TBB - Lemon Posset Alma
Welcome to week 12 of the Alpha Bakers bake-a-long, an online project where a group of food bloggers bake our way through The Baking Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. Most of the recipes made during this project will not be shared, but I will post my commentary followed by a full photo tutorial.
This week's selection - Lemon Posset Alma.
Special ingredients and/or equipment needed - If you plan to make the shortcakes, this pan is recommended. Otherwise, 4-ounce ramekins work nicely.
Optional ingredients and/or equipment suggested - digital scale.
How does it taste - Like lemon heaven. It's absolutely divine.
How does it look - Smooth and creamy and oh so delicious.
Level of difficulty - Easy.
Were the directions clear - Yes.
What would I do differently next time - Continue to make just the lemon posset portion of the recipe. I'm sure the shortcakes are good, but I know the posset is the shining star here so just cut out all the fluff and make just the yummy posset. You're guests will not be disappointed, I promise.
Next up - Hamantaschen (Purim). Not sure I'll have time to bake this week, so we'll see.
Okay, here's my photo tutorial.
Note: I know we're not sharing the recipe for this lemon posset, but I made a different version a couple years ago and posted the recipe on the main page of my blog - feel free to check it out here.
This recipe calls for Meyer lemons - a cross between traditional lemons and tangerines. They're a little less acidic than common Eureka lemons.
I wanted to candy some of the lemon zest, so I used a channel knife to harvest strips of zest before I squeezed the juice out of them.
A citrus squeezer is the best tool I've found for getting every last bit of juice out of a lemon.
Combine the lemon juice and sugar together.
In a separate heavy-bottomed pan, scald the heavy cream. Scalding is bringing the cream up to the point where it's just about to start boiling. When you see bubbles form around the perimeter of the pan, turn off the heat.
Right about the time the cream is ready, the lemon/sugar should just be reaching the boiling point. Turn off the heat.
Immediately pour the scaled cream into the lemon/sugar mixture.
Stir until completely combined.
Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve.
This is why we strain.
Pour the posset into ramekins. Here's a tip for getting rid of those pesky bubbles.
Grab your handy dandy kitchen torch. You have one, don't you?
If you zap the bubbles with the flame of the kitchen torch, they magically disappear!
Chill for 4 hours and serve. I topped my possets with chopped candied lemon zest and fresh raspberries. They were amazing!