Lemon Cream Pots: Hay Hay it's Donna Day

I have only heard about Donna Hay since I moved to Bulgaria and started hanging out with Aussies and Kiwis.  I imagine Donna Hay as the Oceanic continent's answer to Martha Stewart, but I could be wrong... Anyway, when I found out that Mardi at Eat, Travel Write was hosting the Hay Hay it's Donna Day cooking event facilitated by Chez Us, I decided to expand my culinary repertoire to include Ms. Hay.  

Not being at all familiar with her recipes, I went online and found something simple Lemon Cream Pots.  Mardi had suggested trying the Cheesecake Pots she created, but I couldn't find any berries beside strawberries, so I moved on to lemons.  To say this recipe was easy would be an understatement.  The only tricky bit was the wafers, but not really.

Lemon Cream Pots: Donna Hay

2 cups (500ml) double (thick) cream *48% fat content
1/2 cup (110g) caster (superfine) sugar
1 tbsp finely grated lemon rind (zest)
1/4 cup (60ml) lemon juice
double (thick) cream, to serve

Note: I didn't have the right cream.  My cream only had 25% fat content, so it wouldn't have thickened properly, so I added 1 tbsp of cornstarch. I wouldn't recommend this in the future because it gave it a gritty texture.  

Lemon wafers

1/4 cup (35g) plain (all-purpose) flour
1/4 cup (40g) icing (confectioner's) sugar
2 egg whites
40g butter, melted
2 tst finely grated lemon rind (zest)

Mise en place

Adding cream and sugar to a sauce pan.  Stir to dissolve.

Bring to a boil for 3 minutes, whisk in the corn starch (see note), remove from heat and cool slightly before adding lemon juice and zest.  The citric acid could curdle the milk if it is too hot.  During high school, I used to be a barista at a coffee truck in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania and I have ruined many a cappuccinos and lattes due to my ignorance that citric acid curdles milk.

Pour the mixture into pots, cups or whatever you have laying around and refrigerate for 3 - 4 hours.

While the recipe undoubtably tasted good, personally, I have a penchant for complicated recipes.  I feel a greater sense of accomplishment when I create something labor intensive and time consuming.  Sometimes I feel like cooking is similar to doing a puzzle.  You could opt for a 500 piece puzzle and the results would be the same or you could choose the 5000 piece puzzle, which might make you temporarily loose your mind, but in the end you know you finished it... unless you find that one of the pieces is missing, but that is just how it goes.

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