When life, …

… or a friend, gives you lemons, expecially freshly plucked from their own tree, well, while conventional wisdom might say ‘make lemonade’, it’s sometimes just as rewarding to take the opporunity to make something that’s been in the back of your mind, then pay it forward by sharing with friends and neighbors.

The beauty of fresh, juicy lemons is that there are just so many options, and here’s a couple for you.

You don’t have to watch many episodes of the Great British Baking Show to realize the reverence with which the Brits hold sponge cake. A classic in that school is the ‘Victoria Sponge’, or ‘Victoria Sandwich’, which is a layer of sponge cake spread with strawberry jam, some fresh strawberries, and some whipped cream, topped with another layer of sponge cake, then dusted with powdered sugar. But remember, I had some lemons; and I like raspberries, so let’s go there.

My go-to recipe comes from London’s Fortnum & Mason, which, in my book, is about as authentic as you can get. The key to getting lemon flavor into the sponge is lemon zest; and the best way to maximize that contribution is to zest the lemon into the sugar, working it into the sugar with gloved hands to ensure getting the most flavorful oils from the zest. Your nose will tell you how well you’re doing, and your eyes will tell you, from the uniform yellow tint to the sugar, that you’re on the right track. (NOTE: this technique works well for any citrus zest, and while most recipes won’t incorporate this process, I’ve had no disasters using it up front, before adding the sugar where called for in the recipe.)

Once your sponge is out of the oven, turned out on a rack and cooled, you’re ready to start.

For a bit of extra punch, juice the lemon you used to get the zest, add it to a measuring cup, and add enough water to make one cup. Put that in a small sauce pan, then add one cup of sugar. Heat it up until the sugar is just dissolved, and you’ve got a nice lemon simple syrup. Brush the syrup over the top of what will be the bottom layer, and do the same for what will be the bottom of your top layer. Save any extra for your next cocktail.

Spread some seedless raspberry jam over the bottom layer – how thick is up to you, but I do recommend heating it a bit to facilitate spreadability. Leave a border of about 3/4″. Whip up some heavy cream and powdered sugar, and pipe a border; then top the raspberry jam with fresh raspberries, spacing some fresh raspberries around the outside, letting the whipped cream hold them in place.

Place the top layer, making sure the side you’ve put the syrup on (if you did that) is facing down.

Dust the top with powdered sugar, add any garnish, and you’re ready to go. Victoria Sponge!!!

And if that’s not enough,…

One of the joys of cheesecake is what you can do with it, and it doesn’t take much to make more of a good thing. It all starts here, with a basic cheesecake recipe.

First, the crust. I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like Biscoff wafers, and trust me, they make a great crust for cheesecake. Start with around 20 wafers, and using a food processor, reduce them to fine crumbs. Put the crumbs is a bowl, add 2-3 tablespoons of melted butter, combine, and press that into the prepared springform pan; no need to blind bake.

Add the zest of 1-2 lemons to the sugar in the cheesecake recipe (see notes above), and work it in.

Bake the cheesecake per the recipe.

Once the cheesecake is baked, cooled, and maybe even refrigerated for a few hours or overnight, spread a nice layer of lemon curd over the top, leaving a border for some deliciously decorative piped whipped cream.

Cheesecake keeps well in the fridge. Just remember to take it out about 30 minutes before you plan to serve it; and above all, don’t forget to heat your knife under running hot water before slicing. Slice and enjoy!!!

Friendship and lemons! How sweet they are!