Cindy "TheSweetNerd" Rodriguez My mom. She’s a mother to five kiddos, a loving wife, a sister, a grandmother, and an aunt. Over the years, strength has come in so many forms and her wisdom is such a powerful force. When the world shakes, she finds a way to be calm. As the decades have passed, I have come to understand her gifts better than ever. There is only one – Mary Helen Arnold. So for her, this year, I’m making a lemon shortbread. It’s not nearly as perfect as she is, but what it lacks in wisdom it makes up for in sweetness.
My mom ‘s anything with lemon so I decided to combine this lovely shortbread pie with strong lemon notes garnished with blueberry. The cookie itself has a slight hint of lemon, but it’s really the glossy glaze that makes it slurp-quality delicious.
This lemon shortbread cookie can be molded to take on many shapes. I opted for a pie-looking dessert and used a circular springform pan (Wilton on Amazon). The springform pan is perfect because the sides ‘unsnap’ and can be easily removed from the bottom of the pan. It’s an almost guaranteed perfect pie! Next up, a little glazing action loaded with lemon zest and lemon juice. YUM!
To top it off, I crushed some dried berries that I bought at Trader Joe’s and added in some final touches of lemon zest. The texture was perfect!
Slice this sweet lemon shortbread into pie wedges, and pass it to that special mom or someone in your life. Gratitude is a gift we can share with others. Life goes by at a marathon pace. There is no doubt that at different points in my life, I didn’t quite understand my mom’s ‘gifts’ and I never truly thanked her for modeling them for me.
Recently, my mom lost her two brothers, and I watched how she nurtured, cared for, and comforted their respective family units. I was in awe. The strength it took to stand by their bedsides, hold their hands, and truly comfort them. In those moments, I realized how selfless she is.
So lemon-ey tell ya, “Happy Lemons, Happy Moms!” XOXOXO Love ya momma!
Photos by: Maria Hedrick Photography
Shortbread 1Combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until the dough begins to form moist clumps, about 1 minute. 2Turn the dough out into the prepared pan. Using lightly floured fingertips, press the dough into the pan to form an even layer. 3Freeze the dough while the oven heats. 4Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 325F. 5Bake the dough, rotating the pan halfway through, until the top looks dry and golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely. Glaze 1Whisk powdered sugar and zest. Next, add lemon juice (a little at a time until you get a thick glaze consistency). If it is too thick, add in more lemon juice, if it is too thin, add in more powdered sugar to your liking. Assembly 1Spread a thin layer of icing over the top of the shortbread cake with a small offset spatula, leaving a thin border of crust exposed. Add dried berries and zest on top.
Directions
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Lemon and blueberry? Double whammy! This cake is the perfect way to celebrate my mom. Wooohoo
Right? I love lemons. Can’t go wrong with this buttery blueberry winner.
This looks like a heavenly cake and I know my mom would love it!
Hope you get to make it for her soon! Thanks Lorna for the kind comments.
Your mom sounds like a wonderful woman. You are lucky to have her! (but you already know that 🙂 ). I love lemon desserts too, and shortbread, so this is riiiight up my alley. And I LOVE the one giant cookie/pie thing you have going here. My least fave thing about shortbread is rolling/cutting it into cookies — this is the way to do it!
Thanks Liv! Happy mom, happy kids. I am such a sucker for lemon desserts too. Thanks for commenting!
This is such a beautiul way to celebrate mama’s! And a classi ccombination of buttery shortbread with blueberries and lemons can’t go wrong. Love it!
Awww shucks, thanks so much. Your making me blush. I love mom, and she loved this dessert, so all went well.
I bet she’ll LOVE it Cindy! Nothing beats a lemony dessert! And shortbread is always a winner. Looks amazing!
Thanks so much. I hope your day was special. XO
Absolutely perfect and a wonderful tribute to you mom. And i’m with your mom on lemon anything 🙂
Me too! I am a total sucker for lemon anything. Appreciate the love!
I love shortbread and love anything with lemon so this is definitely my kinda dessert! What a sweet tribute to your momma. I’m sure she’ll love this one, Cindy 🙂
Thanks Dawn. So appreciate the kind words.
This recipe doesn’t match up (ingredients and directions) although the picture looks great. Where does the grapefruit zest go? What do you do with the 1 stick of unsalted butter cut into pieces? What do you do with the vanilla? The 1 C. flour? The powdered sugar amounts don’t match up either. How much blueberries???
I am so sorry Kim… you were absolutely correct. We made a mistake in our sauce recipe. Forgive us and please try the corrected recipe version.