Lemon Strawberry Stars Food

HERB-INFUSED LEMON-STRAWBERRY LOAF

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8 1/2x4 1/2" loaf pan, then line with parchment paper, leaving a 2" overhang on 2 sides.
• Lightly crush herbs with your hands to help release oils, then transfer to a small saucepan. Add 3/4 cup butter and cook over medium heat, swirling pan often, until butter melts, about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, 15-20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, stir 3/4 cup milk, 1 Tbsp. lemon zest, and 1/4 cup lemon juice in a small bowl. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
• Using an electric mixer on medium speed (or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment), beat eggs and granulated sugar in a large bowl until light in color and doubled in size, 4-5 minutes. Discard herbs from butter, then beat butter into egg mixture until well combined. Add half of dry ingredients and beat just until combined. Beat in milk mixture, then add remaining dry ingredients and beat just until combined. Do not overmix.
• Pour half of batter into prepared pan; smooth top. Top with 3 Tbsp. jam and swirl through batter with a butter knife or chopstick. Pour remaining batter over; smooth top. Repeat swirling process with remaining 3 Tbsp. jam.
• Bake cake until a tester inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 50-60 minutes.
• Transfer pan to a wire rack and let cool 20 minutes. Remove cake from pan using parchment overhang and let cool completely.
• Whisk powdered sugar and remaining 1 Tbsp. milk and 1 tsp. lemon zest in a small bowl until smooth. Spoon over top of cake and let drip down sides.
• Do Ahead: Cake can be baked 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature, or freeze up to 3 months.

FRESH STRAWBERRY JAM

Steps:

• Combine the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over very low heat for 10 minutes, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the strawberries and continue to cook over very low heat for 20 minutes, until the strawberries release some of their juices and the mixture boils slowly. Cook until a small amount of the juice gels on a very cold plate. (I keep one in the freezer.) Pour carefully into 2 pint canning jars and either seal or keep refrigerated. Use immediately, or follow proper canning guidelines below.
• Sterilizing Tips:
• Jars should be made from glass and free of any chips or cracks. Preserving or canning jars are topped with a glass, plastic, or metal lid, which has a rubber seal. Two piece lids are best for canning, as they vacuum seal when processed.
• To sterilize jars, before filling with jams, pickles, or preserves, wash jars and lids with hot, soapy water. Rinse well and arrange jars and lids open sides up, without touching, on a tray. Leave in a preheated 175 degree F oven for 25 minutes. Or, boil the jars and lids in a large saucepan, covered with water, for 15 minutes.
• Use tongs when handling the hot sterilized jars, to move them from either boiling water or the oven. Be sure the tongs are sterilized too, by dipping the ends in boiling water for a few minutes.
• As a rule, hot preserves go into hot jars and cold preserves go into cold jars. All items used in the process of making jams, jellies, and preserves must be clean. This includes any towels used, and especially your hands.
• After the jars are sterilized, you can preserve the food. It is important to follow any canning and processing instructions included in the recipe and refer to USDA guidelines about the sterilization of canned products.

LEMON STRAWBERRY STARS

Steps:

• Place frozen berries in food processor or blender and cover.
• Process until smooth.
• Combine corn starch and small amount of pureed berries in a medium saucepan.
• Add remaining pureed berries.
• Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly.
• Boil 1 minute and remove from heat.
• Chill at least 2-3 hours.
• Slice pound cake horizontally into 5 equal slices.
• Cut each layer into 2 star shapes using large star cookie cutter.
• (Reserve cake scraps for another use or snacks- they are great in a parfait glass with any leftover pudding and sauce).
• Whisk pudding mix into milk as directed on package.
• To serve on each of 5 dessert plates, place 1 star.
• Top those stars with 1/2 of the sliced berries, I usually try to use the points of the berries in the points of the stars and not to cover the stars completely otherwise you cant see that they are stars.
• Using 1/2 of the pudding, divide it amongst the 5 stars and drop a spoonful on top of each.
• Repeat with the remaining stars, berries and pudding, slightly off centering the second star off the first one on each plate.
• Drizzle the pureed sauce on the plate and slightly over the top of the stars.
• Serve immediately.

