Got Lemons?

While I am not a big fan of Martha Stewart, I am a big fan of her delicious, dimunitive, recipe-packed magazine, Every Day Food. Don't let its size fool you because between the covers of this wonderful magazine are found some of the easiest and best recipes. For instance, the Lemon Cream Pie, which was featured in the May 2007 issue, is akin to lemon meringue pie except instead of meringue it uses heavy whipping cream for the topping and gelatin to stabilize the whipped cream so it stays firm on the pie.

Lemon Cream Pie

for pie and filling

One  9-inch pie crust

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 4 lemons)

for the topping

1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin (from a 1/4-oz. envelope)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line crust with aluminum foil, leave an overhang and fold over edge. Fill crust with dried beans, pie weights, or uncooked rice (this will keep the crust from puffing up and hold it in the pie plate). Place crust on a baking sheet and bake until set and slightly golden, about 20 minutes. Remove foil (and whatever you use to weight the crust down). Bake without foil, 5-10 minutes more; if crust bubbles up, press down gently. Cool

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, sour cream, and salt; gradually whisk in lemon juice. Pour mixture into crust. Place on a baking sheet; bake until barely set (center of pie will still wiggle slightly) 25-35 minutes. Cool completely.

Make topping. Place 2 tablespoons cold water in a small saucepan, and sprinkle with gelatin; let soften about 5 minutes. Heat mixture over very low heat, stirring until gelatin dissolves. Let cool.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream and sugar until very soft peaks form. While beating, slowly add gelatin mixture, and continue beating until soft peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, spread over cooked pie. Refrigerate until ready to serve, at least 1 hour or, loosely covered, up to 1 day.

I liked the whipped cream topping better than the meringue because it not only softens the tartness of the lemon filling but it adds a rich, creamy texture to the entire pie.

In case you're wondering, this was the last piece of pie and after I took a few shots for this post, yes you guessed it, I ate it! This will definitely be part of my recipe collection especially during these hot summer days.

Enjoy!

Namaste

Chris