate your cakes. They look stunning on any cake or cupcakes.

Print Recipe
 Lilac Vanilla Mini Cakes
Soft, fluffy mini white vanilla cakes with lilac syrup and vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream, topped with lilac blossoms
Course Dessert
Servings
mini cakes
Ingredients
Lilac Syrup
White Vanilla Cake
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Assembly
Course Dessert
Servings
mini cakes
Ingredients
Lilac Syrup
White Vanilla Cake
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Assembly
Instructions
Lilac Syrup
  1. In a small saucepan combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring gently to dissolve sugar. Add the lilac blossoms and stir gently.
  2. Turn down heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat and allow lilac blossoms to steep for 2 hours. Pass lilac syrup through a mesh sieve.
White Vanilla Cake
  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, oil and vanilla bean paste with an electric mixer at medium speed, until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  4. On medium speed, beat in egg whites in two additions, then beat in egg until well combined.
  5. On low speed, beat in one third of the flour mixture, then beat in sour cream just until combined.
  6. Beat in the remaining flour in two additions, alternating with milk. Beat just until combined.
  7. Transfer batter to prepared cake pans. Bake for 28-33 minutes, or until top is light golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Do not over bake.
  8. Allow cakes to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and continue cooling on a wire rack.
  9. Cut cakes into twelve 2 3/4-inch rounds using a cookie or biscuit cutter.
  10. Using a pastry brush, brush mini cakes generously with lilac syrup or vanilla simple syrup.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
  1. Combine egg whites and sugar in a large heatproof bowl. Set over a pan of simmering water.
  2. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and temperature of 160ºF is reached.
  3. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk on low speed, gradually increasing to medium-high speed. Whisk until glossy, stiff peaks form and mixture reaches room temperature.
  4. Turn mixer to medium-low speed. Add butter, a few pieces at a time, allowing butter to fully incorporate before adding more. If mixture looks curdled, keep mixing and it will correct itself.
  5. Switch to a paddle attachment. On low speed, mix in vanilla bean paste and salt. Continue mixing on low speed for a few minutes until smooth.
  6. Remove about 3/4 cup of frosting and transfer to a small bowl. Using a toothpick, place two tiny drops of lilac gel food color and one tiny drop of violet gel food color into the bowl. Mix with a spatula until well combined.
Assembly
  1. Smear a bit of frosting on each mini cake board. Top with a cake round, frosting, then a second cake round. Frost with a crumb coat if desired. Refrigerate 15 minutes. Frost mini cakes with white Swiss meringue buttercream, then smear small amounts of lilac Swiss meringue buttercream around the sides and top. Smooth frosting with a bench scraper and smooth the tops with a small offset spatula. Decorate with lilac blossoms.
Vanilla Simple Syrup (optional)
  1. Combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. When sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract.
Recipe Notes

*If you can't find ultra fine granulated sugar, it's okay to substitute with regular granulated sugar.

**To find the lilac gel food color I used, click here.

***To find the violet gel food color I used, click here.

****To find 3-inch mini cake boards, click here.

Raspberry Lemonade Brownies

Raspberry Lemonade Brownies by Brownie Mischief

This is my new and improved Raspberry Lemonade Brownie recipe! The previous recipe was inspired by some lemon brownies I saw on Pinterest. I transformed them into Raspberry Lemonade Brownies and they were very popular. But I knew I could improve them. And after some experimentation, I came up with an even better version. I love the sweet-tart burst of flavor and color from the fresh raspberries. The icing contains no food coloring. Just three raspberries will give you that luscious shade of pink!

I want to clarify that lemon brownies are not lemon bars. We all know what a lemon bar is. The one we all know and love has a lemon curd filling on a shortbread crust, possibly drizzled with lemon icing or sprinkled with powdered sugar. The lemon brownie is a whole different animal. Don’t mistake lemon brownies for lemon cake either. Lemon brownies contain white chocolate which gives them a rich, fudgy texture like their chocolate cousins. We may be tempted to call them blondies, but blondies have a butterscotch flavor and typically don’t contain chocolate. Now that we got that straightened out, we can sleep peacefully tonight.

Print Recipe
 Raspberry Lemonade Brownies
Course Dessert
Servings
bars
Ingredients
Raspberry Lemonade Bownies
Raspberry Lemonade Icing
Course Dessert
Servings
bars
Ingredients
Raspberry Lemonade Bownies
Raspberry Lemonade Icing
Instructions
Raspberry Lemonade Bownies
  1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF (165ºC). Line an 8-inch square baking pan* with parchment paper.
  2. In a medium microwaveable bowl, heat the white chocolate and butter in the microwave for 20 second intervals until melted. Alternately, melt the white chocolate and butter on the stove in a large heat safe bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir gently until smooth.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, egg yolk, lemon juice, zest and salt until smooth and well combined. Stir in the melted white chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula. Add the flour and stir just until combined.
  4. Gently fold in the raspberries.
  5. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking pan. Bake until the top is set, the edges are light golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs on it, about 23-28 minutes.
  6. Let cool completely. Top with Raspberry Lemonade Icing.
Raspberry Lemonade Icing
  1. In a small bowl, smash the raspberries with a fork.
  2. Add the powdered sugar, melted butter and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Whisk until smooth, adding more lemon juice as needed.
  3. Spread the icing over cooled brownies.
  4. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve with additional raspberries, if desired.
Recipe Notes

*To find the 8 x 8 inch pan I used, click here.

