citrus Archives - Wood & Spoon

Citrus Shortbread Cookies

Happy Almost-New Year’s Eve from one greasy human who has lived in a bathrobe and Ugg slippers for the past few days. I have intentionally unplugged from the interwebs and social media this last week in an effort to fully embrace all that comes with this time of year, and can I just say that it feels kinda good? Although I’ve resolved to dig in hard after the new year to bring you loads of goodies I’m going to keep my online banter on mute for now and simply settle into these last few days of December.

Citrus Shortbread Cookies

To keep your sweet tooth satiated for the next few days, I have these citrus shortbread cookies to share with you. It took a few batches to get the sweet to zesty ratio just right but I kinda love the outcome. These cookies are intensely buttery, yet somehow still refreshing. Coated with a simple sugary glaze and edible glitter sprinkles, these cookies are the perfect accompaniment for your glasses of bubbly and midnight kisses this coming New Year’s Eve.

Making the Cookies

To make these citrus shortbread cookies, cream together butter, citrus zest, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth. I prefer lemon here but orange and lime (or a combo of all three!) would work splendidly. Add flour, salt, and vanilla and stir until the mixture comes together into a dry dough. I found that when using a hand mixer that the dough didn’t really pack together the way I wanted, so if you have a stand mixer, use it here. Work the dough into a ball and flatten it into a round disk to chill in the fridge.

Baking the Cookies

Once you’re ready to bake your citrus shortbread cookies, roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and use round cookie cutters to cut out cookies. Here’s where you have a few options: for intensely buttery, semi-crisp cookies, roll the dough out thin, about ¼” thick. These will bake up golden brown and literally melt in your mouth. Otherwise, stick with the traditional thick shortbread at ½” thick for soft, crumbly butter cookies. Both taste delicious, but while I prefer the look of thicker cookies, I definitely favor the taste and texture of the thin ones. Bake in the oven for a few minutes and allow them to cool before topping with a glaze.

Glazing the Cookies

I used citrus juice (lemon is my choice!) for the glaze on half of these cookies and champagne for the remaining. You don’t really catch the flavor of the champagne, but it definitely adds a little something different as opposed to more tart citrus flavor. I like to keep mini bottles of sparkling wine on hand for projects like this, but if you’d prefer to use up the juice from the citrus you zested that totally works too. Your call.

For color, I used a tiny bit of red and peach food coloring to make a pink glaze, and I topped the whole thing off with edible glitter and stars. Aimee totally flipped when she saw these- maybe her favorite treat of 2018. She thought they were incredibly special, and I have to agree that the edible dust certainly works overtime on these otherwise simply cookies. You can pick some up at a craft store or purchase on Amazon like I did.

I hope you enjoy these citrus shortbread cookies and have the best time celebrating next week. On behalf of my family, this site, and myself, I want you to know what a joy you all have made this space in 2018. I’m so happy to have a home here because of you all and the love we share for butter and sugar. Many blessings, love, and cookies to you in the coming year.

If you like these citrus shortbread cookies you should try:

Lemon Blueberry Bars

Marbled Sugar Cookies

Soft-Frosted Sugar Cookies

Lemon Lavender Cookies

Citrus Shortbread Cookies

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

These citrus shortbread cookies are sweet and buttery cookies with zesty citrus and a lemony/champagne glaze!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 10
Cook Time: 25
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 20-40
Category: dessert

Ingredients

For the cookies:

1–1/2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons citrus zest (I prefer lemon or lime)
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (vanilla extract will also work)
3–1/2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt

For the glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
3+ tablespoons lemon juice or champagne

