Matt, my cousin, Sarah, and I have a slight obsession with elote, also known as Mexican street corn. If your life has been elote-less thus far, what you need to know is that it is grilled corn slathered in lime juice, mayonnaise or crema, then sprinkled with salt, cotija cheese and chile powder. Basically, perfection on a cob.

It’s hard to say where our obsession stems from. It could be because we’re cheese freaks, because we love Mexican food, or maybe because we have some inexplicable connection to corn fields. However, I think the real reason we love it so much is because it reminds us of summer beach days.

Every year my family meets at the beach in Delaware for our family beach week. A few years ago, we started incorporating happy hour towards the end of the beach day. Yes, we enjoy having a drink while the sun’s still warm before having to shower and get ready for dinner. But let’s be honest – it’s really about the corn. We tried it at happy hour at the Mexican restaurant near the beach and we got hooked. I’m talking left the beach early because we couldn’t take the corn craving anymore hooked. Ever since then, we’ve been on an elote frenzy, ordering it whenever we see it popping up on restaurant menus. So when I saw this Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad I knew I needed to have it as soon as possible.

I first made it to bring to a barbecue and the weeks following I made it two more times because Matt and I couldn’t get enough. It is that good. I love elote and literally the only thing that could make it better is pasta, because hello – pasta! This pasta corn salad is packed with mind-boggling flavor and loaded with all the best goodies. There’s avocado, cheese and bacon in there. Yes, bacon! The pasta salad is smoky without being spicy, although you can certainly make it more spicy. My preference is usually just the least-spicy baby version possible.

Every time I’ve made this it’s come out perfectly delicious. Even though I think it’s perfect as is, one of the reasons I love making pasta salads (other than my noodle obsession) is that it’s so easy to adjust the flavors to your personal preferences. Like it richer? Add more mayonnaise. Like it with more zippiness? Add more lime juice and zest. I like to make it as written, taste, and then add more of whatever I feel it needs, if anything. If you are going to make it ahead I would wait and stir in the bacon, cheese and avocado last minute. Also the pasta will soak up some of the dressing if you leave it overnight before serving so maybe make some extra dressing to pour in last minute as well.

Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

 

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Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

for the pasta salad

• 1 lb farfalle pasta
• 2 15-ounce cans of fire-roasted corn, roughly 3 cups corn (see note)
• 3 scallions
• ½ cup parsley leaves (or cilantro if you prefer)
• ½ jalapeño (see note)
• 6-8 strips bacon, cooked
• ⅔ cup Cotija cheese
• 1 avocado

for the dressing

• ¾ cup regular mayonnaise
• 4 tablespoons lime juice
• Zest from 1 lime
• 1½ teaspoons hot sauce (see note)
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cumin
• ⅛ teaspoon chili powder (more if desired)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

for the pasta salad

1. Cook the farfalle pasta according to the package directions, being sure not to overcook. Strain and then immediately rinse with cold water. Let strain until completely drain, lightly patting with paper towel if needed.
2. Drain the cans of corn and add them to a large mixing bowl. Add the cooked pasta. Remove the ends of the scallions then slice and add to the bowl. Chop the parsley or cilantro and add to the bowl. Carefully remove the seeds and pith from the jalapeño being sure to wear gloves or wash your hands immediately after. Finely chop and add to the mixing bowl. Crumble the cooked bacon and the cheese into the mixing bowl. Pour the dressing on top then stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Dice the avocado and fold in to combine.

for the dressing

1. Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper as needed.

Notes

- Note about corn: If you can’t find or don’t want to use cans of fire-roasted corn, you have a few options. Trader Joe’s sells roasted corn in their freezer section. You could char some drained regular canned corn in a skillet on medium-high heat. You could also grill your corn then remove from the cob.
- Note about spiciness: I do not like spicy food. If you make the recipe as written and remove the seeds and pith from the jalapeño, use a mild hot sauce (I use Trader Joe’s Green Dragon sauce), and use a minimal amount of the chili powder, it will not be spicy. If you are concerned, reduce the amount of hot sauce and omit the chili powder. If you want it spicier, I would leave the seeds of the jalapeño and increase the amount of chili powder.

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Don’t worry, I promise this cake isn’t scandalous. Definitely delicious, but certainly not scandalous. It is called a naked cake because the sides aren’t frosted, but I will get to that in a bit. Last month we celebrated Matt’s 30th birthday!

