Lemon Shortbread Bar

I think I've made it known that I LOVE PIE!

That's why I decided to combine two of my favorite things, Cookies and PIE into one delicious bar. This elegant treat comes without the crust, and is has a wonderful texture. The end result is lemony heaven!


So, how does one make these delicious treats. Actually, it's very easy!

Lemon Shortbread Bars

For the Crust:
1/2 lb. salted butter room temp
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbs vanilla
2 cups AP flour

Preheat oven to 325. Cream butter, sugar and powder sugar. Add vanilla and flour until smooth.

Press crust into a lightly greased 9X13 pan. Bake for 20 minutes (or until edges are brown).
Set to cool.

Filling

**if you want to use box, I hear that works too, make to directions and pour over crust.

Home-Made filling YAY!

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water
5 tablespoons cornstarch
5 large egg yolks
dash salt
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

For filling, whisk sugar, water, and cornstarch in a pot. Whisk in egg yolks and salt and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes, whisking constantly.
Increase heat to medium and, still whisking, cook filling until it begins to bubble just a touch - when it does, remove.
Remove and strain. Stir in lemon zest, lemon juice and dissolve in butter .
Pour mix into cooled shell, let cool before sticking it into the fridge to set (or it will crack).

This elegant bar holds its own on the table, and is quite delicious. No really, it is!
And it's simple too. I say this having made it two days ago before my cold set in. I am currently typing while having two nice kleenex balls shoved up my horribly red nose! Paints a nice picture doesn't it? But really, being sick is the worst. These, are the best!

I love the contrasting ideas of my sickness with these lovely photos. As a blogger, I feel that interesting photography is super important, but living inside a building with very little light (most of which is yellow light) makes photography very difficult. I am always looking for interesting ways to take photos (using whatever props I have). I have found that the best photos are taken at night when I can control the flash on my camera (rather than the indirect sunlight of an afternoon shoot on a north-east facing building). Do I use enough parenthesis (yes)?

Okay, when the typing is bad, it is time for bed. Night everyone. ENJOY!

Movember Moustachioed Macarons

I have been dieing to do something for Movember. I hate when you don't have as much time as you want. But, c'est la vie! It is especially true considering I don't have kids. Most of my friends who do laugh that I get time at all to bake, so I guess I need to have more compassion and patience.

So, this week given my recent baking trend for co-workers, I decided to do something Gluten Free for the two on staff who never get to taste anything I make. The thing is, I wanted it to have a moustache. What is cuter than a Macaron with a Moustache? (maybe one on a stick!)

I have to admit, Macarons are still a struggle for me. The delectable treat tends to get all finicky in my oven. I love how they look and am still trying to perfect them. These Lemon ones, for example, slid a little in their dome. You can JUST make out the crusty bottom of the Macaron, and there are a few pock-marks on the tops. ZUT!
It is my challenge to eventually get it right!

So, I made several Macarons with Moustaches. These were my favorite: The trucker (aka. handlebars), the Undercover Brother and the Connoisseur. Hubbie can't exactly grow a mustache, but beards are his thing... go figure? My friends and I were all sitting around at a Mexican restaurant in town looking at all the moustaches. It is awesome to see, and yet part of me screams in terror at their mere presence. Our server in particular had an amazing 'stache!

Recently we've begun watching old 70s movies, and I don't know how they did it back then... how was that a trend?!


Well, combining two trends: Moustaches for Movember and Macarons for baking, I believe that I'm getting closer to my goal of making a delicious and perfect Macaron. Maybe in time! Until then, I'm going to serve these up and laugh. Maybe I need some more chocolate moustaches too!

IT'S A DINOSAUR! (cake) RAWR!

It's been a long week! But a good one! This is probably going to be my last cake for some time. My health is kinda crappy, and I'm finding it too hard to sit for long. Too bad too. But, I must say, it's a cute way to take a break!

This Dinosaur was made for a fellow teacher. Her son is having his first birthday party, and asked for a dinosaur cake based on some plates that she had purchased. He's so cute!


This was my first cake using Rice Crispy treats to mold a shape. Although the head/feet are not that superbly detailed, I think I have a better sense on how to shape with the materials. Super excited about that! But... ITSADINOSAUR \(♥◒♥)/

I mean, really, how can you resist this face?

Dies of sugary cuteness! For this cake, I used my vanilla butter combined with a white-chocolate cake recipe. It is white through and through, except for his MMF-covered body. The cake on the side was a cute touch. It's the smoosh cake for her child. He's gonna mess that little guy up. I devised a way of adding it to the cake board as a decoration, but it pulls off easily so that when the time comes, he can eat it all up.. Smart right? (ﾉ◉ヮ◉)ﾉ<(YAY)

So, that's it for cakes for a while I think. The problem is that I love making them so much, that it is actually hard to turn down friends who want cakes. It actually makes me sad, like in my heart. At least I get to make cookies (maybe not super decorated ones though...) SIGH (= o=)/

Hope everyone has a super weekend!

Halloween Shadow Cookies

Okay, I am well aware that Halloween is officially over, but I thought I'd give it one last post.

Last year I made Bat Cookies on a Stick, so this year, I decided to make something different:
Enter The Shadow Cookie!

You see, I live in a sad apartment in the middle of nowhere. The thing about Halloween is that the only children we see are those who live in the apartment; generally they come by to show their costumes before they go to the busier streets. Anyway, long story short, I don't buy candy. Instead, I make and give out cookies. I usually write my address on the bag anyway, but people know who I am here. :)

Thanks Arty McGoo for the great inspiration!
These cookies are really easy! I simply used food a white flood for the back, then dry-brushed on some food colouring for the background colour. Finally, I used diluted black colour to paint on the front picture.

Honestly, I like the witchy-moons the best.

Hubbie found the scary yellow the best.

When I look at these, I always think of "Scary Stories to tell in the Dark", You know, those spooky books with the great art that everyone read when they were young?

Okay, Halloween is over. Now it's time to get into the Christmas spirit. Hubbie has a rule; no Christmas in the house until November is over... luckily, a friend of mine brought some Christmas in when she bought me some beautiful snowflakes for my window! LOVELY!

Until next time!