Are You There, Genius Lemon Bars? + 17 More Desserts I’m Hunting

Whenever I use Ina Garten's rugelach recipe I always get requests to make more!

The most unusual and delicious upside down cake ever. Upside Down Apricot-Carrot Cake Recipe from Valentina’s Cooking on the Weekends Blog
https://cookingontheweekends.com/upside-down-apricot-carrot-cake-with-olive-oil-and-spiced-whipped-cream/

For the meringue cake try searching for German "Schaumtorte" (foam cake).It has a crust of meringue and lemon curd made with the yolks...layered with giant amounts of whipped cream...Heaven!

Judy wanted to share my prize winning upside down coke recipe with you. Over the last 15 yrs it has literally won EVERY competition I have EVER entered it into as the first place prize winner! I make the traditional pineapple upside down cake with pineapples, cherries and pecans in the melted butter brown sugar and then top it with a yellow cake. Before I mix up the yellow cake (substituting the juice from the pineapple can for water in the recipe), I mix a box of Jello pistachio pudding mix into the dry cake batter. Not only does it give the cake a delicate and attractive pale green color but it also provides a rich, decadent buttery flavor to the cake that will make you never want it any other way. I have never made this cake for a friend or associate who didn't instantly want the recipe! Good luck and enjoy!

There Is A genius rice crispy treat...reduce butter, add peanut butter and drizzle with milk chocolate melted in a ziplock..easy pleasy.

The improved 'easy chocolate nemesis' recipe in the new RIVER CAFE 30 cookbook. It is the best chocolate dessert ever.

It doesn't fit in any category listed, but Martha Stewart PBS lemon bundt cake is beyond perfect, it freezes beautifully and it you follow it to the letter, including creaming the room temp. butter and sugar for 5 minutes, it gives you a rich deep lemon cake beyond delicious. http://www.pbs.org/food/recipes/lemon-bundt-cake-lemon-syrup/

Alice Medrich's lemon bars are my fav. Perfectly tart and sweet, and incredibly easy to make!

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/french-tart-dough-a-la-francaise/ Give David's tart dough a try! Uses melted butter!

Deb Perelman's Whole Lemon Bars - they use the entire lemon (as the name implies) and are so good. I also love Nigella Lawson's meringue cakes - she has one with lemon and one with strawberries and whipped cream.

Butter mochi! Super simple but genius all the same!

Suzanne Goin's bread pudding from Sunday Suppers is the bomb.

The secret to perfect rice crispy treats is to use canola oil instead of butter, which sounds sacrilege. They are both easier to make and they stay softer and stickier for much longer than traditional butter based rice crispy treats. The recipe is just:
1/2 C canola oil
1 12-oz box of Rice Krispie cereal
2 bags of mini marshmallows
You melt the marshmallows and oil together in the microwave for a minute and then mix the Krispies in.

Lemon Bars: Alice Medrich from "Cookies and Brownies"

Thank you all so very much for your help! What a list! I'll start readying that next truckload of butter now.

For the Rice Krispie treat, scotcharoos are awesome. I can't bake at all and these are my go to potluck dessert.

I feel that "something with cherries" and "clafoutis" have got to be one and the same, if only because a cherry clafoutis is the only cherry dessert I've seen where you're encouraged NOT to pit the cherries. Whether or that that indeed fills the intended purpose of flavoring with the clafoutis with the almondy cherry pit flavor or not, it's a pretty genius stress-reducing strategy to me.

For Lemon bars Joanne Chang's recipe feature in Fine Cooking Magazine
Issue #49
For Sand which cookies, either the Peanut Butter Sand which cookies from
Fine cooking #43 or Martha Stewart's Carrot Cake Sand which cookies
For Rugelach Ina
For Snickerdoodles the boys at Baked in Brooklyn from their book not sure
which one
For Caramels Smitten kitchen apple cider caramels or shutterbean bourbon
salted caramels
For Banana Pudding Smitten Kitchen's one is amazing and is homemade
down to the wafers :)