When Matt and I first started dating during our sophomore year of college we celebrated his 20th birthday – that’s a whole decade of birthdays! We had only been dating for a few weeks, but I made him these very literal cupcakes.

I’ve clearly come a long way- ha! I’ve made Matt many birthday desserts over the years, but I wanted this one to be extra special.

I decided to turn one of Matt’s favorite desserts, this Summer Berry Trifle, into a layer cake. The cake layers are angel food cake that have been brushed with a simple lemon syrup to keep them extra moist and bursting with light lemon flavor. The creamy filling and topping is a sturdy whipped cream. Basically, the base of a cream cheese frosting folded in with lots and lots of Cool Whip to make it light and fluffy. Piled in the middle and on top are sweet fresh berries. I used a combination of strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. Altogether, they make a fresh and light cake – perfect for eating a big slice.

When you get a big bite of the syrup-brushed cake with the cream filling and the berries it is completely magical.

Now, to the scandalous aspect of the cake. A naked cake simply means that there is little or no icing on the sides of the cake, letting the layers bare all. The layers of whipped filling in the middle and on the top of the cake are thick enough that you really don’t need the additional filling on the sides of the cake. Leaving the cake naked lets the beautiful berries in the middle of the cake peek out. It also saves you time from having to try to make the sides look perfect and smooth – a win-win!

I think a cake this delicious is great any time of the year, but it is especially fitting for a summer gathering with berry season soon approaching. Enjoy!

Triple Berry Angel Food Cake Trifle

 

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Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients

• 1 box angel food cake mix, batter prepared according to directions on box
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon lemon or almond extract
• 8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 16 ounces reduced fat Cool Whip
• 8 ounces strawberries, washed
• 1 cup blackberries, washed
• 1 cup raspberries, washed
• More berries for topping, if needed

Directions

1. To make two round cakes, I lined two 9” round pans with parchment paper. I divided the batter between the two prepared pans, making sure not to fill them more than ¾ full. You will most likely have some excess batter. I weighed them with my kitchen scale to make sure they would be even layers. Bake at the temperature specified by the box for 20-30 minutes. The cake is done when the top is dark golden brown and the top cracks are dry not sticky. When it’s done baking, tilt the pan on its side. I leaned mine up, cake facing down, against a raised cooling rack. Once it’s completely cool, run a knife around the edges of the pan then carefully remove.
2. Over medium-high heat in a small saucepan heat ¼ cup of the sugar and ¼ cup of the lemon juice. Stir frequently while heating until the sugar dissolves. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the lemon extract. Set aside.
3. Beat the remaining ½ cup of sugar and the cream cheese on medium speed with a mixer until fluffy. Fold in the Cool Whip until smooth. Stir in the tablespoon of lemon juice. Take one of the cooled angel food cake rounds and brush the top with the lemon syrup. Spoon a bunch of the whipped filling onto the cake and smooth with a spatula. Put half of the berries in a single layer on top of the filling. I left the blackberries and raspberries whole, but I halved and quartered the strawberries depending on how big they were. Dollop some more of the whipped filling on top of the berries then carefully smooth it out over the berries with a spatula. Top with the second angel food cake layer. Brush the top with the lemon syrup. Spread a thick layer of the whipped filling on top and smooth with a spatula. Top with the remaining berries. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

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It’s hard to believe we’re already four muffins into the year! It seems like just the other day that I was making the Food Network’s Pomegranate Orange January Muffins and here we are in April. Time flying by is fine by me until we start getting some nice summer weather in Boston. Then it better slow down!

The muffins for April from the Food Network Magazine’s Muffin of the Month are carrot muffins with a coconut twist. Very fitting since Easter was this month (just barely) and carrot cake seems to be the official dessert of the Easter Bunny.

I’m going to be honest about these muffins since authenticity is very important to me here at Lemon & Mocha. They tasted like really good carrot cake muffins, but with all the specialty ingredients listed, from the coconut oil to the macadamia nuts to the crystallized ginger, I was expecting a wow factor. I wanted the coconut and ginger flavors to punch my taste buds! Unfortunately the coconut seemed to mostly be coming from the flakes sprinkled on top and the spicy ginger-ness was very mild.

I am going to make these muffins again at some point, but I’m going to recipe-test and adapt them to make perfect muffins. Not just really good muffins. I’m thinking continuing with the island theme of the coconut and macadamia nuts, but adding more pronounced flavor and some pineapple. Yum!

If you tried the April muffins, what did you think?

