TWD & BWJ: When Life Hands You Lemons....

....Make Lemon Loaf Cake.  Our hosts this week are Truc and Michelle.  If you enjoy a lemony, easy treat, you will be able to find the recipe on their blogs. 

We are big lemon fans in our house. From an early age, my elder daughter has preferred lemon tart to birthday cake. (In fact, when she discovered that I was baking Lemon Loaf Cake, she asked if I couldn't make lemon squares instead. Oh well.)
With a little forethought, this recipe is a snap. Eggs and cream brought to room temperature -- yes. Butter melted and cooled to room temperature -- yes. Lemons zested -- yes, again.  Then, with only a whisk and bowl it all comes together so easily. 

The comments on Lemon Loaf Cake from my fellow bloggers were very helpful. I enjoy lemon treats on the tart side. Enough people commented on the mild lemon flavor, so I added the zest of a fourth lemon, a little extra lemon juice and made a glaze from lemon juice and confectioner's sugar. The loaf turned out dense and tart. Yum.

TWD & BWJ: Pizza Rustica

 Between the hand mixed crust and my first attempt at a lattice crust, my pizza was quite rustic looking.  Our baking hosts for this treat are Emily and Raelynn.  Follow their links to find the recipe.  Or alternately, buy or borrow the book, Baking with Julia.

I usually try to stick to the recipes as they are written. Because I keep a kosher kitchen, I knew from the get-go that I would have to substitute a vegetable or two for the prosciutto. The rules of keeping kosher forbid the use of any pork or the mixing of meat and milk products. Many fellow TWD bloggers had some excellent suggestions for veggie substitutes. In the end, I went with sauteed sweet onions and roasted red peppers because I like them and they were close at hand.

I was worried about the sweetness of the crust. I am not usually a sweet & salty girl and I wasn't at all sure how this would play with the family. I thought about taking out the sugar or at least cutting the amount, but because part of the BWJ challenge is trying new recipes, what would be the point?  I would try the sweet crust and if I didn't like it, so be it.  I could change it the next time.

I have to say I loved, loved, loved this crust.  It's the best crust I've ever made. Eventhough I don't own a food processor, this was easy enough to make by hand. My older daughter thought the sweet crust complimented the savory filling, but my husband thought the crust was too sweet. At first, I wasn't crazy about the sweet/savory combo. But when I had leftovers cold the next day, I thought the sweet crust complemented the savory very well. Maybe it has to do with the temperature of the pizza. I will definitely be making this again.