Lemon Cake, Lemon Bars, and Love

The doorbell rang a Sunday or two ago. I opened it to find our new neighbors smiling, wearing white linen, and holding a plate of lemon bars.

We’d been told we had inherited the dream neighbors – which was welcome, since we adored our previous neighbors, too. (Tom and Lou: Xoxo.) We’d also been told how much our neighbors loved Betty and Bunny — and so I already loved them back.

Love Bunny = Love me.

The lemon bars were diabolically good, and they came with a large bag of lemons from our neighbors’ tree. The next Sunday, I turned those lemons into cake to take to our friends’ house for dinner, and to share with our new neighbors, who made us feel so welcome and good.

Find the lemon yogurt cake recipe here. I always double it and tuck an extra cake into the freezer for “emergencies,” like when company comes over, or a sweet tooth strikes on a Wednesday night. It tastes really good while frozen. Oink.

My favorite lemon bar recipe is here — and I also suspect it was the one used by my neighbor, because I can tell she’s an Ina Garten kind of girl.

Meanwhile, what’s your favorite lemon recipe? There are lemons everywhere in our new neighborhood and I want them to have happy fates.

By |2015-03-09T07:27:40-07:00March 9th, 2015|Recipes|0 Comments

Lemon Yogurt Cake of Doom

I suspect that the universal adoration of Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa, has something to do with her gift for making  us all feel like everything is going to be OK. These are the lessons of reading her cookbooks and watching her show: if you roast a chicken for your husband every Friday, the weekend will contain joy.  If you have lemon cake waiting in your freezer, you can handle unexpected guests and unexpected things. The Barefoot Contessa calms me.

And I now have a freezer full of lemon-yogurt cake, so bring it on, world.

JaimeeRose_BestLemonCakeEver

This is the recipe. Do not depart. It’s the best lemon cake imaginable. Better than Starbucks lemon loaf, for sure.

JaimeeRose_BestLemonCakeEver

Yes, you need all of this lemon zest. It tastes like sunshine and is always my favorite thing to add to anything in the kitchen.

JaimeeRose_BestLemonCakeEver

 

 

#Prettytrash. Send the lemon rinds down your disposal to clean it and fragrance the house.

JaimeeRose_BestLemonCakeEver

One recipe departure: poke holes all over your cake to help it better absorb the lemon syrup. Not the icing — the syrup. Yes, there’s a reason this is so moist.

JaimeeRose_BestLemonCakeEver

 JaimeeRose_BestLemonCakeEver

I’m ready.

And speaking of lemons, have you tried my lemon crepes? Or lemon bars? This lemon cake is also fantastic — another Barefoot Contessa iteration, sans yogurt. I like the yogurt cake even more.

By |2013-05-15T05:29:40-07:00May 15th, 2013|Recipes|1 Comment

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