Fortune Teller~Lemon~Isabelle Lambert~

I have made soo many of  Isa's recipes through the years~

I can be a fortune teller~

My crystal ball..

can predict some futures.. 
...2 crystal balls can predict more than some:)

Remember I wrote about Isabelle Lambert's book Citron..w/  a recipe?
Many of you asked if the book was available in English and it was not.
Guess what?
Now it is..

LEMON...

She has several cookbooks and they are all fabulous.

Available at ..

Amazon Canada..hurry 2 copies left
Amazon US
Chapters/Indigo
Archambault

I love her books..this one..translated into English..is no exception..
fab photos..more than fab recipes..
over 100 recipes featuring lemon from apps to desserts.

Case in point..   her Lemon Meringue Pie I made w/ Swiss Meringue..

I had never made Swiss meringue..fun..fun fun.

I picked her lemon meringue pie.. and it's not your every day lemon pie..it is very special..I remember  when my mom made lemon pie..when the meringue got wet sitting on the lemon and slid off:)

This didn't happen..you make the filling ahead..spoon it into your crust..(see below..)****
and pipe this gorgeous Swiss Meringue on top.

Jacques loved it..

Here is the below..***

I made 2 small ones instead of 1 large..I had frozen 2 pastry shells I made..so I used those instead of her sweet crust pastry..I assure you I have made this and it makes the pie a tart/pie..pie/tart..so excellent.
A sweet dough pastry makes it almost like a shortbread..

But when I want to make something..and I don't want to waste anything..I adapt recipes..
So I blind baked my 2 small pie crusts..

and made 2.. a bit too much filling:) And not enough Swiss meringue ..but look I went crazy piping..it was going so well..follow HER recipe and you will be spot on delicious.

My prediction? Years ago..I predicted this girl would be famous:)

La Recette~

It takes a few steps..but worth it..sure to be in your "special" recipe file.

For the shortcrust pastry

2/3 cup softened butter
1 cup icing sugar
1/4 cup ground almonds
pinch of salt
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour

In a food processor,cream butter and icing  sugar,add ground almonds ,salt, egg and vanilla ,pulse to combine thoroughly  add flour and pulse  until  a bll dough forms .Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill 2 hrs..

(I find this recipe alone is a keeper for other tarts,pies)

Pre-bake

Preheat oven to 350F Butter and flour a 9 inch pie plate and line w/ uniformly spread pie dough (she may have used a removable bottom fluted tart tin)..
Prick shell w/ fork. Cover with buttered parchment.
Fill w/ dry beans and bake 15 minutes.
Remove beans and parchment and continue to bake 15 more minutes or until edges are golden.

Lemon Cream

1 cup of sugar
fine zest of 3 lemons
4 large eggs
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/4 cup unslated butter cut in pieces ,room temp.


Fill a saucepan w/ 2 inches of water and simmer..Place sugar and zest in a heat resistant bowl
Rub sugar and zest w/ fingers
Beat in eggs, the lemon juice
Place bain-marie bowl over simmering saucepan and whisk once mixture is a bit warm.
Cook whisking constantly until mixture reaches 180F.Cream will become lighter and foamy then bubbles will grow as it reaches 180F.Mixture will be thick and whisk will leave no trace..
Do not stop whisking until temp reaches 180F.
Remove from heat and strain mixture over a food processor or mixing bowl.Discard zest.Let sit until temp reaches 140F about 10 minutes.
With mixer running on high..add butter 5 pieces at a time..scrape sides if necessary.
Leave machine running another 3 minutes.
Pour lemon cream in a container and cover w/ plastic wrap.
Refrig 4 hrs or overnight.
Cream will keep 4 days in fridge or 2 months in freezer..defrost overnight in fridge.

For The Swiss Meringue.

2 egg whites 
1/2 cup sugar.

Place egg whites and sugar in a round bottomed bowl.
Heat a saucepan of water and place bowl on top to make a bain-marie.
Beat with hand mixture until mixture is hot..At this stage meringue will be very white and shiny.
Remove from heat and continue to beat until cool.

Assembly..

Whip lemon cream  with a hand mixer and pour into cold crust Even out top w/ a spatula..Refrigerate 1 hr.
Place Swiss meringue in a piping pag w/ fluted tip and  cover top of lemon cream w/ meringue.
Using a blowtorch,brown top of meringue..

Jacques loved it~

Apart from the meringue you can make things a head of time..day of presenting this fab dessert do the meringue and there you have a pastry shop worthy wow and delish dessert.

Have a great weekend~


PS  My Gardenbuddy Arlene..fab photographer and ukelele virtuoso:)  ..well we were emailing..about being little and ever since she was small she had a camera around her neck:)

She has also been in a way a camera buddy..100 yrs ago she went to Staples and bought my Sony for me and sent it to me..yrs later because mine broke after yrs of loving it..she sold me her old one:)

We both got into DSLRs at about the same time..she a Nikon..me and Oly and a Canon..recently she bought a mirrorless and I followed suit..
I was saying that it was so grey I was not doing much shooting..
she mentioned these bubbles that stay like bubbles in the cold.
I made some..she sent me the instructions..and I blew bubbles and took pics yesterday.

Thank you Arlene:)

 Up above..Arlene to the left  with the camera:)

Don't you just love it?
The ankle socks..crinoline and Brownie around her neck?
I spot a corsage too..
This is Lucas' grade! So cute.