Lemon Blueberry Muffins

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt 
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest plus 1/4 cup lemon juice (I did not really measure, just used the zest and juice from one large lemon).
• 2/3 + cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup oil
•  blueberries
  
  
  Mix dry ingredients with lemon zest till lemon sent is noticeable. Add all remaining ingredients and mix till well incorporated. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if desired. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.
  
  Adapted from the following: 
  http://www.marthastewart.com/1117165/lemon-blueberry-muffins

Lemon (or Grapefruit) Yogurt Cake

The base of this recipe is from one of my favorite cakes, which is a Grapefruit Yogurt Cake. However, Dad can not eat grapefruit because of his meds, so I switched it out to Lemon to see how it would turn out... and it worked... (from http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/pink-grapefruit-yogurt-cake-recipe/)

3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1 cup sugar
zest of 1 1/2 pink grapefruits
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup canola oil

Grapefruit Syrup
1/4 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit
2 T granulated sugar

Grapefruit Glaze
1/3  cup powdered sugar
2-3 T freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with cooking spray. Dust lightly with flour too. Set pan aside

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside

In a small bowl, add the grapefruit zest to the sugar. Rub together with your fingers until fragrant, In a large bowl, mix together the yogurt, sugar, and zest with large spoon or spatula. Whisk in the eggs- you can do all three at once. Mix until smooth and then add in the vanilla and stir again.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until flour is incorporated

Add the oil and mix well. It might take a minute to get the oil mixed in, but it will.

Pour the batter into your prepared cake pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until your cake tester comes out clean and the cake springs back when lightly touched in the center.

Cool on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes and then remove from the pan. While cake is cooling make the syrup and glaze.

For the syrup, in a small sauce pan add the grapefruit juice and sugar. Whisk over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.

For the glaze, in a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and grapefruit juice. If it is too thick, add more juice, if it is too runny, add more sugar.

Poke little holes into the cake with a toothpick. Spoon the grapefruit syrup over the cake and let it soak in. Let the cake cool to room temperature and then add the glaze. Drizzle over the top of the cake.

Easy Lemon Pudding and Cream Puffs

My roommates and I had an International Holiday Part on 12/7.. with the next week was finals I was a bit stressed, so I opted to make cream puffs, but wanted to try something different... I began by making homemade Lemon Pudding to fill them with. I loved the recipe, although I should have waited longer for the Pudding to set up more before filling them. Sorry no pics of the cream puffs, but they looked great on the Blue Platter, all sprinkled with sifted powdered sugar over them. See italics at the end of the recipes for the changes I made to it.

Lemon Pudding

• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup cornstarch
• 2 ½ cups milk
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons butter

1. In a saucepan whisk together sugar and cornstarch.
2. Over medium heat, slowly whisk in milk. And cook for 2-3 minutes or until slightly thickened.
3. Place one cup of hot pudding mixture into a small bowl with the egg yolks. Whisk together. You are tempering the eggs.
4. Return egg/pudding mixture to the pan and continuing cooking over med heat until thickened. You need to stir this consistently.
5. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and butter. Stir until butter is melted and mixture is combined.
6. Strain pudding to remove any lumps.
7. Serve warm or cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.  
8. *Knowing there would not be a lot of lemon pudding per cream puff, I bumped up the flavor at the end, by adding two cap-fulls of lemon extract after removing it from the heat. 
9. *I also did not strain the pudding. 
10. *I did the the egg/hot pudding mixture earlier, rather then later so they would not get stringy, and it worked really well.) 

Pastry Shell

1/2 cup butter

1 cup water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 eggs

1	Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2.	In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
3.	Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry.
4.	When the shells are cool, either split and fill them with the pudding mixture, or use a pastry bag to pipe the pudding into the shells. *I just used my kitchen aid, and it worked really well.*

Mile High Lemon Meringue Pie

This recipe comes from the Kingsford cornstarch box. Mom made it for Thanksgiving. We'll see if it makes it  until tomorrow. It really is a mile high with the meringue
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup corn starch
2 cups water
5 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon peel
2 tablespoons butter OR margarine
1 (9-inch) baked deep dish pie crust
MERINGUE
5 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch

 Mix sugar and corn starch in a saucepan. Stir in water and beaten egg yolks. Cook over medium heat, stirring with a whisk until mixture reaches a boil. Reduce heat and continue stirring for 1 minute until very thick. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice, lemon peel and butter until smooth.
Pour hot filling into pie crust.
To make MERINGUE: Beat egg whites with electric mixer at high speed until soft peaks form; gradually add sugar and corn starch, beating until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight), about 3 minutes.
Spoon meringue over hot lemon filling, sealing meringue to the edges of the crust. Use the back of a spoon to swirl meringue and draw up into peaks. Place oven rack in bottom third of preheated 375°F oven.
Bake 10 minutes, until peaks are lightly browned. Cool at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Chill for a minimum of 3 hours before serving

Lemon Coconut Bars (Homemade Larabars)

My roommate made these about a month ago. I made them again today. This isn't the greatest picture, but I promise these are actually really good. Unless you are Dad and you hate coconut. But otherwise...

1 C almonds
1 1/2 C pitted semi-soft dates
1/4 t salt
zest of 1 lemon or lime
1 T lemon or lime juice
1 cup dried shredded unsweetened coconut

Chop nuts into small pieces. Use some of the nut powder to "flour" the pan to help keep from sticking. Add remaining ingredients and process until well mixed. Press into a 9x9 pan and chill for until firm. Cut into bars or squares. They will keep in the fridge for about a week and in the freezer for several months.

You can pretty much use whatever nuts or seeds you want. Same with the dried fruit. This seems to be the type of recipe you can just change based on what you have on hand, as long as you keep the portions about the same.