The recipe of delicious lemon delicacies, flavored with limoncello and filled with a tasty lemon custard
One of the most classic small pastry sweets in Naples is the lemon delight.
A small dome of spiced sponge cake, both in the filling and in the sweet bagna, al Limoncello from the unique and inviting flavor of the fresh lemons of the coast.
Although a recipe may seem slightly processed, how can you resist a dessert that is more inviting than this?
Ingredients for sponge cake
- 5 eggs
- 90 gr sugar
- 40 gr flour
- 25 gr potato flour
- sow half a vanilla bean
- a pinch of salt
Ingredients for lemon cream
- 2 yolks
- 40 gr sugar
- 40 gr lemon juice and its peel
- 40 gr butter
- 150 ml milk
- 80 gr cream
Ingredients for lemon custard
- 4 yolks
- 60 gr sugar
- 15 gr cornstarch
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 lemon
- sow half a vanilla bean
Ingredients for filling and garnish
- 125 gr whipped cream
- candied lemon
For the sponge cake
Whip the cream, the egg yolks with the sugar, the grated rind of the lemon and the seeds of vanilla. Whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar and gently incorporate them into the cream of egg yolks; then incorporate the flour and starch mixed together, gently without removing the mixture. Pour the mixture into the special molds for delights (in the form of hemispheres), buttered and floured. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 170 ° for about 15 minutes.
For the lemon cream
Wash and dry the lemon, better if not treated, grate the rind and squeeze the juice; leave the rind in the juice for about 20 minutes. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and add the lemon juice prepared previously and then pour the mixture into a saucepan and cook on low heat until it reaches the 80 ° of temperature. Finally remove the cream from the heat: it will only keep it cool until about 50 °, then add the butter into pieces. Store the lemon cream in the refrigerator.
For the lemon custard
Combine the milk, cream, lemon zest in a saucepan over the heat and bring to the boil; then turn off and leave to infuse for about an hour. Cream the egg yolks with the sugar, vanilla seeds, corn starch and salt; then slowly incorporate the filtered milk and pour this mixture into a saucepan and mix and cook until the cream thickens. Allow the cream to cool and then store it in the refrigerator.
For the limoncello bath
Let's proceed by dissolving the sugar with the water and lemon peels in a saucepan. Then put on low heat and bring to the boil for one minute; then let it cool and add the limoncello to the cold syrup.
We compose the Lemon Delights
We proceed with the amalgamation of a half of very cold lemon cream with the custard, forming a cream that will serve to fill the sponge cake domes internally, piercing them in the lower part (the flat part).
Prick the upper part with a toothpick and brush with the limoncello syrup, after having placed them on a cake rack. Incorporate the other lemon cream (the remaining half not used for the filling) to the semi-whipped cream; all that remains is to decorate the delights with candied lemon peel. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, this will be necessary for all the flavors to settle and the sweets to become really delicious, let them rest for a few hours in the refrigerator before they are served.
For other fresh lemon desserts, read the recipes of the Torta Caprese Al Limone and Lady's kisses with lemon.
