Cherry Almond Granola Bars

Today has been...less than great.

I woke up thinking I wouldn’t be able to bake at all, we were all out of propane. But then! Our tank was filled! I was feeling optimistic. I baked up some fantastically tasty granola bars.



When they had cooled, I headed downstairs to take photos. I set up the table, took a few shots, and then it happened. The cat jumped through the window, onto the cooling rack the bars were sitting on and flipped them all onto the floor. Every last one of them.

That’s not that bad, right? I mean, it’s a annoying, but it’s also kind of funny. You should have seen it, it was like something out of a cartoon.



I proceeded to clean up the mess, then I grabbed my camera by the strap, not realizing it was wrapped around the corner of the table. The lens slammed down on the table, breaking my filter and jamming the lens so it won’t focus. Now I have no granola bars and no lens. Bummer, dude.

So, no more posts around here until I get my lens fixed. But you should make these bars in the mean time! They are really, really good, I hate that I only got to take a couple of bites! Cherry and almond are made for each other, and the honey accents the flavors perfectly.

When I come back, I’m going to be sure to tell you all about the mandarin orange frozen yogurt I made today, but didn’t get to take pictures of. It was tasty.




Cherry Almond Granola Bars
adapted from Alton Brown

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 (or more) cup dried cherries

Butter a 9 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the oats, almonds, and wheat germ onto a half-sheet pan. Place in the oven and toast for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, extract and salt in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook until the brown sugar has completely dissolved.

Once the oat mixture is done, remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 300 degrees F. Immediately add the oat mixture to the liquid mixture, add the dried fruit, and stir to combine. Turn mixture out into the prepared baking dish and press down, evenly distributing the mixture in the dish and place in the oven to bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti

When I was a kid, biscotti was the height of elegant, fancy food in my mind. It brought to mind pictures of very noble british ladies with long dresses and charming accents. I remember being nine, ten years old sitting in a coffee shop with my mom, sipping my hot chocolate and dipping my biscotti, feeling oh so fancy. When my mom wasn’t looking, I’d hold out my pinkie finger as I took a sip of my drink.





This biscotti is a little more down to earth though. It’s got a fantastic crackly top that tastes just like cinnamon breakfast cereal, without that artificial after taste. It’s really, really tasty, and I’ll be having some for breakfast in the morning. If there’s any left, that is.



Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti
epicurious.com via joy the baker
makes about 24

2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla

For Topping:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 beaten egg (for brushing biscotti before baking)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F and arrange two baking racks in the upper portion of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
Also whisk together the cinnamon and sugar for the topping and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fit with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Scrape down the down and beat in the egg followed by the egg yolk. Beat in the vanilla extract.

Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter all at once. With the mixer or just with a spatula, bring all of the ingredients together until a somewhat stiff dough is formed.
Divide the dough and place on baking sheet. Shape each half of dough into a 9-inch long and 1 1/2-inch wide log. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle very generously with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes. Flip the baking sheet around for even baking and bake for 20-25 more minutes until golden and firm to the touch.

Remove from the oven but keep the oven on. Let biscotti cool until able to handle. Using a serrated knife, cut logs into 1/2-inch wide diagonal slices. Place biscotti cut side down on baking sheet and sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar. Bake again until pale golden, about 10-15 minutes.
Store in an airtight container for up to one week.

Hello World! How are you doing? I must confess, I have no deliciousness to show you today. I’ve been baking, but it’s all been posted here before. I’ll bring you something new soon, I promise. But until then, here’s a random little ramble.



I’m so excited about planting a spring garden! I’ve been flipping through seed catalogs like a mad woman. So many choices, so much possibility. I’m the most excited about my herbs - I really love growing herbs. What’s your favorite?

I was in the grocery store yesterday, looking for blood oranges (which i didn't find!) when I stumbled upon this little display of potted herbs. They were from a local farm - I just had to buy one. I picked hyssop, because I love the name, and the bright green color, even though I have no idea what to do with it. ha! Any suggestions?




I’m learning to crochet. I’ve never been all that interested in it, but one day about a month ago I found this afghan pattern and fell in love. It’s so charming and modern looking, nothing like the idea of crochet I had in my mind. I wanted to be able to make it. So I bought some crochet hooks and yarn, and I’m on my way. So far I can only do a chain stitch and single crochet, but I’ll get there eventually. I love learning new things!



