Friday, November 08, 2013

When your tree gives you lemons...

Let's admit it -this is not the sexiest lemon in the world...


It's been sitting, ripe, on the first of my two Meyer lemon trees for awhile now...but I just wasn't ready to use it.  Would it be enough for any recipe I wanted to make?  Was I in the mood for baking?

Those little white spots aren't mold or anything - I think it's just natural waxy deposits in the lemon rind - I see this happen with a lot of lemons (homegrown and storebought).  I WILL say this guy could've come off the tree a couple weeks ago probably - it wasn't as juicy inside as the ones I harvested in a more timely manner last winter.

I went ahead and forged forward, planning to use this recipe:
http://www.traceysculinaryadventures.com/2012/12/meyer-lemon-pound-cake.html?m=1#.Um0fbaMpDFo

Turns out she says it's an adaptation from Cook's Illustrated, so I suspect I've made the same recipe before.  I know I've made one before that called for the still-warm cake being brushed with a lemon juice and sugar glaze, which makes it a bit more puckery than your average pound cake.

Since the big monster lemon on the original tree wasn't as juicy as expected, I swiped a couple smaller, not-fully-ripe lemons from the new, second tree I picked up on sale this year (yes, I now have to keep TWO alive indoors over winter - why do I do this to myself?).  Although small, they were very juicy, and smelled pretty good - not as strong as a fully ripe lemon, but close.

And the end product?


Talk about YELLOW!  That's partly from the lemon zest, but I'm guessing more of it comes from the amazing orange yolks from the local eggs I buy.  Oh, and the half pound of butter probably doesn't hurt either.  ;-)

Tasted great, btw...  I think I'd be very happy making the cake and passing on the glaze.  I didn't even bother making the powdered sugar icing for the top.  If anything, I might take the lemon juice intended for the glaze and just put most of it in the batter instead.  Less fuss, less stickiness, and still great lemon flavor!

2 comments:

anne marie in philly said...

looks dee-lish! please to be posting recipe?

Jeph said...

Looks like you missed the link to the recipe - it's right here: http://www.traceysculinaryadventures.com/2012/12/meyer-lemon-pound-cake.html?m=1#.Um0fbaMpDFo

Again, you've gotta like a more tart lemon pound cake. It's not just "a nice lemon flavor" - it's got a little kick with the outer glaze.