limey

In memory of my favorite San Francisco ferry building treat - key lime tartlets from Miette - I made Key Lime Bars from a Cook's Illustrated recipe. Yum. In fact, I like all things lime. Lime sherbet (also from Cook's) is another favorite.

Crust
5 ounces animal crackers
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar (light or dark)
Pinch table salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly
Filling
2 ounces cream cheese , room temperature
1 tablespoon grated lime zest , minced
Pinch table salt
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup fresh lime juice , either Key lime or regular
Garnish (optional)
3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut , toasted until golden and crisp

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut about 12-inch length extra-wide heavy-duty foil; fold cut edges back to form 7 1/2-inch width. With folded sides facing down, fit foil securely into bottom and up sides of 8-inch-square baking pan, allowing excess to overhang pan sides. Spray foil with nonstick cooking spray.
2. TO MAKE THE CRUST: In workbowl of food processor, pulse animal crackers until broken down, about ten 1-second pulses; process crumbs until evenly fine, about 10 seconds (you should have about 1 1/4 cups crumbs). Add brown sugar and salt; process to combine, ten to twelve 1-second pulses (if large sugar lumps remain, break them apart with fingers). Drizzle butter over crumbs and pulse until crumbs are evenly moistened with butter, about ten 1-second pulses. Press crumbs evenly and firmly into bottom of prepared pan. Bake until deep golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack while making filling. Do not turn off oven.
3. TO MAKE THE FILLING: While crust cools, in medium bowl, stir cream cheese, zest, and salt with rubber spatula until softened, creamy, and thoroughly combined. Add sweetened condensed milk and whisk vigorously until incorporated and no lumps of cream cheese remain; whisk in egg yolk. Add lime juice and whisk gently until incorporated (mixture will thicken slightly).
4. TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE: Pour filling into crust; spread to corners and smooth surface with rubber spatula. Bake until set and edges begin to pull away slightly from sides, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Cover with foil and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours.
5. Loosen edges with paring knife and lift bars from baking pan using foil extensions; cut bars into 16 squares. Sprinkle with toasted coconut, if using, and serve. (Leftovers can be refrigerated up to 2 days; crust will soften slightly. Let bars stand at room temperature about 15 minutes before serving.)

just like honey

If at first you don't succeed, bake, bake again. This recipe was a failure last time; bad honey makes bad bread. After a series of honey tastings, I tried again and it's almost perfect. Yea!

cherry cherry bo berry

Why do all of my cookbooks only have one entry under "cherries": cherry pie? There must be hundreds of interesting things to do with this super seasonal delight. Let the search begin. But meanwhile, cherry turnovers will have to suffice. Despite seriously underestimating the amount of sugar required to make cooked fruit appropriately sweet (why do I always second second guess the recipe?), they are still quite yum!

Of course, turnovers are all about the dough (as my husband reminds me) and this sour cream dough was great. (I will post later about my other fav dough that uses a cool smearing method to create extra flakiness). The recipe (below) comes from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book, which has given quite poor results on several other recipes, so I was pleasantly surprised.

Preheat oven to 425F (220C). Lightly grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

Sour Cream Dough: 1 cup flour, 1/2 tsp salt, 4 TB unsalted cold butter, 1/3 cup sour cream, 1 TB milk
Mix flour and salt. Cut butter into flour (like with pie dough) until resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add sour cream and mix lightly with fork until just moistened. Sprinkle on milk and mix again with fork. Gather dough in your hand and if it holds together, it's ready. Otherwise, keep adding a couple drops of milk until it does - don't get it too wet or mix too much. Once ready, form dough into cake 1-inch thick. Dust with flour. Roll into circle 1/8 thick. Cut 4.5-inch circles.

Fruit filling: 1.5 cups cherries, peaches, apricots, plums, or whatever. Pit and quarter the fruit.

Assemble: 7 TB sugar, 2 TB cream
Place a little fruit on one side of each dough circle - not too much or dough will break. I used about 3-4 cherries in each. Sprinkle about 2 tsp of sugar on each fruit mound - do not skimp! Fold over dough to form half-moon shape. Press edges together with fingers, then crimp with fork. Place turnovers on cookie sheet, about 1-inch apart. Brush top of each with cream then sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 mins until pastry is lightly browned (rotate once if necessary). Eat within one day.