Paris-Grown Meyer Lemon

About a year ago, I posted a recipe for one of my favorite cakes, a flourless orange and ginger cake. In the course of the comment conversation, I mentioned that the recipe could also be made with other citruses, and Meyer lemons in particular. Meyer lemons are a variety of lemon, believed to stem from the love affair between an orange (or maybe a mandarin) and a lemon. They are said to be sweeter and less acidic than regular lemons, and their pulp is a little darker.

One of my readers and real-life friends, Christoph (who comes from Germany, lives in Paris with his lovely wife Susanne and is a wonderful cook) tried the recipe, loved it, brought it to work, got promoted, and decided to try the cake with Meyer lemons. Only Meyer lemons are nowhere to be found in Paris (or if they are please point me to them!). So Christoph, never one to give up in the face of obstacles, decided to grow his own, found a little Meyer lemon tree and waited, promising me that I would get my share from the first harvest.

And the tree did well, it made it through one summer and one winter and bloomed and bore fruit, and Christoph, a man of his word, solemnly gave me what he had promised. One precious Meyer lemon.

Me, I'm tempted to just drink the juice, but he suggests I make sorbet with it (I don't own a sorbet-maker, so it will have to be more of a hand-stirred granité, which is fine by me). As for the rind, I would love to candy it, but Susanne reminded me that the tree lives on a (very pretty) balcony overlooking a busy street in the middle of the Quartier Latin, so she's not sure the rind is fit to eat. Maybe if I scrub it real well?