When Life Gives You Lemons...

A Friday afternoon spent baking. It's a rare thing in this home - likely because, when desire strikes, I pick recipes like this that turn into a two hour effort (admittedly including frequent clean-ups, over zealous rechecking of instructions and of course, blog photo-ops).

On this particular Friday, baking also produced a moment of Spring sunlight playing with my pie weights.

The redolent sight and scent of freshly cut Myer lemons. The sweet and soothing sounds of a favourite Lady.

And the satisfaction of row upon row of meringue.

Unfortunately, below that piped fluffy goodness lies an entirely disappointing lemon filling. Since the Barefoot Contessa isn't likely to read my blog, I feel completely safe is saying that I would never follow that portion of the recipe again...seriously...don't do it! But the pate sucre crust and meringue topping - sheer perfection and so pretty to present.

Since company was coming and I couldn't bear the shame that I knew was lurking below the egg whites, I made a quick recovery with a small ball of the left-over dough. In under ten minutes I rolled out the dough and mixed a filling of diced pear, brown sugar, lemon, dried cranberries and cinnamon. A few quick folds, an egg wash and sprinkling of sugar, 25 minutes in the oven (400 degrees) and this galette became a new favourite dessert.

NOTE: Of course we still ate the lemon tart...with spoons. It literally oozed across our plates...and tasted wonderful. First attempts at recipes should always been shared with wonderful friends.