Strawberry Lime Bars

Last week, when Johanna told me it was in the 90s in the San Jose area, I told her to send me some. Because, frankly, spring really hadn't felt like it arrived yet. Yeah, some low 60s here and there, but that's it.

Until she sent me some warm weather. It hit 87F here, folks. Probably about 84F by the water where I am. It's about freakin' time. :D

So, having seen the forecast, I knew I wanted something summery. And I'm sure you can imagine where this is going. The Lime Monster snuck in the back door when I let the dog out. ;)

These are pretty much the exact same thing as last year's Strawberry Lemon Bars, which tasted just like strawberry lemonade. And, hey, amazingly enough, these taste like strawberry limeaid. (Hmm... wonder if I could do this with cherries? Mmmm, cherry limemade...)

Usually I bring a good portion of the baked goodies to work to share with my friends. I don't know if these are going to make it there. LOL Can you tell sometimes that I'm an only child? ;)



Ingredients:
Crust:
7/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
Pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Lime Filling:
2 large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1½ Tbsp. flour
¼ cup lime juice
2 tsp lime zest, from 2 limes
2 Tbsp milk
Pinch of salt

Strawberry Puree:
1 cup chopped strawberries
1–2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, depending on how sweet the berries are

Directions:
Mix the chopped strawberries with sugar and set aside to macerate for about 30 minutes.

Mix flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add the pieces of butter and, using a pastry blender or your hands, mix until it's a pale yellow and looks like coarse cornmeal. Line an 8x8 baking pan with a sheet of parchment. Press crust mixture into an even ¼-inch thick layer and about ½-inch up the sides. Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Blend the strawberries in a food processor (for a few seconds) or mash with a fork until there are no large chunks. Cook over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes until thickened. Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 350F and bake crust for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

For filling: Whisk the eggs, sugar, flour and salt in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Then whisk in the lime juice, zest, and milk.

Reduce the oven temp to 325F.

Pour the filling into the crust. Drop spoonfuls of the strawberry mixture on the surface. Use spoon or knife to swirl the strawberries through the filling.

Bake at 325F for about 20-22 minutes, or until the filling feels firm when touched lightly. Cool to room temperature, and dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Raspberry-Swirled Lime Cheesecake Bars

In order to keep myself busy yesterday afternoon, and when my recipe search gave me nothing that appealed, the infamous Lime Monster appeared. (You may remember good ol' LM - the reappearance usually signals intense lime cravings that sometimes border on obsessive and tend to drive others crazy.) From there, the wheel started turning.

Lime, lime. What can I do with that key lime juice? I've got blueberries in the fridge, no raspberries, though. And some cream cheese that really should get used. Wait! Lime juice, cream cheese... raspberry preserves! Swirled through, all pretty-like! And with a chocolate crust! Because I think it'd be contrasting and pretty. :)

Thus, this recipe was born.

And did the Lime Monster approve? Yes, indeed. The raspberry is a sweetness that cuts through that delicious tartness. And while the chocolate crust wasn't as dark as I imagined, it still works. :)



Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup plus ¼ cup sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup butter, melted

16 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1½ Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. key lime juice
2 eggs
1/3 cup raspberry preserves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Grease an 8-inch baking dish.

Mix together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cocoa, and butter. Press onto bottom of the pan.

Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, and lime juice until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time. Pour over crust. Drop dollops of raspberry preserves into batter, using a knife to swirl through.

Bake at 325F for 40 minutes, or until center is set. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate for at least four hours before cutting and serving.

Lime-Raspberry Bread

In the ongoing love affair that I'm currently having with lime, it was only a matter of time before I made this. First spotted over at Baking Bites a few months ago, the fates would have it that I was lacking in an ingredient, which led to me find this recipe again.

