Showing posts with label lemon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lemon. Show all posts
I think one of my absolute favourite flavours is that of lemon. I could eat lemon anything until it comes out my ears and then some.
One of my favourite lemon desserts has always been Buttermilk Lemon Puddings. These are delicious lemon puddings which upon baking, just like magic,
separate into two distinct layers . . . one a lush lemon custard and
the other a fabulously tart lemon cake.
Lemon Sponge pudding is another. People can get quite fanciful with their naming of it, but it is all just the same thing. An exquisitely delicious lemon pudding, meant to be enjoyed!
There is nothing about that not to love. Nothing. My husband, he's not so fussed about lemon anything. I think he just tolerates it, which means when I make lemon anything I am stuck with lots of leftovers.
I know, it is hard for me to believe as well. How could anyone on earth not enjoy lemon??? It just doesn't seem natural.
Having lemon leftovers should not really be a problem, unless you are trying to watch your weight and maybe even take off a few pounds.
An extra couple of servings of anything lemon in this house is dangerous to me. I am always trying to watch my sugar intake and my waistline. Like any woman I suppose.
Whats a gal to do but to try to downsize things and that has been my labour lately. I have really been trying to get things down to feed just two so that I can cut down on our household waste and on my own "waist."
Its not that hard to do if you know what you are doing, and I do know what I am doing. Thankfully.
This is a dessert I used to make fairly often when entertaining at the Manor down south. I think lemon is a common love of ladies.
I did lemon desserts more than anything for their dinner parties and luncheons. I think one of the favourite ones I did was Frozen Lemon Souffles. They were magnificent.
For the regular sized dessert, you can find it here. Lemon Puddle Pudding. That serves 4 to 6 people. You can see how that would be rather dangerous in a house where only one loves lemon.
Its not exactly the same, I'll admit, but close enough . . .and sometimes close enough is good enough.
This differs in a couple ways. One, in that it uses buttermilk instead of regular milk. Using buttermilk lends a particular dense richness to the dish.
Butter milk also has a lovely tangy quality which goes very well with lemon.
If you have no buttermilk, take one TBS of lemon juice and put it in a cup along with 5 TBS whole milk and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes until it clabbers.
This makes for even more lemony flavour I think. Can there ever be too much? Perhaps but in this case, it works well.
The other difference is that this uses plain flour instead of self rising flour. Because it is only for two servings, it did not need the oomph of any leavening.
The beaten egg white is enough to make it puff up beautifully, almost souffle like. It will sink when it starts to cool down however, so don't be alarmed.
The cake on the top is nice and buttery, and beautifully lemony. Mine cracked a bit on the top, which is not at all unsual.
I probably baked it for just a touch too long. You want it to have a gentle wobble. Not alot of a wobble, just a tiny bit.
The cake itself is nice and light in texture . . . and beneath . . .you have the pudding layer, with an almost curd like finish to it.
Don't get me started on Lemon Curd. It is just about my favourite thing on earth. If I could only bring one thing to a dessert island it would have to be a jar of lemon curd. No argument.
A rich creamy lemon curd . . . so lush and so delicious. There is a perfect layer of this on the bottom of this dessert. Cake on the top, lemon curd on the bottom.
The two together are heavenly bliss. This should be called Heavenly Bliss Lemon Cake for Two . . . .
Normally I would have a dollop of cream or clotted cream on top but
today we had none, so settled for a sweet dusting of icing sugar and
some raspberries.
Oh boy but this was some good. And it gave me a
chance to use my ceramic spoons. I only ever very rarely use them
because I don't want to risk them breaking!
Buttermilk Lemon Puddings for Two
Yield: 2
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 20 Mtotal time: 30 M
A favourite lemon pudding, lush, creamy and now . . . built just for two. It bakes like magic into two layers, one cake and one cream.
Ingredients:
- 1 large free range egg, at room temperature and divided
- 6 TBS granulated sugar
- 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 2 TBS butter, melted
- 3 TBS plain flour
- pinch fine sea salt
- 6 TBS buttermilk
- icing sugar to dust
- berries to garnish (optional)
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Have ready two 240ml/8 ounce ramekins or custard cups ready.
- Place the egg white in a scrupulously clean glass bowl and set aside.
- Place the egg yolk in another bowl and whisk together with the sugar, lemon juice and zest. Whisk until light in colour. Whisk in the melted butter. Stir in the flour and salt.Whisk in the butermilk just until smooth. Don't over whisk.
