This post has been written as part of the new Sweet New Zealand blogging event founded by Alessandra Zecchini. It’s a chance for kiwi bloggers to share their sweet treats, so if you are a kiwi blogger and are interested in participating, check it out for this month. This month’s event is event number 2 is hosted by Allison at Pease Pudding and more information can be found here.

Lemon Sugar

I’ve been wanting to make flavoured sugar for a while and with our lemon tree growing some beautiful, thick skined beauties this spring, I knew I had to do something with the zest.

Using my microplane zester (I love that thing), I lightly scraped the outside layer of a lemon and let the zest dry for about an hour on a chopping board. I then layered zest and white sugar into a jar. Leave the sugar for at least a few days for the lemony oils to permeate into the sugar. The result is pretty, but I haven’t used this sugar just yet.

With the zest that was left over, I had to make lemon sugar palmiers.

Mum used to bake palmiers for me and my sister when we were little. I think of them as a sugar cookie but I suppose they are a pastry. Eat these whenever you would eat a cookie or a pastry – for breakfast, afternoon tea or for a snack. When Mum mentioned that she made a batch of palmiers last week, I was determined to try and make some of my own. Palmiers (palm-yay) or elephant ears are made of puff pastry and sugar. I always have frozen puff pastry and sugar in the house and such a simple recipe invites me to mess with it.

I watched this Videojug guide before making my palmiers and if it’s a first time for you too, I would highly recommend it!

Lemon Sugar Palmiers

Makes up to 20 palmiers

Ingredients
1 sheet of frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons sugar

Preparation

1. In a small bowl or ramekin, mix the zest, lemon juice and sugar together.
2. Place the pastry on a chopping board or flat working surface and spread half the lemon sugar mixture onto the pastry. Spread evenly with your fingers or a butterknife and use a rolling pin to press the sugar into the pastry. Turn the pastry over and repeat the lemon sugar on the other side.
3. Fold the pastry 2cm top and bottom towards the centre and flatten with rolling pin. Fold towards the centre again and flatten with rolling pin. Fold once more (in half).
4. Cut the folded pastry into 1cm strips. Turn these onto one side and place them onto a tray. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 200°C.
6. Line a baking tray with baking paper and arrange the palmiers in 3 or 4 rows. Space them evenly apart. The closer they are, the less they will expand. The further apart they are, the more they will expand, so experiment with the shapes by varying your spacing.
7. Bake for 15 minutes.
8. Transfer to a plate and eat while warm or cool and then store in an airtight container.

Other posts you may find interesting: