We have this Meyer lemon tree. Except for the first year, it has given us one lemon each year. Such a gift is a reason for celebration. It has been ripe for a while, but lemons are patient. You can leave them hanging for quite some time. But today was the day.

I took my garden scissors and carefully severed the fruit from the tree. You can't just pull it off; the connection to the branch it grew from is too strong. This lemon has grown quite large. Its touch was softer than that of an ordinary supermarket lemon. The yellow of this kind is warmer than that of typical lemons, and it lacks the prominent nipples characteristic of the standard variety. You can almost guess that Meyer lemons are a cross between lemons and a rounder, orange-colored type of citrus.

Next step: cutting the fruit open. The smell is extraordinary. While a typical lemon smells fresh, acidic, and rather cool, the Meyer lemon is much more complex. It’s still acidic but has sweeter, warmer aromas that hint at tangerines. The scent is heavier, yet it still has that lemony freshness.

To celebrate the lemon, I chose a dish that highlights it as the centerpiece. In the past, I made ice cream or lemonade. Today, I’ll make a Lemon Dutch Baby—an oven-baked pancake infused with lemon zest and juice. The process of making it is as phenomenal as its taste.

A pan is preheated in the oven. When the temperature is reached, a spoonful of butter is melted in the pan, and the very liquid batter is poured over it. Toward the end of cooking, the pancake rises dramatically. The result is decorated with lemon slices and tastes wonderfully delicate, full of Meyer lemon flavor.