Carrot-Coconut Muffins

 

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Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup plain whole milk yogurt
• ⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cups grated carrots (about 3 carrots)
• ½ cup sweetened shredded coconut, plus more for topping
• ½ cup chopped macadamia nuts
• ¼ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
• ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 12-cup cupcake pan with paper liners and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, ground ginger, and salt. Make a well in the center.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, yogurt, melted coconut oil, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the well of the flour mixture and stir until combined. Add the carrots, coconut, macadamia nuts, and crystallized ginger then fold until combined.
4. Evenly divide the batter between the prepared lined cups. They should each be about ¾ full. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffin is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then move to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
5. While the muffins are cooling, make the glaze. Sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl then add the milk. You want it to be thin enough to drizzle, but thick enough so it won’t just run off the muffins. If it is too thin, add more powder sugar. If it is too thick, add more milk. When the muffins are completely cool, spoon a little glaze onto the top of each muffin and immediately sprinkle with the shredded coconut. The coconut will make the glaze spread out even more.

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 Recipe from January/February 2018 issue of Food Network Magazine.

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Look at that crispy gooey marshmallow! Look at it nestled up against the tart and creamy lemon curd! Have you ever seen lemon curd look more mouthwatering than this? I’ve already shared lemon curd paired with puff pastry, as part of a parfait, and even spread on a waffle so I wanted to come up with a completely different use for the citrusy treat I shared on Monday. Enter this Lemon S’mores with Soft Gingersnap Cookies. Even though spring just started, the cold temperatures in Boston already have me daydreaming about summer. Between the bright lemon curd and the charred marshmallows, these s’mores combine spring and summer in the best possible mash-up.

If it’s still a little too chilly to warm up the fire pit for a traditional roasted marshmallow, you can use your broiler or – carefully – use your gas grill. Roasting the marshmallow in the broiler doesn’t take much time so make sure you watch it carefully. You can broil the marshmallow right on top of one of the cookies or on a small piece of nonstick aluminum foil, but do not put the lemon curd in the broiler. If you still want that roasting on a stick experience you can be like me and – carefully – roast the marshmallow on a heat-safe skewer over a low flame of your gas grill. Mmmmm.

I still haven’t gotten to the best part of these s’mores. Well, one of the best parts. Yes, I know there’s only three components, but don’t make me choose! The soft gingersnap cookies are so amazingly delicious. I’m not kidding when I say they are soft; they’re just like out of a bakery. The exterior is soft; the inside is soft; they’re chewy and sweet and the ginger, molasses and spices come together perfectly. Can you tell I’m a little bit excited?

When I was deciding what cookie to use for the s’mores I knew a traditional graham cracker wouldn’t cut it. I didn’t want a crunchy cookie; I wanted the s’mores to have a soft perfect-bite quality, similar to a whoopie pie. If you want the classic graham cracker crunch then cinnamon graham crackers would pair well, but I would definitely recommend the soft gingersnap cookies for the most ideal lemon s’mores experience.

The recipe below is for a full batch of the soft gingersnap cookies as well as how to make one s’more. The s’mores are pretty big so I would suggest planning on one per person. I would definitely recommend making the full batch of soft gingersnap cookies because, trust me, you will want s’more of those. This recipe wraps up my week on lemon curd here in the Lemon & Mocha kitchen – just in time for Easter! Do you have a favorite way to enjoy lemon curd? Or, which of these are you going to try first?! Enjoy!

Lemon S'mores with Soft Gingersnap Cookies

 

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Yield: 24 cookies; 1 s'more

Ingredients

for the soft gingersnap cookies

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar, plus additional for rolling the dough
• 1 large egg
• ¼ cup molasses

for the s’mores

• 2 cookies, per s’more
• 2 teaspoons lemon curd, per s’more
• 1-2 marshmallows per s’more, depending on size of marshmallows

Directions

for the soft gingersnap cookies

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the egg and molasses and beat to combine. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until just combined.
4. Place a few tablespoons of sugar in a small bowl. Use a medium cookie scoop or a heaping tablespoon of dough; roll into a ball then roll in the sugar before placing on the baking sheet. Continue, placing the cookie dough balls about 2” apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the cookies are puffy and the edges have started to lightly brown. Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet then carefully move the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool.

for the s’mores

1. Pick two cookies that are of equal size and slather one of them with the lemon curd. Roast your marshmallow or marshmallows. Place the roasted marshmallow(s) on the cookie with the lemon curd then sandwich with the other cookie, pressing down while you pull out your roasting stick or skewer.

