I didn't think I'd be able to enter this week as I thought I had only 1 lemon, but as it turned out there were 2 more behind the fruit bowl (along with some onions... thanks to my toddler son who thinks everything is a toy!) I struggled to think of what to make though, as I don't use sugar (e.g for making meringue or icing), never buy cream, don't use anything ready-made such as lemon curd (and this takes too long to make from scratch). I'm not usually that fond of lemon-flavoured things, neither is my husband, and I'd never make anything that would be wasted, so I was stumped!
Then I got to thinking about my daily cup of lemon & honey, which I make every morning using a few slices of lemon, a teaspoon of honey, about 1/8 teaspoon of ginger and the same of cayenne pepper (bit of a kick to wake my body up!) When I get to the bottom, there's always a small amount of very thick, syrupy mixture, that is just gorgeous. Lemony, sweet, gingery... mmmm. So I thought, how can I get that taste in my Divine Lemoned Dessert entry?
This is what I came up with, and was delighted to find I did capture that exact taste in this sticky lemon filling, and so will definitely be making these again. I used a good lot of ginger in the almond pastry, which compliments the sweet lemony taste very nicely indeed. As I planned the recipe before doing it I managed to stay within the time limit - just! It was a challenge but that's what I like!
What you will need: (makes 6)
For the pastry:
175g ground almonds
50g butter
4 heaped tsp ground ginger
2 tblsp honey
1 large egg yolk
For the lemon filling:
1 large egg + the left-over egg white
3 tblsp honey
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
25g butter
75g fine wholewheat flour
25g chopped hazelnuts
Sprinkle nutmeg
Method:
In a large bowl mix together the ground almonds and ground ginger. Chop the butter into small piece and rub into the almond mixture using your fingertips (3 mins).
Add the honey and egg yolk, using your hand to mix into a firm-yet-sticky dough (1 min). Set aside the egg white for use in the filling.
Divide the mixture into six balls and put them into a muffin tin lined with bun cases (for easy removal after baking, as almond pastry is slightly more crumbly than flour pastry). Use your fingers to press the mixture into cup shapes (2 mins). Pop into a preheated oven at 170 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.
Whilst the pastry is baking you can make the filling. Squeeze the juice from 2 lemons and finely grate the zest (2 mins)
Put the zest, juice, egg + egg white, butter and honey into a pan and heat on low for 5 minutes or so until the mixture begins to thicken and turn syrupy. Stir in the flour and remove from heat. You should have a thick, sticky mixture. (Taste it now - it's sooooo sweet and lemony and yummy!)
Spoon the filling into the pastry cups and sprinkle with hazelnuts and nutmeg (2 mins). Pop back into the oven for about 6 minutes. The filling will still be soft, but that's how we want it :-)
Enjoy warm or cold!
As usual, much appreciation to @englishtchrivy for hosting this challenge and giving us all a good reason to get creative!
Many thanks also to this week's judge @onceuponatime, and to the sponsors @smooth, @sirwinchester and @knozaki2015, and to everyone else involved in this challenge.
For more healthy vegetarian, sugar-free, additive-free recipes for meals and snacks, please follow me! Thank you!
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