No Sour Lemons Here

A winter favourite - light and fluffy, tangy and velvety - the perfect lemon self-sauce pudding.

My brave daughter handled getting her wisdom teeth extracted like a real trouper. Having me there with her seemed to make a difference. I didn't do anything except offer my support and motherly tender loving care. I spent eight days in Melbourne, much colder than I'm used to, but I slept well at night. It's funny being away from home. Things you least expect appear out of the blue and I was pleasantly surprised. Two lots of news. Being asked to join the committee to organise a christmas ball at the end of the year. A ball? I don't even own a long dress. Anyhow, sounds like fun so I say okay. Actually, I don't even say okay, I'm virtually told I'm needed and that's it! It feels nice to be needed.

The other bit of news blew me down with a feather. I received an email from a community newspaper editor saying a survey was conducted with readers asking them what they wanted to see more of in the paper. More cooking apparently. She tells me she immediately thought of yours truly. Would I be interested in my very own cooking column? It took me a whole one second to think it over. I replied, sure thing. The good thing is it's only once a month, so it's not at all daunting.

No more than 400 words, a recipe, tips, my own photography and oh know, a head shot of myself attached to the article. Oh well, a good excuse to get an overdue haircut and colour as soon as possible. Wow, I'm pretty wrapped. My very own cooking column - takes some sinking in.

I made a Lemon Delicious Pudding, emailed my intro, text, recipe, tips and photos to the editor and braced myself for the critique. I received a big thumbs up. Words like 'true pro' and 'perfect' were used. I'm feeling chuffed and it's now official. Thank goodness for Through My Kitchen Window. My little blog has been so helpful to me, especially in the picture taking department. I'm grateful.

Lemon Delicious Pudding

Ingredients:

Zest of 1 lemon, finely chopped

90mls lemon juice, strained
60gm unsalted butter
180gm caster sugar
3 eggs, separated
40gm self-raising flour
300mls tepid milk

 Method:

1.       Preheat fan-forced oven to 150degreesC. Butter an ovenproof serving dish.

2.       Using electric hand beaters mix the butter & zest till creamy. Set aside 1 tablespoon of sugar; add remaining sugar to mixture; beat approx. 3 mins. Don’t worry if mixture looks clumpy; this is due to the higher ratio of sugar to butter.

3.       Add egg yolks; beat till well combined.

4.       Add flour & 1/3 of milk; beat till just combined. Stir through remaining milk. Set aside.

5.       Scrape the beaters well; clean thoroughly. Take a clean bowl, beat egg whites 1 min. Add reserved 1 tablespoon sugar; mix couple of minutes till peaks are achieved which can still ‘ribbon’ from the beaters. We don’t want firm, glossy eggwhites which requires a heavier hand during folding.

6.       Using a balloon whisk, gently mix lemon juice into butter mixture; it should resemble a smooth batter. Place half eggwhites into batter; fold through gently. Repeat process with remaining eggwhites.

7.       Pour into prepared dish; stand in a large baking tin; add hot water till halfway up sides of the dish. Bake for 50-60mins. Remove from water bath; best when cooled for 30 mins. Delicious with cream. Serves 6-8.

I'm going to be curious to see which photo is selected. Nicka likes the top one best, but compliments all round from her. I laughed my head off - as she viewed twenty of the photos, she said, 'mum I'd really like to eat some pudding please'. I guess that's the ultimate compliment really and says it all. Happy Days.