Meyer Lemon Creme Brulee w. Raspberries & Blueberries

I was recently gifted a bounty of gorgeous meyer lemons from LA baking maven and lover of all things bundt Mary (aka The Food Librarian). The beautiful fruit came right off of trees in the backyard of Mary's dad --- Thank you Mary and Poppa Food Librarian!!! I knew I couldn't use all of this precious fruit right away, so I prepared most of them for the freezer.

I zested,

halved the zested lemons,

then did some serious juice squeezing.

I used snack size zip top bags to store the zest (the zest of 3 lemons in each bag),

and portioned the juice into 1/2 cup packages in sandwich bags. After marking the bags with a sharpie, they go into a large freezer bag and into the deep freeze. Now, I can enjoy fresh meyer lemon juice any time of the year!

I did set aside a handful of fruit for some immediate meyer lemon gratification. I've been reading through Karen DeMasco's book, The Craft of Baking, and her recipe for Lemon Raspberry Creme Brulee was calling my name.

The recipe calls for steeping the cream with lemon zest, cooling the mixture in an ice bath, adding lemon juice and salt, then resting the mixture overnight in the fridge.

Instead of tempering the eggs with the hot cream mixture (as I'm accustomed to), the eggs are whisked in to the cold lemon infused cream. The mixture is strained, and ready for the ramekins.

A handful of raspberries are scattered in each ramekin (I also added a few blueberries), and the custard mixture is poured into the prepared dishes.

These babies are ready for the oven.

Once the custard is set, it is chilled in the fridge overnight. Now, my favorite part - the brulee! After sprinkling some sugar on top,

the top is torched to melt the sugar and to create that scrumptious crunchy top.

My favorite part of this dessert is cracking the crunchy top, which yields to the creamy goodness underneath.

The custard delivers a nice refreshing tang from the meyer lemon, and has a wonderfully soft texture, which is a great contrast to the crunchy sugar top. The berries are soft and jammy, and provides a wonderful complement to the lemon flavor.

If you're a lover of all things lemon, I highly recommend that you take this recipe for a spin!

Meyer Lemon Creme Brulee w. Raspberries & Blueberries

adapted from The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco

Serves 6

2 C. heavy cream

1/4 c. plus 2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

finely grated zest of 4 meyer lemons

1/2 c. strained fresh meyer lemon juice

1/2 tsp kosher salt

4 large egg yolks

1 c. raspberries

1 c. blueberries

additional sugar

Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl.

In a medium saucepan, bring the cream, sugar, vanilla and meyer lemon zest just to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture ino a medium bowl. Set the bowl into the ice bath and stir until the mixture has cooled. Once cooled, removed the bowl from the ice bath, and whisk in the lemon juice and salt. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Pour about one third of the chilled cream mixture into the yolks, and whisk together well. Add the remaining cream mixture and whisk to combine. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 300F.

Place 6 ramekins in 9x13x2 baking pan. scatter the raspberries and blueberries in a single layer in each ramekin. Divide the custard mixture among the ramekins. Place the prepared baking pan in the oven, and carefully pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the ramekins. Be careful not to dilute the custard mixture with the hot water.

Bake in the water bath for 30 minutes, or until just set.

Let the custards cool to room temperature, then chill until they are ready to be served.

Just before serving, sprinkle sugar evenly over the tops of each custad and caramelize with a torch or under a broiler. Serve immediately.

Honey-Wheat Cookies (TWD)

With all of the chocolate-centric recipes baked this month, this week's Tuesday's With Dorie selection, Honey-Wheat Cookies, was a welcome change of pace to my baking agenda. With a healthy amount of wheat germ and honey, as well as a touch of lemon zest, you could almost consider these cookies a healthy snack - just ignore the stick of butter that is part of the ingredient list.

I may be in the minority, but I really enjoy the nutty flavor and crunchy texture of wheat germ. Its a great topping for my morning oatmeal or yogurt, and if I'm feeling particularly health conscious, I'll substitute a portion of flour with wheat germ in my muffin recipes.

I'm still in detox mode (one more friggin' week to go), so I'll have to defer to all of you on taste. I have some cookie dough sitting in the freezer and I look forward to sampling this once this cleanse chapter comes to a close.

I just pictured myself making a meal of all of the recipes from the past three weeks --- I may have to start another detox in order to recover from that sugar binge...NOT!

You can find the complete recipe for these Honey-Wheat Cookies at Michelle's blog, Flourchild. To find out what the TWD bakers thought of this cookie recipe, please make sure to peruse the TWD Blogroll.

Tartest Meyer Lemon Tart (TWD)

After the overload of rich chocolate recipes last month, this week's TWD recipe for Tartest Lemon Tart was a refreshing change of pace. I love all things that are intensely sweet & tart (I'm a total Sour Patch Kid junkie), and I was totally looking forward to making this. What is so unique and intruiging about this recipe is the use of whole lemons, peel and all.

I couldn't resist making individual tartlettes. Here are my notes and adjustments (for the full recipe please visit Babette Feasts):

- made a full recipe of shortbread nut crust, using Trader Joe's Almond Meal, and I yielded four 4" tartlettes and four 3" tartlettes.