ALMOST-FAMOUS STRAWBERRY LEMONADE

Steps:

• Make the lemon syrup: Bring the lemon zest, 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan, stirring, until the sugar dissolves; let cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, make the strawberry syrup: Toss the strawberries and the remaining 1/2 cup sugar in a bowl and let sit at room temperature until the sugar dissolves, about 45 minutes. Strain the strawberry mixture; reserve the strawberry syrup and berries separately.
• Make the lemonade: Combine the lemon juice, lemon syrup, salt and 2 cups cold water in a pitcher. For each drink, put about 1 tablespoon of the strawberry syrup in a tall glass. Fill with ice, then top with the lemonade and some of the reserved strawberries.

STRAWBERRY LEMONADE BARS

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with foil leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Grease the foil and dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter.
• For the crust: Combine the flour, butter, sugar cornstarch and salt in a food processor and pulse until the dough comes together, about 1 minute. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake until the crust is golden at the edges, pale golden in the center, and firm, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. For the filling: Wipe out the food processor bowl and pulse the freeze-dried strawberries into a powder; reserve. Whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and flour in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in the lemon juice, strawberry powder and melted butter.
• Pour the filling over the warm crust and return to the oven. Bake until the filling is just set, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Cool the lemon bars on a wire rack, 30 minutes. Use the foil to lift the bars from the pan and place on a baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. Peel the foil off the bars, trim the edges and cut into 24 bars. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve.

NO-BAKE LEMON CUSTARDS WITH STRAWBERRIES

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine cream, sugar, lemon zest and salt over medium-high heat. Bring to simmer, stirring frequently to dissolve sugar. Simmer vigorously until mixture thickens slightly, about 4 to 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Let sit until mixture has cooled slightly and a skin forms on top, about 20 minutes.
• Stir mixture, then strain through fine-mesh strainer into a measuring cup with a spout; discard zest. Pour mixture evenly into six 6-ounce ramekins or small bowls.
• Refrigerate, uncovered, until set, at least 3 hours.
• As the custards chill, prepare the strawberry topping: Toss strawberries and sugar in a small mixing bowl. Let fruit macerate at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until the sugar is dissolved.
• To serve, top each lemon custard with some strawberry topping and grind black pepper on top.

STRAWBERRY LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and salt for crust in the bowl of a food processor; pulse to combine. Add butter and oil and pulse until incorporated and crumbly. Press into an 8-inch square baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
• While crust is baking, place berries into the food processor and process until smooth. Strain mixture to remove seeds, then transfer berry puree to a bowl with white sugar, flour, lemon juice, eggs, and salt. Whisk to combine.
• Remove crust from the oven and immediately pour filling mixture over top. Return to the oven and bake until filling is just set, about 20 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes. Place in the refrigerator until chilled, about 2 hours. Dust with powdered sugar and cut into 16 bars.

STRAWBERRY-LEMON LOAF CAKE

Steps:

• Make the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
• In a small bowl, toss the strawberries with 1 tablespoon sugar to macerate while you prepare the cake batter.
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, lemon zest, baking powder, salt and remaining 1 cup sugar. Whisk to combine. In a second large bowl, combine the sour cream, oil, eggs, lemon juice and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine.
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and stir gently to mix. Lift the macerated berries out of their liquid and add them to the batter. Gently fold in the berries until evenly incorporated.
• Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean, 60 to 70 minutes. If it looks to be browning on top too much, tent with aluminum foil. Cool it in the pan on a rack for about 10 minutes, then unmold the cake carefully and transfer to the rack to cool completely.
• Make the glaze: In a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar with the lemon zest and juice and stir until smooth. Pour the glaze over the cooled cake. Let stand until set.