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Week 1: The Cookbook Challenge - Lemon Mousse & Lemon Madeleines

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Week 1
Theme: Citrus
Cookbook Used: Bills Food
Author: Bill Granger

And so it begins! The first week of The Cookbook Challenge.
Having a sweet tooth, I have a feeling most of my recipes are going to be dessert orientated. But I have been trying to plan a few weeks in advance, as I look through my ever growing collection of cookbooks and magazines, and I assure you; there are going to be some surprises along the way. Some that will have you scratching your head, just like that smoked chicken cheesecake I showed you not that long ago!

So Bill Granger came off the shelf this week. I own all of his cookbooks. They have gorgeous pictures, and delicious recipes. I am hanging out for the day when I can go to Sydney to try his famous ricotta hotcakes. I have the recipe in one of the books to keep me going until then.

With the theme of citrus, I had many options to choose from. I went for a lemon mousse as I have never heard of one before. I had always made chocolate mousse, so lemon seemed like a refreshing option. With Melbourne's recent heat wave, it was EXTREMELY refreshing whilst trying to keep cool in front of the overworked fan.

The only problem with the mousse was my zest wasn't grated finely enough, so it was a bit grainy. I think a microplane zester is on my Christmas list, along with the Bourke St Bakery cookbook... for anyone listening *wink wink, nudge nudge*.

The madeleines were fantastic. Although I nearly burnt the first batch. They were rescued in time, and I didn't walk away whilst the other batches cooked.

And that's my recipe/s for the first round of The Cookbook Challenge!

Lemon Mousse

finely grated zest from 3 lemons
60ml (1/4 cup) lemon juice
185g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
4 eggs, seperated
150g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1. Put the lemon zest and juice, sugar and egg yolks in a double boiler and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly for about 10 minutes, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Whisk in small amounts of butter at a time. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

2. Whisk the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl until stiff peaks form.

3. Fold half of the beaten egg whites into the lemon mixture with a metal spoon, then fold in the remaining egg whites. Divide among four serving glasses and refrigerate until firm.

Serve with lemon madeleines.
Serves 4.

Lemon Madeleines

5 eggs
200g caster sugar
finely grated zest from 1 lemon
200g plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
180g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F/Gas6).

2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until they are pale and fluffy, then mix in the lemon zest. Add the flour, baking powder and butter, and fold everything together. Leave the mixture to rest for 5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into a greased madeleine tray, and bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or a little longer, depending on the size of the holes in your madeleine tray.

Voila! Bon Appétit!

12 comments:

I think the trick is to try and plan a few weeks in advance since we already know the themes!

The lemon mousse is unusual - was it very tart? Your madeleines are so cute too! What a fab combination!

You should really get a Microplane zester. So worth the money as it really can finely zest. I used to use one of those zesters which is really more like a "scraper" and the Microplane kicks its arse! :P

Oooh a lemon mousse - what a great idea! Love the madeleines. And I love desserts served in martini glasses - so cute!

I second Rilsta's comment for a microplane zester. A friend gave one to last year for Xmas and it is fantastic!

I LOVE the idea of lemon mousse!

YUM! I nearly bought a Madeleine tin last week - will go and get asap! How full did you fill the Madeline tin and how many did recipe make ?

Pretty! I love serving things in martini glasses, shame they are so annoying to store if you don't have much cupboard space. I'm hanging for a microplane as well! Come on Santa :)

Love the presentation! The martini glasses are so pretty. It looks summary! Citrus recipes are so good for summer :)

You are talking me into getting a microplane........ another item on my wishlist :)

Wow, nice effort! And great idea to pair the mousse with the madeleines - more bang for your citrus buck!

Looks and sounds yummy, well done. Like you, I'm a bit of a fan of Mr Granger - you'll definitely have to get yourself to his cafes one day as they're worth every mouthful!

My boyfriend would seriously love that lemon mousse! Hes a citrus addict!

Hi Rilsta - I have a notebook with all the themes and all the possibilities written down... although I've only gone through about 5 books though :P

Hi Agnes - Hopefully someone will give me one for xmas ;)

Hi Fiona - I love it too =D

Hi Kyla - Awesome! The recipe made at least 30! I fill them pretty much all the way up. Good luck!

Hi Conor - I love serving things in martini glasses too... but I'm running out of room for storing kitchen related items in my bedroom! Need to move out of home.

Hi Ellie - Thank you! Ah.. the never ending wish list ;)

Hi Belle - Haha! Indeedy!

Hi Chitchatchomp - Yay =) Another Bill Granger fan!

Hi Imasugarjunkie - Never heard of a citrus addict before! You should make it for him ;)

Oh gorgeous - lemon madeleines! I've been in love with them ever since Cumulus Inc. Was the mousse lemony enough?

Hi Vee - Thank you! The mousse was very lemony!

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