Delicious Lemon Dessert Recipe from Sorrento Italy | how to cook that Ann Reardon

butter

🥗Healthier: coconut oil

💰Cheaper: margarine

Coconut oil offers a dairy-free option with similar texture.

cream

🥗Healthier: Greek yogurt

💰Cheaper: milk + cornstarch

Greek yogurt reduces calories while maintaining creaminess.

sugar

🥗Healthier: honey

💰Cheaper: brown sugar

Honey adds natural sweetness with a unique flavor.

flour

🥗Healthier: almond flour

💰Cheaper: all-purpose flour

Almond flour is gluten-free and adds a nutty flavor.

Put cream into a bowl.

Add sugar and the rind of two lemons (or three if small).

Stir and cover, then leave in the fridge to infuse.

For the sponge cake, combine potato starch, normal flour, sugar, lemon rind, 2 eggs, and 1 egg yolk in a mixer.

Add half of a vanilla bean, scraping the seeds into the mixture.

Whisk together for a few minutes until pale and fluffy.

Sift in the two flours to aerate and remove lumps, then gently fold until no flour is visible.

Scoop the mixture into a greased hemisphere mold or silicone cupcake tin, filling them to the top.

Bake in the oven until golden.

Measure out 70 ml of limoncello (or substitute with lemon juice for non-alcoholic).

In a pan, combine water, sugar, and lemon rind; heat until sugar dissolves.

Remove from heat and add limoncello, then set aside to cool.

For the lemon curd, whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl.

In a pan, heat lemon juice, lemon rind, and vanilla until sugar dissolves.

Pour the hot mixture into the egg yolks and whisk.

Strain through a sieve back into the pan to remove lemon peel and vanilla pod bits.

Return to heat and stir until thickens, then cool to about 40 degrees Celsius.

Add butter and blitz until smooth to make lemon curd.

For lemon pastry cream, combine cream, milk, vanilla seeds, and lemon rind in a pan over heat.

In another bowl, whisk egg yolks with cornstarch, salt, and sugar until smooth.

When cream starts boiling, pour some into egg yolks and whisk, then return to the pan.

Whisk continuously over heat until thick, then strain to remove lemon rind and vanilla bits.

Cover with plastic wrap to prevent skin forming and cool in the freezer.

Strain the infused cream and whip on high speed until soft peaks form.

Add some limoncello sugar mixture to the pastry cream and mix.

Add lemon curd and fold together, then place in a piping bag.

Fill the sponge cakes by inserting the nozzle and squeezing until full.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens