Z is for Zest

Zesting a lime or lemon was one technique in baking that used to intimidate me, but ever since I made my lemon raspberry cake for Easter, I am no longer afraid to zest away. It's amazing how much flavor just a little bit of the outer layer of a lemon or lime adds to a batter.



The implement pictured above is a microplane, but I just have a regular zester that I got from Schnucks for something like $5 and it did the job. The microplane might be more efficient for quicker zesting, but I couldn't find one for less than $12.99 and the little zester worked well enough for my purposes.

So now that I have the technique down, I really need to apply it to some more recipes, such as:

Lemon Sugar Cookies
Lemon Bars
Lemon Meringue Pie Cupcakes
Lemon Cupcakes filled with Lemon Curd
Lime Loaf Cake
Key Lime Pie
Key Lime Cupcakes

Whew, that's enough for now, don't you think?? Eh, maybe... :)

And we come to the end of my little A-Z Baking list. We'll end this Z post with one more little fun tidbit... I love Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, but which one is my very favorite??


Not Twinkies...



Not Swiss Cake Rolls...



Not Hostess Cupcakes...



You may have already guessed....





Zebra Cakes. LOVE 'EM!!!

Don't go too far, I may be starting another ABC list soon on a new topic, just because it's fun! See ya then!

Y is for Yeast

I said before that I have never attempted baking bread with yeast. But I bet you get some pretty good results with it, probably better than with quick bread recipes. Bread that I bake usually turns out crumbly and doesn't hold together well. I'm betting that yeast gives it a more bready and less cakey texture. (My one exception, of course, is my family's Pumpkin Bread, which while it does have sort of a cake-like texture, it is absolutely perfect without yeast.)

It is definitely on my list though, to attempt making bread with yeast. This Rustic Country Bread looks like a nice recipe to start with.



That recipe uses bread flour, which would give me practice with yet another kind of flour to add to my repertoire... :)

Yeast seems to give you a better variety of the types of breads you can bake. Another recipe that is a bit more savory is this one for Feta and Tomato Focaccia. WOW.



I bet it would also be fun to try out my own English Muffins...



...and pita bread.



Some more I'm bookmarking:

Cinnamon Buns
Perfect Pizza Crust
Yeasted Blueberry Pancakes
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Basic Baguettes
Classic Monkey Bread

And this is off the subject, but I am starting to become tempted to bake up a batch of Gooey Butter Cake... simply because I have all those ingredients and it sounds sooooo goooooood... and my work buddies would love me! :)

X is for Xanthan Gum

Now this post is almost a 180-turn from the last post...this post is about using non-wheat flour. When baking with a gluten-free flour (such as rice, buckwheat, or chickpea), a fine powdery substance called xanthan gum is often added to the recipe to help with the texture of whatever baked good is being made. This is a handy tip to know in the event you ever have to bake for someone with celiac disease. Who knows, you might make that person's whole day by knowing about this powdery stuff.



So just in case you ever need a gluten-free recipe, here's a pretty extensive list of recipes that use xanthan gum, including blueberry muffins, chocolate chip cookies, and pumpkin bread... because no one should EVER miss out on pumpkin bread.

As for recipes starting with X, the closest thing I got was this recipe for X-traordinary Rich Chocolate Pudding Recipe. Also Hot Cross Buns look pretty delicious and they have X's on them... ok maybe they're supposed to be crosses, but turn 'em diagonal and it's an X! Right??



And my totally random recipe that I just feel like posting because it looks good is this one for Blueberry Buttermilk Coffee Cake. I LOVE breakfast desserts. :)

W is for Whole Wheat Flour

Of course I have baked with all-purpose flour... have also baked with cake flour. But I have yet to try baking with whole wheat flour. It adds bonus nutrition to your baked goodies with no extra effort. I rounded up a few interesting recipes (of course from Baking Bites... I just have to say I love how she indexes and catalogs every recipe she has posted):



Strawberry Whole Wheat Pancakes
Whole Grain Banana Cake
Whole Grain Blueberry Buckle
Whole Wheat Maple Muffins
Cornbread Griddle Cakes
Whole Wheat Popovers
Whole Wheat Pie Crust
Crispy Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies



Who knew cookies could be so healthy? :)

V is for Vanilla Bean

Who doesn't love Cheesecake Factory's Vanilla Bean Cheesecake??



Then I bet these Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Bars would be almost as good:



But have you ever baked anything with an actual vanilla bean?



I sure haven't, which is one of the reasons why I am intimidated by this recipe for Real Vanilla Bean Buttercream (the other reason being you have to boil sugar to a specific temperature). I browsed around for other vanilla bean recipes and hit on one for crème anglaise that looked pretty simple (it's combined here with a recipe for cream cheese bread pudding, which sounds a-maz-ing!): it's only egg yolks, sugar, and hot milk, and usually flavored with vanilla.



That looks like it would sweeten any recipe!

(Ok then I had to wonder what to do with the leftover egg WHITES after using those 4 egg yolks. I happened to find this recipe for Berry-Topped Pavlova that also looks creamy delicious and simple, and uses, ta-da, 4 egg whites. HmmmmmMMMMmmmmmm....also, the Sour Cream Pound Cake I linked a few entries back also uses 4 extra egg whites... HMMMMMM again...am pretty tempted to make this as another office treat...)

But wait, I'm not quite done... no entry on vanilla bean would be complete without a mention of Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.



If you can split vanilla beans, this is the treat to make.

U is for Upside-Down Cake

I've never baked one, but how bad can a spongy cake topped (bottomed?) with fruit be?? By far the most popular kind is pineapple...



But another one that sounds equally good is peach:



For a delicious breakfast-y dessert, how about an Apple Upside-Down Skillet Coffee Cake?



These fancy little Banana Upside-Down Cakes look cute and classy:



But I especially enjoyed reading this account of a Cherry Cornmeal Upside-Down Cake which seemed destined to go wrong at every turn, but still came out irresistible.



And as always, there's Baking Bites with her contributions: these muffin-sized Little Blueberry Upside-Down Cakes, this cute pan for making perfect mini pineapple upside-down cakes, and her own recipe for Banana Upside-Down Cake. She also baked something called a Tarte Tatin that is basically an apple upside-down cake made with puff pastry.

(Wow, I had no idea I'd be posting so many links about a dessert I've never really known much about! Good research.) :)

T is for Tiramisu

I one time bookmarked this Tiramisu Layer Cake as a possible future project. It was when I was thinking of what I could bake with the bottle of Kahlua I had in my pantry. It looks so pretty. I'd have to have a pretty special occasion to bake it though...



These Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars look more on the "quick and easy" side, and pretty yummy too:



It would definitely be something new to try!