For the sauce:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 stick butter, room temp
3 Tbs. cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup evaporated milk

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

In a standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Add one egg to the mixture at a time, beating after each one.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, salt and cocoa. Stir into butter mixture and combine well.

Add the vanilla and chopped almonds to the mixture. Stir to combine.

Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 13 baking dish. Pour brownie mixture into pan and bake 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Bring out of the oven, sprinkle the marshmallows over the top, and stick back in the oven for 5 minutes. You don’t want the mallows to brown, just starting to soften.

Drizzle the chocolate sauce over the brownies, let cool at room temperature for at least an hour (THE PAIN, I KNOW), slice and inhale!

Oh! Garnish with more chopped almonds if so desired. Which you should probably so desire.

From the blogger: This recipe comes from my late Memaw’s handwritten index cards. It’s not the healthiest, so don’t freak. But the taste will basically rock your whole entire life and world and beyond.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9- by 5- inch loaf pan and dust with flour, shaking out the excess.

Working in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, and salt for just a minute, until foamy and smoothly blended; the mixture should not thicken. Whisk in the grated zest.

Spoon the flour and baking powder into a sifter and sift about a third of the dry ingredients over the foamy egg mixture. Whisk the flour into the eggs, mixing lightly – there’s no need to beat. Sift the flour over the eggs in two more additions and whisk only until everything is incorporated. Whisk the heavy cream into the mixture. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently and quickly fold in the melted butter.

Pour and scrape the batter into the prepared pan – it will level itself – and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the center of the cake crowns and cracks and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake to a cooling rack to rest for 10 minutes before unmolding. Cool to room temperature right side up on the rack. *

You can serve this cake as soon as it cools, although there are those who believe that a pound cake needs a day to ripen. Make a taste test for yourself. In any case, the cake should be sliced with a serrated knife and served in thin slices, a pair to a plate.

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Candied Meyer Lemon (from marthastewart.com)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 meyer lemon (do not peel), washed well and sliced 1/4-inch thick

Bring sugar and water to a boil in a large saucepan, and heat until sugar dissolves. Add lemons, and cover surface with parchment. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer gently until rinds are translucent, about 30 minutes. Let lemons cool in syrup.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer lemons to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Let stand to allow excess syrup to drip off. Save the leftover syrup. [This is what I used to brush the tops of the baked cakes, before topping with the glaze.]

Meyer Lemon Glaze (from marthastewart.com)
2 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, plus more if needed
1/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice

In a medium bowl, whisk all glaze ingredients to combine. If necessary, add additional confectioners’ sugar to desired consistency.

To assemble the cake:
With a wooden skewer poke holes all over the top of the cool, baked cake. Using a small pastry brush, brush some of the leftover lemon syrup (from the candied lemons) on the top of the cake, but don’t over soak it! Let dry for about an hour. Pour the lemon glaze on top and let harden. Place a few slices of the candied meyer lemon on top of the glaze as decoration.

Dipped Strawberries:
1 pint (2 cups) medium-large strawberries (18 to 20 strawberries)
1/2 cup white vanilla baking chips
1 teaspoon shortening or vegetable oil

Filling and Frosting:
1 cup seedless strawberry jam
1 container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy milk chocolate frosting

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Grease and lightly flour bottoms and sides of two 9-inch round cake pans, or spray with baking spray with flour. In large bowl, mix cake mix and gelatin. Beat in water, oil and whole eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds, then on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pans.

2. Bake 28 to 33 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

3. Meanwhile, gently rinse strawberries and dry on paper towels (berries must be completely dry). Line cookie sheet with waxed paper. In 1-quart saucepan, melt vanilla baking chips and shortening over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

5. Split each cake layer horizontally into 2 layers. On serving plate, place top of 1 layer, cut side up; spread with 1/3 cup of the jam. Add bottom half of layer, cut side down; spread with 1/3 cup jam. Add top of second layer, cut side up; spread with remaining 1/3 cup jam. Add bottom of remaining layer. Frost side and top of cake with frosting. Arrange dipped strawberries around top of cake. Store covered in refrigerator.

Fruit Filling:
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup flour
pinch salt
zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp almond extract
2 (16-oz) packages frozen blackberries, thawed and drained

Directions:
To make the crust and topping, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to mix. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes, and add to the flour mixture. Process until the butter is evenly distributed but the mixture is still crumbly, 30-60 seconds.

Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the mixture to use as the topping. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan, and bake 12-15 minutes. Cool for at least 10 minutes.

To make the filling, whisk the eggs in a large bowl, then add the sugar, sour cream, flour, salt, lemon zest, and almond extract. Gently fold in the berries and spoon the mixture over the crust. Sprinkle the remaining flour mixture evenly over the filling, and bake 45 to 55 minutes.

Blackberry Pie Bars – Adapted from Rebecca Rather, The Pastry Queen

Directions
1. Make the batter: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Using a small brush, lightly coat two 9-inch cake pans with softened butter or vegetable-oil cooking spray. Dust with flour and tap out any excess. Set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and set aside. In a large bowl using a mixer set at medium speed, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, blending each thoroughly before adding the next. Scrape down sides and beat in vanilla extract. Reduce mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture by thirds, alternating with the lemon juice and buttermilk and ending with the dry ingredients.

2. Bake the cake: Divide the batter equally between the pans and spread evenly. Bake on the middle rack of the oven until the tops spring back when lightly touched and a tester inserted in the center of each cake layer comes out clean — 20 to 30 minutes. Cool in the cake pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Using a knife, loosen the cake layers from the sides of the pans and invert the layers onto the wire rack to cool completely.