- Whisk the egg whites with a clean whisk until soft peaks form. (If you lift the beaters from the bowl, they should mostly stand but the top will slightly fall over.) Fold these carefully into the lemon mixture without overmixing.
- Place the ramekins onto a small baking sheet for ease of transfer.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. When done they will be mostly set, but still a bit wobbly in the centre, and slightly golden brown around the edges.
- Let cool slightly before serving. Dust with icing sugar and garnish with berries to serve. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
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If you are on a diet you might want to look away now! Lemon Cream Pie is definitely not diet food that's for sure!
You cannot however, ask for a better summer dessert. This Lemon Cream Pie comes together in mere minutes and is extremely delicious and light in texture.
Although I am rationing flour and sugar, I did want to make us something sweet for a weekend treat. Usually at the weekend I like to have a dessert of some kind.
This Diner Style Lemon Pudding fits the bill perfectly.
Not only does it not use any flour, but it also uses a minimum of sugar. Plus I had a lemon which needed using up and I'll be darned if I waste anything now.
I cooked pasta today that was 10 years past its use-by date and it was perfectly fine, believe it or not, and yes that was very brave of me.
It smelt alright and I cooked a bit and it tasted fine, so I used it. And I lived to tell the tale.
This recipe comes from a cookery book I have had since 2007, enitled The American Diner Cookbook, by Elizabeth MdKeon and Linda Everett.
It was originally published in 1962 and is filled to overflowing with an abundance of tasty sounding recipes. There are no photos in the book, bar fascinating photos of old Diners.
Diners hold a special place in the heart of Americans, and the culinary history of America.
Known for their warmth and good simple food they are restaurants which have always beckoned and tempted diners and weary travellers alike with the promise of delicious home cooked food.
The type of food your mama would have cooked. Great food, excellent service and great prices. They are the backbone of the American culinary experience.
They are also very popular here in the UK, Many entrepreneurs have tried to mimic the warmth and style of the American Diner experience, but I have to say in my experience, most have fallen way short of the ideal.
For the most part their food has been over-priced and lacking in something.
You can dress up a restaurant with all the chrome and formica you want, but, without the heart and the warmth of the original, they will always be sadly lacking in that special Je ne sais quois.
Just my opinion and experience.
This is not a pudding in the sense of a British pudding, which tend to be deliciously stodgy desserts, all of which come under the heading of puddings . . . steamed, baked, pies, cakes, etc.
Over here all are classed as pudding, which is merely another name for dessert.
This is very much a pudding in the North American sense . . . in that it is a thick, creamy cold custard type of pudding. Comforting and delicious.
Rich and lush this pudding is filled with lemon flavour! Not too tart, but neither too sweet . . . just lemony enough without being over the top . . .
Creamy and lucious . . . rich with the addition of whipped cream, cream cheese and sour cream, but not a lot of any one thing . . . just a touch . . .
You begin by cooking a lemon custard, which . . . thickened and cooled, has whipped cream folded into it.
This is then poured into a casserole dish and topped with dollops of billowing sweet meringue . . .
Popped into a hot oven briefly until the meringue dollops are golden brown, but still remain soft.
This went down a real treat with the both of us, even my so-called lemon hating husband.
He actually really enjoyed it, so much so that he had two helpings. He just loves custard . . .
Diner Style Lemon Pudding
Yield: 6
A delicious lemon pudding recipe which I adapted from a cookbook entitled American Diner. This is quite simply delicious.
Ingredients:
- 2 large free range eggs, separated
- 64g of caster sugar (1/3 cup finely granulated sugar)
- 3 ounces cream cheese
- 120g sour cream (1 cup)
- 120ml lemon juice (1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
- 120ml cream (1/2 cup)
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 TBS caster sugar
Instructions:
How to cook Diner Style Lemon Pudding
- You will need a double boiler for this, or a heatproof bowl that will sit comfortably over a saucepan of boiling water.
- Beat the egg yolks togeher with the sugar. Beat in the cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest, combining well. Pour into the top of the double boiler, or into the heatproof bowl.
- Cook, stirring constantly over simmering water, until the mixture becomes thick. Remove from the heat and cool completely.
- Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7.
- Whip the cream until stiff. Fold into the cold lemon mixture and then pour the pudding into a shallow casserole dish.
- Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy. Continue to beat while drizzling in the sugar. Beat until the egg whites become stiff and form peaks.
- Drop by tablespoons over top of the cold pudding. Pop the casserole into the oven for about 6 minutes until the meringue is golden brown. Cool completely before serving.
