Hello sunshine yellow and lemony delights

Yellow is such a happy colour don't you think?  I love it when the yellow daisies start to flower in my front garden.


 To me yellow is also the colour that says summer. In Australia spring is on the wane and summer is moving in. My front garden is starting to put on its brilliant summer display -  red Coral Bush, purple/blue Agapanthus, yellow daisies, green kangaroo paws, pink hydrangers, roses, and sprawling nasturtiums. Someone called Agapanthus "Aggie's Pants" the other day - I love that.

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 In our back garden the grapes are starting to form, and we have put bags over the apricots on our apricot tree. We had an awful problem with fruit fly last year, due to changes to permittable chemical spray laws, and we had to throw away our whole crop due to fruit fly. "Natural" methods did not work for us at all. So we bought these fruit fly protection bags on the internet, and will see how we go this year. Down in the RHcorner you can see my honeysuckle - oh my the perfume is so sweet and delicious. I have a vase of it in my kitchen where I can smell it as I work.

There always seems to be at least a few lemons on our lemon tree, so the other day I made lemon butter, you might know it as lemon curd - so delicious spread on scones or bread. Some of our lemons are huge.

Here you can see the ingredients for the lemon butter - lemons, sugar, butter and eggs. My problem with the recipe is - how much is juice of three lemons? The amount of lemon juice will really determine the thickness of your lemon butter. 

Here is the recipe I use, taken from The CWA (Country Women's Association) Cookery Book - this recipe book has been a standard for Australian women since it was first published in 1936. It is still in print today. 

Lemon butter
500 grams (1lb) sugar, 250 grams (1/2 lb) butter, 4 eggs, juice of 3 lemons.
Grate rind of lemons and mix with juice and other ingredients in a jug or bowl. Stand over boiling water on stove. Stir until consistency of honey, but do not allow to boil. 
This took me about 1/2 hour. Bottle immediately. Makes about 3 jars. Store in the fridge. 

My lemons are very large and I thought the consistency should have been thicker.

Perfect on scones for morning or afternoon tea on the patio - or just spread on bread!

I also made these lemon puddings. What a lovely summer dessert they are. I found this recipe in a Coles supermarket June 2013 magazine.

Lemon custard puddings - makes 4
3 large eggs separated, 2/3 cup caster/superfine sugar, 2 teaspn grated lemon zest, 2 tblspn plain flour, 1 cup full-cream milk, 1/4 cup lemon juice, pinch salt, 2 tblspn flaked almonds toasted & coarsely crumbled (although I think you can omit the almonds) 

Heat oven to 180C or 160C fan forced.
Coat four 1-cup ramekins with butter. In a bowl whisk the egg yolks, sugar and zest until cream and pale yellow. Whisk in the flour and then the milk and lemon juice.
In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites for 2 minutes or until foamy. Add salt, increase speed to medium-high and beat for about 30 seconds or until soft peaks form. 
Gently fold the egg whites into the lemon batter. Fold in the almonds. The batter should be airy and loose. Divide batter equally between the ramekins. 
Place the ramekins in a baking dish lined with paper towell (this stops them moving about). Add enough boiling water to the baking dish to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake puddings for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown on top.
Carefully remove from baking dish and set aside to cool for 2 minutes.
Dust with icing sugar to serve.

And here are some delicious lemon tarts (I didn't make the one on the right).... and of course there is always lemon meringue pie - our family favourite

I have just been asked for the recipe for these lemon tarts. It is from Tartelette - do you know her food blog? Devine. She has used gluten free pastry whereas I just used a short crust pastry. Here is the link - Tartelette-lemon-tarts

We are moving into the time for stone fruit - peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines - my absolutely most favourite time of year.  I'm looking forward to making again this simple dessert - peaches with honey and nutmeg - but that's a story for another time.

So there you have it - yellow!
And I am reminded there is much to be thankful for.  I wish happy Thanksgiving for those of you in America who are celebrating this week with family and friends. 

 Do you have a lemon tree in your garden? What is your favourite lemon dessert? Please tell us in your comments.

Thank you for stopping by. I value your comments and look forward to hearing from you. Have a wonderful week.

I am linking up to Mosaic Monday, Our World Tuesday, Wednesday Around the World,  and What's It Wednesday.  Please click on the links to see fabulous contributions from around the world - virtual touring at its best!

Mosaic Monday
Our World Tuesday
Wednesday Around the World at Communal Global
What's It Wednesday

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