Blackberry-Cassis Jam
5 cup(s) fresh or frozen blackberries
1 cup(s) cassis
2 tablespoon(s) cassis
1/2 cup(s) sugar
2 tablespoon(s) fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon(s) lemon zest
2 tablespoon(s) cornstarch

Directions:
1. Make the jam: In a medium nonreactive saucepan, combine blackberries, 1 cup cassis, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest and cook over medium-low heat until berries begin to soften — about 10 minutes.

2. Use a slotted spoon to remove only the berries. Place them in a medium bowl, lightly mash them, and strain the resulting liquid back into the saucepan. Set the strained berries aside. Dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining 2 tablespoons of cassis and stir the mixture into the hot berry juice.

3. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, and cook, stirring often to avoid burning, until the liquid thickens and is reduced to half its original volume — about 2 cups.

4. Stir the reserved blackberries into the liquid. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Directions:
1. Make the frosting: In a large stainless-steel bowl placed over a pot filled with 1 inch of simmering water, place the egg whites and sugar. Use a whisk to beat the mixture until it is very hot to the touch (about 160 degrees F). Remove from heat and, using a mixer set on high speed, immediately begin whipping the mixture until it is cool, thick, and glossy and has tripled in volume — about 5 minutes. Reduce mixer speed to medium and add the butter — about a quarter cup at a time — allowing 5 to 10 seconds in between each addition. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice and continue to beat until smooth and fluffy.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray an 8×8 oven proof pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a medium bowl mix the buttermilk, oil and vanilla.

Pour the liquid into the flour mixture and stir with a fork until just incorporated.

The batter will be almost like a shaggy dough.

Turn the batter out into the 8×8 pan.

Bake until done in the center and golden on top, about 20-25 minutes.

Serve hot or cold.

Cut the shortcake into 9 equal squares.

Serve in bowls topped with lots of berries and milk.

Lemon Sponge Cake:
The first step should be to make the meringue which gets folded into the cake batter. Separate 6 eggs. Reserve the yolks for a later step. Place 6 egg whites into a a large bowl and start beating on high with an electric mixer. SLOWLY sprinkle in 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, and 3/4 cup sugar, adding the sugar a bit at a time. Whip the egg white mixture until stiff peaks form.

In a bowl combine these dry ingredients- 1 3/4 cup cake flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 cup sugar. In a separate bowl combine these wet ingredients- 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 6 egg yolks, 3/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon lemon zest.

With an electric mixer, combine the wet and dry ingredients then gently fold in the meringue. Pour batter into a non-greased 10” tube pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Upon removing from oven, immediately flip the tube pan upside down to rest and cool on the pan’s feet or onto a bottle neck if your pan doesn’t have feet. Allow to completely cool. Run a knife around the edges before removing from pan. Slice cake horizontally into 3 even layers with dental floss or a very long serrated knife. 

Directions:
In a bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and melted butter. Press into the bottom and sides of a deep dish 9-inch pie plate. Chill.

In a heavy saucepan, dissolve sugar and milk over medium-high heat, stirring, and remove pan from heat once sugar is dissolved. Whisk in peanut butter and vanilla until well-blended. Cool in a bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally.

In another bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream until it just holds stiff peaks. Fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture. Turn mixture into pie crust, smoothing the top.

For garnish (optional), melt chocolate chips using a double boiler: place chips in double boiler over a saucepan of simmering water so that the double boiler doesn’t touch the water. Stir until the chocolate is melted; place melted chocolate into a plastic baggie and cut a small piece of the tip off. Pipe into swirls or other designs on top of pie.

Freeze pie, uncovered, until frozen hard, about 5 hours. Pie can be made up to 2 days ahead and frozen, covered with plastic wrap and foil after 5 hours. Let pie stand in refrigerator for 30 minutes prior to serving.

Directions:
Put whole lemons in a large pot over high heat, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and simmer until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain; transfer lemons to a bowl of ice water. Cut lemons into quarters when they have cooled and gently remove seeds, retaining as much juice as possible. Blend lemons in a food processor until they’re a smooth, thick puree

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pulse almonds in a food processor until nuts resemble coarse cornmeal. Put in a large bowl and add flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine.

Butter and flour a 9-inch pan with a removable rim. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in another large bowl until thick and pale yellow. Stir in lemon puree and almond extract. Add almond-flour mixture and stir to combine. Stir in candied ginger. Set aside.

Beat egg whites in another large bowl until they form firm peaks. Gently fold egg whites into lemon batter. Spread batter in prepared pan.

Combine powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Spread glaze over cake. Garnish with lemon slices.

Per Serving: 333 calories, 36 percent (119 cal.) from fat, 8.3 g protein, 13 g fat (1.9 g sat.), 51 g carbo (4.7 g fiber), 209 mg sodium, 106 mg chol.

From “The Sunset Essential Western Cookbook”

For the Glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, very soft

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (reduce temperature to 325 degrees F if your pan is dark/non-stick). Grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2½ cups of the all-purpose flour, the baking powder and salt; set aside.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or large mixing bowl), use your fingertips to rub together the sugar and lemon zest until the zest is completely incorporated and the sugar is evenly moistened. Add the butter and cream together on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.

4. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, mixing for a minute after each and scraping down the bowl before adding the next. Add the vanilla and mix briefly to combine.

5. With the mixer still on low, add 1/3 of the flour mixture, beating until just barely combined, followed by ½ the buttermilk, another 1/3 of the flour mixture, the remaining buttermilk and the remaining flour.

7. Once the cake is cool, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and butter until smooth. The icing should be quite thick (if you’d like it thinner, you can add more milk, a teaspoon at a time, until you get it to the consistency you want). Use an offset spatula to spread the glaze on top of the cake, giving it a little nudge down every so often. The cake can be stored, covered, at room temperature for up to 4 days.

(Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen)