I love lemons!
We are blessed our new home has an old lemon tree laden with fruit.
Not only do we have a Lemon tree, but also an Orange, Pomegranate, Fig and a massive Mandarin tree – which will receive a rather drastic pruning once it finishes fruiting.
All the trees need a little TLC – a good prune and a good feed of fertilizer.
The new vegetable garden layout means we now have access to all the trees and were able to mulch underneath.
I have read growing herbs under fruit trees is beneficial, something about keeping the roots cool, the weeds at bay and even providing much-needed nutrients. But I’m not 100% sure about that, so a little more research is needed. Do you have any experience with this?
Even though we pruned some branches off the lemon tree so we could gain access to the area, and stop fruit hanging on the ground, it was still loaded with fruit.
So, harvest time finally happened and that means I need to get cracking on processing all those lemons.
My Favourite Ways to Use Lemons
I am not going to bore you with the health benefits of lemons. I feel like most of us know lemons are good for us with high Vitamin C, good to detox our systems and more. Overall, lemons are a great food to incorporate into your diet where and whenever you can. Besides all that, they taste great.
I feel like I make a lot of things with lemons, but I can’t seem to remember all of them. I think lemons are one of those things I reach for without too much thought. I just know when I run out I notice their absence.
I make my own mayonnaise and use lemon juice in that (if I run out, I use Apple Cider Vinegar instead) or I add lots more juice if I want to make Lemon Dill Mayonnaise.
I love baking anything lemon flavoured. I try not to bake too often as we devour the lot on our own.
I make a Santiago Torte (which I discovered walking the Camino in Spain) which gets a generous amount of lemon zest. It is a simple medieval recipe consisting of almond flour, eggs, sugar and of course, lemon zest.
It is so handy to have the zest frozen and ready to use in the freezer, so I don’t need to stop and zest a lemon in the middle of making a recipe.
Then there was the Lemon Pepper seasoning made by dehydrating the lemon zest and mixing it with pepper.
There is a lemon cake called Clare’s Heaven Lemon Cake.
OMG, it is so good.
If you love a punch of lemon flavour and not just a mere suggestion, then this cake is for you. I found the recipe years ago in a magazine I have since forgotten the name of.
I think this cake is great served on its own served with a dollop of cream or ice cream. Dan thinks it is even better with icing. But then Dan LOVES icing.
If I do frost the cake, I make a Vanilla Frosting which compliments it nicely.
Now, what else do I make with lemons?
Lemon Meringue Pie
This has become a family favourite. Dan’s dad Michael loves this pie.
My recipe is old, a photocopy from the Women’s Weekly Cookbook (I believe). I checked out the current recipe online and it is the same, with the exception of an extra 20g of butter in the ingredients.
This is an absolute favourite that I trot out for special occasions or as part of a dessert buffet if we are hosting a lot of people.
You can find the recipe here – Lemon Meringue Pie Women’s Weekly Food
Lemon Delicious (Lemon Pudding)
Another old recipe, photocopied from some recipe book which I think was a Women’s Weekly Cookbook. Clearly, I loved the Women’s Weekly recipes!
I have not made this in years. I must try it again soon.
The current Women’s Weekly recipe is for six servings instead of the four my recipe makes, but other than that it looks the same. This would be perfect for a winter’s night in front of the fire.
You can find the recipe here – Lemon Delicious Women’s Weekly Food
Lemon Tartlets
You can make your own pastry cases or buy them from the supermarket. Either way works although I love to make everything from scratch.
The recipe I use for the cases is from another recipe (again cut out of a magazine). It is not too sweet, fairly simple to make and freezes well.
I make lemon butter or curd using whatever recipe I find on Google, or from the Lemon Meringue recipe. I find they are all fairly similar.
I have made a large batch of lemon butter previously, put it into jars and then froze it so they would keep longer.
Frozen Lemon Butter and frozen pastry cases are handy to have on hand in case of a last-minute morning tea or dessert is required. Neither takes long to thaw, put them together and you are good to go – lemon tartlets.
You can go the extra distance and make them into Lemon Meringue Tartlets – make the meringue mixture with egg whites, vanilla and sugar. Top the tartlets, bake in a 180◦C oven to toast the meringue (you can also use a small blow torch used for crème brulée) and you have lemon meringue tartlets.
The last couple of times we needed to make dessert for a family event, I made a trio of tartlets, and they were a huge hit each time. Strawberry Cream, Tiramisu and Lemon Meringue Tartlets. Yum!!
Lemon Meringue Cupcakes
Dan loves cupcakes. He loves most sweet things, but cupcakes are a favourite. Any flavour.
I made these Lemon Meringue Cupcakes as part of the buffet for his 50th birthday a few years back (am I giving his age away?) They were such a hit.
