Lemon Lime Baby Cakes

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 Sing Sing it's Spring!!

Beautiful Spring days like today bring back to mind a song from my childhood. As a young child, I loved playing my records on the family record player. I realize I'm probably dating myself by admitting we had a record player, as I'm sure some of you never had/used a record player. We had a record player even after CD's were readily available. New-fangled technology was not at all important to my parents and the record player worked just fine, so why change? My sisters and I had quite a few records that were recorded books with songs. The books to follow along with, accompanied the records. Each one of these records started with instructions on what sound to listen for to know when to turn the pages of the book. We had all the classics, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, etc. But my favorite was the Black Beauty record/book and I could probably still sing the songs from that record. Anyway, one of the story records had a song called "Sing Sing it's Spring" on it. That's all I remember from that particular record but this morning when I woke up to the sounds of happy chirping, that old song popped into my head. 

That recollection has absolutely nothing at all to do with these baby cakes, except that the light fresh lemon lime flavor of these cakes will have you singing for Spring too!

Tint the glaze with some food coloring in pastel colors and these little babies are perfect for Easter! 

Lemon Lime Baby Cakes
Printable Recipe

Source: April 10th, 2009 - by Stephanie Younger
Yields: 18-24 mini cakes using a mini muffin tin or 12 cakes using a regular muffin tin
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
1 teaspoon fresh lime zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup plain yogurt

For the drizzle:
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
lemon and lime juice or use several tablespoons of frozen lemonade or limeade concentrate, thawed
Tint with food coloring, if desired

I added some sprinkles too!

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well between additions. Add lemon and lime juice and zests, vanilla and almond extract and yogurt. Add the flour mixture, mix just until combined. Grease the pan of your choice and fill the cups half way. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes or baked through and when cooled, transfer to a wire rack. In a small bowl combine the confectioners’ sugar and enough lemon and lime juice or lemon-aid concentrate to make a nice consistency for the drizzle. Drizzle over the cakes.

Are you singing yet??

Strawberry Swirl Cream Cheese Pound Cake

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Spring has sprung here in the Southeast. I don't know what that means to you but for me it means strawberry season!  For many years, my parents grew strawberries on a commercial level. So as you can imagine, I've eaten a lot of strawberries, in almost anyway imaginable.  One of my favorite ways to use strawberries is to macerate them. Are you impressed by that term?? It's not nearly as impressive as it sounds. It's just sliced berries with sugar that sit until the juices release. We like to mash the berries slightly (I use a potato masher). We called mashed strawberries....fancy, I know, but that's just how we are around here.  At this point you can do anything with the mashed strawberries. They're delicious on top of ice cream, yogurt, pancakes, the list goes on, but pile them on top of a hunk of buttery pound cake maybe a bit of freshly whipped cream...simply wonderful!   

Last month's Southern Living featured a pound cake with strawberries swirled through it, on the cover.  When I read through the recipe it sounded delicious but called for a strawberry glaze for the swirl. I'm not a fan of strawberry glaze. It has a kind of artificially taste that I don't like. I decided to cook down some berries and make my own glaze to swirl in the cake. I was going to strain the berries and make a syrup more like the original recipe called for but I decided I liked the idea of having strawberry pieces baked into the cake. I could have my mashed berries baked right into the cake...perfect!

Strawberry Swirl Pound Cake

Source: Nancy H. Test, West Chester, Ohio, Southern Living 

MARCH 2011 (adapted)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
3 cups sugar
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2/3 cup strawberry glaze
1 (6-inch) wooden skewer

Method:
Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese, beating until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Gradually add flour to butter mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition, stopping to scrape bowl as needed. Stir in the lemon zest, almond, and vanilla extracts. Pour one-third of batter into a greased and floured *10-inch 14 cup tube pan (about 2 2/3 cups batter). Dollop 8 rounded teaspoonfuls strawberry glaze over batter, and swirl with wooden skewer. Repeat procedure once, and top with remaining third of batter.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 to 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

Notes:*the original recipe said to use a 10-inch 14 cup tube pan but I used my 10-inch 12 cup bundt pan.

Strawberry Swirl

Strawberry Swirl

Ingredients:
2 cups strawberries(about 1 lb), quartered
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon corn starch

Method:
Combine the water, strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a large saucepan on high heat. Stir and bring up to a boil.
After the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat to medium low. Cook for 5-8 minutes, until the strawberries have completely broken down.  As the strawberries soften, use a wooden spoon or potato masher to break up the berries. (At this point you could strain the strawberries through a sieve for a smooth glaze, but I decided to leave the bits of strawberry in mine.)
Meanwhile, whisk the cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Then, pour into the strawberries.
Increase heat to high, and continue to whisk the mixture until it thickens and the cornstarch becomes clear and loses it's cloudy appearance, approximately 3-5 minutes.
Remove  from heat, and pour into separate bowl to cool down. Use 3/4 a cup to swirl in the cake. Any leftovers are great served along with the cake.

