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.