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and citrus zest just until combined, about 45 seconds. Add the vanilla, flour, and salt and beat on low speed until the dough starts to come together. You may have to get in there with your hands to pack it together into a dough. Work the dough into a flat, round disk and wrap it in plastic wrap. Allow it to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
When you’re ready to bake, line two cookie sheets with parchment paper and lightly flour a work surface and rolling pin. Roll the dough out ½” thick (for softer shortbread cookies) or ¼” thick (for crispier cookies). Use 2” round cookie cutters to cut out pieces of dough and place them 2” apart on the cookie sheets. Bake in the oven until the edges turn golden, about 15 minutes for thin cookies or 22-24 minutes for thicker cookies. The browner they get, the crisiper, but don’t let them bake too long! Allow to cool completely while you prepare your glaze. Simply stir together the powdered sugar and champagne or lemon juice. You want it thick enough to where it will stay on the cookie but thin enough so that the icing isn’t glooped on there. Add food coloring and sprinkles as desired! Allow to set prior to serving.

Adapted from Ina Garten

Blood Orange Cheesecake

20 Comments / Cakes

There’s a reason I drink wine. It’s the same reason I go for walks and listen to the same comforting records over and over again. It’s the reason I lose myself in perfecting cinnamon bread recipes and hide little slices of blood orange cheesecake in the back of the fridge.

Kids. The reason is kids.

Let me be clear: Mothering is the honor of my life. It’s full of surprises and joy and tears burning in the corners of your eyes because you didn’t know a tiny person could make you laugh so hard. It’s rich and life-giving, and I wouldn’t trade these days for all of the long legs, designer handbags, and front row tickets to Hamilton that the world has to offer.

Mothering: The Hard Stuff

But there’s also endless laundry. There’s sassy toddlers who spend a week’s worth of dinners in time out. There’s blueberries smashed in the seat cushions and about one million questions that start with “Why?” and end with absolutely nothing of importance. This work that we do, Mothers- this beautiful, repetitive, insanity-inducing joy of our lives- is quite often a literal and proverbial poop show, and you’ll never guess who gets the backstage pass to the whole thing.

Yup. It’s the same person who shoves peas into chubby cheeks and clips microscopic toenails. And it’s the person who loses their last French fry to a quick-handed toddler. It’s the gal who sorts through the trash to find the various remotes, sippy cups, and shoes that someone “hid” in the garbage can. A mother’s list of responsibilities is only outmatched by the number of tears they wipe and tantrums they tame, and we somehow trick ourselves into signing up for it again and again and again.

Brett and I recently started talking about the potential of growing our family in the distant future. Sometimes the thought of taking on one more human makes me absolutely choke on my own spit. If I have to listen to one more person whining at the dinner table, I will face-plant in my plate of spaghetti. But still, there are intangibles to mothering that make it irresistible.

Mothering: The Good Stuff

Like sometimes I watch my two children from afar as if the whole thing is happening in slow-motion, black and white. I see little faces wrinkled with smiles, heads thrown back with laughter. They move wildly, chasing each other around the kingdom of our backyard like they could run anywhere in the world. Suddenly, they turn. We lock eyes, and no sooner than a whispered “Mama” unfurls in the wind, they’re running towards me- arms open and voices shrieking into a knock-you-over kind of embrace. The exchange we make for all of the broken dishes and dirty socks is suddenly worth it, because there is nothing quite as remarkable as the sound of little voices whispering your name. There is nothing like the chance to be loved back.

Blood Orange Cheesecake

So yes, motherhood is hard. I don’t know if it gets easier, but while we wait to find out, let’s indulge in simple luxuries. Like this blood orange cheesecake.

This recipe was adapted from a blog favorite, my Meyer lemon cheesecake. You guys go crazy for that thang, so I knew I had to create more cheesy, citrusy goodness. The result is this head-turning, creamsicle-colored blood orange beauty that is sure to beat the pants off of any other dessert in your fridge.

Making the Cheesecake

First, to make it, we start with the crust. Crushed graham crackers, brown sugar, and cinnamon are mixed together to soak up a pool of melted butter. Next, press the mixture into a 9″ springform pan and bake it in the oven while you get started on the filling.