Hi Kristen, Here are a few suggestions. I am always searching for easy recipes that will encourage people to get in the kitchen and have fun!
Chocolate fudge/candies that don’t require a candy thermometer
http://diginwithdana.com/2015/11/fudge-delights.html

http://diginwithdana.com/2016/03/white-chocolate-pecan-fudgies.html

Pandowdies/rustic fruit desserts/ delightful names (NOT cobblers)
( This recipe is my most popular recipe ever. Beautiful, delicious and easy)
http://diginwithdana.com/2016/06/red-white-and-blueberry-buckle.html

http://diginwithdana.com/2015/08/apple-pie-cake.html

Something with cherries
http://diginwithdana.com/2016/07/cherry-lime-granola-bars.html
http://diginwithdana.com/2014/03/sunshine-salad-with-herbed-chevre-and.html

Something with bananas/banana pudding?/other options
http://diginwithdana.com/2016/06/banana-ice-cream-sundaes.html

http://diginwithdana.com/2014/01/simple-banana-cake.html
Sandwich cookies
http://diginwithdana.com/2016/09/nutty-butter-sandwich-cookies.html
Pots de creme or similar
http://diginwithdana.com/2016/02/easy-chocolate-mousse.html
Bread pudding http://diginwithdana.com/2015/08/the-best-savory-bread-pudding.html

Ina Garten's lemon bars are amazing. This is also a good template for banana pudding that you can easily tweak for personal preference: http://www.number-2-pencil.com/2014/03/19/easy-banana-pudding-recipe/

For your something cherry... This recipe is worth a go - never lasts in my house:

http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/recipes/recipe-search/chefs-recipes/2013/7/german-cherry-streusel/

I always double the cherry filling and let the streusel sit in the pan overnight so that I can turn it into bars.

I love these dumplings from a recipe developed by the American Spoon in Petosky, MI. I've been making it since the early 1980's. It is a favorite and always draws requests for the recipe. They can be made substituting peaches or nectarines instead of apples, fresh berries or cherries instead of dried in the summer, and vanilla syrup instead of maple. It's a lovely Thanksgiving dessert hardening back to the earliest times in this country's settlement.
Michigan Apple and Tart Cherry Dumplings
6 servings
SHORT PASTRY
3 1/2 cups unbleached Flour
1 tsp. Salt.
2 tsp. Granulated sugar
8 oz. chilled unsalted butter cut into 1/2 in. cubes
1 oz. chilled vegetable shortening
6-7 Tbsp. very cold water

Place first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together and add 6 Tbsp. Cold water. Quickly knead together leaving visible pieces of butter. Wrap and chill while preparing apples (or other whole fruit).

APPLES
6 medium Pippin, Paula Red, or other good cooking apple.
Peel apples about 1/2 way down and remove core with a large opening, but leaving apple intact.

Maple (Vanilla) Sauce
2/3 c. Apricot preserves
1/2 c. Pure maple syrup (vanilla syrup)
1/3 c. Butter
1/4 c. Applejack or brandy
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
Warm all ingredients in a small saucepan until combined and warm.

DRIED TART CHERRIES (FRESH CHERRIES/BERRIES)
1/3 c. Dried tart cherries ( 1 1/4- 1 3/4 c. chopped fresh cherries or other fruit)
2/3 c. Sweet Vermouth or white whine
Simmer together for 10 minutes, occasionally stirring, until reduced and thickened. Set aside.
GLAZE
1 egg yolk from large egg beaten with 1 tsp. milk.
ASSEMBLY Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease baking sheet. Cover with foil to ease clean-up and also butter.
1. Gently roll chilled pastry to 1/8 in. thickness.
2. Cut into six (6) 9-10 in. squares. Brush with glaze.
3. Place Apple or other fruit in center of square. Fill core with cherries. Spoon approx. 3 Tbsp. syrup on each whole fruit.
4. Fold pastry around fruit. Cut excess pastry away, if desired. Cut decorative leaf and stem shapes and afix to to dumpling using glaze. Brush entire pastry with glaze.
5. Bake on foil covered buttered baking sheet at 375 degrees for approximately 40 minutes or until pastry is golden. If pastry is browniing too quickly cover cookie sheet lightly with foil.
6. Serve warm with extra sauce combined with extra cherries and the best vanilla ice cream you can find (homemade?) or heavy cream.