Have you checked out the blog So Good & Tasty? It’s pretty new to me, I’m smitten! I adore Jacqui’s homey photography and delicious looking recipes. You should head over there, I know you’ll love it just as much as I do!

I do believe that's all I have to say today. Have a lovely day!

Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Oh Snow. It’s running my life these days. I don’t remember this much snow, ever. My dad tells stories of back in 83’ when he was driving a tractor trailer for a living, there was a winter like this. A couple of miles took hours, he said. I’m just not used to it. I like snow, I do. It’s beautiful, and so quiet. It softens all the greys and browns of the winter landscape, making everything bright and magical.

But when I can’t leave the house for days on end because the roads are icy and I can’t drive up the hill without sliding backwards, to be honest, I have a hard time being grateful for the stuff. Oh, and of course, it’s cold. Bitterly cold.



I’m trying to refocus though, and see the good. There is good. Like this beautiful blue sky I saw a yesterday, when the grey clouds cleared for a couple of hours:



And of course, all of this time indoors has lead to many hours in the kitchen. I’ve made lots of loaves of this bread, and turned it into fantastic pizza crust. I’ve made muffins, tarts, cookies and other yummy things. And today, I got out of my baking comfort zone and made soup. Delicious, healthy, clean out the fridge type soup. Just what I needed today to lift my spirits.

This is a highly adapted version of the soup on the January cover of Martha Stewart Living. It’s great because you can pretty much add anything you’ve got in your pantry or refrigerator. I roasted a chicken before hand and shredded it to make more of a chicken soup than a veggie one, but you could leave it out entirely.



Hearty Chicken and Vegetable Soup
adapted from Martha Stewart

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 medium carrots, cut into cubes
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 pinches of red-pepper flakes
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
5 1/4 cups homemade or store-bought low-sodium chicken stock
1 1/2 cups water
2 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 12 ounces), cut into cubes
about 3 cups of fresh spinach
1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 whole chicken, roasted and shredded (I use this recipe)

1. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Cook onion, , carrots, garlic, red-pepper flakes, and 1 teaspoon salt, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add stock and water, and bring to a boil.

2. Add potatoes. Return to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, partially covered, until they are tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in spinach, chicken and chickpeas, and return to a boil. Stir in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

P.S. you can become a fan of Honey & Jam on facebook now, if you’d like! I’ll probably be posting a few extras on there now and then. Click here to join.

Homemade Doughnuts

To be honest, I’m not the biggest doughnut fan. I regularly pass when offered one. It’s just not my thing, not even those straight off the conveyer belt at Krispy Kreme, whose hot light seems to make people lose all the sense the good lord gave them. I have a friend who will actually swerve off the road at the sight of that neon sign. People seem to be in love with the things, but I’ve just never cared for them.



So, when I saw this recipe on The Pioneer Woman, I was intrigued. Maybe I would like them more if I made them at home? And you know what? I do. But I have to say you need to go into it without your preconceptions, because these don’t taste much like Krispy Kremes at all. They are just a bit more dense (but not much), and definitely not as sweet.



This was...an experience. I’m not going to tell you it was easy, because it’s not, it's messy and labor intensive, but it's also a lot of fun and a great way to spend a Saturday when you’re completely snowed in! I spiced mine up with a chocolate glaze and some sprinkles, I think a maple glaze would be good too. I love that about these, you can customize them any way you want. I’d love to try jelly filled next.



Homemade Glazed Donuts
From The Pioneer Woman, check out her site for very helpful step by step photos.

Ingredients
Doughnuts
1-⅛ cup Whole Milk, Warm
¼ cups Sugar
2-¼ teaspoons (one Package) Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
2 whole Large Eggs, Beaten
1-¼ stick Unsalted Butter, melted
4 cups All-purpose Flour
¼ teaspoons Salt
Canola Oil

GLAZE
3 cups Powdered Sugar
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Vanilla
½ cups Cold Water Or Milk

Preparation Instructions

To Make the Dough:
1. Make sure milk is nice and warm, but not overly hot.

