Lemon pastries with protein cream

Lemon pastries with protein cream are a simple dessert that was very popular in Soviet times. That's why such pastries will not leave indifferent either children or adults. The main highlight of this dessert is the contrasting combination of sweet shortcrust pastry and slightly sour lemon cream.

Caloric content: 343 kcal per 100 grams of the dish.

Serves: 15.

Cooking time: 60 minutes.

Ingredients

For the shortcrust pastry:

• flour - 290 g;
• egg yolks - 5 pcs;
• chilled butter - 200 g;
• baking powder - 1.5 tsp;
• lemon zest - 1 tbsp;
• vanillin or vanilla extract - 0.5 tsp;
• powdered sugar - 75 g.

For the lemon cream:

• egg whites - 5 pcs;
• sugar - 255 g;
• lemon juice - 3 tbsp;
• water - 100 g.

Preparation

1. Scrape the zest from the lemon using a special knife or fine grater. Don't forget to wash the lemon beforehand. Only the yellow part of the peel is suitable for zest; it's better not to touch the white part, otherwise the taste of the pastry may become bitter.

2. Grate the cold butter on a coarse grater, gradually adding flour so that the butter pieces do not stick together. Rub the butter and flour into crumbs. This buttery crumb will become the basis of the shortcrust pastry.

3. Add the lemon zest, baking powder, raw yolks, powdered sugar, and vanillin. Knead the shortcrust pastry from all this, it's better to knead it with your hands.

4. When the dough becomes homogeneous and elastic, it should be rolled into a ball and placed in the refrigerator for 20-25 minutes.

5. Roll out the chilled raw dough with a rolling pin on a silicone mat or parchment paper. To make the pastries neat and of the same size, the sheet of dough should be cut into a rectangle measuring 25 cm by 30 cm.

6. Cut the sheet of dough into 15 equal parts, arrange them on a baking sheet, and send them to the oven. Bake for 11 minutes at a temperature of 200 degrees.

7. Pour water into a pot with a multi-layered bottom, add sugar, and set the mixture on low heat for 8-9 minutes. A thick and viscous sugar syrup should result. If you see that the syrup is close to turning into caramel, you can remove it from the heat a little earlier. The ideal syrup should not darken or harden too much. Add 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the finished syrup.

8. At this time, beat the egg whites in a kitchen machine until stiff peaks form. This should be done in a dry and clean bowl. For the best results, the bowl for beating can also be degreased with lemon juice.

9. Slowly pour the boiling sugar syrup into the egg whites while vigorously beating them. Beat for at least 12 minutes. During this time, the egg white cream should become homogeneous, cool slightly, and thicken. You can add one more teaspoon of lemon juice to the finished cream.

10. Remove the shortcrust pastry from the oven, trim the pieces with a knife. The excess crumbs can later be used for sprinkling the pastries.

11. When the cream has completely cooled, spread it over the prepared pieces of pastry. The layer of cream should be at least 4 cm high. The edges of the cream layer can be carefully trimmed with a silicone spatula or a large spoon. Sprinkle the pastries with the crumbs from the pastry on top. Place the finished lemon pastries in the refrigerator for a few hours.

If you want to slightly diversify the classic recipe for lemon pastries with egg white cream, you can add a layer of lemon or any other jam between the layers and the cream. This delicious dessert based on shortcrust pastry and egg white cream can be made not only with lemon but also with mandarin, kiwi, pineapple, or even grapefruit.