An Encore Performance - Lemon Cheesecake Pie

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Tucked into my bag of garden tricks is the use of pansies to span the seasons. I plant them as soon as the fall mums fade and our window boxes are begging for spots of color to break the monotony of winter gray. I've done this for years and actually keep cardboard boxes to cover them when temperatures drop to freezing levels. We've lived lots of places and, except for areas of heavy ice and snow, I've found I can protect them from most of winter's vagaries. My goal is to keep them alive until my favorite red begonias become available for summer planting. As a child, I loved pansies. Their vibrant colors and soft velvet touch fascinated me. The moth-like imprint on their petals opened other doors for me as well and for a time I was a bug-brat with a pretty impressive collection of insects and spiders. I was the pansy person in the family and from the time I was four or so, I was responsible for their planting and general care. In those early years, I'm sure my stature was nearly dwarfed by the size of the watering can, but I refused to use the hose because it beat my beauties down. I was convinced they thrived because of the care I gave them. It never dawned on me that they were nearly to impossible to kill.

This cheesecake pie is not unlike my pansies. It is easy to make and it has a soft velvet texture that is hard to beat. However, I must be honest and tell you that if it weren't for those two qualities, I wouldn't bother making this cheesecake again. I found the cake on Pinterest and was charmed by its appearance. The original recipe came from the Real Simple site, so I was fairly certain the cake would be fine, if not top drawer. It uses a pre-baked pie crust and the filling can be made in 5 minutes if you have your ingredients at room temperature. The filling is quite tangy due to the lemon juice and cheeses that are used to make it, but I think the addition of lemon zest would have greatly improved the flavor. I also think you'll enjoy the cake more if you allow it to ripen for a full day before you serve it. I am keeping the recipe because the cake is so easy to make and I have been known to have days when time forces something less than ambrosia from my kitchen, There is nothing wrong with this cake, but it is not a standout. I let you decide for yourself. Here is the recipe.

Lemon and Blueberry Pudding

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This is one of those desserts that can be as plain or fancy as you wish. Most people call them trifles, but I prefer to call them puddings because they are such homely creations. While I like to prepare them using components I've made from scratch, they will work quite nicely with a purchased cake, instant pudding and whipped topping. If I'm trying to impress, I take the high road and make the cake, syrup, pudding and flavored cream myself, but I have been known to lower my standards and let General Mills assist me in the kitchen. I'm in the midst of clearing the pantry and refrigerator to ready them for spring. I have a rather large supply of blueberries that I have to work my way through and this dessert is a nice way to use them. While not usually considered to be winter fare, we had sunshine for a while today, and those blueberries had my name on them, so in no time at all I had this pudding on my table. Here is how it's made. I've also included recipes for its components for those of you who might want to make it from scratch.

Berrylicious Lemon Pound Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...While I realize this is a matter of opinion, I'll go on record as saying local berries have been a disappointment this summer. The only thing that has prevented the season from being a total berry bust is the crop of Chester blackberries that are now appearing in local markets and farm stands. They are as sweet as sacramental wine, and when we have guests I like to serve them with a cake that is as good as they are. I found one several years ago that adds a special flourish to berry desserts. The cake I'm featuring tonight is so lovely that I'm surprised I haven't been able to find it on other blogs or recipe sites. It was developed for Gourmet magazine ages ago, and, while this gorgeous pound cake should be manna for lemon lovers, it seems to have fallen into obscurity. Pound cakes were traditionally made with a pound of each of flour, butter, eggs and sugar. Nowadays, ratio, rather than weight, defines this classic, and any cake made with ingredients in a 1:1:1:1 ratio is considered to be a pound cake, regardless of its component weight. If you are interested, more detailed information about this type of cake can be found here. Pound or butter cakes get their lift from a combination of butter, eggs and baking powder. They are heavier and richer than sponge cakes and they are also easier to make. They are not foolproof, but if you measure your ingredients carefully you should have a lovely cake to serve your family. We'd all have better and more consistent luck with our baked goods if we weighed our ingredients. Unfortunately, most of us do not yet do that. When I prepare dry ingredients for baking, I spoon rather than scoop them into a measuring cup. I also level the content of the cup with the back of a knife rather than my fingers. When you look at the ingredient list for this cake, you will undoubtedly notice that it calls for 1/4 cup lemon zest. That is not a mistake. Five large lemons will yield that amount of zest, but a caution must be issued here. Make sure you avoid the white pith when you zest the lemons. The pith will make the cake bitter and its after taste can be downright unpleasant. Your cake will probably need more time in the oven than the recipe suggests. Mine required an hour to bake. This is a wonderful cake for lemon lovers and it makes a perfect base for macerated fruit. When the recipe was published, it was suggested that the cake be served with strawberries. While it's delicious served that way, I actually prefer to serve it with a blueberry or blackberry compote. Perhaps that's an unconscious homage to the state of Oregon. I hope you'll try this recipe. I love this intensely lemon-flavored cake. I think you will, too. Here's the recipe.

Lemon Cream Cheese Bars

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...This recipe has been around for a while now. Its use of crescent rolls lead me to believe the recipe had come from the Pillsbury test kitchen, but I, instead, found it on the All Recipes site. I made the bars last weekend and because they were well received, I decided to feature them here. I did make one change to the ingredient list you see below. I used a pound of sweet dough instead of the crescent rolls that are called for in the recipe. As it happened, I had dough on hand and using crescent rolls would have meant a trip to the grocery store, so I took the line of least resistance and used what I had on hand. I'm sure the crescent rolls would also have worked well. I did want to talk a bit about the quantity of lemon that is used in this recipe. Its pretty non-specific. The lemons I use weigh about 6 ounces each. One lemon gives me 2 tablespoons of juice and 1 tablespoon of zest. If you use those super large lemons that look like they've been on steroids, I think you'll end up with bars that are unpleasantly acidic. You have been warned. This recipe is easy to follow and I think those of you who have not tried the bars might want to give it a try. Here is how the bars are made.