Lemon Meringue Pie

Today we were forecast to have a blizzard. Last night I stayed up far too late, excited to see the snow start to accumulate but it just kept flurrying on at the same steady speed it had for the last 24 hours. I woke up repeatedly throughout the night, peeking around the blinds hoping for a winter wonderland. To no avail. While we got a few inches, it was nothing near what I anticipated and was quite disappointing. Last winter I was a snow naysayer. There was too much, too frequently and it often also involved a lot of ice and early morning drives to work that didn't mix well for me personally. However this year I can take public transit and leave my car buried, and I have a whole new outlook on snow. I am still hopeful and will patiently wait for the rest of winter my first real blizzard.


In all the bright white and coldness of winter, I am ecstatic about citrus. We never fly through boxes of clementines and lemons and limes faster than in the depths of January and February. I was craving lemon meringue pie and knew it was time to give it another shot. Last time I used the meringue recipe from Hannah Kaminsky's Easy As Vegan Pie. While it was totally delicious and an amazing option, the texture of the meringue was a lot thicker & denser than the meringue on Veggie Galaxy's pie. I had heard a rumor that they used soy protein to make their meringue, and I gave it a go. While I'm not divulging my recipe, it was very similar to their lighter, more marshmallowy texture. Since I had lent out my kitchen torch, I broiled it in the oven and left it in for a split second too long. I decided that I didn't like the heavily broiled look on the lemon meringue pie, so I removed the top inch of meringue and broiled again with a close watch. As that was cooling, I ate the over broiled meringue from a bowl and it was pure heaven. A chocolate pudding pie in a graham cracker crust with that meringue would be a killer s'mores pie for the summer.
Do yourselves a favor and go buy several lemons. Come home and make a lemon meringue pie. The recipe from Mister Nice Guy is a great option for the pie filling, but I haven't ever used their meringue recipe so I can't vouch for that. Since this pie is so much easier to make than you expect, you should probably spend some time making dozens of tiny hearts or leaves or snowflakes for the edges of your crust. Because you're waiting for a snowstorm, and who knows when that will come?

Citrus Pistachio Pound Cake

I am one year older. Maybe it's just because I have literally been elbow deep in frosting so many times in the past two years or maybe it's because I am feeling sturdier more stable, but I didn't want a traditional birthday cake this year. Normally I commit to some sort of two or three layer cake, but the sweetness and the fillings and all the piping just wasn't appealing to me for 26. I was considering foregoing birthday sweets altogether, but decided that was quite sacrilegious for a sugar sorceress like myself. I remembered bookmarking a pistachio citrus pound cake many seasons ago, promising myself to veganize it eventually. I decided that this was quite the proper occasion to splurge on a pound or two of pistachios and a lime since those have taken quite the price hike this spring. I zested all my fruits. Organic only, because we are getting older and wiser and we don't want to put too many things in our bodies that may contain pesticides. I baked the cake really hastily because I decided to spend some time with friends earlier in the evening and it was getting quite late and I still needed to go to work in the morning. Of course, in the haste or the adaptation of my previous pound cake recipe something didn't quite work out and the cake was very browned on the edges but still a little under baked in the center and of course fell in the middle. I was frustrated and went to sleep cursing at it.


The cake tasted good, but it wasn't something I would ever share. So I came home from work on my birthday and decided to start over. I am a perfectionist at my heart of hearts and no cake was going to defeat me. Especially not on the day when I am the queen of the world. I set away to zesting and juicing and chopping more pistachios. I folded it all together and filled my pans and scraped all the bowls. The batter tasted perfect. I put my little baby pound cakes into the oven, five minutes before my partner Greg came home from work. He walked in and mentioned how nice the kitchen smelled, then looked at the timer, saw 25 minutes ticking away, and his face dropped. I realized I had messed up some dinner plans, but he assured me it would be ok & we would only be ten minutes late. When I told him there was probably another 20 minutes of baking after that, I saw in his face that I was spoilin' some serious surprise dinner plans. After a few minutes of scrambling and panicking and not wanting to take cakes full of expensive ingredients out of the oven or waste several of my friends' time, I realized I could ask someone else I live with to take the cakes out of the oven. I asked a housemate and he so nicely agreed, so this year I got to have my cake & eat it too. Note to self for twenty six: Utilize your resources, but don't squander them. It helps if you can offer cake in return for favors. Also, buy yourself flowers more than once a year. It feels great.



Mini Citrus Pistachio Pound Cakes
altered from Mini Almond Poundcakes by Isa Chandra, queen of vegan baking

1 lemon, zested & juiced
1 lime, zested & juiced
1 orange, zested & juiced
7 oz almond paste
6 oz extra firm silken tofu
2/3 cup almond milk
1/3 cup citrus juice
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup Earth Balance margarine, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pistachios, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease & flour three 4x2" loaf pans.
Zest each of the citrus fruits and set the zest aside. Juice all the fruits and stir mixture well. You'll need a third cup of juice for the recipe; I stirred the remainder into the water I was drinking for prosperity. Combine almond paste, tofu, almond milk, citrus juice, and sugar in a blender or food processor bowl. Blend until smooth. Add the vanilla and melted margarine and blend again. In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and zest until well combined. Whisk in wet until just combined. Add 1/4 cup pistachios and fold with a spatula. Portion into loaf pans until 3/4 full. Smooth tops and sprinkle with remaining pistachios. Bake for 40-50 minutes until the tops are firm & golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Lemon Coconut Cheesecake