This is a BIG cake when it's done. With that lovely swirl of berries running through it, this cake would be perfect for our family Easter gathering. Can't wait for an excuse to make this again!

Strawberry swirl!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Hummus Dip

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Yes you read that title right. It says hummus ... please don't run away!

 I haven't lost my mind, well not completely anyway, but that's not what's going on here! This is hummus, that looks and tastes like peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! Sounds crazy right? I did a double take too when I came across this recipe on The Wannabe Chef. After reading through the recipe, I couldn't wait to give this a try. I mean it sounded so odd I just had to find out for myself. Luckily, I had everything the recipe called for in the pantry, so I whipped up a batch immediately! I liked it, a lot...I see me experimenting with other variations of sweet hummus dips in the near future.
Cookie dough hummus is not something I've ever thought to make but I'm glad I did. Not only is this stuff good (like eat the whole bowl good), but it's way better for you than eating a bowl of actual cookie dough. Chickpeas are packed with protein and fiber, not a claim your average bowl of cookie dough can make. Perfect those of us you that are still keeping your New Years resolutions to eat healthier foods this year.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Hummus Dip
source: The Wannabe Chef

Ingredients:
2 cups chickpeas
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 Tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup chocolate chips

 

Method:

Drain, rinse, and peel* your chickpeas. 

Yes, those are chickpeas!

In a food processor, add the first 4 ingredients and process for 3-5 minutes or until the hummus is very smooth. Remove the mixture from the food processor and stir in the chocolate chips. Serve with graham crackers, apple slices, or eat it right off the spoon, or like I did... 

Don't judge!

*  If you'd rather not peel the chickpeas, you don't necessarily have to. Peeling the chickpeas makes for the creamiest hummus and  is worth the effort. It also helps cut down on the earthiness of the chickpeas a little, which makes this taste more like cookie dough.

It also makes a great healthy snack for the kiddo's!

Best Ever Carrot Cake Cupcakes

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A few years ago I made some cupcakes for a friend and somehow that turned into a full time job! These days I make a lot of cupcakes. I'm always on the lookout for new ideas or improvements on old recipes. I had been using a carrot cake cupcake recipe from a well known cupcake cookbook, (that shall remain nameless) and it was good. Adequate...tasty enough but nothing to write home about. Earlier this week I was asked to make some carrot cake cupcakes so I started Googling recipes and came across this one. The name grabbed me right away, The Best Ever Carrot Cake Cupcakes. That was exactly what I wanted. Not just it's an okay, tastes pretty good, carrot cupcake but The Best EVER! With pineapple and applesauce in the batter, I knew these would be a super moist cupcake. I decided to top them with a cinnamon cream cheese frosting. Guess what?? These really are The Best Ever carrot cake cupcakes.
I may still look to perfect other cupcake recipes but my search for the perfect carrot cake cupcake is over.

Best Ever Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Printable recipe

Ingredients:

4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 8-oz. can of crushed pineapple, well drained
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Small pinch of ground cloves
3 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans

For Frosting:

1/2 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Milk
Toasted pecans, chopped (optional for garnish)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, apple sauce, sugars, pineapple and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and small pinch of ground cloves. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecan. Line a muffin tin with cupcake wrappers. Fill each liner 3/4 full. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 min. Let cupcakes cool completely. While cooling, prepare frosting.

Frosting:
In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add milk a tablespoon at a time, if needed to get a smooth consistency. Top with the toasted chopped pecans.

Source: Paula Deen for Smithfield

A perfect dessert for Thanksgiving!

Saltine Toffee Bars

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AKA: crack

Seriously this stuff should probably come with a warning. I've heard that some people become addicted to crack after just one use. I don't know about crack, but these toffee bars had me addicted after just one bite. They are sweet, salty, chocolatly, caramley, crunchy...in short, delicious! Everything that I love about toffee with the added salty crunch from the saltine cracker. The list of ingredients for these bars may leave you somewhat unimpressed. If you've never had them before, you maybe be thinking; saltine crackers, really?!? I know, it's kind of odd and  not a very exciting sounding ingredient. I've heard these bars referred to as trailer trash toffee. If you make them, you'll wonder how you've lived your life without them and won't care what they're called.
Most times in baking, you have to put in a good bit of time/effort to achieve results this scrumptious. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately!) these saltine toffee bars are so easy and quick to make, you can feed your addiction anytime.

