Lemon Meringue Pie, take 2

We were invited to a Christmas in July party and considering the previous version was a hit, i made another pie and brought it to the party.

It was successfully demolished :)


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Lemon Meringue Pie

After a constant discussion about lemon meringue tart over lunch last week with colleagues, there was no other way to flush this thought out of my mind but to actually make one. I haven't made a lemon meringue tart before, but i did make a lemon tart... The meringue makes a lot of difference for sure, in taste, texture as well as effort!

Anyway, after some research I found a recipe from this site which is one of my favorite links, with trustworthy recipes. As usual, there was a bit of tweaking involved... But very minor this time around. The only thing i changed was the addition of the zest of one navel orange to slightly offset the tartness of the lemon. This was an influence from the lemon tart recipe that i did which was an adaptation from Rachel Allen's recipe - i really liked the way the sweetness of the orange coated the mouth which complemented the taste of the tart lemon.

Here's a photo journey of this lemon meringue tart.
I mainly followed the steps in this recipe so just check this out if you want the ingredients


It started with the pastry - flour, sugar, butter...Pulsed till it resembled breadcrumbs...







.. Plus an egg. Blitz until it had come together like this.







I sandwiched the dough between 2 sheets of clingfilm to facilitate the rolling process
Into the fridge it went for about an hour.







Meanwhile, the curd was made. First it was milky white (cornflour, lemon juice, lemon zest, orange zest, sugar and water)







Then, translucent, after heat was applied!







Then it came off the heat and the butter and egg yolks whisked in. Rather vigorously.







And it went to the fridge as well.
Anyway, after about an hour the dough was ready for rock and roll.
(just wanted to make sure it fits!)







Again another trick i learned from Rachel Allen, the clingfilm also makes it easier to flip the dough into the tin...






..and to trim the excess.







Ready for blind baking







... And just like it came from a holiday from the beach - a beautiful golden color. Let cool.






Spoon in the lemon curd, and dollop meringue on top.







Looks pretty already. Although i messed up my timings a bit and i made the meringue too early, which left me with little time to fully cool the pastry shell. Or i was just impatient!







Bake until the meringue takes on a bit of color.







Serve, serve, serve! Again, just me being impatient. You're supposed to let it cool and chill in the fridge.























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Homegrown Giant Lemon

Can't get over how big this one is... The rest are still chilling out in the tree!

Saturday Night (cooking) Live

Instead of heading out to get something to eat, there was a decision to create a 3 course meal, prepared as a team, one lazy Saturday night.


For the entree : scallops, black pudding and parsnip mash with horseradish

The mash was made with 1 parsnip, pan fried in butter until tender. Then it was mashed with cream, more butter, milk and grated horseradish. It was seasoned to taste and left covered to keep warm.

Meanwhile, the black pudding was pan fried in the same pan. Roughly 4 minutes before the black pudding was done, the scallops (seasoned with salt and pepper) were fried on one side of the same pan, just about 2 minutes each side. The mash was spooned onto the serving plate into 3 mini piles, the black pudding placed on top, and the scallops last. A parsley leaf on top of the tower, a little sprinkle of chili flakes to echo the heat from the horseradish... And it's a gourmet treat.








The main : baked barramundi parcels with lemon, ginger, soy and mirin

2 round slices of lemon on baking paper
Add barramundi on top
Pile 2 thinly sliced ginger
Salt and pepper
a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and
1 wombok leaf, the top part (the part of the leaf around 2 inches from the top) sliced and shredded and placed alongside the fillet
The rest of the wombok served as a cover over the fillet
A flavorful sauce made with a dash of black sesame oil, a dash of soy sauce, a dash of mirin and about 2 tablespoons water will serve as the tasty steaming liquid






... then parcel was wrapped and tied up, and placed into a 180C hot oven for 20 minutes






Ad that's done! This fish was served with par boiled potatoes finished by panfrying in duck fat, and steamed asparagus. What I would change is to serve it with plain rice, or noodles. Nevertheless, it was very, very tasty.







Dessert was a lemon souffle. The recipe was originally called 'hot lemon curd souffle' due to the lemon curd base.

The lemon curd is a quick version made of 1 egg whisked with some sugar, lemon zest and the juice of 1 lemon, and a teaspoon of cornflour. This was whisked over low heat until it thickened to the consistency of curd. This was spooned over buttered ramekins, and set aside on room temperature. Then, 2 eggs were separated, the yolks whisked with a bit more sugar and the zest and juice of 1 lemon. The whites were whisked to stiff peaks, facilitated with a teaspoon of white sugar. A spoonful of the whites were mixed with the yolks to slacken the mix, then the whites were folded in. This mixture was dolloped over the curd, and baked for 15 minutes on 180C or until the tops were golden.