Note. If you can't find dried or fresh sour cherries, you can use sweet cherries. The dried sour cherries are not really sour at all. I find them at WHole Foods and Trader Joe's and, I think, similar type stores would carry them. Try online, too. I love American Spoon and their jams, jellies, spoon fruit and dried sour cherries are a major holiday splurge. They often sell out early of the cherries because it's dependent on the crop. Be ready for an eye popping price per pound.

Easy flaky pie crust - not made with melted butter but with softened butter: http://www.canadianliving.com/food/baking-and-desserts/recipe/best-ever-apple-pie-2

David Lebovitz has a very interesting-looking tart crust recipe using melted butter and hot water: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/french-tart-dough-a-la-francaise/

The Pioneer Woman's chocolate pots de creme are totally inauthentic but DELICIOUS and easy, and I'm sure you could make variations using other kinds of chocolate and other hot liquids: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/easy-delicious-and-yes-elegant-pots-de-creme/

Regarding caramels, the Pumpkin Caramels on Food 52 are the BEST. I make them for gifts in the fall and people now expect them.

Genius lemon bars from the cookbook "Flour"!
I am told that I make the very best Rice Krispie Treats ever. Here is how I do it: Brown real butter in a dutch oven, maybe 4 T. Add most or all of a bag of marshmallows. Dump in enough Rice Krispies to make a stiff batter. Then dump in half to 2/3 of a bag of butterscotch chips. Spread in a buttered 9x12 or 10x13 pan. I use the paper from the butter to mush down the mixture into a flat mass. Cool for half an hour or so, then cut into whatever size bars you want. This got me through being a full-time working single mother of two boys in an overly-involved public school and sports teams year-round.

Try the Lemon Bars from Rose's Christmas Cookies by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Also give the bread pudding from Nora Ephron's Heartburn a try, I always make it with brioche or challah. Both genius recipes from my collection.

would love a good kolacky recipe (a flaky dough cookie with jam filling) - everyone I know who makes them does not use a recipe - does it by feel. I've heard of using cream cheese and sour cream as secret ingredient, but looking for a great recipe.

Not to go too heavy on smitten kitchen, but....
Her rugelach--fantastic!
Apple cider caramels: I get requests mid-summer for those
Cinnamon gooey squares: snickerdoodles in bar form. Heaven!

Deb Perelman's recipe for brown butter rice krispie treats is pretty epic! Toasting that butter is genius!!

Alice Medrich's lemon bars from Pure Dessert! Rave reviews every time.

Once Upon a Chef...great food blog...has the best recipe ever for Lemon Bars. Totally addicting!

Definitely agree that Eton Mess is definitely one to include. It can be as fancy or as simple as you like but you can't go wrong with a combination of strawberries (or other fruit) cream and meringue. As a Brit for me there has to be a trifle and I love Nigel Slaters Christmas twist on a trifle, truly worth the effort: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mincemeat_trifle_99318

Lemon Bars David Lebovitz (1 regular lemon)
One 8-inch pan

Crust
1 cup (140g) flour
1/4 cup (50g) sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (115g) melted unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon Topping
1 lemon, organic or unsprayed (175g)

1 cup (200g) sugar
3 tablespoons (45ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 large eggs, room temperature
4 teaspoons corn starch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons (45g) melted unsalted butter
Optional: powdered sugar, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC).
2. Overturn an 8-inch square pan on the counter and wrap the outside snugly with foil, shiny side up. Remove the foil, turn the pan over, and fit the foil into the pan, pressing to nudge the foil into the corners. The smooth it as best you can.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, 1/4 cup (50g) sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 8 tablespoons (115g) melted butter, and vanilla, stirring just until smooth.
4. Smooth the batter into the bottom of the pan, using your hands or a small offset spatula to get it as level as possible.
5. Bake the crust for 25 minutes, or until it’s deep-golden brown.
6. While the crust is cooking, cut the lemon in half, remove the seeds, and cut the lemon into chunks.
7. Put the chunks of lemon in a food processor or blender along with the sugar and lemon juice, and let it run until the lemon is completely broken up. Add the eggs, corn starch, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 3 tablespoons (45g) melted butter, and blend until almost smooth. (A few tiny bits of lemon pieces are normal and encouraged.)
8. When the crust comes out of the oven, reduce the heat of the oven to 300ºF (150ºC). Pour the lemon filling over the hot crust and bake for 25 minutes or just until the filling stops jiggling and is barely set.
9. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Once cool, carefully lift out the bars grasping the foil. Cut the bars into squares or rectangles. Sift powdered sugar over the top just before serving, if desired. Storage: The bars will keep in an airtight container at room temperature up to three days. You can freeze the lemon bars as well for up to one month, letting them come to room temperature before serving.

