This article was inspired by my recent lemon curd post, as well as by memories of my mom zesting lemons in our tiny kitchen, many years ago. Every time she came across lemons, my mom would try to use them in their entirety, and in the process she would unlock the delicious potential of one of lemon’s most underrated (imo) parts: its zest. She would zest the lemons as much as possible, minus the pith, and then would layer the zest and sugar in small jars, which she would store in the fridge for weeks or even months, to use in desserts.
While doing the research for this post, I learned that freezing was a very popular option for storing lemon zest. America’s Test Kitchen conducted an experiment making lemon pound cakes with fresh lemon zest *and* with zest stored in 3 different ways: in the pantry, in the fridge, and in the freezer. Their conclusion: “The cakes made with refrigerated and pantry-stored zest lacked a citrus punch, but the frozen-zest cake tasted almost as good as fresh, despite a slightly washed-out color. The bottom line: Frozen zest is suitable for baking but, since its color fades, not as a garnish. Zest can be frozen for up to 3 weeks before its flavor begins to diminish” (America’s Test Kitchen, “Storing Lemon Zest”)
Be it nostalgia, habit, or fear of the unknown, lol, I will continue to store lemon zest in the fridge, like my mom used to. I use no-sugar zest with fish, and zest with sugar in cakes and cookies. I recommend looking for unwaxed lemons, organic, if at all possible.
What to do if you don’t have lemon zest on hand? According to The Spruce Eats, the following are possible lemon zest substitute:
- Lemon extract
- Lemon juice
- Dried lemon peel
- The zest of another citrus fruit
For tips on how to zest a lemon, to begin with, you are welcome to check out this Food52 article or this Bon Appétit article. You can also find my sweet and savory recipes which use lemon zest here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Do you store lemons zest for future use? What is your favorite application of lemon zest, and what do you use instead of lemon zest? Let me know in the comments 🙂
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