Strawberry Lemon Curd

Excuse the horrible picture, it's taken from my phone. Will try and update post later.

I feel like a broken record, each time I begin writing a post for this blog, the same words come to me 'sorry for being away for so long'! I don't know what it is or what to do, but somehow I just can't seem to find time to even bake, let alone blog. Must. Repair. Now. Hopefully you'll see a change soon.

Even when I do decide to make something, it doesn't go too well. It was time for this month's Secret Recipe Club post, and my assigned blog was A Teaspoon of Spice. This blog actually challenged me, since it's run by two dieticians! And everything I put on this blog is usually an indulgence, a dessert for when a person's down in the dumps, or just generally having a craving.



It's strawberry season here in India, and I was looking for something to make with them. I've been meaning to bake these cupcakes, or a strawberry pie since forever, but as you can guess, never got around to doing it. I found the perfect recipe, that I knew would work for the new lack of time Avanika. It was shamefully easy, but I think the kitchen was annoyed at being ignored, I had quite a mishap with the blender, I ended up covered in burning hot strawberry sauce. Buttttt... You guys ought to be proud, instead of giving up, I sat down to chop all 3 cups of strawberries again and re-made the sauce. I'm hoping this means the laziness has finally gone away.

This sauce isn't as thick as a lemon curd, but is the perfect breakfast accompaniment, along with some toast, or drizzled over some sponge cake and cream. The lemon balances out the sweetness of the strawberries, and there's just a hint of puckeriness. But probably the sense that is tingled the most on eating a spoonful of this is the smell. It is just divine, it makes you want to jump into a pool of the curd and never come out!

Strawberry Lemon Curd
Adapted from Teaspoon of Spice
Yield : About 2.5 cups

3 cups [250 g] fresh chopped strawberries
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp [110 g] sugar - adjust depending on sweetness of strawberries
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 egg yolks
1/8 tsp salt
1 tbsp butter

Instructions - 

1. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the chopped strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for about 7-8 minutes.
2. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes [Important, in case you have a similar mishap]. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour back into saucepan. In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and the egg yolks. Pour into the strawberry mixture, and cook on medium-low for about 1 minute, till it thickens and a finger swiped across the spoon leaves a clear path.
4. Add the salt and butter. Allow to cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour.  Enjoy :)

Lemon Custard Cakes

[Update - Somehow an older draft got published, added the missing bits again. Sorry]


Somehow, even though I love the puckeriness of lemons, I don't really bake with them as much. This was a recipe that my Mom actually found. Yes, she still bakes on occasion, and this was while I was away so she couldn't get me to make it instead. Ever since then, she's been raving about it, also wanted me to try the recipe when there, but I never got around to it. After countless requests for it since I'm back, I finally got around to making it, and it was quite quick to make, so I don't even get why I was procrastinating. I think I don't do well with requests / orders, since baking is something I inherently do for myself.

Anyway, I made these, and there's some weird science magic that happens with them. You make a normal souffle sort of batter, but once it's baked, it separates into a lemon custard-y layer on the bottom, and a cakey, light souffle ish thing on the top. It's quite fascinating actually.



I made some in these little pans I got from Urban Dazzle, which is quite the awesome shopping site for kitchen stuff and home stuff, I've got my eye on quite a few things. I'm so happy that online shopping has finally arrived in India, and I can now buy my bakeware easily.

Since Mom was insisting on it so much, I doubled the recipe, and ended up baking some in mugs. The mugs had a tiny almost cake layer too, they provided quite a journey of texture, while the shallow pans provided a good crispy crust / custard ratio. I actually can't decide which I liked more, and I know I'm going to make them in both the next time I make these.

And there will be a next time, I'm sure. The lemon is perfectly pucker-y but not overly so, and the textures are just, FUN. You really should try this one.



Lemon Custard Cakes

Adapted from Martha Stewart
Yield - 6 ramekins


3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup [100 g] granulated sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 to 3 tsp grated lemon zest,
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Instructions- 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). Place 6 ramekins in a large baking / roasting pan, there isn't any need to grease them since you'll be serving them in the same ramekins. Place a kettle of water to boil.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar until light and fluffy. Whisk in the flour. Also whisk in the milk, lemon zest and juice.
3. In another bowl with clean beaters, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks, along with the salt. Fold the whites into the yolk mixture, the resulting batter will be quite thin.
4. Pour into the waiting ramekins, about 3/4 full. Pour the boiling water into the larger pan, so that the ramekins are halfway submerged into the water. Bake for about 25 minutes, until the tops are nicely brown. Serve.

Creamy Lemon Squares

It's time for the Secret Recipe Club again. I'm the biggest procrastinator ever, and have never, ever been able to schedule a post. This group is slowly changing that in me!! This post, and last month's have both been scheduled. Can you believe it? Who knew blogging would bring about such life changes too, I've actually began doing things on time, instead of beginning a few hours after due date. Thank you, Amanda :) You should sign up too!

This time I was assigned Cara's blog, the Boys Made Me Do it. I was really happy with this assignment, she had a lot of great choices, and I was torn between these bars that she made from the Pioneer Woman, or Joy the Baker's super famous Cinnamon Sugar Pull Apart Bread. I finally chose the lemon bars, since the were so absolutely easy to make, and yeast is something I have yet to conquer. Plus, lemon is something I love baking with, but somehow I haven't done as much. Turns out it was the perfect pick, these bars, though easy and not true lemon bars, were absolutely delicious. The creaminess of the filling just went perfectly with the oat-sy crust, the and puckeriness of the lemons was just wonderful. This took like 10 minutes to prepare too, so there really shouldn't be anything stopping you from making these.

Creamy Lemon Squares

Adapted from the Boys Made Me Do It via the Pioneer Woman

1 1/2 cup [180g ] flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 stick [113 g] butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup oats - I used quick cooking
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice - This can be varied according to taste
zest of 1 lemon

Instructions -

1. Preheat oven to 350 F [180 C]. Grease a 8 x 11 pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the softened butter and brown sugar. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this to the butter mixture, stir till incorporated. Now dump in the oats, and mix as best you can.
3. Line about 3/4th of this mixture at the bottom of your pan, and press it in using your fingers, or a measuring cup.
4. In a medium bowl, pour in the can of sweetened condensed milk. Add the lemon juice and zest. You can taste this mixture as you go, and vary lemon accordingly. It should be really quite puckery, the taste mutes a little because of the crust. Mix well, and pour over the layer of oats. Slightly level with a spatula.
5. Now sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the lemon layer, and lightly flatten with fingers, don't pack it in.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, till the crumb in golden brown. Cool for about 30 minutes, cut into bars, and serve.