This list of things that I’ve stolen in my life is pretty small.

There was that piece of candy that I stole from Fedco when I was 7. My Dad caught me chomping on it in the back seat of the car and I got the big morality talk. Lesson: never steal anything too chewy.

There were the Girl Scout cookies I stole from my big sister’s room when she was out on a secret date. I was the natural suspect. I got a good talking to for that one. When I pulled the same cookie thievery the next week, well…. my parents made sure I learned my lesson that time.

Then there were all the times I would sneak into my Mom’s secret chocolate stashes. My Mom’s hiding places were no match for my ability to find a stool and wiggle my way around cabinets looking for sweets.

Thinking back on it, my thievery always involved something delicious that I wanted to put in my tummy. I was pathetically predictable in that sense.

I was once again tempted by the thievery gods this weekend while walking around my neighborhood. There’s citrus EVERYWHERE. Just about every other yard has a blooming orange or lemon tree just begging to be plucked. Isn’t sneaking into someones yard to yank their produce considered theft? I thought back to all of the stern reprimands and spankings I got from stealing yummies as a kid and thought better of sneaking into my neighbor’s yard.

Instead, I forked over some cash at the farmer’s market and felt just fine about making this Honey- Lime Curd.

Does this sort of concession mean my bad girl days are long gone? Sigh….

Honey-Lime Curd with Creme Fraiche

This recipe is alluringly tart. It’s pretty. It’s smooth, and the sweetness is beautifully rounded out by the honey. You could substitute lemons for limes if that’s what you have on hand. Serve this curd on warm scones or with creme fraiche and shortbread cookies. Lovely!

Print this recipe!

5 large egg yolks

1 large egg

2/3 cup fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon finely grated lime zest, plus more for garnish

1/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons honey

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

Creme Fraiche for serving

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 inch of water to a boil.

In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the whole egg, the fresh lime juice, the teaspoon of lime zest and the honey.

Set the bowl with the lime mixture over the boiling water, creating a double boiler. Reduce the heat to moderate and cook the lime mixture, whisking constantly until the curd has thickened to the consistency of mayonnaise, about 7 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in the butter pieces until smoothly combined. Pass the curd through a fine mesh strainer into a medium bowl.

Ladle the strained curd into 4 cups or ramekins. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the lime curd to prevent a skin from forming; refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours.

Top the curd with dollops of creme fraiche and garnish with remaining lime zest.

Serve with shortbread cookies or atop hot, sexy scones.

This cake and I. Ooooh this cake and I.

We had a fight, maybe I should call it a misunderstanding.

I had expectations for this cake. I needed it to be a certain way to make me happy.  Mistakes.

I wanted this cake to be dense, but moist, perfectly golden, easy to cut and just downright irresistible. In other words, I wanted this cake to be perfect. Perfect in the ways I wanted it to be perfect. Oh Joy. It’s like I’ve learned absolutely nothing these past twenty something years.

Nothing is perfect. No, correction. Things can be perfect if imagined in your head. Real life… the real stuff is never as perfect as it is in your head. But… (oh the but). Sometimes. Most times. The imperfections are what become the most perfect part of life.

Boom. Knowledge. I just dropped it.

Here’s the deal with this cake.

I wanted it to be the perfectly delicate but perfectly dense glazed cake. I wanted this cake to be Martha Stewart. Like the perfectly manicured, airbrushed and edited version of Martha Stewart.

It turns out this cake is more like… Mom. She might have her nails all done up some days, but you also know that she wakes up with her hair kinda mashed and those pink foam hair rollers are her best friend in the hour before Sunday church service. You know, Mom… imperfect, but SO so so so so perfect.

This Glazed Lime Cake has no pretensions. It’s baked up in an 8-inch square baking pan and adorned with a simple lime glaze. It’s like the delicious cake version of after dinner green Jello dessert, but better. So much better.

No this cake isn’t perfect, but it’s simple, straight-forward, and it just wants you to return her phone calls so she doesn’t have to worry so much.

Glazed Lime Cake

Bon Appetit January 2009

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• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 1/3 cups self-rising flour
• 2 to 3 large limes
• 1/4 cup sugar

Note: This cake has no salt or leavening. That’s because self rising flour has all the stuff you need.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour 8-inch square baking pan. Using electric mixer, cream butter and 11/2 cups powdered sugar in large bowl. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Beat in milk, then flour. Transfer batter to prepared pan; smooth top. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, finely grate enough lime peel to measure 1 tablespoon. Halve limes; squeeze enough juice to measure 1/4 cup. Mix peel, juice, and 1/4 cup sugar in small bowl. Set lime syrup aside.

Using skewer, poke holes all over baked cake. Spoon half of lime syrup (about 3 tablespoons) over hot cake. Cool.

Whisk 1 cup powdered sugar into remaining lime syrup; drizzle over cake. Let stand 1 hour. Cut cake into squares.

In Related Cakes:

Southern Style Strawberry Cake

Blackberry Jam Cake

and Mocha Rum Cake

I have nicknamed this bread Crazy Face Mango Bread.  Why?  Because every time I tell someone what this treat is- Fresh Mango Bread, they make a crazy face.  I don’t even mention that it’s made with whole wheat flour and also has grated apples (and golden raisins… shhhh!).  That might just send them over the top!

