Easter is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the spring and the rebirth and renewal that comes along with the season. I was born and raised Southern Baptist and my life is built around my Christian faith. Everything about this time of year is very special and humbling to me.
This year it was a quiet but perfect Easter day with my parents and my dog. We lost my grandmother a year ago and she left an emptiness in our lives - physically and emotionally. However, the hope that I find in Easter powers me to go on each and every day. Knowing I will be with her again brings me a happiness that words cannot express.
My mom is a fan of everything lemon flavored. I am a fan of white chocolate so I was on a mission to find a lemon and white chocolate dessert that I could make for Easter dinner. After much deliberation and searching on the Internet, I came across a recipe for White Chocolate Lemon Brownies. I love to cook. I do not love to bake so this was definitely a challenge for me. However, I was very pleased at how easy it was and how delicous they turned out! The only thing I would adjust for next time is to use more white chocolate. Still, this was light, refreshing and perfect for Easter desssert.
White Chocolate Lemon Brownies
2 oz white chocolate baking bar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Glaze:
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease an 8x8 inch nonstick pan well.
2. In a microwavable bowl, melt the white chocolate. I used my double boiler (for the first time!) which I received as a wedding gift 10 years ago. You don't want to burn the white choclate and you don't want it to melt too quickly so the double boiler really was perfect.
3. With an electric mixer, cream together flour, sugars, salt and butter in a bowl
4. Mix in the melted chocolate once it's cool.
5. In a separate bowl whisk eggs, lemon zest and lemon juice. Add to flour mixture (step 3) and combine until smooth.
6. Transfer batter into the prepared baking pan.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden and a toothpick entered into the center comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool in pan for 10-15 minutes before removing to cool completely on a cooling rack.
9. Once cooled (or right before you eat them, which is what I did), whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice and pour over the brownies.
Now for the wine...........
because that's really want you want to know, right?
With a dinner of roasted turkey breast, ham, mac and cheese, and stewed tomatoes, we had the
2012 Dreaming Tree Chardonnay from the California Central Coast. Not too long ago I tried the Dreaming Tree White blend and Crush red blend wines. You'll remember these are made by a winemaker and Dave Matthews of the Dave Matthews Band. I liked the first two I tried and the Chardonnay was under $14 at the grocery store, so I had to give it a try.
This Chardonnay smells of fresh spring flowers, graham cracker, gingerbread and toasted marshmallow. My mom, who doesn't drink wine, smelled it and remarked that it reminded her of a florist.
As odd as this may sound for me to admit, it was a tad too buttery for me. On first sip, I immediately said "This is screaming Crab Norfolk!" That is a huge compliment, DMB.
I like subtle oak and butter and while this was too much for me to drink by itself, it went really well with the roasted turkey.
In my opinion, this wine needs food. With food, it's very complimentary.
Also cool was the wording on the cork, which I believe are lyrics to a DMB song:
"Standing here, the old man said to me, long before these crowded streets, here stood the dreaming tree"
I'm not sure I would bother buying this wine again because there are other Chardonnays that I like better. There are also so many wines out there to try that it doesn't makes sense to drink it again unless it really speaks to you!
For dessert we had Dad's favorite Riesling from Columbia Valley, Washington.
2012 Anew Riesling
Rieslings tend to be too sweet for my taste but I'm always up for trying a semi-sweet or dry one. I also tend to like Rieslings when I have spicy food or lemon desserts.
Aha! You see where I'm going with this now, don't you?
White Chocolate Lemon Brownies.. indeed!
Aromas of citrus and tangerine are found in Anew.
Dad said "yellow jelly bean" when asked what he tasted. My immediate explanation after tasting Anew was "It's a liquid Easter basket!" Well, ya'll can take that for what it's worth....
One thing you can't take away from Anew though is it is very photogenic.
No comments:
Post a Comment