2010's Top 10

Happy New Year!  2010 was a pretty good year for me, although it sure went by quickly.  The year started and ended with lots of travelling, I think we went home to Iowa a half a dozen times this past year.  I also travelled to Texas a couple of times for my sister's wedding festivities, we went to St. Louis to celebrate our own 1st wedding anniversary, and spent a week at the beach in August with my college roommates.  We ended the year travelling for the holidays and a weekend in Chicago to celebrate my mom's birthday.  My husband started a new job this fall and I kept busy throughout the summer and fall with lots of baking jobs making hundreds of cupcakes and several birthday cakes.  

Of course the big news is that we found out we'll be having our first child in 2011, thank you all for sticking around even though it was tough to keep up with this blog when I could barely think about food for the few months.  These last few months have been busy with preparing the nursery, baby showers, and doctors appointments.  Now we're almost there and our daughter should be here mid-February! 

As we all recover from the sugar coma of the holidays, I'll be sharing some recipes from my baby shower, as well as some freezer meals as I try to stock up before the baby arrives.  For now though, I'll leave you with the most popular recipes from 2010.  Evidently the popularity of cupcakes isn't over yet!

S'mores Cupcakes

Margarita Cupcakes

Chocolate Cherry Coke Cupcakes

White Cheddar Chicken Pasta

Snickers Cupcakes

Lasagna Roll-ups

Italian Cream Cake

Triple Lemon Cupcakes

Dijon Chicken Club Sandwiches

Mudslide Cupcakes

Invitations to Dessert: Cupcake Bar

For a recent event, Nikki from Doodle Dog and I teamed up to create a cupcake bar. For this summer party, we wanted some fun flavors and bright colors. Nikki designed some signs to put on the cupcake bar to identify the flavors and add a playful feel reminiscent of a 1950’s soda shop to the buffet.


What really elevates this cupcake bar to the next level are the special little touches of detail. Sure we could have just set out the cupcakes on plates and called it a day – but putting in the extra effort to add cute little coordinating signs and adding garnishes to the cupcakes makes it all special.

The signs were made on heavy smooth white paper. Carrying the same design theme from sign to sign really helped tie the entire cupcake bar and all of the flavors together perfectly. Nikki crafted the silver stands for next to nothing with some cheap finds and a can of paint from Michael’s. Each stand held one of the circle signs that coordinated with the matching cupcake flavor. All of the cupcakes were displayed nicely on some chargers that we also painted silver to match the rest of the bar.

The Flavors:

Pink Lemonade – a lemon cupcake with a delicious raspberry buttercream topped with a fresh raspberry. (See the recipe below)

Oreo Cookie Cupcake – a cookies and cream cupcake with half an Oreo on the bottom and more chunks of Oreo mixed in to the batter. Topped with classic cream cheese icing and garnished with another Oreo cookie.

Piña Colada – a coconut cupcake topped with a pineapple cream cheese icing and coconut flakes. These were garnished with a pineapple and maraschino cherry pick.

Check back soon for the remaining cupcake recipes and head on over to Nikki’s blog to see what she’s working on next.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
Cake from Triple Lemon Cupcakes, Frosting adapted from SouthernLiving, March 2009

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup plus 2 T lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk
Zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 12 cup muffin tin with liners. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Add sugar and lemon zest to mixing bowl or stand mixer and rub zest into sugar with your fingertips until well distributed and fragrant. Add the butter and cream cheese to the sugar and beat until light and creamy, 2 - 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating about 1 minute after each egg. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, beating on low speed until just incorporated. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk, once incorporated, add the next 1/3 of the flour mix, followed by remaining buttermilk, and remaining flour, beating each addition until just incorporated. Add lemon juice, beating until just incorporated on low speed.

Transfer batter to muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center cupcake comes out clean. Cool about 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting:
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup fresh raspberries
½ tsp lemon extract
1 pound powdered sugar

Cream butter in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add in raspberries and lemon extract and beat until most of the chunks are gone. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating on low speed until incorporated. Increase speed to medium and whip for about thirty seconds. Transfer to a piping bag and decorate as desired. Top with fresh raspberries if desired.

Lemon Spaghetti

If you love lemons, then you have to try this dish. I randomly had a craving for lemon spaghetti, a meal I have never even had before, on Tuesday night. I have no idea why I wanted it, but I had a bag of lemons on hand and needed something I could toss together really quickly as I was in the middle of making a cake. Generally, I would have made some paninis or something on such a night but instead I had my husband pick up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery deli and I threw this together.

Because I've never actually had lemon spaghetti before, I'm not sure if this is truly a traditional recipe or not. I googled it and found several recipes that all seemed close to what I had in mind, the closest being a Giada De Laurentiis recipe from Food Network. Then I adjusted as usual to suit our tastes. I added some chicken to the dish because I wanted it to be more of a main dish rather than a side dish. I removed the skin from the rotisserie chicken (the traditional, not flavored version) and cut up the breast meat for this dish. I used about 1 1/2 breasts for four servings. This pasta would also be great served with pan-fried breaded chicken cutlets, fish or scallops.

Lemon Spaghetti

1/2 pound spaghetti (I used whole wheat)
3 lemons (approx 1/2 cup juice plus a scant tablespoon of zest)
1/4 cup olive oil
Generous 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 T fresh basil (a good handful of leaves)
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 - 2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
Up to 1/2 cup reserved pasta water

Heat a large pot of water to boiling, add a generous pinch of salt, and add spaghetti. Cook until al dente (about 6 minutes for whole wheat). Meanwhile, in the bottom of serving bowl, combine lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, lemon zest and thyme. Whisk together until incorporated. Slowly stream in olive oil while whisking. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Either drain pasta and reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water or transfer pasta with a slotted spoon from pot to bowl. (I just transfer the partially drained pasta with a slotted spoon since I'm going to add cooking water to thin the sauce anyway but if you are afraid you'll end up with too much water, drain it first because you'll need anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water.) Toss pasta with sauce to coat evenly and add in chicken. Stack basil leaves, roll, and chiffonade into ribbons. Add to pasta and top with additional Parmesan if desired.

Lemon Thyme Chicken

Last week lemons were on sale at the grocery store so I picked up a whole bag of them. There are tons of things that you can use lemons to make. A bit of fresh squeezed lemon juice adds brightness to so many foods. You can add it to sweet or savory things, it mixes really well with lots of herbs - my favorites are thyme and rosemary. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a rosemary plan when I was buying some herbs to put in my garden this year.

Oregano and Thyme

Speaking of herbs - if you knew how cheap and easy they were to grow, you wouldn't pay the ridiculous prices for them in the store. Pick up some small herb plants or seeds and plant them. For a total investment of under $15, I have oregano, basil, thyme, sage, cilantro, and flat leaf Italian parsley growing in my garden right now. And my neighbor gives me chives and mint when I want them or I would have planted those too.

You can grow them in pots in your kitchen or on your patio or mix them in with flowers in your flower beds - this is what I do. However, I will warn you if you are going to grow mint, put it in a pot as it can be invasive.

Sage

Some of these herbs are even perennials, meaning they will come back year after year - my sage, oregano and thyme have been going for three years now. I cut them all way back this spring so they don't take over. Both thyme and oregano spread almost like a ground cover. Plant them in a sunny spot and water as necessary, they are all pretty hardy and don't take much effort. Make sure you keep your herbs from blooming or going to seed by pinching off the tops and cutting them frequently and they will continue to produce all summer.

Cilantro - an annual so its much smaller than the perennials at this point

But anyway, back to chicken since that's what I'm supposed to be talking about. This lemon thyme chicken is really easy and only involves a few ingredients. Marinate, refrigerate and toss it on the grill and you have a quick, healthy summer dinner. I served mine with an edamame succotash that I'll post shortly.

Lemon Thyme Chicken

1.5-2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breasts
2 lemons
1 T olive oil
8 -10 sprigs of thyme
Salt and Pepper

Trim any visible fat from chicken breasts and butterfly them to make thin cutlets of an even thickness. Rub olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Zest 1 lemon over the chicken. Squeeze juice of lemon over the chicken. Strip thyme off stems by holding the tips and running fingers down the stems, the leaves will fall right off. (I like to leave a couple sprigs to top the chicken after cooking.) Lightly chop and sprinkle over chicken. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour.

Preheat grill to medium heat. Add chicken and cook about five minutes per side, chicken will easily release when its ready to be flipped. Cook until juices run clear. Remove to a plate and tent with foil for 5-10 minutes to let juices redistribute. Squeeze juice of remaining lemon over chicken or serve with lemon wedges. Garnish with more thyme if desired.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread

Well I'm finally getting around to posting the last of what I made for the Bake Sale a couple of weeks ago. The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook was a great resource for me in preparation for the bake sale. The multitude of simple and quick recipes were what I needed since I had so many different desserts to prepare in a short time. Since we were starting pretty early in the morning, I knew I wanted to do some things that could be breakfast or dessert. This lemon poppy seed bread fits into that category nicely. It works with a cup of coffee for breakfast or serve it as dessert, maybe fancied up a bit with a blueberry coulis or powdered sugar glaze.

As I've said before, quick breads are one of my favorite things. They come together in about 5 minutes and there are so many options. This could also be made into muffins very easily. Don't skip the glaze on this recipe as it really gives the bread a nice pop of lemon and adds some moisture as well. I had to tent my bread for about 10 minutes in the oven to prevent the top from over-cooking. If you use 2 smaller loaf pans instead of 1 large loaf pan to bake this, that probably wouldn't be necessary.

Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook

Bread:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 2/3 cup flour
3/4 cup buttermilk
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 T poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 8" x 4" loaf pan with baking spray. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter and beat about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing after each until incorporated. Add flour, buttermilk, lemon zest, salt and baking soda, mixing until just incorporated. Stir in poppy seeds.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake about 40-45 minutes until a skewer or knife inserted in the center comes out clean. It may be necessary to tent with foil for the last 10-15 minutes of baking time if the top is becoming too brown. Cool in pan about 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack covered in wax paper to cool completely. Glaze with lemon glaze below. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate if not serving immediately.

Glaze:
3 T lemon juice
1 T sugar

Whisk together until sugar is dissolved. Use a large pastry brush to brush onto bread.

Triple Lemon Cupcakes

Lemon cake... lemon curd filling... lemon cream cheese icing... delicious.


These cupcakes were so good, I made them twice in a two week period. That rarely happens with the stockpile of recipes to try that I have waiting.

I love the cake for these cupcakes, it is so moist and has a very nice lemon flavor. I wasn't sure about the lemon cream cheese frosting at first but it was perfect, especially with the lemon curd filling. Some lemon candy slices made a cute garnish.

Triple Lemon Cupcakes
Cake and Icing Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker and Tartlette
Lemon Curd Recipe from Martha Stewart

Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup plus 2 T lemon juice
1/2 cup buttermilk
Zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 12 cup muffin tin with liners. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.

Add sugar and lemon zest to mixing bowl or stand mixer and rub zest into sugar with your fingertips until well distributed and fragrant. Add the butter and cream cheese to the sugar and beat until light and creamy, 2 - 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating about 1 minute after each egg. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture, beating on low speed until just incorporated. Add 1/2 of the buttermilk, once incorporated, add the next 1/3 of the flour mix, followed by remaining buttermilk, and remaining flour, beating each addition until just incorporated. Add lemon juice, beating until just incorporated on low speed.

Transfer batter to muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 of the way full. I use a cookie scoop to evenly fill the muffin tins. (It also makes it easier to get the batter into the muffin tins without spills and drips all over the pan.) Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center cupcake comes out clean. Cool about 5 minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lemon Curd:
4 egg yolks
Zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup plus 1 T lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
5 T unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces

Combine everything but the butter in a sauce pan and whisk together. Cook over medium high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, scraping the sides of the pan often until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 8 - 10 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add butter, 1 piece at a time, stirring until incorporated. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the lemon curd and cover with a lid. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before using.

Frosting:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 T lemon juice
2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp lemon zest

Beat together butter, cream cheese and lemon juice on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating on low speed until incorporated. Add lemon zest and increase speed to medium-high and beat until smooth.

To assemble:
Use a paring knife to cut a small cone out of the center of each cupcake. Fill a piping bag fitted with a large round tip with lemon curd and pipe into the center of each cupcake. Fill a second piping bag fitted with a large star tip with frosting and pipe a swirl onto the top of each cupcake. Garnish with lemon candy slices (I cut each fruit slice in half so they wouldn't overpower the cupcake) as desired.

Lemon Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

This is a slightly more grown-up version of the popular cream cheese and marshmallow fluff fruit dip. But it still only has four ingredients and is ready in about five minutes. I think it works as an appetizer, a light dessert or goes well with a brunch menu.