Notes

This recipe is for a full batch of the soft gingersnap cookies as well as how to make one s’more. The s’mores are pretty big so I would suggest planning on one per person.

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Lemon Cookie Butter Cheesecake Parfaits. Yes, you read that correctly. I will let that sink in for a moment. As much as I love all the chocolatey treats I’ve made over the years, this might be one of my favorite desserts I’ve ever made. I say one of because I definitely would never be able to choose. You know about my love affair with homemade lemon curd from Monday’s post so I’m going to skip ahead here and dive right into this no-bake cookie butter cheesecake layer.

If you’ve never tasted cookie butter before (also known as speculoos spread), it tastes like crushed up sweet spice cookies that have been turned into a spread a little thicker than peanut butter. If that description is blowing your mind right now wait until you actually try some; definite life-changing experience right there. So this amazing spreadable cookie butter is combined with cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Right when you think it can’t get any better, Cool Whip is folded in to make the whole layer light, airy, and perfect for eating by the spoonful. But try to resist! You need it for the parfaits!

The cookie crumb layer is made with speculoos cookie crumbs, which are the same cookies used to make cookie butter. The predominant flavor is brown sugar with a bit of cinnamon. I used the Lotus Biscoff brand for both the cookies and the cookie butter, but Trader Joe’s also makes an excellent version of both products.

The buttery cinnamonyness (say that five times fast!) of the speculoos cookie crumbs and cheesecake pair perfectly with the tart creaminess of the lemon curd. Top it all off with some Cool Whip and extra cookie crumbs and you are one spoon away from light, creamy, and flavor-exploding heaven.

These are the first parfaits I’ve made and they do take a fair amount of time to put together. The presentation is spot on and they would look really nice for a shower or fancy brunch. Next time I might try putting all the layers in a small trifle bowl to reduce the amount of assembly time. And I say next time because these will be happening again very, very soon. Enjoy!

Lemon Cookie Butter Cheesecake Parfaits

 

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Yield: 4 parfaits (see note)

Ingredients

for the lemon curd layer

• ½ cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• ½ cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced into small pieces

for the cookie crumb layer

• 16 speculoos cookies, about half of an 8.8 ounce package

for the cheesecake layer

• 8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, room temperature
• ½ cup cookie butter or speculoos spread
• ¼ cup sugar
• 8 ounces reduced fat Cool Whip

for the topping

• 4 ounces low fat Cool Whip

Directions

for the lemon curd layer

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar and eggs. Place the saucepan over medium-low heat and stir in the pieces of butter. Whisk the curd frequently until the curd is thick enough that it keeps the mark of the whisk when you touch it to the curd in the saucepan.
2. Transfer the lemon curd to a small bowl to cool. If there are small lumps of egg you can push the curd through a fine mesh sieve, but I typically skip this step because it will also strain out the lemon zest, which adds a lot of flavor. Cover the surface of the lemon curd with a piece of plastic wrap so that it’s completely touching the curd. Place in the fridge to cool.

for the cookie crumb layer

1. In a food processor, pulse the cookies until you have crumbs. If you don’t have a food processor, carefully smash the cookies in a freezer bag with a rolling pin or meat mallet. Put in a bowl and set aside.

for the cheesecake layer

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese, cookie butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the Cool Whip and fold in until combined. Try not to eat it all and set aside.

assembling the parfaits

1. Use parfait dishes or stemless wine glasses to layer the parfaits. Start with the cookie crumbs. It will depend on the size of your dish, but I used a couple spoonfuls. Then top with some of the cheesecake layer. You’re going to want the cheesecake layer to be the thickest layer (other than the Cool Whip on top). It takes a bit to get into a rhythm with these; I found if I used a spoon to push the cheesecake cream to touch the edge of the glass all around it stuck better and let me smooth it instead of it moving around with my spoon when I was trying to spread it. Next is the lemon curd layer. A little goes a long way; you don’t want it to overpower the cookie butter cheesecake. The layer looks thick in mine, but that was because I was trying to make sure it was visible it for the photos. Next top with another cookie crumb layer, then more cheesecake, then more lemon curd. Finally top with Cool Whip to fill the glass, smooth and sprinkle some cookie crumbs on top. Eat or cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Notes

I used 11 ounce stemless wine glasses and it made 4 parfaits. Depending on how hungry you are, this was a lot of parfait for 1 serving. Maybe fill them only ¾ of the way up or use smaller glasses.

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