I initially used a recipe from Taste. But after that, I used my Butterfly Cakes recipe (see below) and the lemon curd part of the recipe, or Lemon Butter if I have any hidden away in the freezer and used the meringue part of the recipe.
I am not going to include the Taste recipe as most of the reviews say the cakes are too dry.
But if you have a favourite vanilla cupcake recipe then scoop out the middle of the baked cupcake, add the curd, top with meringue mixture and toast in the oven.
Butterfly Cakes with Lemon Curd
This is pretty much the same as above, but most times I will make the cakes, scoop out the centre and pop in some Lemon Curd. Then I take the scooped-out section and instead of making “wings”, I just pop the cake on top of the curd – which looks like a little hat. You can also add a smidge of whipped cream on top of the curd, and you can also dust the tops of the cakes with icing sugar.
My recipe came in a set of recipe cards I got about 30-odd years ago. I can’t find the exact same recipe, so I typed it out. What I like about it is that everything gets mixed together – no creaming butter and sugar or fuss. And the quantities are easy to remember.
Please note – this is an older recipe for 12 cupcakes. However, cupcakes are bigger now than 30 years ago. I find this mix makes around 8.
Ingredients
- 100 g soft butter
- 100 g caster sugar
- 100 g self-raising flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Method
- Preheat to 200◦C and line a muffin tin.
- Place the ingredients in a bowl and mix – use a wooden spoon or beaters and beat until smooth
- Half-fill the paper cases with the mixture and bake for approx. 15 minutes or until cakes have risen and are golden brown.
- Remove from the tray and cool on a wire rack.
Lemon Curd!
Sometimes I make enough lemon curd for a recipe, sometimes I make a batch and fill jars with the stuff.
I store the jars in the freezer because although you can process them to make them shelf-stable, it isn’t for a long time. Maybe 3-4 months. At least if they are in the freezer, I know they will be ok.
As for a Lemon Curd recipe, I tend to just Google one when I am ready to make a batch.
Gluten-Free Lemon Bars
There is a Gluten-Free Lemon Bars recipe by Downshiftology I think is delicious.
You can find the recipe here – Gluten-Free Lemon Bars
If you are interested in clean eating, you should take a look at the Downshiftology website. I have tried a lot of the recipes and they are very tasty which is not always the case with “healthy” recipes.
Other Lemon Ideas
The zest is good in cheesecakes.
Lemon juice and sugar on pancakes.
Lemon Jelly. Or failed Lemon Jelly – Lemon Syrup. This turned into a huge win. I will be making this on purpose with next year’s harvest. I water bath the jars of Lemon Syrup to make them shelf stable.
I use lemon juice a lot in cooking – a splash here and there to brighten up a curry or butter chicken, or quinoa salad.
I preserve lemon juice in jars, water bath it to make it shelf stable then I have lemon juice on hand for years (not that it lasts that long). It is very handy to open a jar when I need it and it frees up freezer space.
If I do freeze it, I pour the juice into silicon cube trays, pop on a tray and freeze it. Once frozen, pop them out and into a Ziploc bag and back into the freezer. NOTE: If you are saving the zest then zest first before juicing the lemons.
I use the juice in hot drinks made with lemon juice, boiling water, honey and ginger.
Or a Lemon Drop Cocktail – refreshing on a hot summer afternoon. A splash of lemon juice in Cointreau on ice is good too.
It is delicious in a salad dressing with olive oil, honey and mustard.
Dehydrate slices of lemon. Store in a jar to use in whatever way you like, in tea is a good option. Or to decorate the top of your lemon cake.
Or you could powder the slices in a blender or spice grinder (I find the spice grinder to do the best job) and use them in place of lemon juice or zest or in a hot drink. I would suggest taking the rind off first as this can leave a very bitter aftertaste. Also, use sparingly, a little goes a long way.
Lemon Ideas for the Home
Did you know lemon is great for cleaning?
Here is a good article on how you can use lemons for cleaning – Cleaning with Lemon Juice
Personally, I like to put some squeezed lemons into a large jar, fill it with white vinegar and strain it off after a month or so. I add this to a spray bottle and use it to clean the bathroom and kitchen.
Processing Lemons
Lemon processing day can be labour-intensive and boring. But like anything worthwhile, it is worth doing, especially if you want to enjoy lemons all year round and not just at harvest time. Lemons seem to be that fruit that is all or nothing, either too many you cannot give them away or none at all.
I love working hard one day, to reap the rewards the rest of the year. Every time I need something lemony I can pop it out of the freezer or pantry shelf.
And of course, when you have had enough of processing, and you have enough for your own needs, you can share with friends, family or neighbours. Then everyone enjoys the bounty.
Alright, I am all ears. It is your turn to share. What is your favourite way to use lemons?
Cindy x