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Meyer Lemon Chiffon Cake
Lemon Dessert Day
Dec 15
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
Oh sweet lemon, rare delight,
A golden orb in winter’s light.
Your tender taste, a soft embrace,
A sugared sun in frosty space."
~ Ode to a Lemon
Meyer lemons: the most delicious of sweet and sour lemons and definitely worthy of a strathspey. If a dancer comes to class with a bag to share, be sure to grab a few with thanks! Once relegated to life as a decorative houseplant or backyard curio, these sweet and juicy gems are a combination of lemon and a mandarin orange—nature's citrus matchmaking at its finest. They only ascended to culinary stardom in the 1980s, when Martha Stewart gave them their big break with recipes like lemon-pine nut tart, whole-wheat spaghetti with Meyer lemon, arugula, and pistachios, and even coffee cake with Meyer lemons stealthily baked into the batter. Before Martha worked her magic, growers weren’t fans of Meyer lemons—their thin, delicate skin was not travel friendly for long-distance shipping. But now? That's all sorted out and you can treat yourself with this citrusy strathspey and Martha Stewart's Meyer Lemon Shortbread Wreaths with Rosemary - perfect for sweet and tartan dance enthusiast! 😄 💛 🍋 💛 🍋
Meyer Lemon Strathspey
The Meyer lemon is a citrus fruit native to China thought to be a cross between a true lemon and either a mandarin or common orange, which gives it is unique sweet taste.
It was introduced to the United States in 1908 by agricultural explorer Frank Nicholas Meyer, an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture, who collected a sample of the plant on a trip to China.
By the mid-1940s, the Meyer lemon had become widely grown in California. However, at that time it was discovered that a majority of the Meyer lemon trees being cloned were symptomless carriers of the Citrus tristeza virus, a virus which had killed millions of citrus trees all over the world and rendered other millions useless for production.
After this finding, most of the Meyer lemon trees in the United States were destroyed to save other citrus trees. But by the 1950s, a virus-free selection was found and later released in 1975 by the University of California as the "Improved Meyer Lemon."
Meyer lemons became popular as a food item in the United States after being popularized by chefs such as Alice Waters at Chez Panisse during the California Cuisine revolution at the end of the 1990s. Popularity further climbed when Martha Stewart began featuring them in her recipes.
For Martha Stewart's Meyer Lemon Shortbread Wreath cookies with rosemary, click the picture! Or for the Meyer Lemon Chiffon Cake at the top of the page, click here.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
