It’s the middle of January, but you’d never know it if you judged it based on the weather here in northeastern Wisconsin. Our typical winters start with a light snowfall in early November and go out with a hefty ice storm bang in late April. Yet, here I sit… the sunshine glaring through my window, casting a warm hue across my face. Temperatures are expected to hit the high 40′s today! In Wisconsin-speak, that’s a HEAT WAVE! It’s time to pull on a pair of shorts, lie back in a lounge chair, and sip on a refreshing glass of lemonade.
Fortunately, I’ve got the perfect product to help me make my glass of sunshine. It’s called “True Lemon” and just one of a line of products that are SO good that I want to let you know a little bit more about them.
About a month ago, my good food blogger friend, Nelly Tweeted to me about the True Citrus line of products. I mentioned that I was planning to start 2012 off on a healthier note, but that I was NOT looking forward to giving up my caffeine free diet soda for water. I’m a Diet Pepsi junkie, and I’ve never had a time in my life when drinking water was enjoyable. I’ve tried drinking it with flavorings, fresh fruit, with ice, without ice, blah, blah, blah… but it just tastes GROSS to me. Besides, I like bubbles that make me hiccup and belch like a boy. Don’t judge. Anyway, Nelly introduced me to True Citrus on Twitter and from there, my life was forever changed for the better!
The generous folks at True Citrus were kind enough to send me samples of their ENTIRE product line so that I could learn just how many different ways incorporating their products into my diet would prove to be healthy and yummilicious. Better yet, they’re providing an AMAZING gift set to one of my lucky readers, too, but I’ll fill you in on those details in a minute.
True Citrus doesn’t just make water flavorings, but the 5 different varieties that they offer are all really tasty. The convenient single serving sized packets of lemon, lime, grapefruit, traditional lemonade and raspberry lemonade makes it easy for me to flavor up my water wherever I go. I’ve got a few packets in my purse and I even placed a few packets by the refrigerator so that I’m more likely to grab water before I open the fridge for a Diet Pepsi. I really wanted to LOVE using this product straight up in a glass of water, but I’ll be honest… the taste was refreshing, but I missed having carbonation. So I bought some seltzer water and now I’ve started treating myself to a couple of homemade carbonated beverages every day! Because they’re free of caffeine, calories, fat, and sugar, and they’re made from REAL citrus, I don’t have to worry about putting empty chemicals into my body. These products are just as healthy as real citrus, but without the hassle and mess of squeezing the fruit and picking out seeds!
My REAL excitement for True Citrus started when I used the products made for cooking and baking. I used the crystallized lemon and lime in savory recipes like lemon and mushroom risotto, to make a lemon butter sauce, and sprinkled on veggies. I made these lemon rosemary roasted potatoes and they were a HUGE hit at the dinner table. Talk about easy… I just scrubbed and quartered some baby red potatoes, drizzled them with olive oil then sprinkled them with a little rosemary and the True Lemon Crystallized Lemon from the shaker. I popped them into a 375 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes and had a side dish LOADED with flavor!
When it came time for me to bake with these products, I fell head over heels in love. There are so many citrus desserts that I enjoy making that I simply didn’t know which one to test out first. Brian requested something chocolately, so I made him some chocolate raspberry lemon cupcakes with lemon buttercream frosting. I made the frosting just like a traditional buttercream, but I added True Lemon and a teaspoon of water instead of lemon juice. They were TOTALLY sinful and incredibly flavorful. You can find the recipe for them here. Oh, and if you’re thinking that white chocolate goes better with raspberries than traditional chocolate, I ask you to step outside the box and try these. They really are delicious!
Since I’m trying to eat healthier, I decided to adapt a recipe for lemon angel food cupcakes that I found at Baking Bites. I used the True Lemon Crystallized Lemon in place of the lemon juice, and just for a little added pop, I added some of the crystallized lime, too! Angel food does have some sugar in it, but they’re no fat and loaded with flavor. I’m far too much of a sugar addict to control my portion sizes, so making cupcakes instead of a whole cake did the portioning for me. This is absolutely the best angel food I’ve ever eaten. It literally melted in my mouth and the zing of the lemon and lime made my taste buds sing! Take a look at these beauties…
OK, so I sinned a little… I topped one of the cupcakes with some of the leftover lemon buttercream. Then the Heavens opened up and God shouted “IT IS GOOD!”
For those of you who are going BONKERS waiting for the details of the giveaway, bear with me while I share this recipe… then I’ll get to telling you all about it!
These angel food cupcakes are light as air with a burst of citrus that really packs a punch. They'll melt in your mouth and won't stick to your waistline.
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup (5.6 oz.) superfine sugar, divided (581 cal)
1/2 cup (2.2 oz.) sifted cake flour (220 cal)
5 large egg whites, room temperature (80 cal)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon extract, or 1 teaspoon Real Citrus© crystallized lemon
zest of one lime, or one packet of Real Citrus© crystallized lime
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
In a small bowl, sift together cake flour and 1/4 cup superfine sugar.
In a large bowl, beat room-temperature egg whites until foamy, then add in cream of tartar and salt. Gradually add in the remaining 1/2 cup of superfine sugar while the mixer is on high speed, beating the egg whites to soft peaks. With a rubber spatula add in the lemon extract and lime zest. Do this very gently to prevent losing the volume in your meringue.
Gently fold in the flour mixture, adding it in two or three additions.
Divide evenly into prepared muffin tins. Fill them almost to the top.
Use an offset spatula or your fingertips to gently flatten the top of the batter.
