Lemon Pie

1. Crust: You can use a boxed mix, your grandma’s recipe, prebaked, or the refrigerated kind that you unroll and put in the pan. Whichever crust option you choose, make it a 9″ and make sure you let it get completely cool before adding the next layer.

2. Filling: First of all, please please please do not use light or fat free cream cheese or Cool Whip. You need the full fat versions of both of these or else your cream filling won’t set up correctly. I’m not pretending this is a diet pie, so just go with the full fat stuff.

Beat the cream cheese and 1/2 cup of sugar in your mixer. Add the Cool Whip and whip it smooth.

Spread the mixture into the baked and cooled pie shell. If you decide to make an 8″ pie, hold back a little bit of the cream filling or else you won’t have room for the lemon curd on top.

3. Lemon: Whisk together the eggs, lemon juice, zest, butter, and 1 cup of sugar. Cook and whisk constantly over a double boiler for 5 minutes or until the curd thickens and turns glossy. It should coat the back of a spoon and stay put when you make a stripe through it with your finger.

4. Final Assembly: Allow the curd to cool for 10-20 minutes on the counter before moving to the refrigerator. Once it is completely chilled, spread the curd over the cream layer.

Refrigerate the entire pie for at least 15 minutes (longer is better if you can stand to wait) before serving. I also like to add a ring of whipped cream rosettes around the outside of the pie. It dresses up the edge and creates a nice finished look.

Warning: Remember when I told you that you absolutely must use full fat cream cheese and Cool Whip? Well here is why: Without enough fat in the cream layer, the filling won’t set up correctly. As soon as you take out a slice, the curd will slide down due to not enough support from the cream layer and your whole pie will be a smush.

It tastes just fine, but it’s not pretty. If you’re going to try for a low-fat version, you might as well just toss some vanilla ice cream in a bowl and top it with the lemon curd because that’s exactly what your pie will look like.

Now, the curd tastes just delicious on some ice cream as well as on toast and shortbread cookies, and all manner of other tasty items, but we’re making pie here.