2. Add sugar to milk. Stir to dissolve.

3. Add yeast into a small bowl.

4. Pour milk/sugar mixture over yeast. Stir gently, then let sit for 10 minutes.

5. Melt butter in separate bowl until butter is almost melted. Stir to finish melting so butter won’t be overly hot.

6. Add beaten eggs to melted butter, stirring constantly to make sure the butter’s not too hot for the eggs.

7. Add the egg/butter mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.

8. With the mixer on 3 or medium-low speed, pour in the yeast mixture.

9. Allow the dough hook to stir this mixture for a couple of minutes, making sure it’s thoroughly combined.

10. With the mixer still going, add helpings of the flour mixture in 1/4 to 1/2 cup increments until all the flour is gone.

11. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl, then turn the mixer on the same speed for five whole minutes.

12. After five minutes, stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl.

13. Turn on the mixer for 30 seconds.

14. Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to sit in the bowl undisturbed for 10 minutes.

15. After 10 minutes, transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Toss the dough to coat, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place straight in the fridge.

16. Refrigerate dough for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

To Make the Doughnuts:
1. Remove bowl from fridge and turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface.

2. Roll out to 1/4 to 1/3-inch thickness.

3. Using a 3-inch cutter, cut as many rounds as you can, then roll out remaining dough and cut as much as you can, etc.

4. Cut holes out of each round using a 1 1/2-inch cutter.

5. Place both doughnuts and holes on a floured baking sheet.
6. Cover with large tea towel and place in a warm place in your kitchen; my kitchen is very drafty, so I have to briefly warm the griddle, then turn it off and set the sheets on top to keep warm.

7. Allow doughnuts to rise undisturbed for at least 1 hour; 1 hour 15 minutes if necessary. Doughuts should be visibly puffier and appear to be airy.

To Fry the Dougnuts
1. Heat plenty of canola oil in a large pot until the temperature reaches 375 to 380 degrees—do not let it get hotter than 380 degrees! 375 is ideal; keep the thermometer in the pan to continually monitor.

2. One to two at a time, gently grab doughnuts and ease them into the hot oil. Allow them to cook 1 minute on each side; they will brown very quickly.

3. Remove doughnuts from the oil with a slotted spoon, allowing all oil to drip off.

4. Place doughnut immediately on several layers of paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over onto a clean part of the paper towels. Count to five, then flip it over again; the purpose, obviously, is to drain as much grease as possible before it soaks into the doughnut.

5. Repeat with remaining doughnuts and holes. The holes will cook more quickly than the doughnuts; about 30 seconds per side.

6. Allow doughnuts to slightly cool.

To Glaze
1. Mix all glaze ingredients in a bowl until completely smooth.

2. One by one, dip doughnuts into the glaze until halfway submerged. (Note: completely submerge doughnut holes, then remove with slotted spoon.)

3. Remove from glaze, then turn right side up on a cooling rack over a cookie sheet (to catch dripping glaze.)

4. Serve warm if possible, or room temperature.

Chocolate Glaze
From Alton Brown

Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup whole milk, warmed
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions
Combine butter, milk, corn syrup, and vanilla in medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until butter is melted. Decrease the heat to low, add the chocolate, and whisk until melted. Turn off heat, add the powdered sugar, and whisk until smooth. Place the mixture over a bowl of warm water and dip the doughnuts immediately. Allow glaze to set for 30 minutes before serving.

Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

These are need-no-special-occasion cupcakes. Actually, they aren’t really cupcakes at all, but muffins. Throw on some pretty white icing though, some sprinkles and some coconut, like a fancy new dress and a set of pearls, and it’s transformed into a cupcake. The muffin-like base, chock full of carrot and pineapple is accented perfectly by the sweet-tangy cream cheese frosting. Great for a Tuesday afternoon.



Especially if it’s a Tuesday afternoon like this one, all dark and gloomy. These are a sure fire way to brighten your day.



Carrot Cupcakes
adapted from epicurious
Makes about 9 regular sized cupcakes

2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil, hazelnut oil, or walnut oil
2 eggs
1 cup chopped walnuts (I left these out, as I’m allergic)
1/2 cup chopped, drained pineapple
1 cup finely grated carrot

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line cupcake pan with liners. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, baking powder, spices, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil and eggs until blended, and then stir the egg mixture into the flour with a rubber spatula. Fold in the walnuts, pineapple, and grated carrot.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.