Before I get into that, I must say this: we finally got to the closest Whole Foods today. It's over in Providence, right near the downtown area, which is about a 35 minute drive. This is a far cry from my one-quarter-of-a-mile walk down the street. I am not pleased by this, and I've already written to Whole Foods, suggesting a great place that they could move in. Plus, my city's known for it's fishing. There'd be fresh, local seafood every day. And we're near UMass Dartmouth; they even say on the WF website that they try to build near colleges. I really think they should listen to me. ;)

Back to the bread. It's dense, but the lime flavor gives it more of a lightness. The tartness of the raspberries go quite well with the puckering lime flavor. In other words, I would absolutely make this again. :)



Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
3/4 cup lime juice
1 Tbsp. lime zest
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 egg, well-beaten
1 cup raspberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the lime juice, zest, butter, and egg. Pour into flour mixture, stirring just until blended. Gently fold in the raspberries. Scrape into prepared pan.

Bake at 250F for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, before running a knife along the edges and turning the bread out onto the wire rack to cool completely.

Lime Loaf Cake

Sure, part of me could say that I made this because I needed to use up that lime and lime juice. And, really, that was part of my reasoning. But I also just wanted to make one more thing with lime, and I hadn't done this pound cake-like beauty. I have a strange feeling that I'm going to forever associate lime with California.

Speaking of which, this is the last thing that I made while living in Mountain View. And even though Johanna's told me not to, I've been doing this all week. Today was my last library trip. My last time at the park. I even brought some bread and fed the squirrels. They're photogenic squirrels, too. Whether they had a choice in that or not is a whole 'nother thing.

(Oh, dear. So I kinda already packed all the pans we're bringing. We're now heating up broccoli in the oven using a cupcake pan.)

So, where was I? Photogenic squirrels? ;) Nah, I'll move on from that. Actually, I should just get on with the recipe since I need to eat soon.

Found originally at Baking Bites, it's definitely more pound cake than regular cake. The top gets a little bit crunchy in the oven, but it's a nice contrast against the soft center and bottom. And very limey. I think it'll be a good treat on the road.

Ingredients:
1½ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
2½ Tbsp. butter, softened
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. lime juice
Zest of one lime
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8x4-inch loaf pan.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter and sugar until light and crumbly. Add eggs, one at a time. Then add juice, zest, and vanilla. Gradually add in the flour mixture, beating just until combined. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes. Let cool briefly in pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

SHF : Lime Cheesecake Squares

I've been reading the Sugar High Friday blog events (started by Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess) since... well, even before I had a blog myself. And when I saw that Tartelette was hosting this one and the theme was citrus? Oh yeah. I had to be there and you know it was going to be lime.

What really stuck out was cheesecake. But with moving cross-country in, oh, 18 days, I didn't want to do a big cheesecake. Mini was the way to go, and, hey, how 'bout using that cakelet pan? The idea was set and a recipe was formed.

I only made six, as I didn't want to be eating them for the next week. If they lasted that long. The amount of lime juice to use was a guess, and these babies are tart. But, oh, the yum factor. This is mouth-puckeringly good. The cheesecake is light and fluffy, as all cheesecakes should aspire to be. :)



Ingredients:
6 Tbsp. graham cracker crumbs
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
¼ cup sugar

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
¼ cup lime juice
Zest of one lime

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Line 6 cakelet cups with foil. Be sure to leave enough of a 'handle' on each side for easy removal.

Mix together the graham cracker crumbs, butter, and sugar, then press into the prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar, lime juice, and zest until smooth. Fill 3/4s full.

Bake at 325F for 18-20 minutes, or until set. Let cool in pan for an hour, then remove to the fridge for at least 40 minutes before serving.

Strawberry-Filled Lime Cupcakes

So I kinda forgot that I had another package of strawberries in the fridge when I bought two more. They were on sale and I'm a sucker for strawberries, what can I say? I started thinking and somehow the Lime Monster came in my mind and decided upon these cupcakes.

But then the Lime Monster started getting greedy. He didn't want strawberries in HIS cupcakes. He convinced two of the berries to off themselves by rolling off the cutting board and onto the floor of despair. Worry not, dear readers, I fought the good fight and assigned both the Lime Monster and the berries to some joint counseling, where they worked out their differences and now live together, peacefully, in cupcakey bliss. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it. :)

I used the margarita cupcake recipe, minus the tequila, since those had more of a lime taste, and used the icing from the original lime cupcakes. They came out good. Dave even ate two, shockingly enough. The lime taste is subtle on the outer rim, but overpowered by the berry in the center. So it's like two cupcake flavors in one. I tried to get a picture of the cupcake split in half, so that the strawberry would be visible by it didn't come out well. The berry made the icing get runny and it just wasn't a pretty picture.



Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
¼ cup lime juice
1½ tsp. lime zest
1 cup milk
¼ cup oil
½ tsp. vanilla
12 strawberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Beat sugar, lime juice, zest, milk, oil, and vanilla until combined. Add in flour mixture, beating until incorporated. Fill cupcake liners about 3/4s full, then place berry in center of each one.

Bake at 350F for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted along the outer edge of the cupcake comes out clean. Let cool completely on wire rack before icing.

Lime Icing:
¼ cup butter, softened
1 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. lime juice
2 cups confectioners' sugar

Mix butter, milk, and lime juice until combined. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating until smooth.

Margarita Cupcakes

Well, afer the success of the Lime cupcakes on Friday, I thought I'd get myself some tequila and try the Margarita Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Maybe I should preface this by saying that while I love a good margarita, I need flavoring to it. I don't like stuff that's too alcohol-y. Which is good on one hand, but bad on the other, when it sneaks up on you. :)

I love the cupcake part. It's more lime than Friday's, and there are no complaints about that. The icing? Even though I used just under a tablespoon of tequila, it tastes way too strong. Dave disagrees, but whatever. He did the whole college drinking thing when he was 19. LOL But put together, I can deal with the icing taste. It firms up quite nicely, too. Oh, and despite where the recipe's from, they aren't vegan. lol

Maybe somehow I could do a strawberry margarita cupcake. :D



Ingredients:
1-1/3 cups flour
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup lime juice
1½ tsp. lime zest
1 cup milk
¼ cup oil
2 Tbsp. tequila
½ tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat lime juice, zest, milk, oil, tequila, vanilla, and sugar, until well-combined. Add flour mixture, beating until smooth. Fill cupcake liners three-quarters full.

Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool completely on wire rack before frosting.

Icing:
¼ cup butter, softened
1 Tbsp. milk
3 Tbsp. lime juice
1 Tbsp. tequila
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Mix butter, milk, lime juice, and tequila. Add sugar, one cup at a time, until smooth. If icing is too thin, add 1 Tbsp of sugar at a time until desired consistancy is reached.

Lime Cupcakes

I feel like ever since I had the key lime pie a few weeks ago, a monster has been let loose. One that squees over the very thought of something being lime flavored. A monster that dances happily while eating lime icing out of the mixing bowl. And the monster also bought some lime yogurt to try this week, too. Even now, there's a bottle of raspberry lime rickey by my the monster's side. ;)

It's not surprising. Even as a kid, if I liked something, I'd want to eat it all the time. You wouldn't believe how many times I ate Chef Boyardee's mini ravioli or the tortellini. And then I'd get tired of it and never eat it again. It even happened to my chai tea for a while. I didn't drink it for nearly two years, then got back into it, and now get it everytime I go to Starbucks or a restaurant that serves it. Is there an Obsessers Anonymous out there?

Even after last week's disatrous lime bars, when I saw these babies over at Coconut and Lime, I knew I had to make them. After tasting the batter, I was smitten. After the icing? Oh, it was full on love.

The cupcake alone doesn't have the strong lime taste, but when combined with the icing, it's perfect. Dave wants tequila in it. I may be making margarita cupcakes tomorrow. :)



Ingredients:
1½ cups flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
Zest of one lime
2 eggs
2 tsp. lime juice
3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Cream butter, sugar, and lime zest until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Stir in juice. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk, starting and ending with the flour. Fill muffin liners two-thirds full.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Let cool completely on wire rack.

Lime Icing:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
3 Tbsp. butter
Zest of one lime
2 Tbsp. buttermilk
1 Tbsp. lime juice

Combine sugar, butter, and zest. Add buttermilk and lime juice. Mix until well combined. Spread over cooled cupcake.