Lemon Friands with lemon curd & Lemon Date Slice

Well with a 12 hour crop afternoon tea, dessert and an influx of lemons of my tree due to our giving it a trim and making it espaliered, means time to cook with lemons....

Lemon Friands with lemon curd

Man size portion the day later for morning tea.....mmmm

yes it looked much prettier last night but I forgot to snap a picture.

Ingredients

• 180g unsalted butter, plus extra to grease
• 250g icing sugar plus extra to dust
• 80g plain flour
• 125g almond meal
• 2 lemons, zested
• 5 egg whites
• 1 tbs lemon juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Blueberries and thick cream, optional, to serve

Lemon curd

• 4 lemons, washed, dried
• 4 eggs
• 340g caster sugar
• 250g unsalted butter
• 1 tbs cornflour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Lightly grease the pans with a little butter. (Friand tins are good, just be careful not too overfill, I only had enough mix for 10)
3. Place butter in a pan over low heat. When it has melted, cook it for 3-4 minutes until you start to see flecks of brown appear. Set aside to cool.
4. Sift the icing sugar and flour into a bowl and stir in the almond meal and lemon zest.
5. In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy (do not over whisk as you just need to loosen not aerate them). Add to the dry ingredients along with the melted butter, lemon juice and vanilla. Use a metal spoon to combine, then fill the moulds three-quarters full and place on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes until light golden (a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean).
6. Meanwhile, to make the lemon curd, finely grate the lemons zest. Use your hand to roll the lemons over a flat surface several times (this helps extract all the juice), then juice them.
7. Place all the ingredients in a heavy-based saucepan and stir to combine. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly to prevent it catching, for 10 minutes or until thick. (I did find it took almost 20mins and I added another spoon of cornflour slurry - but my lemons were very juicy - I also felt I couldn't waste the 4 egg yolks, so added them and another 1/4 cup of sugar to mine....worked a treat & I got two large jars of Curd - perfect for lots of other uses, the favourite around here will be on toast). Pour into a bowl and cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. If you wish to keep for longer, pour into a sterilised jar and seal while still hot. Keep refrigerated. 
8. Remove friands from oven and set aside for 5 minutes to cool before turning out.

To serve, allow the friands to cool completely, then dust with icing sugar and serve with a generous dollop of lemon curd, some fresh blueberries and thick cream, if desired.

Lemon Date Slice

This is a super easy family favourite

Ingredients

• 1 cup self raising flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup coconut
• 2 teaspoons lemon rind
• 1 cup chopped dates
• 125g melted butter
• 1 egg beaten

Method

Combine all indgredients and put into a greased slice tin @ 190* for 20 mins allow to cook in the tin.

Glaze with a lemon glaze by combining 1 cup icing sugar with 1 teaspoon butter melted and enough lemon juice to make it runny then pour over slice while still warm.

Cut into slices and try to keep it in a airtight container....but I know that's hard around here.

Enjoying mine with a nice Mocha this afternoon......ahhh gotta love a sunday!!!