There might be green grass & tulips now, but I made this spring-inspired cheesecake in the dead of winter. I made it on a bitter, cold day when we had run out of oil and were waiting for the tank to be refilled. I really needed an excuse to turn the oven on & wish for warmer days. There's not much of a sunnier combination than lemon and coconut, so that is what I went with. I tweaked the recipe from my soy nog cheesecake to incorporate those flavors. And just for the record, if you have never had the pleasure of living in a house heated by oil consider yourself lucky. Our giant, old house in DC requires thousands of dollars of oil to make it through the winter. And that's not toasty warm, it's just tolerably chilly & with the windows wrapped to keep out the drafts.
Luckily worrying about heat is over, since it finally hit 70 degrees this week. I opened the windows. I broke out my shorts. I wore a skirt without tights. It was magical. I even braved the crowds to see the cherry blossoms in peak bloom for the first time. I snuck onto an empty lot a few blocks away and picked a ridiculous amount of daffodils to fill a few milk bottles. I am starting to see lilies in bouquets at the grocery store, so I know May is rapidly approaching. My favorite flowers are the lilies that bloomed in my mother's garden. They always opened up right around my birthday, my favorite time of the year. Not just because it's my birthday, but because May is the most beautiful month of the year. So here's to cheesecakes and flowers and perfect spring afternoons.


Lemon Coconut Cheesecake
makes one 10" cheesecake

Crust
9 ounces lemon cookies (I used Back to Nature's California Lemon)
4 ounces shredded or flaked coconut
1/2 cup shortening

Crush the cookies & coconut to crumbs in a food processor. While those are being pulsed, melt the shortening. Pour over the cookie crumbs and mix until fully incorporated. If the cookie crumbs still aren't wet enough to hold together when you squeeze it in your hands, then add another tablespoon or two of shortening. Press into the bottom and up the sides of your springform pan.

Cheesecake Filling
3/4 cup coconut milk
3 tablespoon EnerG Egg Replacer
28 oz Tofutti cream cheese (3 1/2 tubs)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 cup sugar
scraping of one vanilla bean
zest of one lemon

Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Warm the coconut milk and whisk in the egg replacer. Allow to slightly cool & thicken for several minutes. Meanwhile in the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, combine all the remaining ingredients. Add coconut milk and beat until the batter is smooth. Pour into to springform pan, smoothing the top of the cheesecake. Bake for 40 minutes or until the center of the cheesecake is only slightly wiggly but appears firm. Allow to cool overnight. I topped it with coconut whip, additional lemon cookies, and tons of toasted coconut flakes.

Lavender Lemonade

There have been a lot of thoughts on my mind lately, but I have been trouble keeping track of them all. A brilliant idea will hit me like a strike of lightning, and disappear before I can write it down. I will wake up from a dream with lots of hazy allusions that I am not sure how to interpret. I feel ready to run & ready to settle at the same time. I keep thinking about how little I have seen and done, and wondering when I will fit all the things I want to do in. Because if we don't make time, nothing will get done. I have been baking away, but none of those things will magically appear on the internet unless I take the time to sort through the extraneous photographs and turn some of this noise in my head into cohesive sentences.
Today Greg and I went to Roosevelt Island and wondered around the paths. We talked about driving across the country. How I haven't ever seen the Pacific Ocean. How we should visit all the cities we have never been to and see all the friends we haven't seen in too long. We are starting to feel a little stagnant in this city. Weighed down by the things we don't enjoy here. Hopeful about starting over in a new place. But here we are wondering swampy forest paths we have never seen before in a city I have only lived in for 2 years. When is it giving up too soon? When is wanderlust just a state of mind?
Lavender is one of those haunting ingredients. Much like honeysuckle, it reminds me of the country and smells like home. But as a flavor it morphs into something entirely else. More elite. Something you see infused in chocolates or ice creams in fancy shops in the city. Sparingly used, but perfection when it's done right. A middle road I am searching for.


Lavender Lemonade
makes just shy of one gallon

1/2 cup dried lavender flowers
2 cups sugar
approximately 14 lemons
12 cups water

In a stockpot combine 4 cups of water with the sugar. Bring to a boil & remove from heat. Add lavender, stirring until all flowers are soaked. Cover & allow to steep for 30 minutes. Strain, pressing out all the simple syrup. Juice all your lemons. Stir juice & lavender syrup into remaining water. Stir, sip, & adjust to your preferences. Depending on the tartness of the lemons, I sometimes use a few more. I also have a tendency to reserve a little syrup just in case the lemons are sweeter than normal.


The other day it started lightly raining as I was driving my long trek home. I saw a bright flash of light and instinctively assumed it was either a red light or speed camera. I am so disconnected from nature, that lightning didn't actually cross my mind until I saw the second flash. Later that night we sat in a beautiful, old movie theatre. All I could think about was how long it's been since I have been to a drive-in. I love the city, but I love being in the middle of nowhere. Where I do fit in this paradigm? There's a beautiful sunset over DC, but I certainly won't see the stars tonight.

Lemon Curd Tartlets

Even though I am surrounded by sugar all day, I still crave desserts at home. This is one of those super quick recipes that I can throw together in a matter of minutes to quench that craving. My local super market had a sale on pre folded phyllo cups, and I couldn't resist. Phyllo can be such a pain to work with, so I will willingly fork over an extra dollar to have it ready to fill.
I used a lemon curd recipe from C'est La Vegan that has never failed me. I spooned it into the shells, let it cool, and topped with fresh raspberries.


They are not only quick, but super adorable, and have a great texture. The crunch of the phyllo really makes these bite sized tarts shine. If you don't want lemon curd, try lime or orange! These shells would also be great willed with chocolate pudding and maybe topped with a slice of strawberry or dollop of coconut cream.
I don't know what it is about lemon lately, but I can't get enough of it. I even had a dream about drinking a pitcher of fresh lemonade. Maybe I am craving summer? Do you have dreams about food too?