I feel I had to use up at least a few lemons from a bag that I bought early this week at Costco. Recently, 23 pcs pack cost 2500KRW nearby but I spotted this bag with roughly about a dozen pieces for 8000k. It's was time to make one of my dream pies and make some lemonade too!
1. Lemon Pie (originally a Lemon Meringue recipe)
Her apple pie is my go-to recipe for anything pie crust related. The lemon pie included a meringue recipe but as usual, the amount of sugar already in it made me skip that part. The filling itself needed 1.25 C to 1/3 C of cornstarch which I understand since we're dealing with the 1/2 C sour lemon juice. That is my limit. I know I can very well cut down the sugars and it will still be good.
Result: It was a bit on the sour side but the crust made up for it. I've rolled the crust a little bit too thinly and unevenly so there was a bit of extra that I had to trim off the edges which I baked separately used to scrape off the leftover filling from the saucepan. That is how I roll. ;)
I've also attempted on the 3-finger scrimping but it's still far from satisfactory. And I also tried to remove wax from the lemons in the microwave so I can zest it. It was magical. I know that nuking something can have some micro reaction invisible to the eyes but boy, I was able to get a lot more juice easier than by just rolling it before squeezing. That was a cool hack that I learned from experience today.
I don't understand exactly why Jenny Jones' called it Lemon Brownies on her site but I'll stick with simple squares even if I didn't end up cutting them into squares. :D As usual, the amount of sugar it requires really put me off and I cut down the 24 T to 20 T. (I doubled the recipe to fit the only available pan I had which is a rectangle one.) I also skipped the glaze and good thing I did because it was already too sweet even with all the sugar adjustments I've made. Imagine, 2 C of flour to 1.5 c of sugar and only used 2 T of lemon juice? I didn't see that coming but I do have an idea now. The west really uses more sugar than I can imagine and I've gotten used to adjusting the amount of sugar in these recipes. Nonetheless, I am thankful that a site like hers exist. It makes me realize some personal baking goals that might otherwise have been harder for me to tweak.
Now for the notes:
I can possibly triple the recipe to fill up my rectangle pan. (I might really consider getting a square pan in the future, along with a pie ring for my pies. My baking hobby can really be making on my budget.)
This is a fairly easy one to put together especially since I skipped the glaze part. It only needed 20 minutes in the 180 C oven.
As I've already mentioned, I need to adjust the sugar more next time. We used Nutella (yes, I bought it as a treat this month but it's a once in a blue moon thing) as a spread on it as if it wasn't sweet enough still. I do believe that lemon and chocolate will not be that bad. lol
This is nothing new in my regulars but I've doubled the recipe since I accidentally bought a taller muffin liner a week ago when I finally got a 12C muffin pan. (Can you even breathe though that sentence? Whew!) The original recipe filled the 6C pan with a bit more for another or two when I used the smaller liners. After my initial trial last weekend, I figured out that doubling the recipe (but not the yeast: 2.25 t to 3t) and using the tall liners will fill the whole 12C pan. Not so bad as I have a 200pc pack of liners that I had to use up. They're really big and filling.
I did half cinnamon and Nutella to jazz things up today. My son is pretty happy with the latter. It's a bit step up from the cocoa mix I used last week which he liked as well. But boy, cocoa powder can be pretty pricey if I use it that often. :D I made 12 cinnamon muffins but I added a dollop of N spread on the 6. Half and a half to even it up. If given a chance, I'll try the cheese next time. And raisins and nuts. If only not for my son... *sigh
The 6 cups of flour that I had to mix today fit perfectly in the 30cm stainless wok and the silicon pastry mat worked well as a cover while the dough rises.
It's almost 12 midnight and I have a smile on my face as I stare on the 4 containers filled with the baked goodies sitting on the table even though I still have to wash the remaining dishes and stuff before bed. So off I go now!
P.S.
Recently learned about free Alexa Music by decade and it has been good keeping me company at home even if I have to be doing some Korean stuff instead. THAT is for another post. ;)
Currently listening to the 60's now as it is already late night and I just feel a strong affinity to that era somehow. Late-night rambling effects.