Its perfect with all kinds of fruit; my favorites are strawberries, pineapple, and grapes. You can also add some vanilla wafers or other cookies to the platter. And it's perfect for making a vanilla wafer sandwich - kids will love them - just sandwich a strawberry slice and a spoonful of dip between two vanilla wafers.

Lemon Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

8 oz cream cheese, softened (I used 1/3 less fat)
8 oz low fat vanilla yogurt
Zest of 1 lemon
2 T lemon juice
1 cup powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese until light and smooth. Add in yogurt, lemon juice and zest (reserving a little for garnish if desired) and beat until smooth. Slowly mix in powdered sugar. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Meyer Lemon Bars

A new Fresh Market opened up a few miles from my house and we stopped by for the first time this past weekend. I was like a kid in a candy store with the great selection of products. Tons of fresh fruits and vegetables to choose from, lots of organic products, spices I can't ever find at my regular grocery store. Anyway, don't think you need a specialty store to make this recipe. I did however pick up some great Meyer lemons which you will need. Meyer lemons are sweeter than regular lemons and more orange in color.


When I bought the lemons, I knew I wanted to make a dessert with them but didn't know which one. As I was flipping through my Food Network magazine, I found a recipe for Classic Lemon Bars that I figured would be perfect.

Meyer Lemon Bars
Adapted from Food Network Magazine, March 2010 Issue

Crust:
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and diced
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Filling:
4 large eggs
2 egg yolks
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour, sifted
Zest of 1 Meyer lemon
1 cup Meyer lemon juice (about 5 lemons)
Powdered sugar to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 pan with nonstick spray and line with foil, leaving an overhang on each side of 2-3 inches. Spray foil lightly with nonstick spray.

In a food processor, add sugar and pulse 4-5 times. Add brown sugar, flour, salt and butter and pulse until the dough begins to come together. It will be crumbly and dry. Spread into prepared pan and press into an even layer. Bake approximately 25 minutes until golden brown. Reduce heat to 300 degrees.

While the crust cooks, beat eggs and yolks in a mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar and flour until smooth. Add lemon zest and slowly whisk in lemon juice. When crust is baked, remove from oven and pour filling over hot crust and return to oven. Bake until filling is just set, about 30 minutes.

Cool in the pan approximately 30 minutes and then refrigerate in pan at least 2 hours. Use foil to remove bars from the pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Cut into 24 bars. Keep extras refrigerated.

Lemon Cream Tart

I got some mini tart pans as a birthday gift so I wanted to break them out for a dinner party. It's always fun to make each person their own individual dessert. I decided on a classic lemon cream tart because lemon desserts are generally some of my favorite. This lemon cream from Dorie Greenspan is no disappointment. It was tart and creamy and very good. While the process of making the lemon cream may seem intimidating at first, its really pretty easy and similar to any basic custard recipe. To make it easier, I used a pre-made refrigerated pie crust as a tart shell for these because I was short on time, but next time I plan to try a homemade sweet tart crust.

In order to make this filling you will need a double boiler. If you don't have a double boiler, use a heat safe bowl set over a sauce pan. Fill the sauce pan with about an inch of water and set the bowl over the water, making sure the bowl doesn't actually touch the water. You'll also need either a blender or food processor.



Lemon Cream Tart Filling
Recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home To Yours

1 cup sugar
Zest of 3 lemons
4 eggs
3/4 cup lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)
1 cup plus 5 T unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
Prepared pie or tart crust
Blueberry Coulis (see below)

Set pan of water over medium heat. In heat safe bowl, combine sugar and lemon zest. Rub the sugar and zest together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and grainy. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the lemon juice.

Set the bowl over the pan and whisk as soon as the mixture begins to heat. Stir constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling as the mixture cooks. Heat the mixture to 180 degrees. The mixture will start off thin and foamy, but will quickly turn thicker. Once the whisk leaves a trail through the mixture, it is almost done. This process will generally take about 10 minutes. The cream will be thick and shiny when it's ready.

When the mixture has reached 180 degrees, pour through a fine mesh strainer into blender or food processor. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, until the temperature falls to about 140 degrees. Turn the blender on high and through the center of the lid, add pieces of butter a couple at a time. Occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl as it processes, until all the butter is incorporated. Once the butter is all mixed in, continue to blend an additional 3 minutes.