Saltine Toffee Bars

(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

1-1/2 sleeves of saltine crackers
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with aluminum foil and spraying the foil with nonstick cooking spray.

 Arrange the crackers in a single layer on the baking sheet so that there are no empty spaces in between them. Crush a few remaining crackers into small crumbs, to be used as topping, and set aside for now.

 Place the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir while the butter melts, and bring the mixture to a rolling boil. Once boiling, carefully pour the sugar-butter mixture over the crackers on the baking sheet in an even layer, trying to cover most of the crackers. If you miss some spots, don’t worry as the toffee will spread in the oven.

Bake the toffee crackers at 350 degrees for five minutes, until the toffee is bubbling all over. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool for one minute.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the hot toffee, and allow them to sit for one minute to soften and melt. Once softened, use an offset spatula or knife to spread the melted chocolate over the entire surface of the toffee in an even layer. 

While the chocolate is still sticky, sprinkle the top with the reserved crushed crackers, chopped nuts, sprinkles or any combination of the three.

Top the bars with nuts, crushed crackers, even sprinkles!

Topped with yellow and orange sprinkles, they're perfect for Fall/Halloween parties!

Refrigerate the pan to set the toffee and chocolate for about 30 minutes. Once set, break into small uneven pieces by hand, and enjoy! Store uneaten saltine toffee in an airtight container for up to a week.

Just don't blame me if you find yourself addicted!

Two-Bite Peanut Butter S'mores

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Can you improve a classic s'more? The simple delicious combination of graham crackers, chocolate and toasted marshmallows, what could be better? How about crushing the graham crackers, combining them with peanut butter, making them into little cups filled with rich chocolate ganache, topped with toasted marshmallows? Oh yeah. It's are like having a Reese cup and s'more all in one delicious bite. Or make that two-bites... truth be told, although I called these Two-Bite Smore's, I can totally eat these little smore's in one delicious bite.

Two Bite Peanut Butter S'mores
Ingredients:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs (or about 7 graham crackers, crushed)
1/4 cup sugar
5 tablespoons peanut butter, softened in the microwave for 10-15 seconds
1tablespoon butter, melted

1 recipe of ganache, recipe below
12 large marshmallows

Method:
In a bowl, mix together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, softened peanut butter, and melted butter. 
Place about 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture in each cup of mini muffin pan. Press crumbs to form shallow cups with your fingers or a mini tart press, in you have one. Bake 4-5 minutes until slightly browned. Remove from oven and allow to cool, in the pan.

Chocolate Ganache Filling
Ingredients:
6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped finely (or use chips)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Method:
Pour chopped chocolate (or chocolate chips) into a mixing bowl.
Heat whipping cream and butter in the microwave in 30 second intervals until it's almost to a boil but don’t let it actually come to a boil. You should see bubbles forming around the edges. If you’re using a thermometer, heat it to about 180 degrees. Stir in vanilla.
Immediately pour hot cream mixture over chocolate and use a small whisk to mix until completely smooth. Allow ganache to cool and thicken somewhat. I put in into the fridge for about 20 minutes. When cool, stir the ganache a few times. It should be a scoop-able consistency. If it seems too firm, microwave it in 10 second intervals until you get the right consistency. Fill the peanut butter graham cracker cups with the ganache. I used about 2 teaspoons of ganache for each cup, give or take.

Cut marshmallows in half horizontally with kitchen shears or a sharp knife, dipped in cold water. Place one marshmallow half, cut-side down, into each cup. Return to oven with the broiler turned on. Broil on high for 1-2 minutes or until marshmallows start to get a little color. Do not walk away from the oven the s'mores burn quickly. Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes. Carefully remove cups from pan.

* Note: I found that a small off-set spatula worked great for getting the s'mores out of the mini muffin pans. If the bottoms of the s'mores are sticking to the pan, dip the bottom of the pan into warm water. This will warm the graham cracker crust slightly making it easier to remove them from the pan.

Who needs two bites?

Life is just a . . .

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bowl of cherries

Life is just a bowl of cherries
Don't take it serious,
Life's too mysterious
You work,
You save,
You worry so

But you can't take your dough
When you go, go, go

So keep repeating "It's the berries."
The strongest oak must fall
The sweet things in life
To you were just loaned
So how can you lose

What you've never owned

Life is just a bowl of cherries
So live and laugh,
Laugh and love
Live and laugh at it all!