This recipe also works very well, cut in half, which is what I did. It was my first time making this pudding. It was so delicious that I can promise you it won't be my last!
I've been pretty laid out with my back this past couple of weeks and have not really been cooking anything new for the most part.
The pain has been pretty bad, but finally today I feel like I have begun to turn the corner somewhat and so I decided to do a new recipe to share on here. Lemon Splits!
It's okay if you don't know what they are. I had never heard of them either before I moved here to the UK. I have always loved Lemon flavoured anything.
Those lemon puff cookies were my favourite when I was growing up. Buttery lemon flavoured crackers put together with lemon icing. If you are a lemon aficionado you will know exactly the ones I mean!
I discovered these Lemon Splits in the grocery shop about a year or so ago. What they are is plain Welsh Cakes, without the spice and raisins, put together with a layer of lemon curd in the middle. My goodness but they are some tasty.
They don't always have them in the shops however so it is hit and miss as to if you can find them or not. I looked for a recipe online but couldn't find one anywhere.
I decided to take the bull by the horns and create my own. I have made Welsh Cakes in the past. You can find that recipe here.
Welsh cakes are really good. They are like a cross between a pastry and a scone in my opinion. Buttery with a short texture and oh so tasty, especially when served with a hot bevvie!
They are a very traditional Welsh teatime treat and you will find them all over Wales. They are extremely good I have to say.
All of the teatime treats in the British Isles are extremely good. They know how to bake good things!
So what I did was make Welsh Cakes, without the spice or the raisins . . .
Just plain . . . flour, butter, sugar and an egg. You might need to add a bit of milk to the dough, but my dough was perfect without it.
In fact I had to generously dust my board and pin with flour or it would have stuck too much.
I baked them on my Pampered Chef Griddle pan. You need to heat it so that its not scalding hot and not too cool.
You can use a heavy based non-stick skillet as well. The important thing to remember is to not have it too hot, or the outside will brown too quickly and they won't be done inside.
I heated mine over medium low and once it was heated I turned it down to low. This worked well for me, about 2 to 3 minute per side did the trick.
I knew it was time to flip them over when they started looking a bit puffy on top and were golden brown on the bottom.
When they were done they were golden brown on both sides and the edges looked dry. That's the best that I can explain it.
You can of course make your own lemon curd to fill these from scratch and I have a darn good recipe that you can find here.
But a really good quality store bought one works just fine also and sometimes that's all we have time for!
These are perfect! We both enjoyed them very much, even the "so-called lemon hater". Methinks he doth protest too much personally!
He scarfed two down right away no problemo! If you really don't like lemon, these would be awfully nice sandwiched together with your favourite jam as well.
Ohh, black currant jam or jelly would be lovely!
Yield: Makes 12 to 14
Lemon Splits
prep time: cook time: total time:
Traditional Welsh Cakes without the raisins, sandwiched together with lemon curd. Don't worry if you don't have a griddle or hot stone to cook them on, they will cook perfectly find in a skillet with a heavy base.
ingredients:
- 225g self rising flour (1 1/2 cups + 2TBS)
- 110g salted butter (1/2 cup minus 1 tsp)
- 85g caster sugar (7 TBS)
- 1 medium free range egg
- Milk (if needed)
- flour to dust the cutting board
- butter to grease the griddle (optional)
- good quality lemon curd to fill
instructions:
How to cook Lemon Splits
- Sift the flour into a bowl. Drop in the butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine dry bread crumbs. Stir in the sugar with a fork. Beat the egg and stir it into the mixture to form a ball of dough, adding a splash of milk if you need it. (I did not need it.)
- Generously flour a board and then tip the dough out onto it, also generously flouring the dough. Flour a rolling pin and roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into rounds using a 2 1/2 inch round fluted cutter. Re-roll any scraps and cut again, until all the dough has been used up.
- Heat a heavy grill stone or non-stick griddle pan over medium low heat until fairly hot. Brush lightly with butter if desired. (I didn't use any.) Add the welsh cakes and bake them for 2 to 3 minutes on one side. They should be golden brown on the bottom. Flip them over and bake for a further 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown on the other side. Try not to have the temperature of the griddle too high or they will brown too quickly on the outside and not be cooked in the centre. ( It was my observation that they were ready to flip over when the tops looked kind of puffy.)
- Remove from the pan with a spatula to a wire rack to cool.
- To make the lemon splits, sandwich two together with lemon curd in the centre. You can dust with some icing sugar to serve. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Did you make this recipe?
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This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
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