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!