Recipe | Lemon Powder Puffs

The macaron’s casual cousin, resembling a make-up compact. Best made and eaten on the same day. Now there's a challenge...

Makes 12

4 egg whites
250g caster sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
250ml double cream
100g lemon curd
Icing sugar, to dust

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/ Gas 4. Draw 24 5cm circles onto two pieces of baking paper with plenty of space around each circle. Place these drawing-side down onto two baking sheets

2 Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Add the sugar and continue beating until glossy, then slowly add the lemon zest and vanilla to the meringue mixture, taking care not to over mix. Meanwhile sieve together the flour and baking powder, then fold carefully but thoroughly into the meringue mix.

3 Transfer to a large plastic bag and snip off a small corner ready to pipe. Pipe the mixture onto the baking paper using the circles as a guide to create neat(ish) rounds. Bake in the oven for 10-12 mins, or until golden brown and risen. Allow to cool on the baking tray for 5 mins before transferring to a wire rack to fully cool.

4 While the puffs cool, whip the double cream to a spreadable consistency. Spread 12 puffs with cream, then top each with a teaspoon of lemon curd and place a plain puff on the top. Dust with icing sugar and serve

This recipe is just one of the classic bakes and surprising sandwiches featured in our April issue in our ‘bring-a-bake afternoon tea party’ menu by Lottie Storey. You can find the rest of the recipes and ideas, including Jamaican Ginger Cake, Gin Thyme Lemonade, Pistachio and Chocolate Pinwheels, Earl Grey Tea Loaf, Strawberry Sandos, Curried Egg Mayo Sandwiches and more beginning on page 32.

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More from our April issue…

More ideas for afternoon tea…

Lemon posset pots with ginger crunch

Easy to make ahead, and refreshing with orange and mint

Serves 8
600ml double cream
150g caster sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
150g stem ginger biscuits
1 orange
1 small bunch fresh mint

1 Place the cream, sugar and lemon juice into a large saucepan and bring to the boil, simmer for 4 mins, stirring constantly to avoid it catching on the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

2 Once cooled, tip the mixture into a jug and pour into small vintage glasses (you could also use pretty china tea cups, ramekins or wine glasses). Chill for at least 4 hours in the fridge to firm up.

3 Roughly crush the stem ginger biscuits using a pestle or heavy-duty rolling pin and scatter on
top of the possets.

4 Finely slice the skin of the orange so you get a flat piece of orange peel. Cut it into thin strips with a sharp knife and arrange the strips of zest on top of the biscuits. Top each glass with a couple of small, fresh mint leaves and serve.

Turn to page 22 of the April issue for more from our salon Gathering, including Beetroot & horseradish dip, Mixed olives with lemon zest, Asparagus spears with parma ham & toasted almonds, Spring lemon & cardamom chicken, Rainbow roasted carrots with cumin and Jewelled couscous with watercress, peppers & pomegranate.

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View the sampler here.

More from the April issue:

More pudding recipes:

Recipe: Lemon meringue pie

A classic lemon meringue pie is a joy. Zingy lemon curd sitting inside a buttery, crumbly pastry case, all covered with a blanket of fluffy, white meringue. This recipe is from Jasper, courtesy of his mum, Julia.

Serves 4–6
FOR THE PASTRY
225g plain flour
1⁄2 tbsp caster sugar
170g butter, chilled and diced
1 egg yolk, beaten with 2 tbsp water

FOR THE LEMON CURD
110g butter
170g caster sugar
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
3 eggs, beaten

FOR THE MERINGUE
3 egg whites
150g caster sugar

1 To make the pastry, place flour and sugar in a bowl and rub in the cold butter until it looks like breadcrumbs. 
2 Add half the beaten egg yolk and water and bring pastry together with your hands. Add a little more water if it needs it. Don’t knead, but shape into a round, 2cm thick. Cover with cling film and place in the fridge for 30 mins or up to 24 hours. You can also make the pastry in a food processor. If you have any egg wash left, reserve it for brushing over the pastry after the blind baking. Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160C/350F).
3 Take a 23cm metal tart tin with removable sides. Put pastry between 2 sheets (larger than your tart tin) of cling film. Using a rolling pin, roll it out until it is 3mm thick. Make sure to keep it round, and large enough
to line the base and sides of the tin.
4 Removing just the top layer of cling film, place the pastry upside down (cling film side up) into the tart tin (no need to flour or grease the tin). Press the pastry into the edges, cling film still attached and, using your thumb, ‘cut’ the pastry on the edge of the tin. It should look quite neat. If there are any holes or gaps, patch with some spare pastry. Remove the cling film and chill the pastry case in the fridge for 15 mins or the freezer for 5 mins.
5 Bake blind by lining the pastry with baking parchment, fill with baking beans or dried pulses and bake for 20–25 mins in the oven until the pastry feels just dry to the touch on the base. Remove the paper and beans, brush with a little egg yolk and water and return to oven for 3 mins. Again, if there are any little holes or cracks in the pastry, just patch it up with any leftover raw pastry as the filling will leak out of these in the oven if not patched up. Once the pastry is baked blind, take out of the oven and set aside in the tin to cool. This can be easily made a day in advance and covered until you need it. Leave the oven on at the same temperature.
6 To make the lemon curd, over a very low heat melt the butter with the sugar, lemon zest and strained juice. Add the beaten eggs and stir carefully over a low heat until the mixture has thickened and will coat the back of a spoon, holding the mark that your finger makes when you draw a line through it. Take off the heat and pour into a bowl to cool. Scoop the cooled lemon curd into the cooled pastry shell and set aside.
7 For the meringue, put the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl and, using an electric whisk, beat until they hold stiff peaks. Next, add 1 tbsp of the sugar and continue to whisk until stiff, then fold in the remaining sugar. Spread the meringue over the lemon curd to fill the tart tin, using the back of a spoon to lift up little snowy meringue peaks all over the top.
8 Place the pie in the oven and bake for 10 mins until deep golden on top. Remove from oven and leave to stand for 5 mins before transferring from the tin to a serving plate.

Taken from Recipes from My Mother by Rachel Allen (Harper Collins) 

More from the March issue:

More cake recipes:

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