cooking, fruit and size

[TVC]

[QUOTE 4682714, member: 9609"]i think you put the lemon in before cooking so how would you know,[/QUOTE]
What are you cooking?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

[QUOTE 4682714, member: 9609"]i think you put the lemon in before cooking so how would you know,[/QUOTE]
If you're making a cake put 2 table spoons of lemon juice in the mix (plus the zest), use the rest of the juice to make up the glaze: mix icing sugar with the juice until smooth, drizzle over cake.
How come you're baking and posting?
Baking needs attention.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Use a Jif squeezy lemon, empty the whole lot into whatever you are making, you'll soon learn that it matters not a jot if one proper lemon is bigger than another

 

[Lullabelle]

Before cutting the lemon press down hard with your hands and roll it, this helps to release more juice.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Use a Jif squeezy lemon,

Dunno why, but that stuff is vile!

 

[Spinney]

Use bottled lemon juice, and follow the instructions on the bottle about how many teaspoons/tablespoons are the equivalent of the juice of one lemon.
(But that way you don't get any nice rind to add to your cake!).

Edit: Sainsburys FAIL - their bottle does not say!
But one or two websites reckon that the juice of one lemon is approx 2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice.

 

[smutchin]

[QUOTE 4682714, member: 9609"]i think you put the lemon in before cooking so how would you know,[/QUOTE]

You can cook a small dollop of the mixture in a frying pan to get an idea of what the finished cake will taste like.

 

[winjim]

Can a cake be too lemony? It can certainly be not lemony enough. I'd err on the side of recklessness.

 

[jefmcg]

This thread makes me sad. I know how much is "the juice of a lemon", because my mum brought me into the kitchen (and my brothers, too) and taught me baking basics. I made orange and lemon cakes before I was allowed to light the oven, and so know to pick an average size lemon. Are parents not teaching their children kitchen basics, or is it just boys who are missing out?

If it's necessary to be precise, the recipe will give the amount in millilitres. Though, now I think of it, the cakes I made my mum usually only used zest in the cake, and the juice was for the icing.

Dammit. I want a slice of lemon cake. NOW!!!

 

[vickster]

This thread makes me sad. I know how much is "the juice of a lemon", because my mum bought me into the kitchen (and my brothers, too) and taught me baking basics. I made orange and lemon cakes before I was allowed to light the oven, and so know to pick an average size lemon. Are parents not teaching their children kitchen basics, or is it just boys who are missing out?

If it's necessary to be precise, the recipe will give the amount in millilitres. Though, now I think of it, the cakes I made my mum usually only used zest in the cake, and the juice was for the icing.

Dammit. I want a slice of lemon cake. NOW!!!

Tesco have Finest lemon drizzle cakes for £2 at the mo...serves six apparently, so perfect for one in reality

 

[TVC]

Can a cake be too lemony? It can certainly be not lemony enough. I'd err on the side of recklessness.

@Night Train once of this parish makes a rather telling Lemon Monsoon Cake.

 

[winjim]

According to Guinness, the heaviest lemon was 5.265kg, 74cm in circumference, 35cm in height. It grew with another large lemon so two of those should see you right.

 

[jefmcg]

It's down to individual experience. I bet I'm a fair bit older than you, but my mother never taught me anything about cooking. I would have been in the way in her kitchen. When I first set up home independently, a friend explained to me that boiled potatoes cook more quickly if you cut them up small, that's how much I knew, or didn't know .

I'm glad to hear that. I thought it was on gender lines, as I've known more men that didn't know the basics than women.

My mother - I assume - was grateful that she taught me the basics. By twelve I was a better pastry cook than her, mostly by virtue of my disturbingly cold hands.

 

[growingvegetables]

[QUOTE 4682714, member: 9609"]i think you put the lemon in before cooking so how would you know,[/QUOTE]
Cook's duty - taste as you go along. Cook's privilege - licking the bowl and the spatula .

And seconded, thirded, whatevered --- bottled lemon juice is vile. Use the real thing - and you get to add the grated zest. [Where's the darned smiley for "cake-swoon-yummmmmmmmmmmm"?]

 

[winjim]

I'm glad to hear that. I thought it was on gender lines, as I've known more men that didn't know the basics than women.

My mother - I assume - was grateful that she taught me the basics. By twelve I was a better pastry cook than her, mostly by virtue of my disturbingly cold hands.

My mum attributes her success with pastry to her Raynaud's.

I know men my age who've gone from living with their mothers straight to marriage and can't cook anything beyond chicken nuggets and oven chips, which is very sad. Strange how domestic cooking is seen as a woman's job but professional cooking is, or certainly can be, very chauvinistic indeed.