Birthday weekend = parade of treats

Excuse the crappy phone pics - I was too lazy to get out the real camera.

Why: My sisters birthday was a few weekends ago and of course I was put on treat duty. As requirement, if she's eating it, it better be lemon. To meet the lemon requirement I made mini lemon bundt cakes with lemon curd and vanilla buttercream. I've mastered this recipe by now because I've made it so often for her. This time to mix it up I used meyer lemons which I have never used before. They're smaller than regular lemons and so much sweeter. It's like a weird hybrid between a lemon and orange. I don't think anyone noticed but I enjoyed the slight variation. Because I couldn't handle having an entire dessert selection of lemon I decided to make some chocolate meringues.

What: Meringues are weird little creatures. They're crispy and hollow but have a little bit of a chew to them once you start eating them. They are typically made with nuts but I love love love the chocolate meringues. They're almost like eating a brownie but with none of the guilt because it's literally sugar, egg whites, cocoa powder and some potato starch. In one of the Martha Stewart magazines I saw that they baked the merginues in muffin cups. Adorable! I used little cups that you put chocolates in and they turned out to be a great grab and go treat. A little bit more annoying to eat but they make for a cute display.

I made a small cake for my sisters birthday, same lemon cake and curd as the mini bundt cakes. I wanted purple frosting but when I mixed in the color by hand it just turned into a muddy blue. Frustrated, I tossed it in the mixed and instantly I had a very very purple frosting. Not that attractive but I don't think she minded.