Lemon Posset, A Vanilla Shortage And Fiesta Friday

Last night I had company for dinner, I’ve known about this for a while and had grand plans to make a lovely meal but unfortunately,  I have been sick for the last few days, a stomach virus. I haven’t eaten much of anything and generally felt really bad. I was not really inspired to cook. I opted for a starter salad,  simple roasted chicken with roasted vegetables, let the oven do the work I say. My plan was to make a lemon meringue tart but I didn’t have the energy so I remembered this quick and easy recipe by Mrs. Larkin on Food52 for lemon posset. A magical concoction, tart and sweet and creamy and a lovely light dessert. It couldn’t be simpler to make and most of the time it’s sitting in the fridge setting.

vanilla

I have been stocking up on vanilla extract. Have you noticed rising prices? Evidently there was a bad crop in Madagascar which basically decimated the entire vanilla crop leaving a huge shortage, there is always high demand for vanilla, it’s in almost everything. This has caused prices to rise, I went to several sites and noticed a price change of anwhere from 2-10 dollar price increase per bottle. I usually use Nielsen- Massey, it’s my vanilla of choice but have been know to use the big bottle from Costco which is good as well as King Arthurs brand of vanilla extract. So I found the 4 oz bottle at the same price at my usual shopping site and bought 4 bottles which should last until the next crop which they are saying should be ok.

This Fiesta Friday which by the way  is #113 I am bringing Lemon Posset and a bottle of vanilla extract as a hostess gift for Angie. Our lovely co hosts this week are two of my favorite bloggers welcome Sonal @ simplyvegetarian777 and Laurie @ ten.times.tea.

Lemon Posset

Serves 4 – Recipe by Liz Larkin for Food52

2 cups heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar

5 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

zest of 1 whole lemon (I added that it’s not in the recipe)

Place cream and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil stirring so that the sugar dissolves. Let boil for 5 minutes watching carefully and adjusting temperature so it doesn’t boil over. After 5 minutes remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and zest. Let sit for about 15 minutes to cool. Pour into serving dishes, sprinkle top with a little more lemon zest and refrigerate at least 4 hours, I like overnight. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream, I put a few raspberries on top as well.