Lemon-Raspberry Cake with Meringue Topping

Mother's Day was a little different this year. My parents were home from Arizona before the day instead of on it like previous years. Since Auntie Vicki and Uncle Rob weren't going to be home (Carly graduated from Gonzaga that day), Mom and Dad hosted Mother's Day with me, Nonni, Anthony, Kati, and the boys. Because I once again had 8 egg whites in the freezer, I started looking for recipes that use them when Mom asked me to make dessert. She requested no cookies so I was a bit limited. I eventually found a food tip that suggests replacing frosting with meringue, complete with measurements for a 9x13 cake. For the cake itself, I looked through my Berries/Mixed Fruit board on Pinterest for a lemon raspberry cake (a popular flavor combo in my family). I eventually found a simple recipe from Betty Crocker's website.

Peppermint Bark Meringue Cookies

I've never really had a job where everyone gave Christmas gifts to everyone else (granted, I've only had about 3 jobs that lasted to Christmas and beyond. But still: giving something to everyone was never a thing). So when my co-workers at SHAG started handing out gifts last year, I was a bit unprepared. I decided to change that this year.

Since I had leftover egg whites from my pinwheels, I started to look for meringue recipes (meringues are easier and quicker to make than macarons). At first I wasn't sure what to focus on. Then I had an idea: one of my favorite flavors of the Christmas/holiday season is peppermint, specifically peppermint bark. So I decided to make peppermint bark meringues. I started to specifically look for peppermint bark meringue recipes but I didn't like what I found. Eventually, I realized I'd have to make my own so I switched to searching for chocolate meringue recipes with the goal of dipping them in white chocolate and crushed candy canes. Eventually, I settled on a recipe from Beyond the Chicken Coop.

Chocolate Chip Clouds (Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies)

After I learned the hard way that it's better to put egg whites in the freezer than in the fridge, I started freezing the whites after making Pepperoni Pinwheels. Fortunately the brief supply shortage of Pillsbury products (and I think also of pepperoni) helped buy me some time to finish the S'mores Cookie Bars. Once I got close, I started searching for recipes that use 8 egg whites (or at least could be adjusted to use 8 whites). I eventually decided on chocolate chip clouds (a.k.a. meringue cookies) from Skinnytaste. To defrost the egg whites, I put them in the fridge for a few days.