Lemon Meringue Cream Puffs

I've had the idea for Lemon Meringue Cream Puffs hanging out in my head for a while now. It was palling around with a whole bunch of useless information and some useful things, too. :) 


I saw some lemon meringue donuts on TV and thought that a cream puff sounded good because it's not sweet like a donut. Don't get me wrong, I love sweet things but, you might want to sit down for this, sometimes things can actually be too sweet. That's the beauty of a cream puff. It's as sweet or savory as you make it. Why? There's no sugar in cream puff batter. 

While I was thinking this recipe through and deciding how it would play out I realized that I needed a small kitchen torch. Then I got all excited that once I purchased a torch I could do all sorts of fun things in the kitchen. One of the sweet things I enjoy is crème brûlée so I'll be making some in the very near future with my handy little torch.

Lemon Meringue Cream Puffs

For this recipe you will need to make a lemon Curd, cream puffs, and the meringue. It sounds like a lot, but they are fairly simple things to make.

Lemon Curd Filling

1 cup sugar

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, about 6 lemons

½ cup butter, melted

2 eggs

zest of two lemons 

Combine all ingredients in a large microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 1-minute intervals, stirring to combine, for about 4-11 minutes, depending on your microwave power. Mine is 1100 watt and I cook it for 5 minutes. You will know it's done when it thickens and coats the back of the spoon. If you want to check the temp, it should be between 185-190ºF. Chill to firm curd. The curd can stay in the fridge for at least two weeks in a container with a tight fitting lid.

Left, before cooking. Right, after.

 Cream Puffs

1 cup water

1 cup flour

½ cup (1 stick) butter

4 eggs

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Heat water and butter to full rolling boil. Stir in flour. Reduce heat to low and continue to stir until well mixed and the dough balls up. remove from heat and add all the eggs at once. Rapidly stir until will blended and starts to ball again. I use a cookie scoop that is 3 tablespoon capacity to drop onto ungreased (I use parchment paper) cookie sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes until golden. Makes about 14 cream puffs.Cool on wire rack.

Left, after adding flour. Right, after adding eggs. Dough is ready for baking.

Meringue

3 egg whites

¼ tsp cream of tartar

6 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

With a stand/hand mixer beat egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed until foamy. Slowly add the sugar while continuing to beat on high. When mixture starts to get to soft peak or stiff peak consistency add the vanilla. I chose to do soft peak but you can do stiff peak. This is how you know the difference: when you lift the beaters soft peaks will fold over and stiff peaks will stay pointy.

 Now it's time to assemble the puffs. To make filling the cream puffs easy I use a cake decorator with a pointy tip attachment and finding a crack in the top or side of the puff, insert the cake decorator and fill with about 2 tsp. You can't see the inside so you just have to guess on this part. If it starts to run out of the puff, you have definitely filled it enough. 

After all the cream puffs are filled, spoon meringue on top. Now the fun begins. It's time to play with the torch. Just lightly toast the meringue and you are done. Store in the refrigerator. 

Enjoy!

Until next time!

The Chef's Table

We recently experienced The Chef's Table on board the Carnival Paradise. It was our first time trying anything like this and I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner.


 If you aren't an adventurous eater, it's probably not for you. If you are, don't hesitate to try it the next time you have the opportunity. I can honestly say that we had food that I had tried in the past and didn't care for, but loved during our dining experience.

We usually don't eat "fancy" food but it was amazing. I would definitely do it again!!

The reception

This is how it works. You can sign up to participate (there is an extra fee) either before you leave, or when you get on the ship. Someone came to our table in the dining room our first night on board to confirm that we signed up. We were told that an invitation would be delivered to our stateroom with the details as to the location, etc. Later that night when we went back to our stateroom the invitation was there.

We meet all the other participants, a total of ten people including us, and were immediately served champagne while we waited for the Chef to arrive. The wonderful Chef Aneesh greeted us with his infectious smile. He is one of two sous chefs on board the ship. 

After a brief greeting filled with lots of info about how much food is prepared and served each day, we followed Chef Aneesh up the stairs and through the dining room to the galley. We stood in the galley while Chef continued to share info with us and the servers started bringing out the food and refilling our champagne glasses. At this point I really wanted to pull out my phone and start taking pictures, but I didn't want to be rude. After we had our first hor d'oeuvre (not pictured), I asked if it was okay to take pictures. After Chef said it was okay everyone pulled out a camera or phone. 

Reception Menu

Mango Sphere, Rosemary Biscuit (not pictured)

Salmon tartar Cornets, Sesame Seeds

Beef Carpaccio on Air Pillow, Chocolate Bacon, Apple Ribbons

Double Cooked Lamb, Tapioca

Then Chef told us how they make their Warm Chocolate Melting Cake.

The Warm Chocolate Melting Cake demo

 Next we walked to the library where a table was set up for us to proceed with the meal. We were asked if we wanted red or white wine and while that was being served Executive Chef Suresh came to say hello. Then they started serving the courses while Chef explained everything to us in great detail.

 Bread and some kind of cracker was served with a couple of grilled tomatoes and roasted garlic.

MENU

Beet blanket, Spiced Grape Tea

Asparagus, Cauliflower, Honey Carrot Tian, Mache, Lemon Streusel

Crab Stack

Corn Custard, Polenta Cracker, Tangerine, Passion Caviar

Duck Textures

Creamy Quinoa, Parmesan Churros, Olive Snow, Port Wine Jus

Sea Bass

Chorizo Crust, Fried Pop Corn Pudding, Lemon Macaroon, Lobster Foam

By this time we were getting full but it wasn't over yet!

Bisque Out Way

Two Tomatoes, Three Basil, Crisped Brioche, Garlic Chip

Wagyu

Bone Marrow Souffle, Scallion & Garlic Panisse, Gremolata Crisp

Pastry Chef

Sea Salt Praline Chocolate, Raspberry Mojito, Key Lime Cake, Apricot Vanilla Gel, Citrus Cream

By the time I finished the soup I was wondering how I was going to eat another bite. Then Chef started talking about the wagyu, and how it's a Japanese beef, and the cows are feed beer and given massages. Well that's just crazy so I had to try it. It was fantastic and I so wish I could've eaten more than the two bites that I had, but I knew dessert was coming! Of course dessert was delicious just like everything that we had on board the ship. I had to force myself to take a small taste of each thing.

The Chef's Table team was amazing!

We also received menus, a group photo that was taken of us at the table, and the recipe for the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake.

I'm not going to share that recipe because that's one of the perks of attending The Chef's Table, but if you google, "carnivals warm chocolate melting cake", there are a bunch or recipes to choose from.


It was a GREAT experience and I'm glad I tried it.

Enjoy!


Until next time!