Deb Perelman's "Whole Lemon Bars" on page 217 of the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. They are similar to David Lebowitz's but I think even easier because they do not require the 3 tbsp of lemon juice in addition to the whole lemon. Also, they are made with regular lemons (vs. Meyer lemons) which makes them much more convenient for year round cooking (and for people that can't get Meyer lemons in their local grocery store). I have made these a few times and always get feedback that they are the best lemon bars ever.

Sara Moulton's Pear Clafoutis is unbelievably delicious and impressive for company. So easy, too!

Rugelach - Lora Brody's recipe from her 'Cooking With Memories'. Alsonon Epicurious.
The recipe calls for apricot preserves, but I use homemade apricot lekvar from Rose Levy Berambaum's recipe, made with California apricots

These are amazing and also vegan - 3 ingredients! But I usually add vanilla paste and some kosher salt. https://iquitsugar.com/recipe/lcm-bars/

At a restaurant called Ruce, I was given a beautiful round cardboard box filled w Rice Krispie treats with dried cranberries! Beautiful, grown up and not too sweet.
In a book of food essays, a blueberry crisp topped w cornmeal "biscuit". Has lemon peel that caramelizes during baking.

Smitten Kitchen's salted brown butter rice krispie treats are the best ever.
https://smittenkitchen.com/2009/11/salted-brown-butter-crispy-treats/

David Lebovitz's Whole Lemon Bars:
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/whole-lemon-bars-recipe/

I heard that Leonard Lopate show, too! Did you try it?

oh and Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Guiness cake from her NYTimes column years ago is something I make over and over and am constantly sharing the recipe for. It's very easy to make, and the Guiness is the surprise genius ingredient that makes the chocolate taste amazing.

Ina Garten's lemon bars are the best I've ever made

I hope you're including the chocolate frosting from Amanda Hesser's Dump It Cake. The cake is nice and all, but the Two Ingedient Frosting is truly Genius. No one can believe it's so easy to make. It's on my to do list for this weekend, to top some 40th birthday cupcakes!

I don't even like Snickerdoodles and I ADORED these https://food52.com/recipes/65919-soft-puffy-snickerdoodles

Have you tried this Bread Pudding? https://food52.com/recipes/3266-bread-pudding-with-butter-scotch-sauce?from_feed=1
And don't forget this Coconut Pound Cake! https://food52.com/recipes/22096-omg-coconut-pound-cake?from_feed=1

I'm guessing you have brownies, but I'm a huge fan of Maida Heatter's Palm Beach Brownies from her Book of Great Chocolate Desserts. Note the 2.5 TABLESPOONS of instant espresso powder. These are over the top in the best possible way. Also, before there was baking parchment, there was her method of making a sling with aluminum foil to easily de-pan the brownies. My go-to brownie recipe for big crowds and chocolate cravings. It never fails me.

Oh and Torta Sbrisolona (crumbly cake, made with cornmeal) from Anna del Conte's adorable little book, I Dolci (Italian Kitchen Series). Worth owning for the charming illustrations alone.

Ina Garten's rugelach. I make them every year for Purim for food packages for our friends. Huge hit. Huge. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/rugelach-recipe
I KNOW you have brownies, but Joanne Chang's Intense Chocolate brownies in her book Flour are amazing. Trust me.
For lemon bars she has Lemon Lust bars using lemon curd instead of the usual baked lemon mixture. I haven't tried them but given the amazingness of her brownies, they have to be seriously worth a try.
And in the outrageously genius dessert category, super-easy super scrumptious chocolate truffle tart from Gourmet Magazine /epicurious http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chocolate-truffle-tart-237198

and in the Passover cake department (Hope you have a Passover cake deparment!) :http://www.epicurious.com/search/hazelnut%20cake

The Pioneer Women's Apple Brown Betty is dead simple, and really delicious. I made a Brown betty with apples and ginger snaps that's in the Food52 Baking cookbook and this recipe was my inspiration: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/apple-brown-betty-sweet-light-yummy/

a genius spin on rice crispies is the old easy trashy wreath christmas cookie which replaces the rice krispies with corn flakes, add green food coloring and top with red hots. Little wreath mounds of deliciousness!

