Lemon-Glazed Madeleines

My idea of a perfect madeleine: has a bump, is airy and springy, and must have nice seashell shape. And I finally found it thanks to David Lebovitz! I don't think I've ever made anything I regretted from him, everything always turns out delicious!




These madeleines didn't require much time to make. In fact, I left them in the refrigerator overnight and baked them in the morning. I used to use cooking spray for the pans but they would stick a bit and it would ruin the whole shape! Butter and flour is the way to go!

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Lemon-Glazed Madeleines

Adapted from David Lebovitz

Makes 24 madeleines

Madeleines:

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2/3 (130g) cup granulated sugar

Pinch of salt

1 1/4 (170g) cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

Zest of one small lemon

9 tbsp (120g) unsalted butter, melted and at room temperature

Lemon Glaze:

3/4 cup (150g) powdered sugar

1 tbsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice

2 tbsp water

Brush the madeleine mold with the melted butter. Dust it with flour, tap off the excess flour, and place it in the refrigerator.

In a medium bowl, whip the eggs, granulated sugar and salt until thickened, about 5 minutes. Spoon the flour and baking powder into a sifter and use a spatula to fold it in as you sift it over the egg mixture. Add the lemon zest to the cooled butter and drizzle it into the batter a few spoonfuls at a time while folding the batter to incorporate it.

Cover and chill the dough for at least one hour (and at most 12 hours).

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Fill the madeleine molds with about three quarters dough (don't spread it). Bake for 8-9 minutes.

While madeleines are baking, make the lemon glaze by stirring the lemon juice, powdered sugar and water together in a bowl until smoothe.

When madeleines are cool enough to be handled, dip one side of each into the glaze (the shell side) and rest them, glaze-side up, onto a cooling rack until glaze has cooled.

Tarte au citron - Lemon Tart

Celebrating name days is an important tradition for Greeks. Every name has a certain date associated to it to celebrate the memory of the saint bearing that name. When it's the name day of a member of my family, we always call them up to wish them a "Happy Name Day" and often have a dinner at somebody's house.

Last Friday was my sister's and grandmother's name day. They are both named Helen because of another Greek tradition which is less frequently used today. When a child is born, the parents would usually name it after the baby's father's parents (depending if it's a boy or a girl) and then name their next baby after the mother's parents (again, depending if it's a boy or a girl). If there would be a third baby, it would be named after the father's side again. This is why some families have 5 Nicks! This is a good way to keep some older Greek names around but many new parents do not follow this tradition today.

So we went over to my grandmother's house this weekend for dinner and I decided to make her une tarte au citron. I find lemon desserts to be even more delicious on hot summer days!

I made a tart shell using a Pâte sucrée, filled it with lemon curd and piped a decorative design with swiss meringue over the lemon curd. I finally got how to make swiss meringue, remember my first attempt? Then I made my boyfriend brown the meringue using a torch (I was afraid to melt the tart!). The recipes were adapted from the Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts.

Super Lemon Ice Cream

It's pretty clear that I'm obsessed with The Perfect Scoop by now! I've been making ice cream once a week. It's starting to get warm (we've been getting 20-25 degrees these past few days!!), so great timing!

If you live in Montreal or happen to be visiting, you must stop by Léo Le Glacier! Their gelato is amongst the best in the city, especially the lemon one I tried. It was so creamy, light and airy, not too lemony and not too sweet... the perfect lemon gelato for a warm summer day!

So I flipped through The Perfect Scoop and fell upon this Super Lemon Ice Cream. It sounded creamy, light and airy, just like the one I had from Léo Le Glacier.

The result: a delicious lemon ice cream that reminded me of lemon meringue pie (minus the crust, some cookies inside would have been nice) but not the one from Léo Le Glacier. Even if the taste was really good, the texture was disappointing. I left the ice cream out for about 20-25 minutes to defrost because it was really hard, and I couldn't form a decent scoop. Every time I would come close to getting a scoop, it would crumble!

Regardless the texture, this ice cream takes 10 minutes to make, tops. Plus 1 hour in the fridge to chill while you enjoy the beautiful weather :)

My cat Fofo watching me struggle to form a scoop!

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Super Lemon Ice Cream

Adapted from David Lebovitz

Makes about 1 Quart (1 Liter)

2 lemons, unsprayed

1/2 cup (100g) sugar

1/2 cup (125 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)

2 cups (500ml) half-and-half (I used 15% cream)

Tiny pinch of salt

Zest the lemons directly into a food processor or blender. Add the sugar and blend until very fine. Add the lemon juice and blend until sugar is completely dissolved. Blend in the half-and-half and salt until smooth.

Chill for 1 hour, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker.