pink lemonade...naturally...

a few weeks ago, tenina came to sydney to promote the thermomix in sydney with cyndi o'meara. we were treated to a lovely pink lemonade as part of the healthy repertoire. essentially, it is the lemonade recipe from the thermomix everyday cookbook with a tamarillo in it.

i made mine this morning a bit differently.

100g sugar
1 lemon (i plucked mine off the tree just moments before making)
1 tamarillo
1 tray ice cubes
1000g still or sparkling water

place the sugar and quartered fruit into the thermomix bowl and blitz for 10 seconds on speed 10.

add the ice cubes and blitz for 5 seconds on speed 10.

pour into serving jug and dilute with water.

if you don't like the bits in your lemonade, pour the water into the thermomix bowl and strain before pouring the lemonade into the jug, but think of the fibre you're missing out on.

getting better with age

while i was up at the mountains, wenty and i watched food dvds after everyone had retired for the evening, and one of them was about preserved lemons and cumquats. the lemons and cumquats were salted like how we are told to do in those middle eastern recipes, but the person was saying that you keep them as long as you can (like decades) and they will darken and become very mellow. to illustrate her case in point, she had jars of cumquats of different ages - 1 year, 2 years, 10 years and 50 years (her grandmother pickled that one). she illustrated by taking one cumquat out of each jar, except the 50 year old one, and showed how each one was different and how much nicer the 10 year old one was compared to the 1 year old one.....so (have i lost you yet?)...i've started pickling my cumquats. i want to do the lemons too, but have to wait until i can get some home grown ones.
the 50 year old pickled cumquat, she says is so mellow and mature that not only the flesh melts, the seeds become indistinct, too....my cumquat pickle is less than a day old.....
what was funny about all of this was what wenty told me. after his grandmother died, he had to clean her apartment and her fridge.....there was a jar of something dark which looked like it was lemon slices in a past life. he threw it in the bin, naturally, as one does, but little did he know he was throwing away what could well have been part of his inheritance.

lemon cream in the style of pierre herme in pate sucree tartlet shells‏

1 cup sugar
finely grated zest of 3 lemons
4 large eggs
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
280 grams unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces, at room temperature
salt flakes to fold through the emulsion to provide bursts of saltiness

things you'll need: a thermometer, a strainer and a blender.
bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.
put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water.
macerate the sugar and zest together until the sugar takes on the lemoniness of the zest.
whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.
set the bowl over the pan, and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. cook the lemon cream until it reaches 82 degrees celcius. as you whisk—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 it gets closer to 82 degrees celcius, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. start to take great care at this point—the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. don't stop whisking or 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.as soon as it reaches 82 degrees celcius, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of the blender; discard the zest. let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 68 degrees celcius, about 10 minutes.
turn the blender to high and, with the machine going, add the butter a piece or two at a time. scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate 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 blend the cream for another 3 minutes. fold salt flakes through the cream.

pate sucree
120 grams icing sugar
250 grams plain flour
pinch of salt
125 grams butter, softened
1 egg
place the icing suagr, flour butter and egg in to the bowl of a food processor and process until a dough is formed.
dust a work surface lightly with flour. roll dough out and cut rounds to fit tartlet moulds; you should get 36 tartlet cases about 10-12cm in diameter.
prick well and bake for 14 minutes at 180 degrees celcius.
assemble the tarts with a dollop of lemon cream in each tart and top with shards of toffee.
do not attempt to blowtorch sugar sprinkled on the lemon cream as the cream will collapse.

lemon coconut squares

i know this slice is as old as the hills and most people know how to make it, but i had never made it until recently. i avoided making it because i knew how delicious it was, having eaten other people's creations; i had to show some restraint - if i made it, i'd eat it, simple as that. what was i thinking?

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
125 grams butter
250 grams biscuit crumbs
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 cup coconut

lemon icing
1 3/4 cups icing sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
30 grams butter

place condensed milk and butter in a small saucepan and stir over gentle heat until the butter melts. stir in the biscuit crumbs, rind and coconut and combine well. press into a laminton pan lined with baking paper. chill for an hour.
make the lemon icing by combining the icing sugar, lemon juice and butter until smooth. spread over the prepared base and allow to set. once set, cut into squares to serve.

lemon posset

lemon posset is something i've bookmarked for a long time. i've actually bookmarked many things for a long time, but this is something that got lucky (at least i hope so). it is simplicity itself. you only need three ingredients: lemons, cream and sugar. there is no baking involved and minimal cooking time.
make this when lemons are in season - that goes without saying. also, make this for those who like lemon desserts - that, also, goes without saying.
i like making small servings and find little espresso coffee cups and chinese teacups a perfect size - just enough to get a lemon hit and crave a little more.