Cream Cheese Frosting
8 ounce bar cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
shredded coconut

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.

Frost cupcakes, and garnish with shredded coconut.

NOTE: This won’t make enough to generously frost each cupcake. You might want to double it.

P.S. The lovely Sean from Take Thou Food posted an interview with me today! You can see that here. Thanks, Sean!

No Knead Bread

Let me start by saying a couple of things: 1. Crusty, chewy bread is one of my very favorite things in the world. 2. this bread is quite possibly the best thing I’ve ever baked. 3. it’s also one of the easy things I’ve ever made.

I’m a bread lover, it’s true. I love a good, crusty french loaf probably more than the next person. I believe that it’s one of our greatest triumphs as humans, creating crusty bread. But I’d never, ever tried to make it at home.

It was just so daunting. I’ve looked at a thousand recipes for it, most of them calling for no fewer than 3 rises, lots of kneading, some voodoo and a bread dance. It just seemed so complicated! But when I stumbled upon this recipe last night, I knew I had to make it.



It’s from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a day, which I don’t own, but I’m now seriously considering purchasing it. This is so easy, and requires only 4 ingredients.

My brother exclaimed “This tastes just like Panera’s bread!” which is a high compliment coming from him, as he can eat a whole long loaf by himself. Get yourself in the kitchen and make this right now. It’s that good. It'd be perfect for sandwiches, bread bowls for soup, or even pizza crust.

Recipe notes: It might seem difficult to incorporate all of the flour into the yeast mixture, but just keep mixing. You can add just a little bit of water at a time to help, if needed. The recipe calls for a pizza stone, but I don’t have one, so I just used a cast iron skillet instead. Also, my second rise took a bit longer than the 40 minutes suggested, probably about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the size I wanted.



No Knead French Bread
From Artisian Bread in 5 Minutes a Day via The Ivory Hut


3 cups of lukewarm water

1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast

1 1/2 tablespoons coarse salt

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour


Grab a very large mixing bowl, or a large container that you can cover. In it, mix the water, yeast, and salt. You don’t have to heat up the water to a precise optimal temperature for the yeast. I’ve even used just regular tap water, and it’s worked well for me. Just let that sit together for a while (you don’t have to wait for the yeast to dissolve completely), then dump the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon. You don’t need to knead this, and you’re not looking to make it come together into a dough ball. You just want everything mixed well, with no streaks of flour left, and you’re done.


Leave it in your container, covered (but not airtight, or it’ll pop), for a few hours. When it has risen and then deflated a bit, your dough is done. It’s ready to be used or stored in the refrigerator.

To bake the bread, just grab a chunk of dough, about the size of a grapefruit. Dust your hands with flour to help prevent sticking, and gently pull the sides of the dough toward the bottom, rotating the dough, until you get a roundish shape with a smooth surface. It should only take you about a minute or less to do this. The dough won’t be entirely in the bottom, where it may look bunched up, but don’t worry about it.


Put it on a cutting board that’s been dusted with cornmeal to prevent sticking, and let it rest for at least 40 minutes. No need to cover it. If the dough has been refrigerated, it helps to let it rest a little more, until it’s no longer chilled.


Twenty minutes before you are ready to bake, put a cast iron skillet (or a pizza stone) in the middle rack of your oven, and put a broiler pan (I used a cookie sheet) in the bottom rack. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Dust some flour on the top of your loaf, and slash the top, about 1/4-inch deep.

After twenty minutes of preheating, it’s time to bake. (You can put the bread in after 20 minutes, even if your oven hasn’t reached 450 degrees yet.) Slide the loaf onto the baking stone, and then quickly pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler pan. Then quickly shut the oven door to keep the steam inside.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until you get a nice brown crust. Remove and let cool completely, if you can wait that long.

Blueberry Muffins, plain and simple.

Apparently the snowpocalypse is upon us. My area is under a severe snow warning or something of the sort. What do I do in such situations? Bake muffins, of course. These won't be winning any beauty contests, but they sure are tasty.

Blueberry Muffins

Adapted from All Recipes
Makes exactly 12 regular size muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
  
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Black Bean Brownies

Black Bean Brownies. Black Bean Brownies?!

