Lemon Posset Shortcake

March 10, 2015

Here we go again! Basic ingredients in different ratios create magical results. OMG. There is nothing disagreeable about these shortcakes, not even the calories because there simply aren’t any! I didn’t taste any. Did you? What was extra special about this week was watching the cream set. What? How did the cream set with just lemon juice and sugar. I don’t get it, but who cares. Lemon posset makes you realize how happy you are to be alive. I was disarmed from the first moment. So everyone! Please! Raise your glasses to Rose, for without you and your good work, I would never have known such delight.

The Finer Cookie is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Ingredients

Volume Grams Ounces

Instructions

HERE’S MY EXPERIENCE: I decided to forgo the special shortcake mold and the pyrex cups and use the ramekins I have that measured the correct size.

Ramekins prepared to receive the batter.

GENOISE

I prepared the beurre noisette.

And, strained it…

(PS: I’ve never made beurre noisette before, and oh the fragrance of the browned butter).
Then I warmed the eggs and sugar.

Folded the eggs, flour and butter (not in that order).

I put the batter in the molds.

And, ran out after filling only 5 ramekins.

Something was wrong, either the ramekins were too big, or the batter had deflated. Don’t know which. Anyway, I baked them up and they came out of the oven only ¾ inch high. Hhhmm. The crumb looked correct. Delicious as they were, I ditched them.

Take 2. I ordered the mold and paid way too much money for it.

What was fun about making the cakes again is that I got to make the beurre noisette a second time! The batter went together easily and I weighed it into each cup.

They really rose in the oven and I took them out looking puffy and brown.

I unmolded the cakes and found that the pattern of the mold wasn’t very pronounced, but this happens to me all the time. It seemed the crumb was too big to conform to the mold, but I know that if I’ll be syruping the cake, it’s important to remove the crust or it gets gummy and pasty.

Removing the crust from the cakes before syruping them.

APPLYING THE LEMON SYRUP

Like I said, the cakes were so delicate that brushing them was too harsh for them,

Brushing the delicate cakes isn’t always the best application for the syrup.

So, I resorted to the squeeze bottle, which is a tip I learned from Rose’s Cake Bible. This was so much easier and less intrusive on the pattern.

APPLYING THE APPLE GLAZE

If I had to do this again, I would suggest dipping the cakes in the apple glaze. Even with my softest brush, the cake still broke a bit, and the glaze made the cake sticky (in spite of all the water I added) and with all the brushing and dabbing, the pattern disappeared a little. Dipping would evenly coat the cakes and be less harsh, I think.

The cakes are glazed and waiting for the posset.

MAKING THE LEMON POSSET

EASY! That’s all. The only problem I had was the 2-cup measure (with the spout) gave me way more than 3/4 inch, even after it was cut in half. So I poured it into my largest measure and the cream measured 1/2 inch. I think this is why it set so fast and firm.

COMPOSE THE SHORTCAKES

Patience is what is needed here. A little at a time out of respect for the posset.

This is what the posset looked like after I filled the cakes half way.

The cakes filled half way. Back into the fridge…

And then all the way. Into the fridge while we walk/run the dog.

There he is…Captain Canada…refuelling the jets. He’s a slut for anything cream.

And in the end, the Lemon Posset Shortcakes were sublime in texture and lemon fresh.

Lemon Posset Shortcake, The Finer Cookie.

SUMMARY: The only improvement I might make is to give each cake a little more syrup. It felt a bit dry towards the bottom edge of the cake. Otherwise, this cake sings my song. Rick stopped worrying about work (for the 20 seconds it took him to finish one), which is an automatic thumbs-up. Positively.
Disclaimer: No recipes can be shared in my Alpha Bakers Baking Bible posts due to publishing restrictions enforced by the publisher, but you can support me and her by purchasing the book. You can see other tutorials for the same cake at the following link The Baking Bible Alpha Bakers at http://rosesalphabakers.blogspot.ca/.