Lemon posset, ricotta buttercream cookies
We’ve been having a lot of ‘compost’ dinners this week. These meals arise from uninspired conversations I’ve had with our fridge. A cook’s salvage operation, if you will (now why isn’t that a cookbook title?).
Most recently, gradually petrifying parsnips were turned into a puree to serve with beef and braised mushrooms and a shrivelled green apple was peeled, diced and folded into brown sugar cake batter, topped with crumble. It’s all a bit of fun but at the same time makes me quietly thankful for things that do nothing but improve with age. Cucumber pickles, pu-erh tea and gingerbread, take a bow.
A neighbour left a bag of home grown lemons at our door recently. Shall we all agree that the best way to say hello to a cook and baker would be with lemons, not flowers? Lemons are one of those great contributors to any compost meal – it doesn’t take much of this great ingredient to add a surprising spark to curries and a fragrant lift to some sauces.
In this instance, I returned the favour with a tin of semolina cake drenched in lemon vanilla syrup. The juice also went into dressing a cabbage salad and lots of grated rind flavoured a marble cake and butter cookies. If like me, you have also been finding yourself rediscovering the simple, classic things in life, you won’t be at all surprised to hear that stirring freshly squeezed lemon juice into warm cream and sugar makes for a pretty damn good dessert!
Lemon posset :
(potentially enough for 2 if you’re trying to be polite)
1 cup thick cream
4 tablespoons sugar
juice and zest of 1 large lemon (you will want at least 2 tablespoons of juice, or a bit more if you like zingy lemon desserts)
Bring cream, sugar and lemon zest to boil in a pan, making sure all the sugar is dissolved. Whisk in the lemon juice and strain into two cups or ramekins. Chill overnight or for at least 4 hours. Eat.
Rosa said,
August 2, 2012 @ 5:24 pm
Divine! Those must be highly addictive.
Cheers,
Rosa
leaf (the indolent cook) said,
August 2, 2012 @ 10:47 pm
I agree that fresh homegrown lemons are such a great gift. Posset looks lush… I like the sound of the cake you gifted in return, too!
Hannah said,
August 3, 2012 @ 12:32 am
Never in my life have I had a posset, but with a name that whimsical, it must be heavenly. I’m dying to try recreating a vegan version now! Do you ever find other flavors of posset out in the world? I’ve only heard of Lemon posset before, so I can’t help but wonder.
Laura said,
August 3, 2012 @ 12:54 am
I agree, give me lemons over flowers any time. I am trying to make preserved lemons, need to find a recipe.
I didn’t know what a posset was until now.
Lovely cookies too.
sara said,
August 3, 2012 @ 5:33 am
I never knew what a posset was before reading this post, but sounds fantastic! And those cookies are super cute. Yum!
pizzarossa said,
August 3, 2012 @ 7:05 pm
Oooooh, you have solved my dessert dilemma! We are having guests this weekend and lemon posset served in ramekins with a little twirl of candied lemon peel on top will be just perfect! 🙂
InTolerantChef said,
August 9, 2012 @ 6:49 pm
Hmmmm, I don’t think ‘polite’ and dessert go hand in hand- I don’t want to share this yumminess with anyone 🙂
di said,
September 18, 2012 @ 6:12 pm
Could I please have the recipe for the cookies. Lemon Posset sounds wonderful, but the cookies look so very good.
Y said,
September 19, 2012 @ 8:51 am
Hi di! I’m currently away and don’t have the recipe with me. I’ll write a post soon with a recipe.
Dessert nut said,
September 20, 2012 @ 12:38 pm
would love the recipe for the cookies. I made the posset and it was divine but it needs the crunch of the cookies, or something