Annie

I'm sorry but I found this to be personally disappointing. The batter was bland. The batter was way too thick. It was like cookie dough. The baked product was dry and lumpy. It did not soak up the applesauce very well and was unequally saturated with sauce. It smelled bland. This seems more like dough to be used as a crumble strawberry shortcake. It was nothing like the Southern stack cakes I've ever eaten. It was intended to be a birthday cake and I considered it un-servable. I ended up baking a different cake to serve and jamming this one in the freezer for later.

After my local grocery store had huge bags of lemons for only $1 per bag I had to find something creative to do with all those lemons. This was the perfect recipe. I couldn't believe it was so simple. Because I didn't have a zester I carefully peeled the zest off with a paring knife, being careful not to get the bitter white pith. After juicing the lemons I put 1/2 cup juice into a blender with the zest and liquefied it, then added it back to the pot of lemon juice. I carefully followed the directions but doubled the recipe. After the mixture thickened I poured it into canning jars and processed in a water bath canner for 20 minutes. I used 1/2 pint wide-mouth Ball canning jars. The result is incredible, tangy with a delightful rich sweetness. Better then the store bought imported curd I've been buying. I will always use this recipe and make my own from now on. I plan on giving the jars as Christmas presents with blueberry scone mix I will make myself. Thank you so much, Marti. Your recipe rocks!

I didn't have any Bay Seasoning so I substituted steak seasoning and it tasted great. I served them with sausages and home-made zucchini-pepper relish.

I didn't have any jalapeno peppers so I added four teaspoons of Spice Islands Ground Chipotle Chile Peppers. Wonderful smoky hot flavour. Quite tart and I will be using this on hot dogs and ham. This was a terrific way to use up the box of pears on the porch I forgot someone gave me.

I doubled the amount of sweet peppers and used all red for a zippy colour. I also doubled the recipe and it made 27 half-pints. Good thing I have a super gigantic canner and had extra lids and rings on hand. This tastes just like the relish my mom used to make in 1965. Quite sweet with a nice tangy finish. Delish with salty meats and I even tried it with tamari-marinated tofu fried in olive oil. Bliss...