300 mls cream
1/2 cup sugar
100mls lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

place the cream and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil and allow to bubble gently for 3 minutes. stir to disslove the sugar.
remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and stir to mix thoroughly.
pour into your receptacle of choice - i manage between 6 and 8 small serves with the espresso cups.

lemon cream cheese slice

this recipe come from the australian women's weekly's simple slices cookbook. this is a handy little A5 sized book which seems to contain alot of the favourites from over the years.

2x150g packets coconut macaroons, crushed
140g butter, melted
2 tablespoons honey


filling
3 teaspoons gelatine
1/4 cup (60ml) water
500g packaged cream cheese softened, chopped
280g jar lemon butter
1/2 cup (125ml) sour cream


grease 20cm x 30cm lamington pan; line base and two long sides with baking paper, extending paper 2cm above edge of pan.
combine macaroons, butter and honey in medium bowl; mix well. press into prepared pan, roughen surface using a fork. pour filling over macaroon base; refrigarate until firm.


filling
sprinkle gelatine over water in cup. stand in small pan of simmering water, stir until dissolved. beat cheese in medium bowl with electric mixer until smooth. add gelatine mixture and remaining ingrediants, beat until smooth.


makes about 10


tip this recipe can be made three days ahead and kept, covered, in the refrigerator.

lemonade, like at the easter show, but probably healthier

do you ever buy those big lemonade drinks they sell at the easter show? you know, the ones which are in a big tank with the lemon rinds floating in them and lots of ice? we do, and we buy the really big one because we like to share it (between the three of us, and no one else). it's always so refreshing and the acidity's just right to cut the greasiness of all the junk we eat when we're at the show. doesn't this sound bad? so much junky food...and drink.... i reason that it comes once a year, and the show's the only place where we get this kinda stuff. i'm sure it's available all year round at markets and the like, but for us, that's the only time we see it.
this lemonade is my imitation of the one at the show, but i'm sure it's better because it's home made, and as such, we would take extra love and care when we make it. like washing the lemons before we use them and not adding any preservatives or anything unnatural.....and since this is so wholesome sounding and all, one of these days, i'm going to post something to "balance" it, like the recipe for corn dogs (yum) and cheese on a stick (yum yum).
we didn't make it to the easter show this year, so i think miss k might be entitled to her annual quota of junky easter show food, albeit my version of it.

1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (about 6 washed lemons, and retain the rinds for the garnish)
7 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar

combine the lemon juice with the water and sugar in an 2 litre jug and stir to disslove the sugar. if you like, you can stir, go away and do something and come back to it and give it another stir, and before you know, it would have dissloved.
place the jug in the fridge until ready to serve.
to serve, fill a large glass with ice and fill the glass with the lemon concoction. to give it the full easter show effect, put half a lemon rind in the glass, as they do. me? i like to slice the rind into slivers before adding it to the drink, so they release lots of lemon flavour.

luscious lemon coconut meringue slice

this recipe brings back a wonderful memory for me - back in 1997, i spent a day cooking with a very lovely lady called ayumi kawachi, with whom i have now sadly lost contact. ayumi - are you out there? i know you are - please drop me a line and say hello. that day in 1997, we made this and another slice. it was great fun, and ayumi, we can do it all again....we just have to try and find each other.

this base makes an excellent short pastry which can be used for any tart requiring a thin, crisp base. in order to achieve this, one must ensure that the dough is kneaded sufficiently to make it crisp.

90 grams butter
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cornflour

preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius.
cream the butter and sugar and add the plain flour and cornflour gradually. combine and turn the dough out of the bowl and knead for 5 minutes. press onto a laminton tin lined with baking paper and bake for 15 minutes of until golden.

in the meantime, prepare the filling:

400 gram tin condensed milk
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1 cup lemon juice

combine the condensed milk, yolks, lemon rind and juice together. pour onto the base and bake for a further 10 minutes.

while the filling is in the oven, prepare the meringue topping:

2 egg whites
1/4 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup flaked coconut

whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form and gradually add in the sugar. fold in the desiccated coconut. spread over the lemon filling and sprinkle with the flaked coconut. return to the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until golden.