In the meantime, cream cheese and sugar come together until light and fluffy. Afterwards, add a few eggs, some heavy cream, and the blood orange juice and zest. Take care to not overwork your batter, and be sure to incorporate all of the little bits of cheese and zest. No one wants a clumpy cheesecake. Lastly, bake the whole thing in the oven until jiggly but set around the outer edges.

I like to take a few precautions with my cheesecake. First, I always prepare a water bath. This will ensure that my cheesecake bakes evenly and avoids any major cracks in its top. Secondly, I triple layer the aluminum foil around my pan to ensure that no water leaks into my pan. Even supposed “leak-free” pans have sprung a leak, and I promise, nothing is more demoralizing and wasting all of your precious blood oranges on a soggy cheesecake. And thirdly, I let my cheesecakes cool in phases to prevent any major structural damage. This includes a brief stint in a hot, but turned off, oven, a rest on the counter, and a long chill in the fridge.

This blood orange cheesecake is sweet and tart, a brilliant ode to that stunning winter fruit, so pick up a bag of blood oranges at your market and give this recipe a try!

If you like this blood orange cheesecake, you should try:

Blood Orange Bundt Cake

Meyer Lemon Cheesecake

Brown Sugar Cheesecake with Oatmeal Cookie Crust and Butterscotch Sauce

Orange Cardamom Rolls

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake

Blood Orange Cheesecake

Print Recipe

★★★★

3.3 from 3 reviews

This blood orange cheesecake is a sweet and tart, creamy dessert with a cinnamon-spiced graham cracker crust. Learn how to make a successful cheesecake here!

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 25
Cook Time: 60
Total Time: 360
Yield: 10

Ingredients

For the crust:

10 sheets (150 gm) honey graham crackers, crumbled finely
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons (75 gm) brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
6 tablespoons (85 gm) unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:

1–1/2 pounds/ 3 blocks (680 gm) of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup (155 gm) sugar
3 large eggs (170 gm), room temperature
¼ cup (60 ml) heavy cream, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup (80 gm) of blood orange juice (about the juice of 3–4 blood oranges)
2 teaspoons grated blood orange zest, avoiding the pith

For the topping:

1 cup (240 gm) heavy whipping cream
¼ cup (50 gm) sugar

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

To prepare the crust:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9″ springform pan by wrapping it in sheets of aluminum foil. I use 3 layers of extra wide foil wrapped to the top lip of the pan. Spray the inside walls and bottom of the pan with cooking spray.
Stir together the dry ingredients until combined. Add the melted butter and stir just until combined. Gently pat out your mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until set.

To prepare the cheesecake

Keep the oven preheated and get some water boiling in a kettle or saucepan for your water bath.
Beat cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer at medium speed (I use 4 on my Kitchen Aid Mixer) for 2 minutes to remove all clumps. Do not overbeat, but scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. If many clumps remain, ensure that your cream cheese has softened to room temp.
Add the sugar and beat on medium for an additional 1 minute. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat to combine an additional 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl and then add the heavy cream, vanilla, blood orange juice, and zest. Beat just to combine.
Pour the cheesecake batter on top of the prebaked crust. Gently rap the pan on the counter to help any air bubbles escape.
Place your springform pan into a slightly larger baking dish/pan and fill the larger pan with the boiling water you prepared for the water bath until the water reaches about halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
Carefully place both pans in the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour. After an hour of baking, the edges and top of the cheesecake should be set but still slightly jiggle in the center. Turn the oven off and allow the cheesecake to bake for an additional 30 minutes in the oven. Prop the door of the oven open slightly with a wooden spoon and continue to cool the cheesecake for another 30 minutes in the cooling oven.
Discard the water bath, remove the foil and then place the cheesecake in the fridge to chill for several hours or overnight. The cheesecake can be stored in the fridge for several days.

To prepare the topping:

In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, whip the heavy cream in it becomes frothy and thick. Add the sugar and beat to medium stiff peaks. Spread over top of the cooled cheesecake and serve!