Lemon-limey bars!! http://www.umberdove.com/blog/2010/04/squeeze-and-zest-baby-squeeze-and-zest.html

Rice Krispie Treats are genius!

A recipe for Eton mess. You won't regret it.

This. This. This. This tart takes ten minutes to put together and it is DELICIOUS. The crust is from an old Fannie Farmer. I bump up the sugar and the almond extract and people ask me if it's made out of marzipan.

https://food52.com/recipes/14217-peach-tart

David Leibovitz' lemon bars made with a whole lemon

Not a pie crust - a tart crust, but this one is amazing (and already posted on Food52 (I'm obsessed): https://food52.com/recipes/21482-alice-medrich-s-labneh-lebni-labni-tart

Cooks' Illustrated banana pudding (use lots of bananas): http://www.savorynotes.com/recipe/nanilla-pudding

My favorite bread pudding is that made with croissants.

Rugelach: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/lora-brodys-rugelach-105982
Lemon Bars (Cooks' Illustrated recipe): https://www.melskitchencafe.com/perfect-lemon-bars/

oops, posted the link to the oven one, the crock pot one is in his cookbook.

French Canadian Maple Pudding Cake - made in a crock pot to save the oven, serves a large crowd, perfect late winter dessert. Even better in the spring when fresh maple syrup is being made. https://www.ricardocuisine.com/en/recipes/5411-maple-poor-man--s-pudding-cake.

I like individual chocolate hazelnut pavlovas with bowls of fruit toppings, and whipped cream depending on the season and the crowd. Can be made beforehand and stay crunchy on the outside and softish in the middle. The original recipe came from Mary Berry. Delish!

This is going to sound a little nuts, but for delicious perfect-every-time fudge without a thermometer: the marshmallow fluff recipe. Everytime.

https://www.marshmallowfluff.com/never-fail-fudge/

I'd love to find a genius crumb recipe, like those on a coffee cake!

The Big Man's World purports to have a 3 ingredient rice crispy treat with no marshmallows or corn syrup.

Tartine Bakery's Lemon Bars have always been a hit whenever I've made them...more positive responses than any other lemon bars I've tried.
For cherries, may I suggest Meggyes Pite-- Hungarian Sour Cherry Pie, traditionally made in a rectangular pan, but with an unusual crust. I'll post a recipe later today.
I also have a fab recipe for whole wheat snickerdoodles which are buttery and tender...mmmmm.

101 cookbook's Nikki's healthy cookies are banana sweetened and actually pretty good.

Smitten kitchen has a brown butter Rice Krispie treat that is bomb. Might be in the cookbook

I'm assuming Nigella Lawson's Clementine Cake is on your list. I love it topped with the browned butter glaze (minus the almonds) from the Almond Olive Oil cake recipe passed to me by a friend, originally found on LottieandDoof. (A version is also on Food52, https://food52.com/recipes/35934-almond-olive-oil-cake-with-brown-butter-glaze-adapted-from-blogging-over-thyme) The olive oil cake is good a simple cake as well, though not the kind of "this-is-never-going-to-work-but-always-does" recipe that the clementine cake is.

As for crumbles, I like them all (!), but my favorite is the Regan Daly's Pear, Cranberry & Vanilla Crumble from In The Sweet Kitchen. It's the whole vanilla bean that is simply genius.

My favorite recipe for sour cherries is now Melissa Clark's Obsessive Twice-Baked Sour Cherry Pie from her cookbook A Good Appetite. She has you double bake a butter and lard crust (based on a recipe by pastry chef Bill Yosses) but the true genius tip is to grind instant tapioca in a spice grinder until it resembles a powder to add to the cherries. The ground tapioca works so much better than flour, cornstarch or tapioca flour, creating a thickener that is smooth, clear and tasteless.