Judy Garland

When life seems like it's the pits, celebrate the little things like these gorgeous Rainer cherries.  They're even better baked up in this cake because the pits have been removed!

This cake is so quick and simple, you could whip it up at a moments notice and everyone will think you're a domestic goddess. This recipe is adapted from a recipe from Gourmet for a raspberry buttermilk cake. The cake itself is perfect for almost any soft fruit. It's a moist cake that can be changed slightly for a variety of different variations. I added almond extract and slivered almonds because I thought those flavors would compliment the sweet cherries. I used Rainer cherries but any sweet cherry would work as well.

Buttermilk Cake with Sweet Cherries
Source: Gourmet, June 2009,by Melissa Roberts(adapted)
(Printable Recipe)
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup
1 1/2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (or regular sugar)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and halved
1-2 Tablespoons of slivered almonds (optional)

Method:
Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes,add the almond extract. Add egg and beat well.
At low speed, mix in flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined.
Spoon batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter cherries and almond slivers evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons turbinado sugar.
Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

That's just got to put a smile on your face!

Blueberry Lime Pound Cake

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 I have a confession to make. I have a slight problem with hoarding. Well that's a bit of an exaggeration, I only hoard one thing, old cooking magazines. I keep a few Bon Appetit's and a Martha Stewart Living, here and there, but mostly it's limited to Fine Cooking magazines. For some reason, I can't stand to throw them away. I love every issue. They only publish a new magazine every other month, which is probably a good thing because with only six issues a year, it would take a long time for me to make it on to "Hoarders: Buried Alive!"
Actually, recently in a fit of spring cleaning, I did part with quite a few issues. I kept only the ones that with lots of recipes I want to make, or had really pretty pictures... Yes I know I can look up old recipes online, but it's way more fun to grab a cold drink and flip through a stack of magazines. Thank goodness I still had my Jun/July 2008 issue, because it was chock full of great blueberry recipes.  I remembered there were several recipes in that issue that I wanted to make. I had dogeared the page to this recipe a long time ago and I decided now was the time to put that hoarded issue to good use! 

Blueberry Lime Pound Cake
Source: Fine Cooking: by Nicole Rees (adapted)
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking power
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. finely grated lime zest
*6 oz. mascarpone or cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 pint blueberries, room temperature, not cold from the refrigerator 
For the glaze:
4 oz. (1 cup) confectioners’ sugar
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice; more as needed
1/2 tsp. lime zest

*Note: I used mascarpone because I had it and didn't have any cream cheese on hand. It was delicious in this cake!

Method:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.
Make the cake: Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Stir the lime zest into the sifted flour mixture.
With a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat the butter and mascarpone or cream cheese in a large bowl on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the sugar mixture and beat on medium until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. With the mixer still running, add the whole eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and stopping the mixer to scrape the bowl twice. Beat in the egg yolk. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Stop the mixer one last time to scrape the bowl and then beat at medium speed until the batter is smooth and light, about 20 seconds. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
Pour the batter into the bundt pan, spreading it evenly with the spatula. Lightly tap the pan against the counter to eliminate any air pockets. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes and then invert onto the rack, remove the pan, and let cool completely.

Glaze the cake: In a small bowl, whisk the confectioners’ sugar, lime zest, and lime juice together until smooth. The glaze should be thin enough to pour. If not, add more lime juice, 1 tsp. at a time. Put a baking sheet under the rack to catch drips and drizzle the glaze over the top and sides of the cake. Let the glaze set before transferring to a cake plate.

Or you can add the glaze right on the cake plate, like I did!

Other blueberry recipes you might like:
Low Fat Blueberry Oat Loaf Cake
Fresh Blueberry Pie
Orange Blueberry Muffins
Blueberry Ice Cream
Blueberry Barbecue Sauce

Mint Infused Watermelon Sorbet

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It's July, in lower Alabama, so long hot days are pretty much a given. However this summer has been a particularly hot one, even for those us that find temps in the mid-60's somewhat nippy.

 

 On days like these, a tall glass of sweet tea packed with so much ice that the tea just fills the spaces is almost all that I want. Ice cold, super sweet, running down your arms juicy slices of watermelon, is about the only other thing I can work up the motivation to eat. I got a really large watermelon from the framers market last week-end. Later that same day, a neighbor dropped by and gave me another watermelon. What to do with so much melon? Sure we could just slice it, pop it in the fridge, and stuff ourselves with watermelon till our bellies sloshed around from all the liquid. As fun as that sounds, I opted to use some of the watermelon to make a sorbet. I decided to infuse the watermelon with some fresh mint. What could be more refreshing on hot day than a big bowl of mint infused watermelon sorbet? Let me just tell you, this stuff is seriously addictive!

