With hamburgers now replacing Steak frites on café menus I thought it might be time to introduce the French to another populist, easy and delicious recipe from America: The Lemon Ice Box Pie. Actually, up until about a month ago, I had never heard of this wonderful little pie, but while casting around for an easy dessert to finish off one of my twenty-two Fashion Week menus, one that didn’t include chocolate or take ages to make, I stumbled across this little gem.
This lemon dessert is similar to a Key lime pie with its graham cracker crust and sweetened condensed milk filling. And, like the Key lime pie, the acid in the lemon juice sets the yolks in the filling with a minimum of baking. I confess, it was rather refreshing to free myself just for a little while from the classic French lemon tart. No rubbing butter and flour together for flaky pastry or stirring lemon curd over a double boiler.
On top of that, it was a HUGE hit.
The original recipe from CLANCY’S, a favorite neighborhood restaurant in New Orleans, calls for 14 whole graham crackers for the crust. In France, I replace these with 7 ½ ounces of crushed spéculoos cookies mixed with petits-beurre and use only half the sugar.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 14 whole graham crackers (or 7 ½ ounces of speculoos mixed with petit beurre)
- ¼ cup sugar (1/8 cup if using the French cookies)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 g) melted butter (plus more for the pan)
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For the filling:
- Two 14-ounce cans (397g) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 ¼ cups fresh lemon juice
- 8 large egg yolks
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160° C (325° F). Coat the sides and bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan with melted butter and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper.
- Process the cookies, sugar and salt in a food processor into fine crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and add the melted butter. Stir until the crumbs are evenly coated and clump together when pressed between your fingers. Dump the buttered crumbs into the prepared pan and pressed into the bottom and 2/3rds of the way up the sides.
- Set the pan on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 7 minutes to set the crust.
- In a medium bowl, mix the condensed milk with the lemon juice. In a separate bowl, using a handheld beater, whisk the egg yolks until pale. Pour the condensed milk mixture over the yolks and beat until smooth. Pour the filling into the crust.
- Bake the pie for 25 minutes. When ready, the center should jiggle slightly and the edges should be set. Remove the pie from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- Before serving, remove from the pie from the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter for 15 minutes. Loosen the crust from the pan by running a thin knife around the inside rim. Unmold and transfer to a plate. If not serving immediately, return to the refrigerator.
- Slice using a thin knife, wiping the blade between each cut.
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https://www.charlottepuckette.com/recipes/desserts/lemon-ice-box-pie/
