It’s time to start thinking about spring, spring flavors and warmer weather! No one can deny that lemon is the flavor of warmer weather, and this year Nielsen-Massey is kicking up the lemon flavor in cakes and other desserts with their pure lemon extract. They sent me a bottle to make a fresh recipe with, and some great tips to share with my readers!
Here are some tips from Nielsen-Massey on how to make the perfect cake – and don’t forget to use their delicious Lemon Extract when you do it:
- Use cake pans and cupcake tins with a shiny aluminum finish, avoiding those with a dark finish. This will prevent the bottom of your cakes and cupcakes from getting too brown in the oven.
- Check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer to make sure that it is calibrated correctly. While baking, place cake pans in the center of the oven for an even, golden-brown color and perfectly-baked, moist center.
- Allow cakes to cool completely before decorating to keep frostings, glazes and fillings from getting too soft.
- Follow the directions exactly! Different types of cake require different ingredients and methods of mixing. Carefully read and follow the recipe as written to ensure cake-baking success every time.
Like the other extracts by Nielsen-Massey, the Pure Lemon Extract uses pure ingredients and all of your recipes made with it will be full of flavor with out compromising flavor or ingredients. While I’d normally lean towards making cupcakes or cakes and using the tips from Nielsen-Massey, this time I wanted to make something different. With cookies being sold by scouts everywhere, I wanted a delicious at home option that was not only dairy free, but also gluten free! The result were some Lemon Crackle cookies, sweet cookies that have a bit of sunshine inside. While they’re not exactly the same – they’re similar to the flavors of the Savannah Smile cookies.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Almond Meal
- 1 cup Pure Cane Sugar
- 2 Egg Whites, room temperature
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- Zest from 1 lemon
- 1 tsp Nielsen-Massey Lemon Extract
- 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
Directions:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and line your baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper.
- Place your egg whites in your mixer bowl and beat on high until it starts to form stiff peaks.
- In a medium bowl, mix together your almond meal, sugar, salt and lemon zest.
- When your egg whites have created stiff peaks, add in your lemon extract and mix together. Slowly add in your dry mixture and mix and mix together until combined. Scrape down the sides and mix again for 1 minute.
- Place your powdered sugar in a small bowl and place it next to your mixing bowl.
- Roll your cookies into about 1/2 inch balls, and roll each ball in the powdered sugar. Your dough will be sticky so be careful not to get too much extra dough in the powdered sugar. Place each dough ball on your baking sheet about 1/2 inch apart.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes until the cookies begin to crack and firm up.
- Allow to cool completely before removing from your cookie sheet. This recipe will make approximately 3 dozen small cookies.
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