A couple of minutes was worth the wait to cool the curd down a bit. The souffle would have deflated during this time, which may take some wow factor away during serving... But the taste should be able to compensate!





Served with a sliver of lemon peel just for additional color.








Every bite has to be spooned from the bottom for maximum impact,






Two bottles of shiraz later, the after glow of a fabulous dinner remains.


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Maejito

Now it is a bit very cheeky but I have to say the results of this experiment was very pleasant, and hence shall be named after its creator.

Featuring the mae-jito!

This highball is based on the typical mojito recipe (mint, sugar and lime muddled together, with a shot (or two?!) of rum and topped with sparkling soda water), but this has no sugar but has sugar plant leaves in it! I also used a combination of lemon and kaffir lime.

Maejito
serves 2

8 sugar leaves
a handful of mint and peppermint leaves
1 small kaffir lime, quartered
1 lemon, quartered
4 shots Bacardi rum
sparkling tonic water, to top up

sugar leaves and mint 

kaffir lime

the zest of which was used here

in a tall glass tear 4 sugar leaves and a sprig of mint and peppermint leaves

2 kaffir limes wedges and 2 lemon wedges

muddle until the juices of the citrus and the essence of the leaves are released

(muddling is a nice therapeutic activity

I used to use the end of a rolling pin for this but I have upgraded since..

so now I have a proper muddler :)

add 2 shots of the rum and top up with chilled sparkling tonic water

garnish with a mint sprig

All the leaves and fruit used for this drink are homegrown!

Enjoy :)

Orange and Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

In keeping with the flavor of the season (lemon, that is, due to the very fruitful tree at the backyard!) I whipped up an orange and lemon poppy seed cake one afternoon despite being slightly groggy from cough syrup and drugs - I somehow managed to succumb to the office virus and have been out of commission for the past 3 days due to a bad cough, but that didn't stop me from baking. Rest assured the best possible standards for cleanliness have been observed to make this baked goodie. :p

I rarely get sick but when I get a cough, I get it bad. Despite having everything with lemon to amp up on vitamin C, I still have a lot of lemons left to use for everything else!


To make this cake I used
1/3 cup poppy seeds soaked in 1/4 cup milk
1 cup caster sugar
125 g butter, softened
3 eggs
zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup orange juice

2 cups self raising flour

Soak the poppy seeds and set aside.

Grease a bundt tin and preheat oven to 160C.

Cream butter and sugar together. Add one egg at a time, ensuring it is well incorporated before the next addition. Beat in zest. Fold in flour, orange juice, poppy seed mixture and milk; mix until combined.

Pour onto prepared tin and bake for 45-55 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when cake is poked.

Frost if desired. I used a thin glaze made of lemon juice, icing sugar and orange zest and decorated with fresh mint leaves.

This one's another cake for someone's farewell by the way... at the rate at which people are leaving our current workplace, I could have made a couple of hundred dollars if I sold these babies! :) But I'd rather not... I just hope they appreciate the thought... most of them seem to, so all is good :D

Olive Oil Micro Mini Cakes

A couple of neighbors were coming over for afternoon tea so as a sweet treat I thought of creating something quick, easy, light yet tasty and small enough to hold and nibble on while having a chat.

Still in keeping with the lemon theme (flavor of the season, the tree is still bringing forth a lot of fruit), these olive oil cakes are made with very simple ingredients found in anyone's pantry, and mixed in a blender!

Recipe was based on this link I found here except I decreased the sugar.

Olive Oil Micro Mini Cakes with Lemon Zest and Thyme
1 scant cup white sugar
zest of 2 medium sized lemons
2 whole eggs
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I used spanish EVOO, which is quite fruity)
2/3 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

Icing:
3 tablespoons icing sugar
2 teaspoons melted butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Prepare a 12 muffin tray. In this instance I used a muffin pan with 24 small cups, lightly sprayed with oil (or buttered) and dusted with flour. Pre-heat oven to 180C.

zesty goodness

In a blender, pulse white sugar and lemon zest until combined. Add one egg at a time, pulsing after each addition.



Slowly add milk and olive oil, and pulse until emulsified.



In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients and thyme. Pulse half of the flour mixture into the wet ingredients, then add next batch. Do not overmix. It will be a thin batter.

Pour onto prepared tray and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the cakes are pulling away from the sides.

Whisk icing sugar, melted butter and lemon juice until smooth. Adjust ingredients accordingly to create an icing of pourable consistency (but not too thin).