- I made a half recipe of the lemon filling and used 1 whole meyer lemon (it's the end of their season ---*sigh*). This yielded the perfect amount of filling for the four 4" tartlettes.

I loved how the filling slightly overflowed and formed a brown slightly crispy/chewy crust around the edge. For me, that was the tastiest part of this tart. :)


Creme fraiche would have been a perfect partner to this tart. As I didn't have any handy, I whipped up a mixture of heavy cream, sour cream and powdered sugar, and it worked wonderfully. A handful of tart blackberries completed this beauty of a dessert. So, was this tart ...too tart? Absolutely not! As I used meyer lemons, the tartness was probably downplayed. Still, this tart delivered a wonderfully fresh and bright lemon flavor with just the right amount of sweetness to prevent your mouth from puckering. The buttery, crunchy crust played perfectly with the jammy filling.
Feeling a little adventurous, I eyed a 1/2 pink grapefruit sitting on the counter that was leftover from breakfast .... hmmm...how about a grapefruit tart? I used this half and made a half batch of the filling, which was way more than enough for the three remaining tart shells. Eyeballing what I had left, the half batch would have yielded enough filling for eight 3" tartlettes. The tarts baked beautifully with a gorgeous orange/pink hue, but the taste was a whole different story...way too bitter! I should have removed the pith. Oh well, you live and learn. I still love this idea of a grapefruit tart, so I'm doing to attempt this again soon, sans the white pith. Stay tuned and I'll tell you how it turns out in a future post.
Thank you Babette of Babette Feasts selecting this wonderful recipe! For more beautiful tarts, make sure to explore the TWD blogroll.

Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake (TCS)

The Cake Slice bakers voted, and our selection for March is Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake. When I bake recipes out of the Sky High book, I can serve the finished cakes to an army of people, as most of the cakes in this book are beautiful, delicious and GINORMOUS! Well, that's not the case this time around. Surprise --- this is a triple layer baby cake:
The full recipe (see below), is enough to make a 9 inch triple layer cake. I had intended to cut the recipe in half and make my usual 6 inch cake. I didn't pay close attention to the instructions (too busy watching old episodes of Dexter and prepping this recipe --- I'm not an accomplished multi-tasker), and sprayed my 6 inch pans with non-stick cooking spray.

Non-stick is a huge no-no with chiffon cakes (and angel food), as the cake needs to "climb up" and stick to the sides of the pan while it bakes and cools to retain its shape. If you go the non-stick spray route, you will end up with a fallen, shrunken and mis-shapen cake (I'll spare you from my disaster).

I didn't notice my mistake until I had filled both pans with cake batter. I ended up retreiving some batter from the 6 inch pans and used two 4 inch springform pans (and yes, they were properly prepped).

Once the cake rounds cooled, I cut the cakes crosswise and slathered the curd and lemon cream between the layers:

Maybe I'm yearning for spring, but this cake really hit the spot for me. The chiffon cake and lemon cream frosting were both light and not overly sweet. This was fine by me, as the cake is punctuated by the terrific lemony tang and sweetness from the lemon curd.

{On a side note, I never realized what a FAT BOMB lemon curd is until I started making it from scratch. Until now, I thought it was just like jam --- the eggs and butter did me no favors}

Perfect portion control --- one slice = 3 bites:

If you love lemony desserts, this is cake is a must!!! Better yet, go get yourself a copy of Sky High: Irresistable Triple-Layer Cakes and bake this cake--- you won't regret it.

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TRIPLE LEMON CHIFFON CAKE

adapted from: SKY HIGH - IRRESISTIBLE TRIPLE LAYER CAKES by Alisa Huntsman and Peter Wynne

makes a 9 inch triple layer cake

For the Cake

8 eggs, separated
1/4 cup walnut oil**
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
1/3 cup water
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1 and 1/2 cups of sugar
1 ans 3/4 cups of cake flour*
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt

[*1 cup of cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup of AP flour plus 2 tablespoons of corn starch]

[**equal amount of either almond oil, hazelnut oil, or canola oil]

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Line the bottoms of three 9-inch pans with parchment paper but do not butter or grease the pans.

In a med-large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, and water.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium speed until light and frothy. Slowly add 1/2 cup of sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.

Sift the flour, remaining sugar, baking soda , and salt into a large bowl. Whisk gently to combine.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the egg yolk mixture and mix to create

a smooth paste. Add one-fourth of the egg whites and fold in to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites and divide the batter among the three pans.

Bake for about 16 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer to wire racks to cool in the pans. Once cool run a knife around the cake to in order to un-mold the cakes. Carefully pull off the parchment paper from the bottoms of the cakes.

To assemble the cake, place one layer on a cake stand. Top with a heaping 1/4 cup of lemon curd and spread it evenly. Repeat with the remaining layers. Frost the top of the cake and the sides with the lemon cream frosting.

Rich Lemon Curd

makes 1 cup

3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
grated zest of three lemons
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temp.

Whisk together the whole eggs, yolks, sugar, lemon juice , and lemon zest together in a medium bowl. Transfer to a small non-reactive saucepan. Gently heat the mixture, whisking until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. make sure not to boil the mixture. Pour the mixture through a sieve into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the butter and cover the curd with plastic making sure the plastic touches the curd. This should prevent a skin from forming on the curd. Refrigerate until cold. Then remove 3 tablespoons of curd and set it aside for the icing.

Lemon Cream Frosting

makes 3 1/4 cups

1 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoon of lemon curd

Whip the cream and sugar in a large chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold in the lemon curd, forming a stiff frosting.

Meyer Lemon Sherbet (TWD)

There was quite a bit of chatter among the Tuesdays With Dorie bakers regarding this week's recipe, Lemon Cup Custard. Some of the bakers commented that this custard tasted eggy and had a flan-like texure, and as a result, a lot of folks clearly expressed their love or hate of this type of dessert.

When it comes to dessert, I'm game for anything, except for anything flan-like. The texture is just not my cup of tea. So, where does that leave me this week?

Instead of sitting out this week, I wanted to take the ingredients called for in this recipe and create something that I would enjoy (hopefully the TWD gods won't strike me down for this). With a just a couple of tweaks (no eggs, no lemon extract, add lemon juice), I came up with this recipe for meyer lemon sherbet.

The hubby and I had the sherbet with fresh strawberries, all we could say was WOW! The meyer lemons imparted a nice citrusy/floral flavor and we loved the icy/creamy texture of the sherbet. One adjustment that I would make the next time is straining the mixture before freezing (the pieces of zest didn't do it for me texturally); otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing.
Check out how the others fared with the Lemon Cup Custard at the TWD blogroll! For the unadulterated version of this recipe, please visit our hostess for the week, Bridget of The Way The Cookie Crumbles.

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Meyer Lemon Sherbet

makes approx 1 pint

2 C whole milk

1/2 C sugar
zest of 2 meyer lemons

1/2 C meyer lemon juice (approx 2-3 lemons)

In a medium saucepan, mix 1 C of milk with the sugar and zest. Heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring frequently.

Remove from the heat and add the remaining 1 C of milk. Transfer the mixture to a container and thoroughly chill in the fridge.

Once chilled, stir in the lemon juice into the milk mixture. Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Tall & Creamy Meyer Lemon Cheesecake (TWD)

Sorry everyone...a WAY late post for last week's Tuesday With Dorie selection, Tall and Creamy Cheesecake. This is a FABULOUS recipe, and it's helped me overcome my fear of baking cheesecakes. Okay, confession--- I've never successfully baked a respectable cheesecake until I tried Dorie's recipe here. Not only does the cheesecake taste delicious, the recipe is foolproof as I get great results every time I make it.


I opted for a meyer lemon version, taking advantage of the great looking meyer lemons at the farmers market. I used a 7" springform pan and made half of the filling recipe. I still made a full recipe for the graham crust, as I love a thicker crust. Unlike your typical heavy and dense cheesecake, this cheesecake is light and fluffy. I loved the subtle citrus flavor of the meyer lemon, and raspberries were a perfect accompaniament.

Thank you Anne Strawberry for this delicious selection! If you'd like to try your hand at this cheesecake (which I highly recommend), you can find the recipe at Anne's blog or at Serious Eats.

The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart (TWD)

As I perused the TWD completed recipe section, listed were many recipes that I really wanted to attempt. This is one time that I don't mind playing a little catch up with the group!














This luscious lemon cream tart recipe really caught my eye. The lemon cream did take a little effort to pull together (it took much longer than I thought to get the lemon cream up to temperature), but boy was it worth it!

Pierre Herme's Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart
from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan
makes 8 servings

Ingredients
1 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons
4 large eggs
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 4 to 5 lemons)
2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons (21 tablespoons; 10 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
1 fully-baked 9-inch tart shell

Making The Tart
Have a thermometer, preferably an instant-read, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processor at the ready. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.
1. Put the sugar and zest in a large metal bowl that can be fitted into the pan of simmering water. Off heat, work the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs followed by the lemon juice.
2. Fit the bowl into the pan (make certain the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl) and cook, stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. You want to cook the cream until it reaches 180°F. As you whisk the cream over heat—and you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling—you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as the cream is getting closer to 180°F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point—the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking and don’t stop checking the temperature. And have patience—depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.
3. As soon as you reach 180°F, pull the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of a blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream rest at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140°F, about 10 minutes.
4. Turn the blender to high and, with the machine going, add about 5 pieces of butter at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed while you’re incorporating the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going—to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to beat the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.
5. Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and chill the cream for at least 4 hours or overnight. When you are ready to construct the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell.

Serving: The tart should be served cold, because it is a particular pleasure to have the cold cream melt in your mouth.

Storing: While you can make the lemon cream ahead (it will keep in the frige for 4 days and in the freezer for up to 2 months), once the tart is constructed, it’s best to eat it the day it is made.