Watermelon Lemonade

From Smitten Kitchen, adapted from Bubby’s

Makes enough to fill two glasses with ice cubes; we quadrupled it to fill a pitcher. We already need more.

1/4 cup (2 ounces) fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup (4 ounces) fresh watermelon puree, strained through a coarse strainer to remove seeds
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) simple syrup*
3/4 cup (6 ounces) cold water

Stir it all together and serve over ice. Garnish it with a thin watermelon or lemon wedge, if you’re feeling fancy.

Persimmon Lemon Bars

Makes 12 bars

Ingredients for crust
8 low-fat graham crackers
2 tablespoons butter or trans-fat free margarine, softened
1 tablespoon water

Ingredients for filling
2 ripe persimmons, such as Hachiya, stemmed, chopped, pit discarded
3 lemons, zest and juice
4 whole eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Break the graham crackers and place them in a food processor. Process until fine crumbs form. Add the butter or margarine, and water. Pulse a few times until the crumbs are evenly moistened. Press into the bottom of an 8x8-inch pan.

Rinse out the bowl of the food processor. Add the persimmons and process until they're smooth. Add the lemon zest and juice, eggs, sugar and flour. Process until smooth. Poor the persimmon mixture over the crust and bake at 350 degrees F, uncovered, for 35 to 40 minutes until the topping is firm around the edge but still wiggles in the center. Cool completely and cover and chill at least 2 hours before slicing into 12 squares. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve immediately.

The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart

The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours

Makes 8 servings

1 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons
4 large eggs
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 4 to 5 lemons)
2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons (10-1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
1 fully-baked 9-inch tart shell

Getting ready: Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processor at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.

Set the bowl over the pan, and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. You want to cook the cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As you whisk -- and you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling -- you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as the cream is getting closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. (See my blog post about getting the cream up to temperature.) Heads up at this point -- the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking and don’t stop checking the temperature. And have patience -- depending on how much water you’ve got under the cream and how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.

As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of a blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream rest at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

Turn the blender to high (or turn on the food processor) and, with the machine going, add about 5 pieces of butter at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed while you’re incorporating the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going -- to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to beat the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.

Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and chill the cream for at least 4 hours or overnight. When you are ready to construct the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell.

Serving: The tart should be served cold, because it is a particular pleasure to have the cold cream melt in your mouth. Fruit coulis is nice with the tart, but not necessary, ditto a little crème fraiche. I know it sounds odd to offer something as rich as crème fraiche with something as rich as this tart, but it works -- because the lemon cream is so light and so intensely citric, it doesn’t taste or feel rich, a situation that is potentially dangerous and positively delightful.

Storing: While you can make the lemon cream ahead (it will keep in the frige for 4 days and in the freezer for up to 2 months), once the tart is constructed, it’s best to eat it the day it is made.

© Dorie Greenspan, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006
Photographs copyright © 2006 by Alan Richardson

--Dorie Greenspan

Lemonade Syrup

Ingredients:

* 1 1/2 cups sugar
* 1/2 cup boiling water
* 1 lemon of zest
* 1 1/2 cups lemon juice

Preparation:
Dissolve sugar in hot water, and remove from heat. Stir in lemon juice and lemon zest. Let cool and keep refrigerated. To make instant lemonade, mix 1/4 cup of syrup with 3/4 cup cold water. Serve over ice.

Ginger Lemon Pancakes

Pancake Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
2 Tbsp. molasses
1/4 cup butter, melted

Lemon Sauce Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Grated peel from 1 lemon

Pancakes:
In a medium mixing bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, and salt. In a large mixing bowl beat the egg, milk, molasses and butter until well combined. Add dry ingredients to the milk mixture and stir till blended. Batter should be a little lumpy. Pour batter onto a pre-heated, lightly greased griddle or skillet. Cook over medium heat till browned, turning once. Serve with Lemon Sauce.

Lemon Sauce:
In a small saucepan stir together sugar, cornstarch and salt. Whisk in water. Cook, stirring frequently until mixture comes to a boil and is thickened. Cook for 1 minute after reaching a boil. Remove from heat and stir in butter, lemon juice and lemon peel. Serve warm over pancakes.

Lemon curd

       Title: Lemon Curd
 Categories: Preserve, English
      Yield: 4 servings

           Grated rind and juice
           3 lemons
      2 lg Or 3 small eggs
      4 oz Butter
      8 oz Sugar

  Wash the lemons and grate the rind finely. Place the lemon juice,
  grated rind, butter and sugar in a bowl set over a saucepan of hot
  water. Stir until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved.
  Beat the eggs in a separate basin and add slowly to the lemon
  mixture, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon. Transfer to a
  saucepan and cook, stirring occa- sionally, until the curd thickens
  and coats the back of the spoon. Pour into warm jars, cover and
  seal.

Fills approx. 1 qt jar.