Notes

I wrap my springform pan with three layers of heavy duty aluminum foil. This is to protect your crust from any water leakage of your springform pan. Many pans will claim to be waterproof but your crust will get soggy and inedible if water leakage happens. Don’t take any chances!
I use a 11″ round cake pan for my water bath but you can use any oven-safe dish that you have. Once of my readers used a roasting pan and that works just fine!
The cooling process seems lengthy and unnecessary, but it helps to prevent drastic temperature changes that can cause structural issues with your cake.

SaveSave

Blood Orange Bundt Cake

25 Comments / Cakes

There’s nothing like a few blood oranges and a shot of liquor to spruce up an otherwise ordinary bowl of flour and eggs- am I right? Ingredients like these take cakes from average to amazing, so I’m thrilled the share a treat like this blood orange bundt cake with you today!

Living in a fairly rural area of lower Alabama, I often have a hard time finding exotic ingredients at my grocery store. Just to be clear: I’m using the term ‘exotic” loosely here. I’m not talking ostrich eggs or black truffles or even something as basic as a tub of mascarpone cheese. In these parts, it’s a stretch some days to even get my hands on a gallon of organic milk or a bag pine nuts, okay? We’re a one grocery store town (two if you count Wal-Mart, three if you count that guy who sells watermelons and sweet potatoes out of the tailgate of his truck), so while I am a far cry from being a pioneer woman, I still have to get kinda creative with my ingredients sometimes.

Last fall, our grocery store randomly got in a shipment of leeks and I remember feeling like it was Christmas morning. Holding back tears of joy, I called a few girlfriends exclaiming, “They (sniff, sob)… have (gasp for air, more sobs)… LEEKS!” I’m pretty sure I bought three bunches of those little beauties, and Brett and I ate potato leek soup for like two weeks. Unfortunately, our plumbing hasn’t been the same since the leak incident of 2016. RIP.

Then there was the day they started carrying my favorite brand of kettle corn. When I spotted that beautiful lavender colored bag on the bottom shelf, you would’ve thought Charlie had found Mr.Wonka’s golden ticket. I dropped whatever off-brand bag of potato chips I had been considering and raced to the popcorn shelf for a closer inspection. I can’t remember, but I think I cried real tears and then bought up the shelf of popcorn like I was stocking a bomb shelter. Don’t you dare judge me for it.

Our little grocery store is small and humble, and to be honest, it can be really frustrating to not have immediate access to a lot of the ingredients that bigger stores probably carry (#firstworldproblems). But let me say this: the ladies at the checkout line know my children by name. My daughter is so obsessed with our store’s butcher that sometimes she will request a trip to the store just so “Aimee go see Willie, please mama?” I can walk to my grocery store in less than 15 minutes, drive there in less than 3, and even though it’s not much, I’d take my little hometown store situation over just about anything.

Recently while shopping, I spied some blood oranges in the produce department. I sang the “Hallelujah Chorus” and promptly tossed a bag in my cart. I must have kept those oranges in my fridge for nearly a week before I decided what was worthy of its fancy juice and zest, and I’m happy to say that this blood orange bundt cake is the product of those efforts in the kitchen.

A fluffy butter and egg filled batter, scented with vanilla bean and citrusy zest, this blood orange bundt cake is the best case scenario for any bit of prized produce hanging out in your fridge. This cake takes the juice and zest of quite a few blood oranges, so it is perfect for using up all of that wintertime citrus. To make the blood orange bundt cake, we start by combining a number of basic dry ingredients- flour, sugar, baking soda… you know the drill. Once well combined, we toss in a few chunks of butter and allow that to incorporate until it’s pea-sized crumbles. The blood orange juice, eggs, and zest are combined with a bit of orange liquor, and that wet mixture is added to the cake. Once whipped to a smooth and fluffy finish, the batter is poured into a large bundt cake pan and baked in the oven until golden and fragrant.

