During the snowy cold winter there is very little local fresh fruit so we look forward to the citrus fruit that comes to us from south of the border. The sweet oranges and lemons are the foundation for so many of my favourite desserts. Glazed Lemon Loaf is one of those favourite citrus recipes. It is rich yet refreshing, it can be breakfast or dessert or both!
This week I decided it was time for chocolate cookies to appear on the blog. Chocolate just isn’t my thing, but that doesn’t mean that the rest of the family doesn’t love all things chocolate. So in anticipation of the next holiday which is all things chocolate and putting my preferences aside- chocolate was up next.
Well January is a busy birthday month for our friends and family, so this Triple Lemon Layer Cake was bound to make an appearance at one or two of those celebrations. Our friends Karen and Gord happen to have birthdays just a few days apart so a double whammy was the perfect reason to make this special cake. Besides getting together with friends for the birthday celebration we also watched the second episode of Downton Abbey of the season…now that was all worth making this Triple Lemon Layer Cake!
There are a lot of steps to making this beautiful cake, but if you like lemon, it is so worth the time and effort. Even though there are a lot of steps, none of them are difficult, so don’t be intimidated by the long list of directions. I would recommend baking this cake on a day when you have time to dedicate to the project – as you can see in the photos it was a snowy cold day when I baked it- the perfect day for such a project.
Now that the holiday season is behind us, it is time to get back to simple, healthy food. This Oatmeal Bran quick bread is just the satisfying guilt free food you need on a cold damp winter’s day. After all of the stress of the holiday season this recipe will simplify your lunch or breakfast menu for a few days. A few slices of Oatmeal Bran Bread with a slice of old cheddar cheese and an apple and you have a lunch ready for that dreaded Monday morning.
The little clementine oranges in their little cardboard boxes are like little parcels of sweet goodness during the cold winter. I am sure that in the month of December we devoured at least 4 boxes of clementines. But even though they are delicious and the perfect packaged snack there always seems to be a few left at the bottom of the bowl, a little shrivelled and ignored. Before you toss these in the compost- read this recipe for Clementine Loaf. Zest and juice those less than perfectly plump clementines and you have the star ingredients to bake up a refreshing loaf. Now clementines don’t have as strong a flavour as say a lemon or navel orange, but they do make a nice change. To enhance the clementine flavour you can make a glaze for the cooled cake from a little more clementine juice.
