INDIAN RIVER KITCHEN
ZEST FOR LEMONS
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BY DANIELLE ROSE
DANIELLE ROSE
A perfect way to end the lemon growing season is with this Meyer lemon pound cake, a showstopper of a dessert.
The versatile Meyer variety complements
sweet and savory recipes
iving in citrus country, fresh-squeezed orange juice and
bags of grapefruit are easy to come by all winter long.
So when it comes to backyard citrus, I choose a variety
I always need but can’t always find: the Meyer
lemon. It’s the most versatile citrus, balancing sweet and
savory dishes alike, and it’s always welcome in a cocktail.
The blossoms rival the scent of frangipanis in the summer,
and the branches are weighed down with big, juicy fruit from
fall to spring.
I’ve always been partial to key limes, but I’ve come to realize
Meyer lemons are the key lime of the lemon world. They
both have a delicate perfume that’s both floral and herbaceous,
unlike the simple, sharp acidity of their supermarket
counterparts. It’s true that Meyer lemons are not quite as
acidic as Eureka or Lisbon lemons, but I find they can be used
interchangeably in any recipe. The greatest distinction of
Meyer lemons is that you can use the whole fruit, from pulp
to peel, thanks to its thin skin with hardly a trace of pith.
The Meyer lemon is a cross between a lemon and a hybrid
of mandarin and pomelo. They’re named after Frank N.
Meyer, a food explorer for the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
who encountered them in China where they were grown
as ornamentals. He shipped cuttings back to the United
States in 1908. They grew in popularity as a backyard fruit,
but commercial growers were reluctant to plant them because
the fruit’s thin skin makes them fragile and difficult to ship.
Meyer lemon trees like full sun and they thrive in sandy,
well-drained soil. They like to be watered well, but infrequently.
They naturally grow about 10 feet tall, but they can
be pruned to any height, and even thrive and produce in
containers and as small shrubs. Once established, they often
produce two crops a year; a large crop in the winter and a
smaller one in the spring.
Once I’ve steeped peels in vodka for limoncello, frozen
juice for months to come and preserved them in jars of salt,
I like to end the season with this showstopper: Meyer lemon
pound cake. The buttery cake is speckled with lemon zest.
Warm lemon syrup is poured over the top as it cools. A lemon
glaze cascades over the sides, and even more zest is sprinkled
over the top. It’s pure sunshine, inside and out.
L