Meyer lemons, a fragrant burst of sunshine for a cold January afternoon
You know when friends really understand you when they bring you back gifts of food from their travels. Left on my desk after a troublesome weekday morning's commute I found a plastic bag of small yellow fruit from an old friend who had just returned from Israel attached to a sweet little note. The perfumed fragrance that was released on opening the bag meant only one thing......Meyer lemons.
Meyer lemons are thought to be a cross between a lemon and an orange or mandarin and originate from China. They are small, thin skinned, full of seeds and slightly orangey in colour with a sweeter flavour than a true lemon. Their perfume is what is really amazing, a sweet, heady, citrussy fragrance that you just can't get enough and fills your dreams with images of sun drenched orchards and bare feet on tiled floors. They are pretty hard to find in the UK, although rumour has it that Tesco has started to sell them (along with Seville oranges, the season is short so don't hang about). Nothing beats homegrown though.
So what to do with this surprise bounty on a cold January afternoon? Well, having recently finished the blackberry liqueur I made in 2014 (extremely good by the way, I will have to make double quantities this year) and following on from the Seville orange gin made the year before, I felt a need for another winter pick-me-up, a Meyer 'limoncello'. The quartered lemons are now soaking in a jar of vodka where I'll leave them for about a month. Come back for the recipe after I've bottled up.
I reserved a few of the lemons to make a little tea time treat adapting (a little) this recipe for Meyer lemon bars (and adding the leftover squeezed lemons to the vodka). I bet this is also rather good with Seville oranges too.
Meyer lemon custard shortbreads
100g butter, unsalted, softened and cut into cubes
200g spelt plain flour
50g golden icing sugar
pinch of seasalt
50ml of Meyer lemon juice (or half lemon, half orange....or Seville's)
zest of at least four Meyer lemons
150g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
3 tbsp rice flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tbsp golden icing sugar (to dust over the cooled shortbreads)
Heat the oven to 170℃ and line a 9cm square brownie tin with baking parchment. Using your fingers, work the softened butter, spelt flour, icing sugar and a pinch of salt into a mixture resembling breadcrumbs and tip into the prepared tin. Again using your fingers, press down into an even layer on the base of the tin and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Whilst the shortbread base is cooking, whisk together the caster sugar, zest, juice and 4 eggs. Sift in the rice flour and baking powder and whisk again. Take the base out of the oven and pour the lemon mixture onto the base whilst hot and slide carefully back into the oven. Cook for 15 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool in the tin before slicing into triangles and dusting with a little more icing sugar.
Meyer lemons are thought to be a cross between a lemon and an orange or mandarin and originate from China. They are small, thin skinned, full of seeds and slightly orangey in colour with a sweeter flavour than a true lemon. Their perfume is what is really amazing, a sweet, heady, citrussy fragrance that you just can't get enough and fills your dreams with images of sun drenched orchards and bare feet on tiled floors. They are pretty hard to find in the UK, although rumour has it that Tesco has started to sell them (along with Seville oranges, the season is short so don't hang about). Nothing beats homegrown though.
So what to do with this surprise bounty on a cold January afternoon? Well, having recently finished the blackberry liqueur I made in 2014 (extremely good by the way, I will have to make double quantities this year) and following on from the Seville orange gin made the year before, I felt a need for another winter pick-me-up, a Meyer 'limoncello'. The quartered lemons are now soaking in a jar of vodka where I'll leave them for about a month. Come back for the recipe after I've bottled up.
I reserved a few of the lemons to make a little tea time treat adapting (a little) this recipe for Meyer lemon bars (and adding the leftover squeezed lemons to the vodka). I bet this is also rather good with Seville oranges too.
Meyer lemon custard shortbreads
100g butter, unsalted, softened and cut into cubes
200g spelt plain flour
50g golden icing sugar
pinch of seasalt
50ml of Meyer lemon juice (or half lemon, half orange....or Seville's)
zest of at least four Meyer lemons
150g golden caster sugar
4 eggs
3 tbsp rice flour
½ tsp baking powder
1 tbsp golden icing sugar (to dust over the cooled shortbreads)
Heat the oven to 170℃ and line a 9cm square brownie tin with baking parchment. Using your fingers, work the softened butter, spelt flour, icing sugar and a pinch of salt into a mixture resembling breadcrumbs and tip into the prepared tin. Again using your fingers, press down into an even layer on the base of the tin and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Whilst the shortbread base is cooking, whisk together the caster sugar, zest, juice and 4 eggs. Sift in the rice flour and baking powder and whisk again. Take the base out of the oven and pour the lemon mixture onto the base whilst hot and slide carefully back into the oven. Cook for 15 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool in the tin before slicing into triangles and dusting with a little more icing sugar.
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