 

Peaches & Cream Profiteroles

Peaches & Cream Profiteroles by Brownie Mischief

Summer is nearly over, and after the recent heatwave here in Southern California, I’m more than ready to welcome fall weather. But before I put on my fluffy sweater and dive into pumpkin spice everything, I want to enjoy the tail end of peach season, don’t you? Farmer’s markets and stores near my home are still brimming over with fresh peaches, so I picked up some peaches and decided to give them a proper goodbye and send them off in style.

Peaches & Cream Profiteroles by Brownie Mischief

I created some luscious peaches and cream filled, bite-size puffs of choux pastry, called profiteroles. They’re like cream puffs, only smaller. The filling is creamy, but so light and airy that I’m convinced that these profiteroles have no calories! The recipe I’m sharing with you uses fresh peaches, but feel free to substitute frozen peaches if fresh peaches aren’t available. There are a lot of steps to this recipe, but the steps are done in stages and are very easy to do.

Peaches & Cream Profiteroles by Brownie Mischief

I decorated my profiteroles with fresh, pesticide-free miniature rosebuds, also known as spray roses. If you can’t find miniature rosebuds, pesticide-free rose petals would be a good substitute. You may not get a chance to embellish these little beauties. They have a way of popping into people’s mouths even before you can decorate them!


Print Recipe


Peaches & Cream Profiteroles

Bite-sized puffs of choux pastry filled with a creamy, fresh peach filling and topped with fresh peach icing.

Course Dessert
Cuisine French

Servings


Ingredients
Peach Purée

Peaches & Cream Filling

Profiteroles

Peach Icing

Course Dessert
Cuisine French

Servings


Ingredients
Peach Purée

Peaches & Cream Filling

Profiteroles

Peach Icing


Instructions
Peach Purée
  1. Purée peaches in a blender or food processor. Strain puréed peaches through a sieve. Stir in lemon juice.

  2. Place puréed peaches in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat.

  3. Reduce heat and simmer until peach purée is reduced by half.

  4. Remove from heat. Stir in peach flavoring and set aside to cool completely.

Peaches and Cream Filling
  1. Bring milk to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat.

  2. Meanwhile, whisk sugar, cornstarch and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the egg and whisk until smooth.

  3. When milk starts to boil, remove from heat and pour 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine.

  4. Pour the egg mixture into the remaining hot milk and cook over medium heat, stirring continuously, until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.

  5. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and extracts.

  6. Pour mixture through a sieve placed over a bowl. Cover the surface of pastry cream with plastic wrap. Let cool.

  7. Set aside 2 tablespoons of cooled peach purée. Add remaining peach purée to cooled pastry cream and stir to combine. Chill in refrigerator.

  8. In a medium bowl, whip heavy cream to stiff peaks with an electric mixer at high speed. Fold whipped cream into peach pastry cream mixture. Set aside in refrigerator.

Profiteroles
  1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

  2. Combine water, butter and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

  3. Reduce heat. Add flour and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture pulls away from sides of the pan and forms a ball.

  4. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on low speed until steam dissipates and mixture cools to lukewarm.

  5. Add eggs one at a time and beat with an electric mixer at medium speed, until smooth, stopping to scrape down bowl.

  6. Transfer mixture to a piping bag, fitted with a large round tip. (**I used Ateco tip 808.)

  7. Pipe 1 1/4 inch mounds, about 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. Smooth tops with a wet finger.

  8. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn oven temperature down to 350ºF and continue baking until golden brown, about 8-10 more minutes. Using a toothpick or skewer poke a small hole in each profiterole to let steam escape. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.

  9. Using the tip of a paring knife, poke a pilot hole in the bottom of each profiterole.

  10. Place peaches and cream filling into a piping bag fitted with a medium round piping tip. (***I used Wilton tip 12.)

  11. Place piping tip into the pilot holes and fill each profiterole with filling.

Peach Icing
  1. In a small bowl, whisk all icing ingredients together and spoon over filled profiteroles. Refrigerate until ready to serve.


Recipe Notes

*To make peaches easy to peel, blanch them  in boiling water for about 30 seconds, then dunk  in ice water.

**To find Ateco tip 808, click here. ***To find Wilton tip 12, click here.