Dessert using fresh lemons and possibly puff pastry?

last year

I was given 5 lemons picked off my son's tree on Los Angeles. (I don't know the cultivar: the tree was there when they moved in, but they seem less sour or bitter than the ones I buy in the store in Chicagoland).

I'd like to make a light or light-ish dessert with them. We're getting together with my daughter and her fiance for a second Christmas. Not a cake: I made a cake on our last 2 visits.

I have both puff pastry sheets and puff pastry shells on hand in the freezer. Alternatively I was thinking of a lemon tart: I have a recipe I've used before that is great, but a lot of work, due to having a special crust.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Featured Answer

chloebud

last year

LOL, plllog, it’s pretty quick/easy to find them online. For some reason, I couldn’t pull up Lori’s lemon curd, at least the one I like. So, I pulled out her book! BTW, It’s called “Luscious Lemon Desserts,” and is very good!👍🏻

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plllog
last year
last modified: last year
You can make the lemon filling and put it in the puff shells. Drizzle with a little contrasting icing or other viscous fruit syrup, Or chocolate if you want to gild the lily. Or you can do a lemon curd filling with a lemon cream inc. zest.

Most home grown lemons in SoCal are Eurekas, which are pretty lemony, and can get really big, bright yellow and pleasantly acidic, or Meyers, which are half orange, very round, a bit smaller than a standard orange, and gold to orange in color. They're much sweeter than normal lemons but still taste lemony. Beyond that, as you know, there are dozens of others, but good chance it's one of those two.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last year
last modified: last year
I make this for special occasions: https://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/frozen-lemon-souffle-in-a-chocolate-shell/

No puff pastry but it's delicious.

Or just make lemon curd and pop it into the pastry shells.
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That sounds really good! Trader Joe's small bag of GF flour is better than others I've tried. It's mostly starch. Egg free gets so much harder, and I totally get the desire for commercial products. They have better ways of producing foods using gums and the like. The commercial GF puff pastry that looks okay has eggs and butter. :( I think by the time you remove the gluten and butter, its not puff even through squinty eyes. You have to have some kind of protein, and I don't think pea protein would work. And the fat globules of vegetable fat probably wouldn't work either. :( I found this blog, but what's in the picture proves she's so far down the rabbit hole, she doesn't know what she's making. OTOH, it looks crisp and flakey and might suit the purpose on the homemade side. There's another one that claims to have made GF vegan profiteroles. Well, I made some savory choux paste puffs last year that looked just the same. They're NOT puffs. They're nasty, dry squatty things. Much better to invent something new with what you have than go to these lengths to make a really bad version. The rice crust I described doesn't have to have egg. That just makes it stick together. You could use chia goo or gum or honey or anything that'll make it stick together enough to get it out of the pan. And from that point of view, something like baklava or spankopita filling could be baked by itself in a glazed baking dish and be scooped out and served on GF/eggF/dairyF water crackers (or gluten free matzah-like squares), or just eaten with a spoon. ;) Or GF toast points. Hm... I wonder what would happen if you toasted GF bread, dampened it, and rolled it out thin then baked it? Moosemac, your zucchini sheets sound interesting. I can definitely see it for something like spanakopita!
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chloebud
last year
last modified: last year
Maybe something like this?

https://www.puffpastry.com/recipe/lemon-cheesecake-mini-tartlets/

Both Ina Garten and Lori Longbotham have recipes I use/like for lemon tarts. Easy to google if interested, although there’s no puff pastry involved.

I agree with plllog regarding your lemons likely being Eurekas and maybe Meyers. Our tree is a Eureka, and I tend to prefer their tartness to Meyers.
chloebud
last year
last modified: last year
Linnea, just wanted to say Ina and Lori’s recipes for lemon curd are good. You’ll find Ina’s here…

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-curd-tart-recipe-1953051

And this is Lori’s from one of her books.
Linnea Lahlum thanked chloebud
plllog
last year
last modified: last year
I simply adore how Chloebud always has the recipes handy!
Linnea Lahlum thanked plllog
lat62
last year
I made this last July for a Bastille Day dinner, where we had duck confit, etc based on a friend's experience at Le Pichet in Seattle ... (I couldn't find a recipe from Le Pichet but Jim Drohman the former chef has a blog site with nice recipes that I really enjoyed https://www.jimdrohman.com) .

https://www.goodlifeeats.com/lemon-cloud-tart-with-strawberry-rhubarb-compote/

I think using puff pastry as a crust would work? but I'm not much of a baker but the term 'cloud tart'' was accurate and I think about it almost weekly, it was that good!
colleenoz
last year
My lemon curd recipe is quick, easy and yummy, as many here will attest 😊

Lemon Butter (Colleenoz)

4oz butter (NOT margarine)
3/4 cup lemon juice (about 3 lemons' worth)
all the rind from the lemons, grated
1 cup sugar (I use superfine)
4-5 eggs, thoroughly beaten

Put butter, sugar, lemon juice and lemon rind into a micro-safe bowl. Cook on high about 3 minutes, stirring halfway through. Butter should be melted and sugar dissolved. Beat in eggs and microwave in 30-second bursts until it thickens, about 2 minutes. Whisk after each burst. Cool and pour into sterilised jars. Cover immediately. Store in refrigerator after opening, or even before opening to prolong the shelf life, which is short.
Makes about 3 medium sized jars.

Sneaky notes:

If you are making a _lot_ of this, for gifts, etc, I peel the rind off with a peeler and drop it into the blender. Then cut off the white pith with a paring knife. Making sure there are no seeds, drop lemon flesh into blender. Whizz it up until the rind is pulverised. You should end up with about 1 cup of juice/rind mix per batch, to account for the rind and aeration. You can double or triple the recipe, just use a bigger bowl and adjust the times.
I also use the blender to whizz the eggs. If they are not totally beaten, you can get little white strings from the egg white which don't look great.
If you overcook it and it separates, beat up an extra egg. Gradually mix separated (sounds much better than curdled, doesn't it?) mixture into egg. Repeat if necessary.

Fresh raspberries go well with lemon curd.
Islay Corbel
last year
I'd fill the puff pastry cases with a lemon custard. I think lemon curd alone is too rich.

Dessert using fresh lemons and possibly puff pastry?

chloebud

Comments (9)

plllog

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

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