1,555 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...

Lemon in recipes

Let's take a look at the lemon, yellow or green, which is used in a whole host of recipes, both sweet and savoury. It brings both its taste, and the small acidity that makes its charm. Mind you, I'm not talking about lemon used as an anti-oxidant that prevents it from turning black, or to just spice up the taste of a dish, but as an ingredient in a recipe, like "something with lemon".

16 K 5/5 (14 reviews)

Last modified on: October 23^th 2017

For this post: Comment Follow Ask me a question Send to a friend

Lemon in recipes

In many of these recipes, you very often have two options: zest, or juice, meaning that you use one or the other in the recipe depending on the "tone" you want to give it. Let's say, to simplify things a bit, that when you want the tangy side of the lemon, you use the juice.

hand-pressed lemon

And when you want the lemony but more neutral tone, you use the zest.

lemon zest

Well... in principle it makes sense, but in reality it's not really a good practice, because lemon flavours are both complex and at the same time complementary. In fact, you should not limit yourself to one or the other, but try to combine both, both sweet and savoury.

Let's take a savoury example: lemon chicken. There are 36 ways to make it of course, but do you know the one where you simply pan-fry chicken fillets in a little clarified butter and lemon zest, then drizzle lemon juice over them at the end to finish them off by gently caramelising? The mix of the two, zest and juice, will give a very marked "lemon" tone to your chicken, and a great taste!

And a sweet example: the lemon tart. Here too, there are a large number of recipes, personally I am an absolute fan of the sanded pastry + lemon custard, and for the custard, you need to infuse the milk with the zest, and add lemon juice to the custard as soon as it's done cooking. You will also have a very, very marked "lemon" identity, which will have a small effect when tasting.

In summary: In a recipe that uses lemon, always try to use zest and juice.

Lasts posts

XO Cognac Explained: Meaning, Aging, and Flavor Profile

XO Cognac always goes beyond the labels on the bottle: it is often associated with tradition and quality. You get to appreciate the artistry, character and ageing process when you understand what defines this smooth Cognac. The section below tackles everything about XO Cognac, from complex flavour...
January 28^th 2026601 Sponsored article

Butter vs. grease

We often read in a recipe where a pastry is put into a mould that, just before pouring, the mould should be buttered or greased. But what's the difference between these 2 terms?
December 1^st 20252,4625

Getting out of the fridge early

Very often when you're cooking, you need to take food or preparations out of the fridge, to use them in the recipe in progress. There's nothing tricky about this: you just take them out of the fridge and use them, usually immediately, in the recipe. But is this really a good method?
November 24^th 20251,6205

Who's making the croissants?

When you look at a bakery from the outside, you naturally think that in the bakery, the bakers make the bread, and in the laboratory, the pastry chefs make the cakes. It's very often like that, with each of these professions having quite different ways of working, but sometimes there's also one...
November 23^th 20251,460

Oven height

When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.
October 8^th 20254,7605

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Other pages you may also like

The skin side of the fish first?

When it comes to cooking fresh fish, if it's filleted with its skin on and you're planning to pan-fry it in a little olive oil, for example, you might ask yourself the following question: Which side, skin or flesh, should come into contact with the pan first?
February 13^th 202126 K4.4

Fruits which can ruin your jelly

There are many ways of making a fruit mousse, but one of the simplest is to prepare a fruit jelly (basically a fresh fruit coulis with gelatine) and then mix this jelly before it sets completely with whipped cream. The result is perfect for filling a charlotte, for example. But do beware;...
March 6^th 201379 K4.0

A few tips for effective kneading at home

When you have to knead dough for bread or some other recipe, you may well use a food processor or the type of machine known as a stand mixer. The best-known brands are Kenwood and KitchenAid. They are useful tools, but here are a few tips to help you get the best out of them.
June 23^th 2021285 K 23.8

When should I change my knife?

I already spoke to you in a previous post about knives, those without which nothing is possible (or almost) in the kitchen, so I'm going to come back to them a bit and try to answer the question "When should I change my knife?
November 2^nd 201715 K4.7

Cooking time for pasta

What is as good and simple as pasta? Not much, I think, and it's so easy to prepare: boiling water, salted (or not, depending on your taste), a few minutes of boiling and it's ready. The only "difficulty", so to speak, is the respect of the cooking time and the risk of, unfortunately, overcooking...
July 18^th 201924 K4.6