The final dessert I decided to make for Muscaday was David Guas' Lemon Icebox Pie from DamGoodSweet. I had designed the Muscaday dessert menu with a few specific goals in mind: 1) I wanted to be able to make everything in advance; and 2) I wanted the desserts to be cold and refreshing. The latter goal was important to me because it was going to be a very hot day and I knew that many of our guests were likely to be spending at least part of the afternoon outdoors, in our back yard. This icebox pie nicely met both requirements.
This recipe is surprisingly easy. You make a crust by mixing graham crackers, sugar, salt, and melted butter in a food processor. You press the crust mixture into a pan (I used a cheesecake pan with a removable bottom instead of a springform pan). Then you make a filling by combining egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest, and condensed milk. You pour the filling into the uncooked crust and bake. You cool the pie and then freeze it overnight.
I didn't have any difficulty releasing the frozen pie from the sides of the pan, but when I served it, I had some sticking issues with the bottom crust. You can see in the photo above that there is a chunk of the bottom crust missing -- it got left behind. You're supposed to serve the pie with chantilly cream, but I served it plain. I don't think anyone missed the cream, because this pie is absolutely perfect just the way it is.
The pie was refreshingly cold and decadently creamy without being heavy. It had a lovely, clean, and bright lemon flavor. It's reminded me a lot of a key lime pie -- except with lemon. And better. This was the perfect dessert for a hot day and it was the clear crowd favorite at Muscaday (with the revelatory caramel cake coming in second).
This dessert was definitely my favorite of the day as well. I would happily serve this to guests any time, at any time of the year. I wasn't expecting that the best dessert of the day would be the one that took the least amount of time and effort to make -- but sometimes you just get lucky. And anyone who gets to enjoy this pie is lucky indeed!
Recipe: "Lemon Icebox Pie" from DamGoodSweet by David Guas, recipe available here at epicurious.com.
The Other Muscaday Desserts:
This recipe is surprisingly easy. You make a crust by mixing graham crackers, sugar, salt, and melted butter in a food processor. You press the crust mixture into a pan (I used a cheesecake pan with a removable bottom instead of a springform pan). Then you make a filling by combining egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest, and condensed milk. You pour the filling into the uncooked crust and bake. You cool the pie and then freeze it overnight.
The pie was refreshingly cold and decadently creamy without being heavy. It had a lovely, clean, and bright lemon flavor. It's reminded me a lot of a key lime pie -- except with lemon. And better. This was the perfect dessert for a hot day and it was the clear crowd favorite at Muscaday (with the revelatory caramel cake coming in second).
This dessert was definitely my favorite of the day as well. I would happily serve this to guests any time, at any time of the year. I wasn't expecting that the best dessert of the day would be the one that took the least amount of time and effort to make -- but sometimes you just get lucky. And anyone who gets to enjoy this pie is lucky indeed!
The Other Muscaday Desserts:
- "Full of Surprises, Indeed: Revelatory Caramel Cake," June 18, 2015.
- "Cold and Creamy Citrus: Tangerine Semifreddo with Salted Almond Brittle," June 13, 2015.
- "Baked Sunday Mornings: Rainbow Icebox Cake with Homemade Chocolate Cookies," June 7, 2013.
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