Bake for 16-18 minutes, until golden brown. The tops will spring back when lightly touched.
Cool on a wire rack.
If desire, top with a lemon glaze, whipped cream, or fresh fruit
Notes
Nutritional Information
Serving size: 1 cupcake (plain) Calories: 49 Fat: 0 g Sodium: 3.1mg Carbohydrates: 5.3 g Protein: 0.9 g
OK… here we go! Would you like to try these amazing products out for yourself? You can buy them at your local store (click here for a product locator), through the online store, and/or you can get them FREE! One of my lucky readers will win an AMAZING gift set of True Citrus products that includes the following:
A True Lemon “100% All Natural” T-Shirt
A True Lemon Branded Water Bottle
A box each of True Lemon, True Lime, & True Orange for Cooking, Baking & Beverages (32 packets/box)
A box each of True Lemon, True Orange, True Original Lemonade, & True Raspberry Lemonade for Your Water (10 stick packets/box)
A box of True Grapefruit for Your Water (32 packets/box)
A True Lemon & True Lime Shaker for Cooking, Baking & Seasoning (2.85oz/shaker)
AMAZING and AWESOME right?!
Here’s what you MUST do to enter:
- Leave me a comment telling me that you want to win. Yep, it’s as easy as that!
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following:
- “Like” True Lemon on Facebook (1 entry)
- “Like” It’s Yummilicious on Facebook (1 entry)
- Follow True Lemon on Twitter (1 entry)
- Follow It’s Yummilicious on Twitter (1 entry)
- Tweet the following: “I entered to win a True Citrus gift box from @ItsYummilicious and @TrueLemon. Enter here: (1 entry…can be done once per day)
- Pin this giveaway on Pinterest (1 entry)
- If you have a blog or website, add a link back to It’s Yummilicious onto your blogroll and be sure to leave a comment telling me where I can find it on your site. (5 entries)
This giveaway will close at 11:01pm CST on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012. The winner will be selected at random and will be posted here, as well as by email (so be sure to leave a valid email address!) and will have 48 hours to respond before another winner is chosen.
GOOD LUCK!
DISCLAIMER: I was compensated with products to review and keep from True Citrus, but my thoughts and product opinions are my own. It really is an amazing line of products!
I linked this post to Hugs & Cookies Wonka Wednesday. Go enjoy the goodies…and feel free to add one!
I want to win!! Yum!
Oh YES! I love love TrueLemon:-) Your Lemon Lime Angel Food Cupcakes sound AMAZING!
I follow True lemon on Facebook!
I would love to win this. My family loves lemon anything!!
I want to win this awesome gift box!
I Would Have So #MuchLove If I Could Win!! #GoodLuck Everybody!1
I want to win this!!! I also want to make those Choc-rasp-lemon cupcakes, my lands i started drooling!!
This would be AH-mazing!
I want to win this awesome prize–thanks for the giveaway!
Would love to win this awesome package!!!! I have a grandson who loves to help grammy bake!!!
I would love to win The True Citrus Giveaway Thanks!!!!!!!!!
I would love to win.
I would love to win this giveaway:).
I would love to win this!
I’d love to try the Chocolatey Lemon Rasberry Cupcakes. I have tried the True Lemon Flavor, but I have not been able to try any of the others yet, so the gift basket would be a great way to try the rest! Thanks for all of the ideas.
Helene
I want to win this prize pack because I didn’t realize you could cook with this, too!!!
I WANNA WIN PLEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASE
I LOVE the True products. Been using the lemon and lime for years, but haven’t seen the grapefruit in my stores. I’ll let someone else who hasn’t yet tried them win the prize pack…I’m going in search of the grapefruit!!
Mary Beth…. you can find them at most Wal-Mart stores!
I want to win this yummy awesome giftbox !
I LOVE angelfood!!! brings me back to when I was a little girl and my Dad would make me Cherry Chip angel food with his sinfully delicious 7 minute frosting. would love to try the citrus stuff in several recipes I have in mind
I would love to win!
I would absolutely love to win this! sounds awesome
would love to win this… I too am crazy about citrus….
You had better believe that I would absolutely love to win this prize!
I would love to win this giveaway! Thanks for the chance!
We already love True Lemon. It is very hard to find where we live. Would love to win and try the other flavors too.
i would ABSOLUTELY love to win this <3
: )
xoxo.
I’d love to win this
would love to win
WOULD LOVE TO WIN! Today is my 21st birthday!!!
Happy birthday, Kelsey!
i would love to win this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!please
I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to win this!!! I NEED to win this!! Lol <3
i would love to win this ty
I would love to win!!!
True Raspberry Lemonade sounds really yum!! Thank you for the giveaway!!
Love citrus, especially grapefruit, and I’d love to win too!
I would love to win this! Citrus is the only “kind” of fruit I like!
Wow evrything looks so yummy. Who wouldn’t want to win!!!!
I would really really love to win this gift box!
I would like to win.
I would LOVE to win! Really I’d love to win anything but to win something that I already love and use daily would be the most super duper win of them all!
Wow, sounds tasty and fun. I would love to win. Love citrus and trying new things. Thanks
hello
True lemon-
Yes, please
i would Love 2win some TY
I would like to win this prize.
sure id love to win! true lemon is my favorite!
Great giveaway—I would LOVE to win these goodies!
I’d Love to win!
I would love to win this giveaway.
LOVE TO WIN IT ALL!
I would love to win this great giveaway!
I WANNA AND GONNA WIN!!!
I would love to win!!
i would love this i love to bake and i am always lookin for new things to try