Pavlovas with Meyer Lemon Curd and Fresh Berries
It seems that the warm summery weather we experienced two weeks ago was just a cruel, cruel joke. Not funny Boston. Not at all.
Over a month ago, when the weather was much like it has been the last week (dark… gloomy… wet… depressing…), I was using happy meyer lemons to substitute for the absent SUN, and I made these pavlovas and a meyer lemon curd. They were fun, light and bright, and rather uncharacteristic for me since they weren’t a cookie and didn’t have a crust! Pavlovas are meringues that are crispy on the outside, but fluffy and marshmallow-y inside, a textural dream. The tart lemon curd is rich and lemony; a little goes a long way because the pavlovas and whipped cream are just ever so lightly sweetened. Now that the berries are really coming into season and I’ve taken a peek at the 10 day forecast (more un-summer-like weather), I think I should make these again SOON!
For those that hate wasting anything in the kitchen like me (it’s my asian-ness), you’ll be happy to see that the number of egg WHITES in the pavlovas corresponds exactly to the number of egg YOLKS needed for the lemon curd… serendipity! I was left with quite a bit of lemon curd left over- which would seem to pose another kitchen conundrum- but stay tuned for how my resourcefulness prevailed!
Lemon Blackberry Olive Oil Cake
I have been in denial about the arrival of Fall for the last month. I have nothing against Fall itself, in fact, since moving out here to the Northeast and witnessing the dynamic kaleidoscope of color in the trees, it’s arguably the best season out here. I love the crisp coolness in the air (usually very welcome after months of the sweltering summer humidity) and the fashion accessories that come with it: scarves, hats, boots, and jackets. Every year, I eagerly await pumpkin-spiced lattes, pumpkin scones, and pumpkin ale; I look forward to the arrival of varieties of squash and apples and their associated recipes of soups and pies. The only part of Fall that I DON’T look forward to is what inevitably follows Fall…the season that shall not be named (but rhymes with splinter and starts with a ‘w’). But now that we’ve already turned on the heater a few nights this past week and I’ve come down with my annual summer-to-fall-season-change bug, I can no longer deny that Fall is HERE.
As a corollary to my denial, I have not yet allowed myself to start baking with fall produce. Instead, I’ve been scrambling to bake with the last of summer’s fantastic bounty (peaches, berries, and plums) before they disappear until next year.
Enter this delightfully summery lemon-infused berry olive oil cake. Lemon zest is rubbed into the sugar, to release the essential oils, and when combined with fruity olive oil creates a mild, yet elegantly flavored cake. I put in some beautiful blackberries that I spotted at Whole Foods, and am so glad that I did because I haven’t seen them around since!
The cake is moist and rich, perfumed with lemon and olive oil. The lemon flavoring reminds me of this fantastic lemon confection because both cakes merely suggests the essence of lemon rather than smacks you in the face with lip-puckering acidity. But this cake is heart healthy in comparison, with less than half the amount of butter and egg yolks. I baked two of these beauties in one week (another testimony to the recipe’s greatness- an everyday cake that can be baked on a weekday!); after tasting the first, it didn’t survive to see outside of our apartment so I had to bake a second to share with others!
Berry Scones
I’ll admit it, I’m a total scone-a-holic. I blame it on the bakery on the first floor of my building, Mariposa Bakery, which offers at least 3-4 different kinds of freshly baked scones every day. Cherry walnut, orange currant, strawberry oatmeal, blueberry lemon… I know (have tasted) them all! Before them, I had no idea of the beauty of a good scone (its addictive powers!) and its infinite flavor combinations; my experiences pre-Mariposa were restricted to the Starbucks ones which are good, but not excellent, and taste a bit paste-y in comparison, likely because they are not baked the day of or on site. Mariposa’s scones are crisp on the outside, yet light and soft on the inside, slightly buttery but not too cake-y, more dense than a muffin, but not at all dry or overly sweet. It’s quite dangerous living in such close proximity to these delectable biscuit-like vehicles of butter and fruit, and I have to stop myself from stopping in there every morning on my way to lab. I save Mariposa scones for special days, when meeting friends there for a caffeine fix away, or for heavy lab days with 12+ hour timecourses or full Saturdays/Sundays.
The thing about scones is that though they are actually very simple to bake, they really taste the best the day of, while their outsides are still crisp and crunchy in contrast to the fluffy inside. This is simultaneously my excuse for consuming entire batches by myself within 12 hours as well as my excuse for NOT baking them to begin with as a preventative measure against eating an equivalent of a stick of butter in scone form.
Of course, there are some mornings (like yesterday) where my stomach DEMANDS scones, and with the prospect of spending the better part of a sunny 70 degree and not humid day in lab, I gave into my craving and baked these berry lemon scones. I couldn’t decide between blueberry lemon or strawberry orange, and so I just put in BOTH blueberries and strawberries- which resulted in these rather patriotic scones.
I’ve posted a scone recipe before, but I am always searching for a recipe that results in scones similar to the gold standard of Mariposa’s. There are endless permutations of scone recipes: buttermilk vs. cream, egg vs. no egg, obscene amounts of butter vs. less obscene amounts of butter… I have always been tempted to do comprehensive testing and comparison of these recipes, however have always been deterred from this endeavor in light of the issue elaborated above (wherein I eat the whole batch in one day). This recipe is CLOSE to those heavenly Mariposa scones.. it’s got the crisp exterior and biscuit-like interior, whereas previous attempts have resulted in more cake-y like interiors (which are good too! I just prefer less cake). Checking back to previously tried recipes, I find that the difference is that there is less butter (!!) and less liquid. In the end, I think this is close.. very close… for next time I would either use a fattier liquid (heavy cream) or 2 tablespoons more butter to see if I get even closer to Mariposa’s!
Berry Scones
adapted from Orangette
makes 8-12 scones
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup diced strawberries and blueberries
lemon zest from 1 lemon
- Preheat oven to 425 F.
- Beat together the milk and the egg and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt. Rub the butter into the flour mixture (or cut using a pastry blender, or process using a food processor..) working until you have no lumps bigger than a pea. Add the sugar and whatever additions you choose, and stir or toss to mix.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, reserving just a tad of the milk-egg mixture to use as a glaze. Bring the dough together gently with a wooden spoon or spatula.
- Turn dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead no more than 12 times. (My dough was a bit sticky so I had to add a bit more flour).
- Pat dough into a round approximately 1/2 inch thick, and cut into 8 or 12 wedges. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
- Using a pastry brush, glaze wedges.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack.
- Attempt, and fail, at eating less than 2 of these the day they are baked.