When cakes are ready, let cool before drizzling the icing on top. Alternatively, dunk cakes into the icing and serve with either a pinch of lemon zest or some thyme leaves.

Serve with tea, or white wine, or bubblies

That's the micro mini cake sitting on a teaspoon :)

Lemon Semolina Cake

It's spring and the lemon tree is on a roll! We've had several batches of fresh citrus goodness so far, and the tree is still flowering.

This cake was for someone from work who resigned. As part of a 'farewell', the team would have afternoon tea, the immediate superior of whoever is leaving gives a little speech, hands over a giant card signed by everyone, and a little gift purchased through a collection (hat passed around as part of the card).

The farewell gigs have been happening a lot quite lately, so I have been a busy baker. Well, that, and birthdays!

To make best use of fresh available produce, I baked a lemon cake, made a little different by using semolina for texture. I also candied some lemon slices as garnish.

Lemon Semolina Cake

1 1/2 cups self raising flour
2/3 cup coarse semolina
125g softened butter
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk or buttermilk

Lemon Syrup
2 small lemons, sliced thinly, crosswise
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice

Pre-heat oven to 180C. Grease and line a baking tin of your choice (I used a springform cake pan).
Beat butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Fold in semolina, flour and milk
Pour mixture into prepared tin and bake for around 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, make the lemon syrup by combining ingredients together and bring to a boil. I added sliced lemons but remembered that this could turn out bitter, so you can leave these lemons out (these turned out quite nice though, a good balance of citrusy sweet with a little bitter aftertaste).

Alternatively, prepare candied lemons by putting sliced lemons in a small saucepan and cover with cold water, bring to a boil, discard water and repeat the process 3 times. This takes the 'bitterness' away from the citrus peel. After the 3rd boil, add 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar, bring to a boil, then reduce heat into a gentle simmer until the lemon slices are translucent.

Turn cake out into a plate and poke holes into the surface. Pour a generous amount of the lemon syrup on top, and let it seep through the holes. Garnish as you see fit.

this one had rosemary flowers too 

The cake was a winner. So was our former colleague, who finally escaped the bitterness of the workplace - however, he might have felt he was boiled more than 3 times! :)

Sangria

Sangria is basically a Spanish wine punch, and something that you should have tried by now! Most recipes recommend using a cheap spanish wine, because anything otherwise defeats the purpose. However, in this kitchen, the principle is that good and fresh ingredients make good food/drinks, so a Spanish wine was purchased for this Sangria.

To make this particular Sangria you would need:

Sugar syrup base :
a couple of sprigs of fresh spearmint (or mint) - this handful was snipped from the mint bucket
peel of 1 orange
peel of 1 lemon
1 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
2 cinnamon quills
3 cloves

1 bottle of Spanish red wine
1 bottle of tonic water (1.5 liters)
1 orange, sliced
1 apple, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
2 shots of brandy

boil the ingredients for the sugar syrup base over a medium heat for around 5-7 minutes

 meanwhile, let the wine breathe!

strain the sugar syrup and in a pitcher mix it with the wine, 1 orange chopped crosswise, 1 lemon chopped crosswise, 1 apple chopped into segments. Let steep overnight in the fridge. Before serving, top up with 1 bottle of tonic water and 2 shots of brandy (VSOP is good!) and mix well. Serve chilled!

Lemon and Caraway Seed Cake

this one was decorated with fresh lilac flowers

Due to the abundance of lemons from the tree at the backyard, I had to find ways of using this beautiful citrus. This recipe was based on an entry in the The Baking Bible, but I find that from the initial mixing of the dough, it was too heavy. I tweaked the recipe on the fly (and had further changes the second time around) and came up with this wonderful cake.

1 1/3 cups plain flour
3 tablespoons corn flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
175g softened butter
3/4 cups caster sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
3 eggs
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1/3 cup buttermilk

Icing:
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
juice and zest of half a lemon
Preheat oven to 150C. Lightly grease and flour a bundt tin.
Sift together flour, corn flour and baking powder.
Cream butter and sugar until very light and fluffy. Beat in zest, add one egg at a time, ensuring the egg is well incorporated before adding the next one. Add 2 tablespoons of the flour mixture after the second egg. Fold in remaining flour after the 3rd egg and buttermilk.

Mix water with caraway seeds and briefly microwave (1 min on high) then add to mixture. Stir well but do not overmix.

Pour onto tin and bake for around 45 min or until well risen and golden. Let cool in tin for around 10 minutes before turning on to a serving plate.

Meanwhile, make the frosting : beat icing sugar with zest and lemon juice, until mixture is thick. Drizzle on to cooled cake and serve. This cake is best served one day after it's made as the caraway and lemon flavors develop overnight.