I decided to top this blood orange bundt cake with a simple glaze made of blood orange juice and powdered sugar. The blood oranges lend a rosy hue to the glaze, and while a bright pink frosted cake is rarely an elegant treat, I can promise that this cake is one all the grown-ups will write home about. It has a tender and moist crumb, an understated citrus kick, and just the right amount of sugar to make this cake perfect for breakfast or dessert. BONUS: If you, like me, live in a slightly rural area with limited access to special fruits like this, take heart! I have tried this cake with navel and mandarin oranges and I can vouch for both as substitutes.

This blood orange bundt cake is a seasonal way to spruce up your baking game and I hope you’ll give it a try. Experimenting with new flavors, even ones that maybe aren’t so “exotic” like the citrus in this cake is an incredibly fun way to spend time in the kitchen. If you happen to spot a bag of blood oranges at the store this week, you should grab one and give this cake a try. Oh, and if you happen to be shopping at my local grocery store, you better get there quick before I buy up their stock of blood oranges.

Blood Orange Bundt Cake

Print Recipe

★★★★★

5 from 2 reviews

This blood orange bundt cake is a sweet and citrus cake that is perfect to share with a crowd! Serve for breakfast or dessert.

Author: Kate Wood
Prep Time: 30
Cook Time: 80
Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Category: Cakes

Ingredients

For the cake

2–1/2 tablespoons blood orange zest
1 cup blood orange juice (about 5 blood oranges, but will vary)
2–1/2 teaspoons orange liquor
5 eggs, room temperature
1–1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
3 cups flour
2–1/2 cups sugar
1–1/2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1–1/4 teaspoons salt
2–3/4 sticks of butter (11 ounces/22 tablespoons), room temperature

For the glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons blood orange juice (more, if desired)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

To prepare the cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and liberally grease and flour a large 15 cup bundt cake pan.
Stir together the eggs, vanilla, blood orange juice, zest, and liquor in a bowl or measuring cup and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and stir on low until combined, about 30 seconds. Keeping the mixer on low, add the butter one tablespoon at a time and continue to beat until the mixture is uniform and in peas-sized crumbles.
Increase the speed to medium (about 4 on a stand mixer) and slowly pour in the egg and juice mixture. Continue to beat until the batter is uniformly moistened, smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top, and bake in the preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool on a cooling rack for about an hour and then carefully invert on the rack to continue cooling completely.

To prepare the glaze

Combine all three ingredients until no lumps of sugar remain. Add more sugar to thicken glaze slightly and add small amounts of juice, milk, or water, to thin the glaze out. I prefer to keep mine rather thick so that it will thickly coat the sides of my cake. Once the cake is cooled completely, pour the glaze over top and allow it to drizzle down the sides. Store at room temperature for up to three days.

Notes

This recipe is intended to be prepared in a large, 15 cup bundt cake pan. Do not fill the pan more than 3/4 of the way full or it will overflow! Pour extra batter in a cupcake pan and bake little blood orange muffins.
Test the viscosity of your glaze this way: run a spatula or your whisk through the glaze. It should be just thick enough that the line you dragged through the glaze nearly disappears after about 10 counted seconds. Add more powdered sugar to thicken, or more juice to thin.

Recipe Adapted From: Jeff Mauro

citrus

Citrus Shortbread Cookies

Making the Cookies

Baking the Cookies

Glazing the Cookies

If you like these citrus shortbread cookies you should try:

Citrus Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

For the cookies:

For the glaze:

Instructions

Mothering: The Hard Stuff

Mothering: The Good Stuff

Blood Orange Cheesecake

Making the Cheesecake

If you like this blood orange cheesecake, you should try:

Blood Orange Cheesecake

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Blood Orange Bundt Cake

Ingredients

For the cake

For the glaze

Instructions

To prepare the cake

To prepare the glaze

Notes

join the list