Ukrainian Poppy Seed Cake and Lemon Mousse

I love kids. I love kids with my whole heart. I can paint with kids, ruining my favorite zip-up with dabs of yellow, green, and hand-stirred purple. I can play at the beach with kids, the hyper-vigilant lifeguard who hates sand in her shoes but loves the sun on her face. I can even handle the high stress, sensory overload experience of the Science Center. But baking with kids, that's a whole new realm. It requires the patience of a Zen monk and the inhibition of a college freshman.

We eased ourselves into this activity early in the summer, practicing on pots of macaroni and peanut butter banana coins. Slowly we worked our way up to Red Plum and Browned Butter Skillet Cobbler, which we made together so many times over the summer that I could now do it in my sleep.

My charges and I made Ukrainian Poppy Seed Cake and Lemon Mousse today.  And I overcame my fear of baking with children.

I also was granted access to the nice camera, which meant pretty photos for my blog. Job perk! Even this pen looks pretty with fancy camera.

And we're off!

We zested a lot of lemons. We squeezed the living daylights out of them for their precious juice.

The lemon zest and juice cooked down with cornstarch and sugar until it was thick like jelly.

The lemon jelly chilled, then was mixed with cream. CREAM!  Of course we had to taste test this. It was basically lemon pillows. Lemon pillows, scooped up with spoons, on a rainy Friday afternoon.

Our cake journey began with scalded milk, choked with poppy seeds.

The batter was a simple cake batter, infused with lemon zest, lemon juice, and loads of vanilla. My charge has a heavy pouring hand.

Into the pans. I love these simple, square pans. And don't mind that single strand of lemon zest perched between the two pans ... just ... don't. It's part of the haphazardness of baking with children. Embrace that wonky lemon zest!

Have you ever watched a child get giddy with the excitement of something sweet baking in the oven? It's worth seeing at least once in your life.  There's nothing like it. Feet wiggle.  Fingers point in glee. I love that unfiltered, unapologetic, totally pure excitement for life. I wanna bottle it!

Out came the cake. Out came the mousse. Flipped onto a cutting board, dolloped with cream, and gobbled up by four eager mouths.

I didn't do much wrangling, no science center excursions or sandy beach trips today, but I conquered my fear of baking with children.

It was a good day.

Chocolate Meringues and Lemon Meringues

I made Lemon Meringues and right after they went into the oven, I made Chocolate Meringues. I have not had great success with egg whites in the past but I was up for the challenge.

The lemon meringues required a little stove time for lemon juice, powdered sugar, cornstarch and water to firm up. I think that mine got too firm, as it was difficult to stir into the egg whites.

The lemon meringues browned too quickly in the oven and I had to take them out early. The result was fairly chewy meringues. The lemon part did not mix in well, as I had expected, and there were globs of lemon throughout. Definitely not a successful recipe.

The chocolate meringues, on the other hand, went much better! The egg whites mixed perfectly with cocoa powder and powdered sugar. The meringues baked for the full two and a half hours and were crunchy and uniform when I tasted them.

Tahini Lemon Sauce

Tahini Lemon Sauce
Tahini, freshly squeezed lemon juice, garlic, salt, parsley, and cayenne!

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake: A super delicious, incredibly buttery cake. Grated lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon extract, and fresh blueberries were folded into the batter. We forgive you, special birthday cake for not flipping perfectly out of the bundt pan. You acted as a beautiful comfort food for my family and I this week!