Mini Lemon Meringue Pies

Ingredients

12 frozen sweet tart cases

Lemon Curd Filling

½ cup lemon juice

100g unsalted butter

½ cup caster sugar

1 egg

3 egg yolks

Meringue Topping

3 egg whites

3 tablespoons caster sugar

pinch of cream of tartar

Method

To make lemon curd filling: heat lemon juice and butter in a small saucepan and simmer until butter has melted. Add sugar, egg and yolks and cook, whisking continuously until mixture becomes thick and glossy. Transfer to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge until cooled completely (approx. 30mins - 1hr).

Preheat oven to 200°C. Place the tart cases on a baking tray. Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until brown.

Meanwhile, make meringue topping: use an electric mixer to beat the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until soft peaks form. Gradually add cream of tartar and sugar, a tablespoonful at a time, beating until sugar has dissolved between each addition. Continue beating until sugar is dissolved and mixture is thick and glossy. Spoon meringue mixture into a piping bag.

Spoon the lemon mixture evenly among the tart cases, being careful to not overfill (approx.1 tablespoon per tart). Pipe a swirl of meringue mixture on top of each tart or use the back of a spoon to create peaks.

Place under heated grill for 60-90 seconds until meringue is lightly golden brown or run a kitchen blowtorch over the meringue. Stand for 5 minutes before serving. Serve hot or cold with cream or ice cream.

Lemon Yoghurt Cake

Recipe adapted from Australian Good Taste magazine, January 1997, page 12

Makes 12 slices

Ingredients

1 lemon
100g butter, room temperature
150g caster sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup yoghurt
175g self-raising flour, sifted
icing sugar, to dust

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 20cm square cake pan with the melted butter or margarine.
2. Finely grate the lemon rind, then juice the fruit. 
3. Use electric beaters to beat butter and the sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add yoghurt, reserved rind and juice. Beat until combined.
5. Gently fold in the sifted flour with a large metal spoon until combined. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pan and smooth the surface. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out dean. Remove from oven and place cake pan on a wire rack to cool.
6. To serve, turn the cake onto a serving plate and remove the cake pan. 
7. Dust with icing sugar when cake has cooled

Smoked Salmon and Ricotta Fettuccine

Recipe modified from Latina Fresh

Serves 4

Ingredients

375g fresh egg fettuccine 
finely grated zest and juice of a large lemon
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup baby capers
200g smoked salmon, cut into strips
½ small bunch flat leaf parsley, roughly torn
125g fresh ricotta
cracked black pepper

Method

1. Place a large pan of water on to boil for the pasta. 
2. In a bowl whisk together the lemon juice and oil until it becomes creamy. 
3. Add the grated lemon zest, capers, salmon strips and parsley. 
4. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to pack directions. Drain and toss with the salmon mixture.
5. Spoon on the ricotta and gently stir through the pasta, season with freshly ground pepper.
6. Divide between bowls and serve immediately

Tip: Try dill instead of parsley for a flavour variation

Citrus Semolina Syrup Cake

 Recipe from Super Food Ideas magazine, November 2003 issue, page 50

Ingredients

2 oranges 

3 lemons

250g unsalted butter, softened

2¼ cups caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
5 eggs
2 cups semolina
2 teaspoons baking powder
200g ground almonds
¼ cup orange juice or Grand Marnier (see note)



Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease a 2 litre-capacity, 26cm (top) gugelhopf (ring) pan.
2. Finely grate rind of 1 orange and 2 lemons. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, 1¼ cups of sugar, rinds and vanilla together until light and creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add semolina, baking powder and almonds. Mix gently to combine.
3. Spoon mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
4. Shred rind from remaining orange and lemon. Juice fruit. Combine juice, remaining sugar and Grand Marnier or orange juice in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, until syrup comes to the boil. Reduce heat. Simmer for 10 minutes or until reduced by half.
5. Using a skewer, pierce holes in surface of warm cake. Pour three-quarters of syrup over cake. Add shredded rind to remaining syrup. Stand cake in pan for 15 minutes before turning onto a plate. Spoon over remaining syrup, serve the cake in slices with a dollop of crème fraiche.

Notes & Tips

Semolina is coarsely ground durum wheat. You'll find it in the health food section of your supermarket.

