Meyer Lemons

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• We have a small Meyer lemon tree on the side of our house.  I don't often walk that way or see the tree and you know the saying, out of sight, out of mind.  The other day I was chasing baby girl around the backyard and I noticed that the lemons were really ripe and I wanted to make something with them.  These little lemon cakes were delicious.  Martha Stewart says to divide the batter amongst 6 jumbo muffin tins (like individual cakes) but I made 12 regular sized ones.  They didn't last 24 hours.  Baby girl was crazy about them (she loved any kind of baked good) and when I got home from my race the next morning, the last 2 had disappeared - sad!

We did have some help eating them - our Claremont friends and their two girls came over for supper.  When we first moved here (one year ago tomorrow!) I felt like it would take forever to make new friends but now we're lucky to have this other family that we like to hang out with.  

If you have extra lemons and want some ideas, you might also try these recipes:

Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Sour Cream Pie

Lemon Ricotta Cookies

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Lemon Sorbet

Glazed Lemon Cakes

• from Everyday Food 6/04
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• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tin
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk or plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated, plus juice, 
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 12-cup muffin tin (or line with paper liners). In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla, and zest and juice of 1 lemon. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, cream butter and granulated sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk mixture.
3. Divide evenly among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cake comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in tin, then cool completely on a rack.
4. Set rack over wax or parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir confectioners' sugar with remaining 2 tablespoons lemon juice until smooth. Pour over cakes, spreading to edges with a small knife. Let set 30 minutes.