Little Lemon Tea Cakes

Imagine combining fresh squeezed lemonade into a miniature pound cake with a crunchy sweet exterior. These little cakes are so fresh and lemony. They pair perfectly with your favorite tea for an afternoon pick me up or could be served for an elegant brunch. My daughter adores them and requests that we bake them every chance we get. They are pretty simple to make and have only a few ingredients. They are tangy, moist, rich, and have the perfect glaze on top. Not too sweet but just sweet enough, everything a cutesy demure cake should be : )

What you need:

For the cake:

• 2 cups granulated white sugar

• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt

• zest of 1 whole lemon

• zest of 1 lime

• 1 cup whole milk / full fat yogurt

• 3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil

• 3/4 cup melted butter

• 4 large eggs

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Use 2 muffin tins for baking (makes 24 total) lined with non stick / parchment baking cups.

For the glaze:

• juice of one lemon

• one cup of confectioners sugar

  (Combine in a small bowl by stirring until you have a glossy smooth glaze with no lumps)

Pulling the eggs out of the refrigerator before you begin any baking recipe is important because room temperature eggs will emulsify better with the other ingredients and result in a better bake. So first, crack 4 eggs into a bowl and set them aside. Also, preheat the oven to 375° . Next, melt the butter in a microwave safe dish. About 30 seconds should do it. Now measure out the sugar and pour it into the mixing bowl. Zest the lemon and lime directly into the mixing bowl and rub the sugar and zest together with your fingers to release the lemon and lime oils. It will start to smell very fragrant. A few seconds of rubbing the sugar and oil together should be enough. Give it a quick stir. Now turn the mixer on between low and medium and gradually add in the melted butter, oil, and yogurt. When those are well combined add the eggs. Mix on medium for about 30 seconds until its glossy and well combined.

Now add the flour, salt, and baking powder to a bowl and give a quick stir to combine. I recently learned that if you do not have a scale to weigh your flour that you should scoop the flour into the measuring cup instead of using the measuring cup as a scoop (it was a cooking podcast, maybe Milk Street…I can’t remember, but now its what I do). When you use the measuring cup as a scoop it tends to be too tightly packed. You want a loosely packed cup of flour to ensure you don’t use too much and make the cake dry. Add the flour combination to the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Ladle large spoonfuls of batter into the baking cups so they are about 3/4 full. You should have just enough. My oven achieved perfection in 23 minutes but I’d start checking after 20 minutes. You can make the glaze while they are baking.

They will be lightly browned around the edges when finished. Remove them from the oven and allow to cool for around 5 minutes before pouring the glaze onto each cake. Use about 2 tbsp of glaze per cake, just gently pour it onto the top of each one and let it drip down the sides. Enjoy!

Salmon with orange and rosemary

I love to make this salmon during the holidays. The rosemary and orange zest give it so much flavor and feel wintry and festive. Atlantic salmon (which I recommend for this recipe) is so mild but not overshadowed by the flavors of the glaze. You only need a few ingredients and they go together beautifully.

What you need:

2 lbs Atlantic salmon

2 tbsp marmalade (I use Bonne Maman)

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 425° . Crush up the herbs with your fingers and add to a microwave safe bowl. Add the marmalade and olive oil and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir to combine. You should have the consistency of maple syrup, if it’s too thick add a touch more olive oil.

I like to line a baking pan with parchment paper so the skin doesn’t stick to my baking pan. Place the fish on top and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Pour the orange/herb glaze evenly over the top. Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes. I prefer to pull the salmon out around 130° for medium/well and it will cook a touch more as it rests. The internal temperature for well done salmon is 145°. Atlantic salmon is fairly forgiving. Cook times will vary depending on the thickness of the salmon and individual filets will cook much faster. It should flake easily when finished. Enjoy!

Healthy Breakfast Bake

I’ve made this breakfast casserole the past two weekends. I love having a hot breakfast when the mornings are chilly and I’m getting tired of washing all the dishes day in and day out. Preparing this casserole ahead of time is really easy and then we can just slice it, reheat it, and we are ready to go. If you want something more substantial a slice of this would taste amazing in between two slices of toast. When we are running around with a a zillion kid activities it helps to have a good breakfast to keep us going until we can squeeze in lunch. This uses precooked chicken sausage to save time, some spinach that wilts quickly for health purposes, and fontina cheese for its creamy buttery flavor.

What you need:

2.5 oz fresh spinach (half of a typical bag of fresh spinach leaves)

1 medium sized shallot, peeled and finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lb precooked chicken sausage links (I used Amylu but there are many good options) chopped into bite sized pieces.

1 cup of half and half

12 large eggs

1 cup of shredded fontina cheese

Salt and pepper

A stick of butter to grease the baking dish

Begin by preheating the oven to 375°. Warm a skillet to medium heat and add the olive oil and shallots. Give them a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Once the pan is sizzling and the shallots are fragrant add the spinach. It should only take about 2 minutes of occasional stirring for the spinach to be wilted. Turn off the heat and set aside.

I use a 9x12 baking dish for this casserole. Take a stick of butter and turn it on its end rubbing it around your entire baking dish and up the sides to give it a nice coating of butter. This will help the eggs not to stick and will also add some flavor to the dish. I think this is much tastier and just as easy as using a non stick spray. Take the cooled spinach and dump it onto a cutting board and give it a good rough chop. I don’t like the stems to be very large in the casserole, thats not a nice bite. This also allows it to spread out more evenly in the casserole. I find its easier to chop it up after cooking than before.

Now add the 12 eggs to a large mixing bowl with the half and half and whisk thoroughly to combine. Stir in a sprinkle of salt (about 1/2 tsp) and some pepper if you like it. Now add the sausage and spinach mixture to the baking dish. Pour in the eggs and add the cheese. Give it a stir to have everything spread evenly. Bake for about 30 minutes. It will puff up evenly and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean when its finished.