Grand Marnier is an orange-flavoured liqueur. Substitute with orange juice for a non alcoholic version

Lemon Diva Cupcakes

I finally had the chance today to make these Lemon Diva Cupcakes. The original recipe is from Julie Goodwin, winner of Masterchef season 1. I see why she won the cupcake challenge. These cupcakes are moist, fluffy and they do certainly pack a punch in terms of lemon flavour!

Makes 12

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter, softened
¾ cup caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
finely grated zest of 3 lemons
2 eggs
1⅓ cups self raising flour
½ cup milk

Icing

125g unsalted butter, softened
2 cups icing sugar
1½ tbs lemon juice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 12 hole medium muffin pan (1/3 cup capacity) with paper cases. Using electric beaters, beat the butter, sugar and vanilla extract until light and creamy. Mix through the lemon zest.
2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg. Gently fold through the flour and milk in two alternate batches. Divide the mixture evenly among the paper cases.
3. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and springy when touched. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
4. To make the icing, use electric beaters to beat the butter until light and creamy. Add the icing sugar a little at a time, beating constantly. Add half the lemon juice and beat until well combined. Add the remaining lemon juice a little at a time. Using a 1cm fluted nozzle, pipe the icing onto the cooled cupcakes.

Microwaved Lemon Curd

Lemon curd is delicious served on toast or scones, and also very good as a filling for cakes, biscuits or crêpes. This is one of the recipes demonstrated by judge of 'MasterChef Australia 2009', Gary Mehigan in one of the Masterclass episodes.

Makes approx. 2 cups curd

Ingredients

3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup caster sugar, sifted
125g unsalted butter, cubed
finely grated rind of 1 lemon
200ml lemon juice, from about 3 lemons

Method

1. In a microwave-safe bowl, beat whole eggs, egg yolks and sugar until incorporated. Cut butter into small cubes and add to the egg mixture.
2. Add grated lemon rind and lemon juice, give it a quick stir and place into microwave.
3. Microwave, uncovered, on MEDIUM or 50% (I used a 700W-power microwave) for about 8 minutes, or until the mixture thickens. During the cooking, stop the microwave every minute and give the mixture a stir before resuming cooking.
4. Store in sterilized jar in the refrigerator. Best consumed within 1 week

Lemon Chicken

This is a nice, cheap and easy mid-week meal to prepare. Enjoy :)

Ingredients

2kg or 12 pieces chicken drumsticks (cut 2 slits on each side of the drumsticks to allow marinade to seep in)
¼ cup vegetable oil

Marinade

2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Shao Xing wine)
3 tbsp light soya sauce

Coating

50g cornflour
25g rice flour

Lemon Sauce

1½ cups water
½ cup lemon juice
3½ tbsp brown sugar
2½ tbsp honey
2 tsp chicken stock granules or 1 chicken stock cube
2 tbsp cornflour
grated lemon zest from one lemon (or 1 tsp lemon essence)

Method

1. Marinate chicken with the soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine for at least 2 hours (best overnight) in a glass or ceramic dish. Turn the chicken occasionally to coat well in the marinade.
2. Combine rice flour and corn flour onto a large plate and coat chicken with the flour combination. Set aside for 15 minutes.
3. Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat, then add the vegetable oil.
   
4. Pan fry the chicken until cooked and golden brown. Set aside on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.
5. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, add in all the lemon sauce ingredients and bring to the boil, then simmer gently, stirring frequently at all times (if lemon sauce is too thick, add a bit more water).
6. Place chicken onto serving plate. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately with rice.

Notes & Tips

Rolling a lemon back and forth on your work surface will soften it and allow for more juices to be extracted. This is a good technique to remember before squeezing out the juice of any citrus fruit.

To cook the chicken in the oven, coat chicken with self raising flour, place onto baking trays lined with baking paper, spray chicken with some olive oil then bake in a preheated oven (240°C) for approx. 30 minutes or until crisp and cooked through. Turn once halfway during cooking.

Donna Hay's Lemon Salmon Pasta

This dish is very easy to whip up, with very little time needed for preparation and even less for cleaning up! For all you time poor people out there, this dish is for you :)

Recipe adapted from Donna Hay, No Time to Cook, page 106

Serves 2

Ingredients

200g thin spaghetti
¼ cup light cream
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon roughly chopped dill
1 tablespoon salted capers
180g smoked salmon fillet, flaked

Method

Cook spaghetti in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 10-12 minutes or until al dente. Drain and return to the pan.

Add cream, lemon juice and mustard to pasta, toss to coat.

Toss through dill, capers and salmon, and serve immediately.