Citrus Explosion

This year started off like most everyone's year: we wanted to eat healthier. What better way than to sign up for one of those produce delivery boxes? We love veggies and apples are a rare commodity in this household. We figured we could handle a box once a week.

Boy were we wrong!

As the produce started piling up, we realized once a week was maybe too much for us, and cut it down to only twice a month. But we had bigger problems than that. What was I going to do with all the citrus that we received from these boxes?

I'm not drinking currently so cocktails were out of the question. Our son only likes certain types of apples and they weren't any of the ones we were sent. And my partner is gone most of the day, and there's only so much citrus you can squeeze on to dinner. And then it hit me.

Curd.

Duh.

I loved making lemon curd for my Dutch Baby, why not just make some lemon curd and orange curd? I can just eat it out of the jar, although I've been trying to exercise some control on that. But why stop there? I love a good sweet and tart dessert.

So I made dreamsicle bars and lemon bars. And the excess of apples we had lying around? Apple cider.

The first thing I tackled was the orange curd for the dreamsicle bars. I've made lemon curd, so orange couldn't be that much different, right? Right. It was just as simple as I remembered, if not a little darker because I was using coconut sugar rather than granulated (still tasted delicious). Then I modified a pie recipe I found online, made a graham cracker bottom and voila! Dreamsicle bars that were just as tasty as the popsicles. Or those orange and cream Twizzlers (which were and still are my favorites).

Now, for the lemon bars, I didn't quite need to make lemon curd for the custard base, but I still had plenty of lemons to make both the bars and the lemon curd itself. I used a tried and true recipe for the bars and YUM. They're being shared among friends and family, because those things were dangerous. Same with the curd, because really, I don't need to be scarfing down a jar full of lemon curd by myself.

My new adventure was apple cider. I love the stuff, I could drink it all fall long (it helps being by numerous apple orchards). The recipe was pretty straight forward, and while it wasn't as flavorful as some other ciders, a couple ounces of cinnamon simple syrup fixed that right up for me. And again, I don't need to have a pitcher of apple cider sitting at home, taunting me so I shared some with friends, with a twist. I've been infusing a bottle of bourbon with some caramel candies. The caramel really brings out the punch from the bourbon and I'm hoping the addition to the apple cider will make it a nice way to warm up on these cold Wisconsin winters.

Below I'm posting the recipes for the apple cider, dreamsicle bars and for the lemon bars. Try them at home and let me know how they go over!

Dreamsicle Bars

For the curd:

• 3/4c fresh squeezed orange juice, plus zest
• 1/4c granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• Juice of half a lime
• 1 stick of butter

For the Cream Filling:

• 8 oz softened cream cheese
• 3/4c powdered sugar
• 1/2c sour cream
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2c heavy cream whipped to heavy peaks

For Graham Cracker Crust:

• 12 sheets of graham crackers
• 1 1/4c granulated sugar
• 6 oz melted unsalted butter

Steps to the Goods

1. Crush graham crackers and mix with melted butter and sugar. Dump into baking dish (I used a 9 by 13). Using the bottom of something flat, like a measuring cup, pack the graham cracker mixture to make sure it creates a good bottom for the cream filling.
2. Make the orange curd. Fill a pot with about 2 cups of water and bring to boil. Fill a heat safe bowl with the orange juice, zest, sugar and eggs. Place over pot, bring the heat to medium, whisking until the eggs are cooked to temp, 160 degrees. If the eggs start to scramble, strain the mixture to get rid of the chunks.
3. After the mixture is to temp, add the cubed butter. Stir until the curd leaves streaks at the bottom of the bowl (or you can draw a line across the back of a wooden spoon). Add lime juice and mix until combined. Set aside to cool or place in fridge.
4. Make the cream filling by beating the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Beat in sour cream and vanilla extract. Once everything is incorporated, gently fold the whipped cream in.
5. On to assembly! Spoon 1/3 of the orange curd on to the bottom then pour the cream filling on top. Smooth it out to an even layer, then spoon the rest of the orange curd. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour to overnight. Enjoy!

Lemon Bars

For the shortbread crust:

• 1c all-purpose flour
• 1/2c unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1/4c confections' sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt

For the lemon layer:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1c white sugar
• 2 tblsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4c freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tblsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp confectioners' sugar

Steps to the Goods

1. Place oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil 8x8 baking dish.
2. Place 1c flour and butter in a mixing bowl and mash with the back of a spatula or wooden spoon until thoroughly combined. Mix in 1/4 c confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and salt; mash mixture together until mixture looks like a slightly crumbly cookie dough.
3. Moisten your fingers with a little water and press dough into bottom of prepared baking dish. Use a fork to prick holes all over the crust.
4. Bake crust on center rack in the preheated oven until crust edges are barely golden brown, about 22 minutes.
5. Beat eggs and eggs yolks together in a bowl; whisk in white sugar and 2 tblsp of flour until smooth. Add lemon juice and lemon zest; whisk for 2 minutes. Pour lemon custard over crust.
6. Bake on center rack until custard is set and top as a thin white sugary crust, 25 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting into bars. Dip knife into very hot water, run around the edges, and cut into 16 squares. Dust cookies with confectioners' sugar to taste. Enjoy!

Homemade Apple Cider

Ingredients

• 16 cups of water
• 10 apples (they can be any variety, and they don't have to be all the same kind!)
• 2 oranges
• 5 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp allspice
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1-3 bags of chai tea (optional)
• ~1/2c sugar (granulated or brown is fine)

Steps to the Goods

1. Quarter apples and oranges. Put in stock pot with the water and spices. You can substitute the chai tea bags if you don't have the spices on hand, or vice versa.
2. Bring everything to a boil, then cover and let simmer for 2 hours.
3. After two hours, remove from heat and mash the fruit with a potato masher. This will release all the yummy flavors into the water. Cover with lid, place back on heat and let simmer for 2 hours.
4. Remove from heat and strain with either a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth ( I used both). Serve warm with a garnish of a cinnamon stick or orange slice. Enjoy!