All things lemon, almond & poppyseed

Hi blog friends!

I have cream biscuits and meyer lemon curd for you today. These biscuits are a huge favorite around here; in fact, we ate all but one in two sittings but very nearly ate that last one too… I think it will last until tonight but I wouldn’t place bets past midnight!

These cream biscuits are so fast to throw together and really, they are an excuse for me to use Straus cream, which is just the best thing ever. We ate them with lemon curd and ice cream for dessert, which is awesome, and then with just lemon curd alongside (any guesses?) eggs and kale for breakfast – also awesome, obviously!

And yes, that mason jar was completely full of lemon curd as of last night. We might more appropriately call it a VAT of lemon curd… which I’m not at all sorry about.

I am going to keep this short today – today was crazy busy and I’m tired of looking at a computer screen…

I do want to leave these here:

Jessie has been featured on here regularly and as of last week I had to say goodbye to her for now. I miss her terribly but I know she’s happily off chasing bugs in kitty heaven with her brother. Such great cats – they are very missed.

I did some therapy baking this weekend – a batch of my favorite cookies (I should post those eventually… they keep getting eaten before I can take any pictures) – and then of course these biscuits on Monday.

Side note – lemon curd freezes really well – I’d frozen two batches back in March and it was perfect to pull them out to accompany these for dessert. Obviously they didn’t last long – I’d consider them winners.

Happy May Day!

Almond Poppyseed Cream Biscuit Shortcakes with Meyer Lemon Curd

Barely sweetened but indescribably creamy, these biscuits are a perpetual favorite around here. They work with pretty much any fruit – we ate them this time with lemon curd and vanilla ice cream. I love this for dessert since it is barely sweetened – there is only a little sprinkled over the tops of the biscuits and the lemon curd only has 2.5 tbsp for the entire batch. The lemon curd is one you’ve seen many times on here, and the cream biscuits lightly adapted from Alice Medrich of Food52, here. Yield: 6 shortcakes.

For the cream biscuits:

1.5 c whole wheat pastry flour
4 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tsp baking powder
heaping 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c + 6 tbsp cream
1 tsp coconut sugar, to sprinkle

Preheat the oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with three pieces of parchment, to prevent excess browning. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together whole wheat flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and sea salt. Create a well in the center and pour in the cream and almond & vanilla extracts. Using a rubber spatula, push the flour into the cream (not stirring), until everything is moistened. This really only takes a few seconds! The dough will look shaggy and porous. Drop large spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet, and sprinkle generously with coconut sugar. Bake for 14-15 minutes, rotating the baking sheet front to back once halfway through, until golden brown. Let sit for 10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely (or eat warm).

Maple Lemon Curd:

2 whole eggs
3 egg yolks
1/3 c lemon juice
zest of 4 lemons
pinch of sea salt
2.5 tbsp maple syrup
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla

I used a double boiler for this lemon curd, which literally is a game changer. Highly recommended! Heat water in the bottom of the double boiler until it’s at a high simmer. In the top of the double boiler, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, lemon zest and juice, sea salt, and maple syrup. Add in the coconut oil one tbsp at a time, whisking continuously, not adding the next tbsp until the first is completely melted. Whisk in vanilla. Cook, stirring constantly, until the lemon curd thickens and will coat the back of a spoon (or your whisk leaves tracks) – usually around 5 to 8 minutes. It’s a noticeable change when it happens, so just watch the cooking magic! Remove from heat and store in a glass container in the fridge until ready for use.

Serve biscuits with a giant dollop of lemon curd and vanilla ice cream for dessert, or just lemon curd alongside breakfast. The biscuits keep well loosely covered in foil on the counter overnight, but I would definitely bake them the day you plan to eat them – they are best that way!