When I first stumbled upon this recipe, I was a little bit repulsed. It seemed sort of gross, beans as the main ingredient in brownies? I kept coming back to it though, and the idea grew on me.

It doesn’t make any sense, but these are good. Not the best brownie ever, by any means, but good. I’m not even sure if brownie is the right word for these, black bean fudge might be better. There’s a lot going on - the coffee flavor, the agave nectar, and of course the beans and the chocolate. Somehow it all works together.

I made mine in an 8x8 baking pan instead of a jelly roll pan, and I have to say that I think they would have been better thinner. Mine were super gooey - a little too gooey. The ones on the outer edge were much better than those in the center, because they were firmer. Also, I found the coffee flavor a little over powering, I’d definitely cut it down, probably half it, if I made these again.

Will I make them again? Probably not, but it’s an interesting option if you're gluten intolerant or diabetic.



Black Bean Brownie Recipe
From 101 cookbooks

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups soft-cooked black beans, drained well ( canned is fine)
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
¼ cup (granulated) natural coffee substitute (or instant coffee, for gluten-sensitive)
¼ teaspoon sea salt
4 large eggs
1½ cups light agave nectar

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line an 11- by 18-inch (rimmed) baking pan (or jellyroll pan) with parchment paper and lightly oil with canola oil spray.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a glass bowl in the microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes on high. Stir with a spoon to melt the chocolate completely. Place the beans, 1/2 cup of the walnuts, the vanilla extract, and a couple of spoonfuls of the melted chocolate mixture into the bowl of a food processor. Blend about 2 minutes, or until smooth. The batter should be thick and the beans smooth. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts, remaining melted chocolate mixture, coffee substitute, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In a separate bowl, with an electric mixer beat the eggs until light and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the agave nectar and beat well. Set aside.

Add the bean/chocolate mixture to the coffee/chocolate mixture. Stir until blended well.

Add the egg mixture, reserving about 1/2 cup. Mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Using an electric mixer, beat the remaining 1/2 cup egg mixture until light and fluffy. Drizzle over the brownie batter. Use a wooden toothpick to pull the egg mixture through the batter, creating a marbled effect. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the brownies are set. Let cool in the pan completely before cutting into squares. (They will be soft until refrigerated.)

Just a quick note: I realized today I've been having a lot of real emails go into my spam folder instead of my inbox. If you've seen me an email in the past and I haven't responded, that's why! I'm so sorry, feel free to send it again. :)

Citrus Tart

It’s dark, rainy, and gloomy here today. I used to swear up and down that I preferred rain to sunshine. I have no idea why - maybe it was true then, but it’s definitely not true now. I like a good rainstorm, especially in the summer, when they are quick and full of thunder, but in the winter when they last all day, make it so dark outside it seems like evening all day long, I don’t care for it at all. I crave sunshine and the warmth it brings along with it.





Since there’s no chance of that today, I decided to create some sunshine of my own, in the form of this yummy citrus tart. It has a delicious buttery shortbread crust and a tart but sweet lemon & lime curd-like filling. It’s brightened up my day, for sure.






Citrus Tart
from Martha Stewart

Ingredients
Serves 12 to 14

FOR THE CRUST
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup whole blanched almonds
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 large egg yolk

FOR THE FILLING
5 large eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 6 lemons), plus 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 4 limes)
2 tablespoons heavy cream (optional)
Garnish: red currants or raspberries and confectioners' sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the crust: Butter an 11-inch fluted tart or quiche pan with a removable bottom (or use a pie plate). Whisk together flour and salt. Pulse almonds with confectioners' sugar in a food processor until finely ground.

2. Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in almond-sugar mixture. Add yolk and flour mixture, and beat until combined.

3. Press dough evenly into bottom and up sides of prepared pan. Prick dough all over with a fork. Freeze for 20 minutes.

4. Bake crust for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Press down bottom and up sides if needed. Bake until golden brown, about 13 minutes more (I pressed down the bottom and sides again). Transfer pan to a baking sheet, and let cool for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

5. Make the filling: Beat eggs, granulated sugar, and salt with a mixer on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add juices, zest, and cream, and beat until incorporated. Tap bowl on counter to release air bubbles. Pour into prepared crust. Bake until set, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Garnish with currants or raspberries and a dusting of confectioners' sugar.
6. Garnish just before serving.