Jacques Pepin has a quintessential bananas flambe in La Technique. It's very easy and makes a great base for a vey fancy banana split. One caveat - there is ignition involved!

Banana Pudding - try the recipe from The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock. Depending on where your husband is from this might be heresy but Peacock replaces the vanilla wafers for angel food cake resulting in the most delicious and satisfying banana pudding I have ever had. Also try Biscuits, Spoonbread and Sweet Potato Pie by Bill Neal (I think there's a straightforward banana pudding recipe in there...)

Bread Pudding - I'm sure you know about Nigella Lawson's Croissant Bread Pudding I mean it must be on this site. Maybe even your column!

The Fannie Farmer Baking Book or King Arthur Flour Baking Companion are my best sources for slumps, grunts, bettys, pandowdies - I wish I had a specific recipe to name for you. I feel the need for a research project....

Decades ago while visiting my aunt in Dallas she had bought a black forest cake consisting of layers of crisp merengue, whipped cream, cherries and chocolate. I have not had it since. But it was one of the best cakes I have ever eaten. I do not have the name of the bakery nor the recipe. However thought perhaps someone at Food52 could come up with a version.

These Lemon bars are a little different from all the rest. I can't make them fast enough for my friends.
https://food52.com/recipes/15785-lemon-coconut-squares

I think Smitten Kitchen's whole lemon bars are pretty genius. Way less finicky than others I've made, and the slight bitterness from throwing the whole peel in adds complexity.

For cherries, maybe http://www.seriouseats.com/2017/02/how-to-make-a-chocolate-cherry-layer-cake.html? I have not yet made it, but using cherry juice in the cake seems brilliant, but the use of freeze dried fruit in the frosting is really the genius part. I first heard of it from Alana Jones-Mann, who suggested using it in buttercream - my favorite is in a swiss meringue buttercream. So much flavor without adding moisture.

For rugelach, I've had great luck with this recipe, though I'm not sure if it's "genius" - http://www.annies-eats.com/2011/12/15/chocolate-raspberry-almond-rugelach/

Deb Perelman will not disappoint you.She's done pink lemonade bars, plenty of variations of rugelach and bread pudding, chocolate pavlova, plenty of banana-based desserts, including banana pudding (but I favor the banana bread crepe cake) and a delicious blueberry boy bait that will satisfy your search for fruit-based desserts with delightful names. Seriously, she's a genius

Snickerdoodles from "Biscotti: Recipes from the Kitchen of the American Academy in Rome/Rome Sustainable Food Project." I have never liked snickerdoodles until this recipe.

Have you tried making caramels from Candy is Magic by Jamie Curl? No candy thermometer needed, but recipe calls for glucose syrup. I just ordered some, and will give them a go once I get it.

Grill or roast bananas, in their peels. Open them up and top with butter, a drizzle of cognac, and whipped cream. Best dessert ever.

Alright, I'll do my best here. There are a few I think are worth investigating on your part...I already know and have consumed lots of these!
Lemon bars and panna cotta - Alice Medrich all the way. Her pure desserts cookbook has both of the recipes I love and are reliable and well...genius! Chocolate fudge/caramel situation (well, technically these are caramels): BRIGADEIROS. Three ingredients: sweetened condensed milk, cocoa and butter...ok, fine, and anything you wish to roll the balls of gooey chocolate goodness in! Any seasoned brigadeiro-making Brazilian does not use a thermometer when making these, and it is not required. Seriously. And snickerdoodles? Lee Bailey's in Country Desserts. The best. Always.

Smitten Kitchen salted brown butter rice krispie treats are pretty genius. I think they are even better made with brown rice krispies (WF 365 brand, but I'm sure others work fine) and then dipped in melted chocolate (dip half of each square in chocolate).

For a meringue cake, you might look into Zuger Kirschtorte, a Swiss creation with a history. Maida Heatter had a recipe in her "New Book of Great Desserts". Lemon bar recipes don't seem to vary that much; the whole concept is reasonably brilliant. I prefer with a touch of lime. Just a reminder; Genius is not an adjective.

It's me, Margaret!

I made this Agar based pannacotta ages ago, haven't revisited the recipe in a long while though.
https://food52.com/recipes/9690-channar-payesh-pannacotta