Lemon Coconut Bars

Spring is here and that means I crave something lemon, and then to add coconut..well that just is an added bonus. These bars are delicious and wake up your taste buds. Add this to your Easter menu, those lemon lovers will thank you!

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 3/4 cup cold butter, cubed
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Juice of 2 large lemons
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 cup coconut

1. Combine flour and icing sugar in a bowl. Add butter cubes and using a pastry blender cut in the butter until you have fine crumbs.
2. Press the mixture evenly into a greased 9" x 13" pan.
3. Bake at 350º for 15 minutes.
4. While the crust is baking, beat eggs, sugar, baking powder, lemon juice, and zest together until well combined and the mixture has turned a pale color. 
5. Pour mixture on the crust, sprinkle coconut over the top and return to the oven to bake another 25 minutes until golden.
6. Cool on cooling rack and cut into bars. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Cinnamon Sugared Donuts

This recipe comes from my sister-in-law, Erika. (Also very similar to one I found in the Mennonite Treasury pg 46) On this post I halved Erika's recipe for a first try and it is a good size, yielding about 30 donuts plus donut holes. If there are teenage boys in the crowd, I'd double it.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups milk, scalded
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup cold water
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 6 -7 cups flour, divided
• 1/1/2 Tbsp instant yeast
• 1 liter / quart oil for cooking

Method:

1. Scald milk with salt. Add butter to melt and then 1 cup cold water to cool down the hot liquids.
2. In large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar.
3. Slowly (at first) add warm liquids and vanilla. 
4. Stir in 2 cups flour and yeast, then the rest of the flour, kneading to make a soft dough. (Sticky but manageable with a dusting of flour.) 
5. Cover and let rise for half an hour or until double in size.
6. Divide in half and turn onto floured surface and gently roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. 
7. Cut with floured donut cutter, and let rest on flour dusted cookie sheets about 15 - 20 minutes.
8. In heavy fry pan or electric fryer, heat oil to 375 F. (Hint; place a few kernels of popping corn in oil and once they pop the oil is hot)
9. Fry, turning once and lift out with tongs or two forks onto paper towel lined pan.  
10. I had a small bowl of cinnamon sugar on hand to dip them, as they came out or while still warm. You can also ice with chocolate frosting and sprinkles ( 3 cups icing sugar, 1 Tbps soft butter, 3 Tbps cocoa and milk to make a spreadable consistency) or dip them in a sugar glaze.

Apple Pastry (Pirog)

In the Russian community I grew up in we called our sweet and savory sheets of yeast dough baked and filled with fruit or cabbage or meat, Pirog пиро́г (make sure to roll the r when you pronounce it).

This recipe will make enough dough for 2 small cookie sheet sized pastries. You can cut the recipe in half if you aren't feeding a crowd or giving some away.

Dough:
1/2 cup warm water
2 packages yeast (each packet is approx. 2-1/4 teaspoons yeast)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 cups sour cream
1/2 cup soft butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
about 6 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Dissolve yeast in warm water with the 1 tablespoon sugar.
Warm the sour cream carefully to lukewarm.
Mix the sour cream, butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and yeast mixture.
Start adding the flour 1 cup at a time till all mixed in and your dough comes away from the bowl and starts to form a ball. You might need a little more than 6 cups of flour.
Knead the dough on a floured surface.
Place the dough in a bowl in a warm place away from draft and let it rise twice punching in between rises. This could take up to 2 hours.
Divide the dough in half. Work with one half at a time if you are filling 2 small cookie sheets.
On a floured board or surface roll the dough out to the size of your small cookie sheet (approx. 15-1/2 x 10-1/2 x 1) The dough should be 1/4-1/2 inch thickness.
Carefully transfer the dough to the prepared cookie sheet (greased) and pat the dough down to fit to the edges and up the edges.
Fill the prepared dough with your choice of filling.
Bake in 350 degree oven for approx 40 minutes or until dough is a golden brown.
Cool before cutting in small portions and serving.

Filling:
4 cups fruit - fresh, previously frozen, or canned
1 cup sugar
4 Tablespoons corn starch 

Bring all the ingredients to a boil and then let cool before spreading evenly over the dough.
I added nuts on top of the filling but that is optional.
I used apple slices that I chopped into bite sized pieces.
*This filling recipe was enough for one cookie sheet of the dough. Double it if making 2 cookie sheets.

I had some roasted pecans and decided to sprinkle them on top before baking the Pirog пиро́г.

 The finished product. I'm a novice at baking with yeast doughs and kneading dough but slowly but surely I'm practicing my way into a comfort zone to try these recipes my mom made for larger gatherings. I'll share some of her savory Pirog recipes in the future using a slightly different dough recipe. My mom's Pirog usually had another layer of dough on top of the filling that was pinched to the bottom layer of dough. Then you would cut decorative slits on the upper dough before baking. Stay tuned for that method with a savory filling.

Pumpkin Pecan Jelly Roll

Funny how a jelly roll always brings some sings of delight and this one did not disappoint. If you  have never tried rolling up a jelly roll, why not try it? It may just be a lot easier than you think, but if it flops, you can always put the whole thing in a trifle bowl and decorate the top. It will taste just as delicious.

Ingredients:

Jelly Roll

• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2  tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 4 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup pumpkin puree

Filling

• 6 Tbsp butter
• 3/4 cup (loose meas.)brown sugar
• 3 Tbsp corn syrup
• 3/4 cup roasted pecans, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups whipping cream
• 4 Tbsp instant vanilla pudding powder

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Prepare jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with edges (10" x 15" or 11"x17") by greasing well. Line with wax paper, then grease well again, all the way up the sides as well. I like to use shortening for greasing.
3. In a small bowl mix dry ingredients and set aside.
4. Beat eggs with hand mixer for several minutes, then beat in the sugar well, until thick and lemon colored. Stir in lemon juice, water and pumpkin.
5. Stir dry ingredients into pumpkin mixture.
6. Spread into prepared pan and bake 15 - 18 minutes.
7. In the meantime, melt butter for filling. Stir in sugar, syrup and pecans. Bring to a boil, stirring until thickened and set aside to cool.
8. Prepare a clean tea towel by laying it on the counter and dusting generously with powdered sugar, using a sieve. When cake is done and still hot, turn it onto the towel. Peel off wax paper and roll up the cake along with the towel (beginning at narrow end). Let sit for about 1/2 hour.
9. Beat whipping cream until it begins to thicken, then add vanilla pudding powder mix and continue beating until thick for spreading.
10. Unroll cake. Starting where you begin to roll up from, spread cooled sticky pecan mixture as far as it will go. It will only cover about 1/2 of the cake. Then spread whipped cream all over the cake, keeping about an inch from the edges.
11. Gently roll the cake back up again, starting from same end as before. Don't worry if it cracks a bit. When rolled up, carefully lift onto serving platter. Use left over cream to decorate the top if you like or just leave it. Freeze uncovered for 1 hour to set or longer if preparing days ahead. Once frozen, slip into plastic bag. On day of serving, refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving dust with icing sugar, using a small sieve.