Lemony desserts lemonier?

[cimorene]

We made a simple oven pan of roasted root vegetables, chicken, and lemon, which we've eaten many times, but it came out extra delicious, partly just from a larger, juicier lemon.

This got me thinking. I love lemon bars and two near-identical recipes from my childhood for lemon tea cookies and lemon muffins. But I've never been really impressed with a lemon cake, and I wonder if it's just that it could be lemonier? The intensity of lemon meringue pie is nice, but I don't fully love the texture combination.

Maybe a lemon meringue cake? Or some other dessert that combines lemon curd or custard with something cake- or cookie-like?

Comments

[princessofgeeks]

I love lemon cheesecake with a graham cracker crust, myself.

And those lemon bars you mention with a shortbread crust -- heaven.

Try this ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Maybe a lemon meringue cake? Or some other dessert that combines lemon curd or custard with something cake- or cookie-like? <<

Think about where lemon flavor comes from: not just the juice, but the essential oils in the rind. Then consider ingredients that deliver more concentrated or complex lemon flavors. Just adding the zest from the rind will punch up most lemon recipes.

One of my Amish friends run a home business freeze-drying food. She slices lemons, freeze-dries them, and grinds them to powder. It's very intense, and wonderful for baking. A version is probably available from online shops that specialize in freeze-dried foods.

This weekend we went to a small farm show in Amish territory and some other folks were demonstrating equipment for small-scale bottling -- and giving away free bottles of lemonade. It was made by cutting lemons in half and dropping them into a press, then crushing everything to extract maximum flavor. Best damn lemonade ever. You know how when you put a lemon over a regular juicer horn, it just wrings out the juice and some pulp? It misses the rind. So one way to get more oomph would be to quarter lemons and crush them in a large mortar and pestle or mixing bowl.

I've seen blood orange cordial made from the juice and essential oils, which was amazing. A lemon version might exist.

Some bitters make heavy use of citrus such as lemon, lime, grapefruit, and/or orange. Look online or in a large liquor store. Bitters work like vanilla extract but with much more complex flavors.

For sweet dishes, consider candied lemon rind and/or the simple syrup that you get while candying the rind. Buddha's hand is an upgrade; it's all rind with an intense lemon-floral scent, and works well with lemon juice.

For cookies, consider thumbprint cookies with lemon curd or marmalade. Those same ingredients can be used between layers of cake, or as a swirl -- a basic lemon cake on bottom and top, with a sharper filling, but basically the texture of cake.

For savory dishes, there are salt-preserved lemons from Middle Eastern cuisine. I'm not a salt fan so I haven't pursued them, but they are very popular.