Tinker's Fresh Strawberry Bread

Tinker is a long time family friend of Tessa and Emily. The four of us started Recipe Club way back in January of 1995. Tinker is a mom of two beautiful children, world traveler, art collector, eclectic decorator, has a serious china fetish, is a successful professional, and an amazing cook. Over the years the members of our Recipe Club have been the recipients of dozens of her dishes. Some of her grandmother's tried and true, some of her own creations, along with magazine and cookbook adventures.

Love this Fresh Strawberry Bread she made a few years ago. If you're looking for a fresh change from the same old quick bread recipes, you'll love this. Nothing says spring like strawberries and lemon.

My motto: If you bake it, it will come.

Tinker's Fresh Strawberry Bread

printable recipe

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 cups sugar ( I use 1 brown and 1 white) any combo will work

3 eggs, beaten

2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup vegetable oil

grated rind of 1 lemon

3 cups chopped strawberries

3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 inch loaf pans.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. Stir. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla, oil and lemon rind. Spoon the strawberries into the liquid ingredients and stir gently to coat the fruit. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and nuts. Fold (with spatula by hand) until all ingredients are blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Allow loaves to cool for 5 minutes, then turn out onto rack to cool.

Tips:

-I omitted the nuts, and baked the loaves for about 55 minutes.

-If the loaves are browning too much, lay a sheet of foil over the loaves until done.

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Simple Lemon Almond Poppyseed Cake

So remember when we had that talk about using boxed mixes? And I told you I only have a few recipes I like, where I use a box and like the result? This is one. Actually, there are 3 total. But I don't ever post them, bc I think to myself - I'm sure everyone has and uses this recipe.

Guess not.

I ran into my friend Marge the other day (don't you love that name?) at the paint store. Yes, I was buying paint. Not a happy place for me. Let's just say sewing is not my only challenge. Anyway, she asked me if I had a good Lemon Poppy seed recipe, and asked if I would post it ASAP. Super simple, hence the name. Really moist, seriously almost fail proof. The original recipe came with some yawner icing, but adding fresh lemon juice and lots of zest makes this special.

Marge, this one's for you.

Lemon Almond Poppy seed Cake with Fresh lemon Icing
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Cake ingredients:

4 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons almond extract

1 cup water

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

1 package lemon cake mix (I like Duncan Hines)

1 small (3.4 oz) instant vanilla pudding

Icing ingredients:

2 cups powdered sugar

Juice from 1-2 lemons (about 1/4 cup juice)

zest from lemons

dash salt

2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a bundt pan.

Cake:

Mix all wet cake ingredients together with mixer until blended . Add dry ingredients, including poppy seeds, mix until all ingredients are blended well, about 3 minutes.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake for about 40-50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, before inverting onto serving platter.

Prepare icing, and frost cake when completely cooled. Serve with fresh strawberries.

Icing:

Melt butter, add to powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest, and salt in bowl. Whisk or beat until smooth. Thin with a little milk, water or lemon juice if too thick.

Tips:

-I use 1-2 lemons depending on the amount of juice extracted and the size of the lemon. You will need about 1/4 cup lemon juice to make the icing spreadable. If using one lemon, only take the zest from one lemon as well. If you want to thin the icing a bit, you may use a little milk.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies with Lemon Icing

October, month of pumpkin desserts. Blogs, websites and magazines are filled with cookies, pies, breads and cakes made with pumpkin. I like, but don't love pumpkin. And I have a hub who really doesn't care for pumpkin at all . When I made these and handed one to Grant, I asked - what do you think?? He took a huge Grant bite (this consists of eating a three bite cookie in one bite) looked up at me and said in a very matter-of-fact way "I don't like it." My boys burst out laughing. This prompted a discussion (led by ME) on gratitude and being too honest.

Anyway~ I printed out a recipe from joythebaker.com (nice blog, lots of great pics and recipes). Changed a few ingredients, and added a little lemon icing, which the kids weren't crazy about, but I liked a lot. The boys loved the cookies plain. Pumpkin cookies need a little icing. They are just so ...orange. The recipe suggests sprinkling with a little powdered sugar. The ingredients are almost identical to my favorite pumpkin bread recipe. I liked these little cookies and thought they were a great kid treat. Personally, I prefer Orange Pumpkin bread. So does Grant, not that I'm asking...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chips Cookies with Lemon Icing

2 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup canned pumpkin

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Positions rack in middle of oven. Preheat to 325 degrees.

Mix all dry ingredients together in bowl, set aside. In another large bowl, beat eggs and sugar until smooth about 1 minute. On low speed, mix in rest of wet ingredients. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips all at once. Mixing just until wet and dry ingredients are incorporated. Don't over mix.

Spoon the batter out onto a parchment lined or lightly greased cookie sheet by tablespoons. About 12 cookies per sheet. Bake until the tops feel firm about 10-12 minutes. Cool completely. Frost if desired. Cookies are best when eaten within 2 days.

Lemon Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

dash salt

1 tablespoon butter, melted

2 tablespoons cream or milk to thin

grated lemon zest

Mix all ingredients together in small mixing bowl, whisk or beat with blender until smooth. Frost or drizzle the cookies with icing.

Tips:

-I found a recipe for pumpkin cookies that suggested adding butterscotch chips. I love butterscotch, so I added a cup. The chocolate chips were soft and perfect in the cookies ( I added another cup to equal two cups total to the original recipe), but the butterscotch chips hardened up and didn't have that melt in your mouth quality, unless eaten while still warm. My rec - go with all dark (semi sweet) chocolate chips in this cookie.