Transfer the lemon cream to a clean bowl and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly against the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Cover with lid and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven as directed on crust package or recipe. Roll out pie or tart crust on a well-floured surface. Transfer to tart pans and press lightly in place. Cover crust with a sheet of foil, pressed against the surface. Fill with dried beans or rice and bake about 7-10 minutes. Remove foil and beans and prick the surface of the dough with a fork several times and continue baking about 5-10 more minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Blueberry Coulis

1 cup fresh blueberries
1 T sugar

Empty blueberries into a food processor. Sprinkle with sugar and pulse several times until blended. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

When cream is ready, spoon into tart shells. Top with blueberry coulis and serve.

Another Wilton Cake

This week was the final class of the first Wilton Cake Decorating Course. This week we learned how to complete the Wilton rose (yay I can now work at a grocery store bakery!) and leaves. I'm hoping to start Course 2 next week but as of now, I'm the only person who signed up so it will most likely be cancelled and I'll have to wait until next month. I'm having fun in the classes and really want to get farther along so hopefully its not delayed too long.

For this class we had to bring in another layer cake, so I decided to try out another new recipe. I was a little limited on the ingredients I had on hand, but I found a classic pound cake recipe in my Mark Bittman How to Cook Everything cookbook and decided to make a lemon pound cake with a lemon curd filling from Martha Stewart.

The cake came out a little dry - I think I over-beat the egg whites a little and should have added a simple syrup. I would also have liked the cake to be a little taller as the layers were quite thin even when baked in my 8" pans so next time I think I would make 1.5 times the recipe and add a 3rd layer. The lemon curd filling turned out to be fantastic and I will definitely be using this recipe again in the future.

Lemon Pound Cake

Recipe from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything

1/2 pound unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened

2 cups (9 oz) cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup sugar

5 eggs, separated

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1 T fresh squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour pans (I used 2 8" round pans) but the traditional recipe uses a 9x5 loaf pan.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Use an electric mixer to cream butter until its smooth. Add half the sugar and beat well. Add the remaining sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in each egg yolk, individually. Mix the dry ingredients in by hand, just until smooth.

Whisk eggs whites until soft peaks form and fold into batter gently. Batter will be thick. Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake. In a loaf pan, bake about 1 1/4 hours, for 8" pans it took about 30 minutes. Remove cakes when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool about 10 minutes and then remove from pan to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Lemon Curd Filling

Recipe from Martha Stewart

3 large egg yolks

6 T sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

4 T unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and setting a smaller bowl inside.

Combine egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon (about 7-10 minutes).

Remove sauce from the heat and add in butter, piece by piece, stirring with a wooden spoon until each addition is incorporated. Strain finished mixture through a fine sieve into chilled bowl. Stir occasionally until mixture is cooled, about 7-10 minutes. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap placed directly on top of mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate at least one hour.

After mixture is cooled, level cakes and brush off any crumbs with a pastry brush. Smooth on lemon curd with a spatula, leaving a 1/2" space around the outside edge empty. Top with 2nd layer and frost as desired. I used the Wilton buttercream recipe again which can be found here.

Lemon Yogurt Cake with Raspberry Sauce

After seeing this cake here yesterday on the Novice Chef, I really wanted to make this cake. The recipe is originally from Ina Garden and like most of her recipes it doesnt disappoint. I love lemon in pretty much anything, it just gives such a light, fresh flavor. I only had fat-free vanilla yogurt at home instead of whole plain yogurt so I used that. I also used canola oil instead of vegetable oil and made a rasberry sauce instead of the glaze. Here's the recipe as I made it.

Lemon Yogurt Cake

(Makes 8 1" slices)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup vanilla yogurt

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease and flour an 8"x4"x2" loaf pan. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, yogurt, vanilla and lemon zest and juice, being careful to keep any lemon seeds out of the batter. Mix in dry ingredients. When combined, gently fold in vegetable oil. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack about 15 minutes are then remove from pan. Slice and top with raspberry sauce.


Raspberry Lemon Sauce

1 cup raspberries

Juice of 1 lemon

1/2 cup sugar

Heat all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Use a wooden spoon to crush raspberries. As the sauce heats the berries will easily break down. Cook until berries sauce is a uniform consistency and remove from heat. Sauce will thicken slightly as it cools.