I came across bags of Meyer Lemons at Cold Storage and was thrilled to try making something with them. Meyer Lemons taste like a cross between mandarin oranges and regular lemons, not as tart and has a sweet aroma. A quick online search led me to Martha Stewart’s Meyer Lemon Pastry recipe and since I have a frozen puff pastry packet sitting in my freezer, I decided to make this.
Turned out it’s a really simple recipe and the lemon topping is none other than a marmalade. Sliced lemons are simmered in simple sugar syrup – even though the recipe calls for 1.5 hours, I burned mine during first attempt by following the timing suggested by the recipe; so I made a new batch and reduced the timing to 40 minutes, yielding a beautiful result of sliced lemons that were translucent and coated with syrup. I have no idea what sanding sugar is (used to sprinkle over the puff pastry), so I substituted that with granulated sugar before chilling the puff pastry in the ice box prior to baking.
In the end, I didn’t quite like the taste of the finished pastry, so I added whipped mascarpone topping to neutralize the slight bitterness.
Meyer Lemon Pastry (adapted from source)
Ingredients
2 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
6 Meyer lemons, thinly sliced
1 package frozen puff pastry (14 ounces), thawed
All-purpose flour, for surface
1 large egg, lightly beaten, for egg wash
Fine sanding sugar, for sprinkling
Directions
Bring water and granulated sugar to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.
Cut out a circle of parchment the size of the saucepan. Add lemons, and cover with parchment. Simmer gently until lemons are soft and translucent, about 40 minutes.
Remove lemons from syrup, and transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet to drain.
Preheat oven to 230 degrees Celsius. Roll out puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to an 11-by-14-inch rectangle. Lightly score a 1-inch border around edges using a sharp paring knife. Brush entire surface of dough with egg wash, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
Bake pastry until golden, 22 to 24 minutes. Let cool completely.
Top pastry with lemon slices.
Serve with whipped cream or mascarpone [Optional].
Nomz,
-MB.
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