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Fresh Lemon Cake with Lemon Sour Cream Icing

Before

After

Doesn't lemon just scream SPRING? Uhhhh, still waiting for that in our neighborhood. In the past week, I think we have accumulated about a foot of new snow. Most of it has melted, again. I just keep reminding myself, it's spring in Utah, and we have (about) 6 more weeks of snow, off and on. If I tell myself we have snow till MAY, I won't be frustrated when we are sitting at baseball games in our ski jackets, 6 layers of clothing underneath (that's what I counted yesterday after the game) UGGS, 4 blankets and gloves. And yes, we won, 9-1. So it wasn't all bad.

I tried out this lemon cake a couple of nights ago, and loved it. The original recipe includes just the cake and the lemon syrup. It tasted good, but not very pleasing to the eye. So I added a sour cream lemon icing. This cake is really moist and has a delish tang. It would make a great addition to your Easter brunch buffet. You're having one, right?

Fresh Lemon Cake with Lemon Sour Cream Icing

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Cake:

3 cups sifted flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

4 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

4 egg yolks

(2 lemons total for cake, syrup and icing)

finely grated zest of one lemon

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup milk

Lemon Syrup:

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons hot water

Lemon Frosting:

2-3 Cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

milk

For the cake:

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and 3/4 teaspoons salt in bowl and set aside. Beat the egg whites with 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl or mixer until soft peaks form. Set aside. Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks to the butter mixture one at a time, beating well. Add the lemon zest. Combine the lemon juice and milk in a small bowl. Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter, alternating with the lemon juice mixture. Fold in the egg whites. Spread the batter evenly in a greased 9 inch springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or until top is golden and cake springs back when touched in center. Remove from oven and run a knife around the edges of the springform pan if cake is sticking to pan.

For Syrup:

Combine all syrup ingredients until sugar dissolves, spoon over cake while still warm. Let cool and remove from pan. The syrup will crystallize as the cake cools.

For icing:

Place the sour cream in a mixing bowl with 2 cups of the powdered sugar. Mix and add salt and lemon juice. Add more powdered sugar until icing is desired consistency. Frost cake when completely cooled.

Tips:

-This recipe would work in 2 large loaf pans, or one 9x 13 pan.

-I made a few modifications, because I really like a strong lemon flavor. The original recipe only calls for 1 tablespoon of zest, and no lemon icing. I think I may cut about 1/4 cup of the sugar in the cake next time as well.

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Lemon Chicken Soup

If you love chicken soup, you have to try this recipe. It's chicken soup with a rich, yummy twist. This recipe comes from my dear friend Barbara, who is a fab cook. Barbara is a funny lady, amazing mom, raises UNBELIEVABLY talented children, is a spiritual giant (really), has great style...I could go on and on. Anyway...I have been wanting to try this soup forever, and finally did yesterday. It was SO good. I made it once for a teacher luncheon at Bountiful High, then made another batch for our family. Everyone in the fam ate it up and loved it. Even the picky eaters. Yes Stephen, that's you.

Lemon Chicken Soup

12 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup butter
1 pint whipping cream
8-10 oz egg noodles "Country Pasta" brand is best
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups cold water
2 cup chicken, cooked, chopped
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning or "Fine's Herbs"

(I used lots of garlic salt and Mrs Dash)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup fresh mushrooms, optional

In small saucepan, combine 1 cup chicken broth, lemon juice and butter. Bring to boil, and let reduce to about 1/2 cup, takes about 1/2 hour to 45 mins. After reduced, take off heat, stir in cream and set aside. While the mixture is reducing, cook the chicken with spices and chop the vegetables. In a large pot, heat remaining 11 cups chicken broth. Bring to boil, then add vegetables and noodles and cook for about 13-15 minutes. Blend flour and water and whisk into soup. Bring to boil once again. Reduce heat to low. Add cream mixture and chicken and spices to taste. Heat through, but don't boil.

Barb's note: Country Pasta is sold at Dicks, Costco, Smiths. Serves 6 hungry people or 8 polite people.

Si's note:
I used 1/2 pint of cream and 1/2 pint of half and half.

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Ginger Cake with Lemon Butter Sauce

A few years ago, I found a recipe for ginger cake with butter sauce. It was a little dry, so I added a bit of sour cream, tweaked the seasonings and came up with this recipe. It's the perfect fall dessert. It is best when served with ice cream, and sauteed apples. Can you say "num"?

Ginger Cake with Lemon Butter Sauce and Sauteed Apples

Cake:
2 ¼ cups flour
¾ cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup sour cream
1 cup butter
¾ cup dark molasses
2 eggs

Sauce:
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter
¼ cup lemon juice
Powdered sugar

Sauteed Apples:
2 apples, peeled and sliced thin
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons butter
dash salt

Cake:
Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cloves in a large mixing bowl. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add molasses and sour cream. Mix well. Spoon batter into a greased 9”x13” baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean.

Sauce:
Mix sugar, butter and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Pour boiling sauce over hot cake, immediately after removing from oven. Reserve a little sauce for serving.

Apples:
Melt butter in saucepan. Add sliced apples, sugar and salt. Saute apples just until they begin to soften. Cut in squares or wedges and serve while still warm. Add whipped cream or vanilla ice cream for topping.

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