Fresh Fruit Pizza with Lemon Curd

We had our family Easter dinner a week early this year. Grandma had to work all of Easter weekend (bummer) and some family members were going out of town, so we just decided to move it up a week.

I decided to make this Spring dessert to take to our Easter dinner.
I had some Meyer Lemon juice in the fridge that I had squeezed from my leftover meyer lemons, so I made the curd with that the night before.
I had some of my favorite sugar cookie dough in the freezer, so I knew that this would be easy to put together after we got home from church.
I did things a little bit differently than the recipe suggested. I used a square cookie sheet to bake my cookie dough. I cut the cookie into squares and topped each cookie square with the lemon curd individually. Then I placed a few berries on top.

I have made Lemon and Lime curd many, many times and I was surprised that this version from Cooking Light had just as much flavor and great texture even though it was a little bit lighter. It was fabulous.
This dessert disappeared very quickly. It was the perfect thing to celebrate Easter and Spring!


Here is the recipe for Fresh Fruit Pizza with Lemon Curd from Cooking Light
* I used this sugar cookie dough, because I had it in the freezer
* I didn't use a plum or the sprinkling of sugar at the end of the recipe
* I spread a little bit of blackberry or blueberry Simply Fruit
on top of some of the squares, before adding the lemon curd

Here is the recipe for Lemon Curd
*I used Meyer Lemon juice instead of normal lemon juice

Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake

Sometimes there is an item that you see and for some reason, from that moment on, You cannot get it out of your mind.

This coffee cake was one of those items.
I don't even know how I found it. I think I was interested in Meyer Lemons and what to make with them, and I found this huge coffee cake. I was going to make it and then didn't.
Well, I bought more Meyer Lemons and then I did. I made this gigantic coffee cake for absolutely no reason. No reason at all.

This coffee cake has two layers of quickly boiled Meyer Lemon slices in it. It also has the most struesel topping that I have ever seen in my entire life.
And it is good. Really, really good.
The only thing I would do differently next time is to make sure that all my Meyer Lemon slices were exactly the same thickness, by using a mandoline or food processor with the slicing blade to slice them, instead of relying on my own slicing skills. Some of the slices were a little too thick and tasted just a tad bitter.

Here is the recipe for Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake from Martha Stewart
* I used low-fat buttermilk instead of sour cream
* I add 1 1/2 Tablespoons Meyer Lemon juice to the cake batter

Meyer Lemon Cornmeal Cake & Meyer Lemon Cranberry Muffins

Okay, here are the other 2 recipes that I used my Meyer Lemons in. I saw that The Food Librarian made this Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Meyer Lemons and I decided to follow her lead.
It was a stir and mix kind of cake with a nice powdered sugar glaze. I didn't make the blueberry sauce because I was trying to keep this sweet and simple. It sure was delicious. I made 1/2 the recipe in a 6-inch pan.
My daughters really loved this one. I really enjoy the texture that a little bit of cornmeal adds to a recipe.
This was simply delightful and one that I want to make again for sure. I don't think I got the glaze thick enough and it pooled in the middle, but that middle section was really citrus-y and delicious. Extra glaze added a bunch of flavor!

I used the last of my Meyer Lemons to make these Meyer Lemon Cranberry Muffins. I can't remember where I saw this recipe but I always have a stash of frozen cranberries in my freezer, so I figured this was the perfect time to pull them out.
This recipe was originally baked in a loaf pan, but I rarely have the patience for a loaf of quick bread. Muffins are easier and quicker.

The most interesting thing about this recipe is that the wet ingredients are mostly Meyer lemon juice. There is an egg and a little bit of oil, but for the most part, lemon juice does the job. As you can imagine, that gives this muffins a really bright, lemon-y flavor. Very lemon-y and citrus-y and just tart enough with that lovely edge of sweet that the Meyer lemon has.

The cranberries sunk the bottom of the muffin tin, so when I turned them out of the pan, I left them upside down. I added some of the leftover glaze from the cornmeal cake above, but for some reason I think these were better without the glaze.

That my friends, is the end of my Meyer Lemon extravanganza for this year. I hope I find them again next year and I can experiment even more.

Here is the recipe for Lemon Cornmeal Cake with Lemon Glaze that I adapted via epicurious
* I used Meyer Lemons
* I made 1/2 the recipe in a 6-inch pan

Here is the recipe for Lemon Cranberry Coconut Bread adapted to make muffins from Baking Bites
* I omitted the coconut
* I made muffins, baked them at 400 degrees for 15 minutes

Meyer Lemon Sorbet

I still had some Meyer Lemons to use so I decided to try out a sorbet. I have been really interested in sorbets lately, but I am not sure why. They just taste so pure and fruity.

This sorbet is no exception. The flavor of Meyer Lemons is hard to explain. They definitely are a lemon but there are hints of mandarin or tangerine that really mellow the tartness. I find the flavor absolutely delightful. I'm wondering why it has taken me so long to discover this tasty citrus.

Sorbet is so light and just a few spoonfuls can really satisfy you. Speaking of a few spoonfuls- I think I will head to the freezer and have a few!

Here is the recipe for Meyer Lemon Sorbet from Simply Recipes

Meyer Lemon Upside-Down Cake

I was going to make this
Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake (via martha stewart) when my brother was here, but I ran out of time. I had already purchased the 10 Meyer lemons though, so I needed a new plan.

I have never tasted a Meyer Lemon or seen one until a couple of weeks ago when they appeared in my local Publix. I had seen lots of recipes that used them, so I was excited that they were finally available to me. I couldn't choose just one thing to make with my Meyer lemons, but the first thing I wanted to try was this Meyer Lemon Upside-Down Cake.

The site where I found this recipe says this about Meyer lemons- "It's easy to understand what botanical explorer Frank Meyer saw in the cheery citrus fruit he found in China in 1908. Thought to be a cross between mandarins and lemons, Meyer lemons (as they've come to be known) have a thin, smooth skin and an alluring fragrance. But the biggest draw is their taste -- wonderfully sweet with very little pucker."

I made 1/2 of the recipe in a 6-inch cake pan. You rub some softened butter in the pan, sprinkle brown sugar on top and then arrange thin slices of Meyer lemon on top of the sugar. The batter is made from ground almonds, eggs, and honey. The egg whites are beaten and then folded into the egg yolk/honey/ground almond mixture.

The resulting cake is very good. Tender, but not to sweet with the delicious topping of almost candied Meyer lemons on top. If you can get your hands on some Meyer lemons, I highly recommend making this delicious little cake.




Here is the recipe for Meyer Lemon Upside-Down Cake from whole living
* I made 1/2 recipe in a 6-inch pan