I wanted a fruity dessert to offer alongside a chocolatey Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake for an office party, so I decided to try a recipe recently featured in the Los Angeles Times' Culinary SOS Column: Death by Lemon. It's a cheesecake-like torte flavored with lemon juice and lemon zest, topped with apricot jam and sliced almonds. The photo accompanying the recipe immediately reminded me of a Cream Cheese Crostata with Orange Marmalade that I made earlier this year.
The ingredient list is very short. The crust contains flour, powdered sugar, chilled butter, and an egg. You mix the dough, chill it, and the press it into a springform or cheesecake pan. The recipe says to press the dough two-thirds of the way up the sides of the pan, but since I used a short (2-inch tall) cheesecake pan, I pressed the dough all the way to the top of the sides. You don't blind bake the crust; you fill the uncooked crust with a mixture of eggs, sugar, heavy cream, and the juice and zest of five lemons. (I wish the recipe had specified the volume of juice instead of just instructing you to use five lemons' worth; I measured the juice I squeezed from five large lemons and it totaled seven fluid ounces.)
The filling came right up to the top of the pan, and I baked the torte until it was puffed and golden. After it was cooled, I released it from the pan and was dismayed to see that the crust had not taken on any color at all. The crust was cooked and I was able to remove the torte from the bottom of the pan without any problems, but pale crusts are creepily unattractive and generally have suboptimal flavor and texture. I spread some thinned apricot jam on top and sprinkled over some toasted sliced almonds to finish the torte.
The slices of torte held their shape nicely. The texture of the filling was creamy, dense, and rich. The flavor was super lemony, and multiple tasters commented on how wonderful the strong lemon flavor was. I liked this torte, but I didn't love it -- my main complaint was the lackluster crust. And while the Cream Cheese Crostata is not an apples-to-apples comparison (because it's not a lemon dessert), I like the crostata better. The crostata has a lower ratio of filling to crust, and more importantly, a filling that is lighter, more delicate, and silky smooth.
If I ever make this torte again, I would partially bake the crust before adding the filling. But party guests loved the dessert even with the albino crust, so I'm fairly satisfied with the way it turned out. Still, while I think the name "Death by Lemon" accurately describes the ultra-lemony flavor of the torte, I don't think the torte reaches the level of being to die for.
Recipe: "Death by Lemon" from The Range Cafe, recipe published in the August 8, 2014 Los Angeles Times.
Previous Post: "Fill It and Forget It: Cream Cheese Crostata with Orange Marmalade," March 6, 2014.
The ingredient list is very short. The crust contains flour, powdered sugar, chilled butter, and an egg. You mix the dough, chill it, and the press it into a springform or cheesecake pan. The recipe says to press the dough two-thirds of the way up the sides of the pan, but since I used a short (2-inch tall) cheesecake pan, I pressed the dough all the way to the top of the sides. You don't blind bake the crust; you fill the uncooked crust with a mixture of eggs, sugar, heavy cream, and the juice and zest of five lemons. (I wish the recipe had specified the volume of juice instead of just instructing you to use five lemons' worth; I measured the juice I squeezed from five large lemons and it totaled seven fluid ounces.)
If I ever make this torte again, I would partially bake the crust before adding the filling. But party guests loved the dessert even with the albino crust, so I'm fairly satisfied with the way it turned out. Still, while I think the name "Death by Lemon" accurately describes the ultra-lemony flavor of the torte, I don't think the torte reaches the level of being to die for.
Recipe: "Death by Lemon" from The Range Cafe, recipe published in the August 8, 2014 Los Angeles Times.
Previous Post: "Fill It and Forget It: Cream Cheese Crostata with Orange Marmalade," March 6, 2014.
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