Lemon "Brownies"

I hesitate to call these "brownies" with their dazzling yellow hue, but that is what the recipe dubbed them, and so I give you "Lemony Lemon Brownies" as seen in various Pinterest and facebook posts.  :)  I tried these out of curiosity, and  they're certainly no show-stopper.  However, they are a tasty little treat that are quickly whipped-up, and could be paired with other desserts (various ice creams come to mind) for an escape from the ordinary.

Lemon Brownies (with lemon glaze)

Brownies:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup flour (all-purpose or cake)
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp. lemon zest
3/4 cups granulated white sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Glaze:
4 Tbsp. lemon juice
8 tsp. lemon zest
1 cup icing sugar (powdered/confectioners sugar)

Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Grease an 8"x8" pan.  Zest and juice 2 lemons.  Beat together the flour, sugar, salt and butter.  In a separate bowl whisk together the eggs, zest, and lemon juice.  Add this to the flour mixture. Beat until creamy, pour into greased pan and bake 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden-brown around the edges.  Cool completely before glazing.  (To make the glaze, simply whisk the three ingredients together until smooth.)

Berry Bounty Cake

This cake recipe was originally called a "Blueberry Bounty Cake" in a Country Woman magazine that I found laying around.  I used mixed berries in mine, so I adjusted the title of it here.  :)  I also used the Berry Best Cheesecake recipe (previous post) as the base-layer for this cake.  The lower tier was 1/2 cheesecake (baked without the crust) and 1/2 bounty cake.  The top tier was a 2-layer bounty cake.  I frosted it with plain-and-simple whipped cream (with a touch of vanilla and lightly sweetened with sugar).

Berry Bounty Cake

1-1/2 cups butter, softened
1-3/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 Tbsp. grated lemon peel (I used the zest of one lemon)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups cake flour
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup lemonade (I simply juiced my lemon and added about 2 tsp. of sugar to the juice, then watered it down to one cup total liquid)
1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries

Pre-heat oven to 350F.  In a large bowl cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each.  Beat in the lemon peel and vanilla.  In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Add the flour mixture and the lemonade alternately to the sugar mixture and beat until well blended.  Fold in the berries.  Baking time will vary depending on the pan of choice.  For 2 10" rounds start checking your cakes at about 22 minutes.  You don't want to dry them out, but a toothpick inserted near-center should come out clean.  If you do choose to use the cheesecake along-with, and/or the whipped cream frosting, you WILL need to refrigerate this cake.

Berry Best Cheesecake

This is an adaptation/alteration of a blueberry cheesecake recipe that I found in a magazine (I believe it was Taste of Home?).  I decided to make it for Easter this year, and it turned out fabulous.  I used a crust-less version of it as the base layer for a cake that I did last month.  That also turned out well.  This cheesecake does not require a hot water bath or gradual cooling, making it one of the simpler recipes.  It has a thick texture (though seedy if you don't strain your berries a bit) and a very rich flavor; a perfect use for ripe spring and summer berries.

Berry Best Cheesecake

12 graham cracker boards
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp. + 1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
3 packages (total of 24 oz) Neufchatel cream cheese, softened
6 oz plain low-fat greek yogurt (recipe calls for 2%)
3 Tbsp. lemon juice (I used the juice of 1 lemon, it worked well)
2 tsp. lemon zest (one lemon should be plenty for this)
3 eggs
1 cup mixed berries
1/4 cup sugar

(I used frozen berries for this and had a good result, but I'm sure that fresh would be even better).

Pre-heat your oven to 350F.  Crush the crackers as finely as possible, mix them with the melted butter and 2 Tbsp of sugar, and press them firmly into the bottom and slightly up the sides of a 9-inch round spring-form pan.  In a large bowl beat together the cream cheese and yogurt.  Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups of sugar, the lemon juice and the zest.  Add the eggs and beat until smooth, scraping the bowl at least once.  Rinse the berries and toss them with the flour before folding them into the filling.  Pour the filling into the prepared crust and smooth the top.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until lightly golden around the edge.  Run a knife around the edge of the pan to release the cheesecake, then allow it to cool in the pan on a wire rack for about an hour.  This cake should be refrigerated for at least 3 hours before serving, in order to set.  Just before serving you may want to add additional berries and/or glaze to the top of your cheesecake.