4 lemons and I don't drink gin.

[carrotsandcelery]

I have four lemons left over from Christmas and I don't know what to do with them. Any inspiration?

(I maybe should point out that we are vegetarians)

Lemon yoghurt cake?

www.honeyandbutter.com/desserts/lemon-yogurt-cake

Just Googled the recipe. Used to make one pretty similar but can't find my own recipe at the moment.

I love lemon in cakes.

Do you do cream as a vegetarian (am not sure if you are vegan or not?) Lemon posset - yummy.

Or a lemon risotto

lemon and poppy seed cupcakes

(no I haven't been looking here at all )

What about homemade lemonade to drink?

Squeeze a lemon into v hot water as your first drink of the day (before coffee :) ). Your skin will look fab in 4 day's time.

Or make lemon cake

ok, i have a lemon tree so have the damn things coming out of my ears all year round so here are some of the things i do to use the wretched things up:

• lemon fairy cakes made with lemon zest and juice and topped with lemon glace icing (in fact all glace icing in this house is made with lemon juice)
• lemonade
• lemon vinaigrette (add juice and zest to olive oil and seasoning) - drizzle over salad or green veg, eg slivered courgettes, topped with toasted pine nuts, or broccoli with almonds.
• slice of lemon in any water you drink, hot or cold.
• hot lemon, honey and ginger.

good luck!

Lemon curd - homemade is gorgeous!

If you have some chickpeas, cumin, garlic and olive oil you could make hummous. 4 lemons need about 500 gr of dried chickpeas ( soak overnight then simmer for 1 hour) , 3-4 cloves of garlic, about 2-3 teaspoons of cumin and salt and oil to taste. Squeeze lemons, put everything in a food processor and mix, then fine tune garlic, oil, salt and cumin to taste. Freeze in portions and defrost overnight in the fridge when necessary.

ScroobiousPip: are you in the UK? How do you manage to keep the tree alive during winter? We have one, but it is in a vase and comes indoors in Nov, so we only have a few lemons a year...

oh, yes, hummous is another great suggestion!

I'm in NZ, by the sea, SuiGeneris, so wet and windy but we don't get frost or sub-zero temperatures. The blasted lemon tree is in a particularly sheltered, sunny spot and keeps producing the things all year long. You've done well to keep one alive in the UK!

Sorry to hijack but dies anyone have a good recipe for lemon drizzle cake. I'm having a bit of a craving.

I make two of these lemon drizzles at a time and freeze one - works every time.

Thanks, butterflies. That looks just the ticket.

Lots of great ideas here. Thank you everyone. Typically I am drawn to all the cake varieties

butterflies when you freeze the lemon drizzle cakes do you freeze them iced or do you ice them once they defrost?

I don't have all the ingredients of anything apart from the lemon and hot water so I will start with one of them and then my next step will have to be getting dressed and wandering up to the shop. Surely that will earn me a slice of lemon drizzle.

Lemon flan - biscuit base, lemons, double cream and condensed milk, yummy

Oooh! I have about 6 cans of condensed milk for no clear reason.

cloudy lemonade: yumblog.co.uk/archives/504

Spaghetti Al Limone
Serves 6
250g spaghetti
juice of 3-4 lemons
150ml olive oil
150g parmesan freshly grated
2 handfuls fresh basil leaves finely chopped
Cook spaghetti then drain and return to pan
Meanwile beat lemon juice with olive oil and stir in parmesan till thick and creamy, season and add more or less lemon to taste
Add sauce to spaghetti and shake pan so each strand is coated with cheese an stir in basil and some grated lemon zest
This is from River cafe and its lovely, havent made it for ages i had forgotten about it
I got too many lemons and preseved them in salt and thats good to add to things
You will have to go and buy more lemons at this rate

Nigella's lemon linguine is great. Recipe here