I bet you’re making a crazy face right now.  I’m sure you are…  But this bread is great!  Turn that crazy face into action and whip up a loaf for yourself!  With the flavors of ginger and cinnamon, and the surprise pieces of fresh mango, this bread is perfect with tea for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

I found myself with loads of fresh mango that I had gotten for a steal.  I had already treated myself to mango sorbet.  With thoughts of fresh mango margaritas swirling through my head, I thought I better be good, and make a whole grain breakfast bread.  I was pleasantly surprised.  This bread is delicious warm from the oven, and amazingly enough, tastes even better the next day.

Try. Please.  I wouldn’t let you down.

Fresh Mango Lime Bread

adapted from Baking a la Mrs. Greenspan

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3 large eggs

3/4 cup flavorless oil such as canola or safflower old

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour (of course you can use all-purpose if you like)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1 to 1 1/4 cup diced mangos from 1 large peeled and pitted mango

1 cup grated apple from 1 peeled Granny Smith apple

3/4 cup moist and plump golden raisins

grated zest of 1/2 lime

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess.  Put the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on tow regular baking sheets stacked on on top of the other.  This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from over baking.

Whisk the eggs and the oil together.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.  Rub the brown sugar between your palms into the bowl, breaking up any lumps, then stir it in.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, switch to a sturdy rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix until blended- the batter will be very thick (really more like a dough than a batter) and not easily mixed, but persevere, it will soon come together.  Stir in the mango, apples, raisins and zest.  Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake the bread for 1 1/2 hours, or until it is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  If the bread looks as if it’s getting too brown as it bakes, cover loosely with a foil tent.  Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before running a knife around the sides of the pan and unmolding.  Invert and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.

There is something in the air this time of year. I’m as restless and a 12 year old girl waiting for summer break so she can go hang out at the community pool. Maybe it’s the impending 3 months of relentless, almost suffocating Los Angeles heat. Maybe I just yearn for the carefree days of summer. Maybe I just need a vacation. I’m completely restless these days, and with no real vacation in sight, what’s a girl to do but play with her ice cream maker.

Today I bring you Mango Lime Sorbet. It’s like going on vacation with your spoon. Just like going on vacation- minus those pesky airport lines, and the passports and the exciting new places to see, and delicious new food to eat. Why do all that, really, when you can stay at home and make sorbet…

Pardon me while I wallow in woe. But seriously… someone please take me away.

Ok.. enough with the whining! This Mango Lime Sorbet is super easy to make, and ultra refreshing. I made the base for the sorbet and immediately wanted to mix it with large amounts of tequila and ice to make a margarita. I didn’t. Oh! But the temptation was strong. Enjoy the upcoming summer. Go on vacation. Please. Go.

Oh! One more thing! If you haven’t yet taken my sage suggestion of buying an ice cream maker, please, now is the time. Don’t make me yell.

Mango Lime Sorbet

from Simply Recipes

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1 cup sugar

1 cup water

zest of 1 lime

3 ripe mangos

1/2 cup lime juice

pinch of salt

3 Tablespoons tequila (optional)

**Learn how to cut a mango here!

Heat the sugar, water and lime zest in a medium sauce pan until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Cut the flesh from the mango.

Put the mango pieces, sugar water, lime juice and salt into a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Pour into a medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until completely cooled.

When completely cool, remove from the fridge and stir in the tequila. Process the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturers’ instructions. Transfer to a plastic storage container and freeze at least 6 hours, until firm.

I think I’m supposed to hate cake mix.  I think, once you get a chef’s coat, you are supposed to turn you nose up at all things packaged, pre-mixed, and all around too good to be true.  Well the truth is, I don’t hate cake mix, or at least I don’t hate it as much as I should.

I could bore you with a pro and con list detailing my love hate relationship with cake mix, but I won’t.  I’ll just say this- I love cake mix because my Mom buys it for 35 cents and then passes it along to me, with that oh-so-great-I-found-a-bargain feeling.  Cake mixes are easy beyond belief, moist every time and really hard to screw up.  But the truth is, even easy to make, 35 cent cake mix isn’t really a bargain.  It’s filled with loads of oils and sugars that I can’t even pronounce.  If I can’t pronounce it, there’s a good chance my insides that don’t what to do with it either.  So, you win and you lose.  Sounds a lot like life, doesn’t it?

I whole heartedly reject what the directions on the cake mix box tells me to do.  If I’m going to make a boxed cake, I’m certainly going to do it my way.  I’m not sure if I can make cake mix couture, but I’m sure as hell going to try.   So to my yellow mix I added lime zest, orange zest, orange juice and toasted coconut.  Hmm…. couture enough?  I don’t know.  I’ll probably have to find a skinny French model wearing a skinny French couture dress to stand next to my cake… then I’ll be able to reasonably call it couture.  Yea…. that’ll do it.

Orange, Lime and Toasted Coconut- Haute Couture

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1 box yellow cake mix

1 box vanilla pudding

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1 cup sour cream

zest of 1 orange

zest of 1 lime

juice from half an orange (a scant 1/4 cup)

1  cup toasted sweetened coconut

Lime Glaze

Juice of 1 lime

1 cup powdered sugar

Toasted Coconut for extra fanciness on top of the cake

1.  Mix all of the ingredients together in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, on low for 30 seconds, and then on medium for about 2-3 minutes.  Scape down the bowl as necessary to incorporate all of the ingredients.

2.  Pour the batter in a well greased and floured Bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 39-44 minutes, or when a thin knife inserted in the cake comes out clean, and that cake has a nice golden color.

3.   Remove the cake from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.  Invert the cake onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

4.  Embellish with a lime glaze- The juice of 1 lime added to 1 cup of powdered sugar.  Whisk until no lumps remain.  Pour over Bundt cake, letting the glaze drip down the sides, and sprinkle with toasted coconut