Overhaul Your Dessert Menu: Liven It Up With Lime Seasoning Powder

Fresh, aromatic lime based desserts are perfect for the season. Let’s get to work on some of them!

Lime and lemons are versatile products used in a variety of cuisines all over the world. Several home remedies for maladies like cough and inflammation use lemon juice as a base. Lemon juice is also used in DIY face packs and hair conditioners. But as a chef, you are bowled over by the tartness and fresh aroma it imparts to both savoury and sweet dishes.

But you are annoyed at times, especially when there is a mountain of prep to do, to be faced with mounds of limes waiting to be washed, cut, de-seeded and juiced ready for cooking or making lime beverages. It is messy and fiddly work, and it takes up a fair bit of time as well. It may even have held you back from adding more lime-based desserts to your menu.

Hold back no more – grab a bag of ready seasoning, specifically lime seasoning powder, and get started on adding some zingy lemon desserts to your menu. Lime seasoning powder is a wonder product when you’re preparing lemon or lime-based desserts and juices. You need lime juice for each recipe, along with zest. So keep a few limes or lemons handy for the zest as well.

I’ve got 5 suggestions for lime desserts this season:

1. Lemon custard filling. A refreshing and lightly aromatic filling for donuts and cake layers, lemon custard filling is delicious enough to eat on its own. The traditional recipe for this filling uses corn starch – we suggest substituting custard powder for a thicker, velvety consistency instead of a lumpy, starchy aftertaste. Use the other ingredients as you normally would – sugar, salt, egg yolks and water. Stir in lemon juice prepared from lime seasoning powder, and butter when the mixture is cool but not cold. Cover with cling wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator till cold. Use to layer pudding, cakes and donuts.
2. Lemon pudding cakes. As a chef, you know that the secret to getting cotton soft cake is to beat the egg whites and yolks separately. Egg white foam mixes easily, but it must not be allowed to harden or settle while you get the rest of the ingredients in. You will need both lemon zest and lemon juice for this recipe, so prepare accordingly. Mix flour and sugar together, then whisk butter, egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt and milk together to it. Add the egg white foam to the mixture gradually. Now bake the pudding cakes and serve with high tea or as dessert with a scoop of ice cream.
3. Lemon rice squares. Who says lemon rice is a savoury dish? You can prepare a light and sweet lemon rice square using broken rice, milk, lemon zest, and sugar. Boil the sugar in milk and allow it to cool slightly, before mixing it with the other ingredients in a baking tray. Bake evenly for 2.5 hours while stirring every 30 minutes to avoid overthickening. Once the rice is cooked, make tiny holes in the surface of the bake and pour lemon juice in them. Allow to cool for an hour in the refrigerator before cutting into squares and serving.
4. Lemon tart. As a chef, you’ve experimented with lemon tarts often enough to know that the secret to a great tart lies in slow heat and gentle hands. The lemony freshness of the tart can turn to sourness very quickly if you’re not careful with the heat. Mix in the cream and lemon juice gently without overbeating the mixture and set it on gentle heat. Be equally gentle when you add this mix to eggs and sugar – again, take care not to beat too heavily. Bake for not more than 25 minutes at 180? and top with passionfruit puree.
5. Lemon and jaggery health drink: Jaggery is often used as a healthy substitute to white sugar in Indian cooking. Concoct a delicious and hearty lemon and jaggery drink using lemon juice, jaggery mixed and boiled in water, crushed ginger (to get its juice), a pinch of salt and ½ teaspoon pepper powder. Mix all the ingredients together and chill in the refrigerator. Strain it before serving to remove ginger pieces. This juice fights infections and inflammation and cools the system in hot weather. You might consider adding it as a new item for your summer menu.

Which of these recipes made it your summer menu? I want to know, especially if you’ve got your own recipes to share.

Mumbaikar, MBA Student, Traveler, Foodie, & all I need is Coffee and Mascara.