Mint Infused Watermelon Sorbet

(printable recipe)
Ingredients:
5 cups seeded or seedless watermelon cut into chunks
3 limes, juiced (about 6 tablespoons)
4 sprigs of mint
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. honey
1/8 tsp. salt
1-2 Tablespoons vodka (*optional)

Method:
In a food processor or blender, combine melon with half the citrus juice; process or blend until smooth. (You should end up with about 5 cups of liquid.)
Transfer to a bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan combine fresh herbs, sugar, 1 cup of the watermelon puree, remaining citrus juice, honey, and salt. Bring to boiling over medium heat. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain herb mixture into melon puree. Stir in the vodka if using. *(The vodka is just added to keep the sorbet from freezing too hard. A trick I learned when making David Lebovitz's strawberry frozen yogurt.) Cover and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours or in the freezer for about an hour.

Transfer chilled mixture to 1- to 2-quart ice cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Remove sorbet from ice cream maker and place in a freezer safe container. Freeze the sorbet for about 2 hours.

Don't you want to dive in head first?

Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies...

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or should I call them pop tarts?

I made these little cuties yesterday. After dinner last night, hubs grabbed one, asking mid-bite what it was he was eating. While I was saying, those are strawberry rhubarb hand pies, he says, "Oh my God those are the best pop tarts EVER."
No matter how much we begged, my mother refused to buy us pop tarts when we were kids. She said they were "all sugar, junk food". Whenever we asked for things like, sugary cereals, pop tarts, pretty much any prepackaged sweet, Mom would say no. She usually followed the "No" with, "You'd be better off eating the cardboard it came in." Don't feel too sorry for me. Mom did not withhold sweets from us. I didn't realize till I was much older that we were quite spoiled, in fact. She baked something from scratch nearly every day. The sweets in my lunch bag were the envy of all those around me at school lunch table! But as a kid, I always assumed my parents were withholding something wonderful, just to torture me.  I think I was in middle school or possibly high school when I ate my first pop tart at a friends home. I remember opening the foil package, thinking, "this is going to be awesome!" Wow, was I disappointed. I didn't even eat the whole thing. Mom was right, I'd have been better off eating the cardboard box it came in.
It didn't occur to me while I was making these hand pies, but they are very similar to a pop tart, sweet pastry with a fruit filling. Cut them out in rectangles and you've got the best pop tart ever!
Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies/Pop Tart
(Printable recipe) 
source: Southern Living May 2011
Yields about 2 dozen

Ingredients:   
For the filling
3/4 cup finely diced fresh strawberries
3/4 cup finely diced rhubarb
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons orange zest

For the crust:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup butter, cold
1/4 cup shortening, chilled
3 tablespoons ice-cold water
3 tablespoons orange juice
Parchment paper
1 egg yolk, beaten

Method:
Combine strawberries, rhubarb, cornstarch, 2 Tbsp. sugar, and 1 1/2 tsp. orange zest in a small bowl.

Preheat oven to 375°. Combine flour, salt, and 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl. Cut in butter and shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles small peas. Stir in orange zest. Drizzle with ice-cold water and orange juice. Stir with a fork until combined. (Mixture will be crumbly and dry.) Knead mixture lightly, and shape dough into a disk. Divide dough in half. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes. Roll half of dough to 1/8-inch thickness on a heavily floured surface.

Cut with a 2 1/4-inch round cutter, rerolling scraps as needed. Place half of dough rounds 2 inches apart on a parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Top with 1 rounded teaspoonful strawberry mixture (Don't overfill or your pies will not stay together). Dampen edges of dough with water, and top with remaining dough rounds, pressing edges to seal. Crimp edges with a fork, and cut a slit in top of each round for steam to escape. Repeat procedure with remaining dough and strawberry mixture.
Stir together egg yolk and cream; brush pies with egg wash. Sprinkle with sugar. Freeze pies 10 minutes.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container up to 2 days. 

I know another strawberry/rhubarb recipe. In my defense, they are both in season in Spring and I look forward to strawberries and rhubarb all year! When I saw this recipe in Southern Living I knew I'd be making it as soon as possible. I loved the idea of little pies. Pie filling encased in flaky buttery pie crust. The best part, you can pick it up and take it with you! So much more portable than a regular pie. Perfect for lunch boxes or picnics.