Meyer Lemon Pudding Pie

Sometimes you just need a few minutes, moments of inspiration to try to gather your thoughts and come up with a good menu plan for the upcoming holiday dinner. There is so much anticipation for classic family favorites that you only get to indulge in once a year, and then there is the opportunity for new traditions to be brought to the table. For a food blogger, I’m sure you can imagine the ridiculous amount of pressure. Lucky for me, I forgot Easter was this weekend and decided to wing it. A quick phone call between my step mom and I and we pretty much had our bases covered knowing and trusting in one another (and everyone else coming along) that there would be no fear of not enough food.

Check out my posts from last year for a little Easter inspiration and a few suggestions with what to do with all those leftover Peeps.

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Meyer Lemon Pudding Pie

from Pie it Forward

Ingredients:

• 1/2 batch Sweet Tart Dough
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 tbs unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 teas salt
• 4 eggs, room temperature, separated
• 1/2 cup Meyer lemon Juice
• 1 tbs Meyer lemon zest
• 1 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/2 cup flour

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place an 8-inch cake ring or springform pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and coat the ring or pan with non-stick spray. Line the ring or pan with an even layer of dough, starting at the bottom and then building up the sides. Freeze dough for 20 minutes.

Line the inside with parchment and fill the crust with pie weights to the very rim of the ring or pan. Bake the crust for 20 minutes, then remove the weights and parchment, and bake for 15 minutes more, or until the bottom portion of the dough no longer looks wet. Leave the oven on 350.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the sugar, butter, and salt until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, until each in completely incorporated, and then add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and buttermilk. Mix until the batter is smooth, making sure to scrape the bowl to loosen up any chunks of butter that continue to cling to the sides or bottom. Sift the flour over the top of the batter and fold it into the mixture with a large rubber spatula until it is fully incorporated. Transfer the batter to a large bowl.

Clean the mixing bowl and fit with the whisk attachment. (Make sure the bowl is very clean, without a single trace of butter or any other kind of fat, as that will deflate your egg whites.) Beat the egg whites until they reach medium stiff peaks, making sure not to overbeat to the point that the meringue dries out.

Gently fold the egg whites into the batter and pour the mixture into the prepared crust. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the top has puffed and browned and the middle of the cake is no longer fluid. When you tap the pan, there will be a gentle wobble (no a liquid jiggle) in the middle of the cake (think cheesecake); this will firm up once out of the oven.

Allow the cake to cool completely. Transfer to a serving platter and gently run a knife along the sides of the cake ring or pan to release the cake.

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Sweet Tart Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teas salt
• 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, cold
• 1 egg
• 3 tbs sweetened condensed milk
• 1 teas vanilla extract

Preparation:

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, pulse together the flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, condensed milk, and vanilla. Slowly add the egg mixture to the flour mixture while pulsing; continue until the dough just begins to come together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead it until the dry ingredients are fully integrated and the dough holds together, being careful not to overwork it.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate0 it for at least 30 minutes.

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I made these smaller than called for and reduced the time, but as you can see, probably not by enough. I have no finished picture of these pies, but I can assume they are supposed to be more ‘pudding’ like on the inside.  Oh, and my local market only carries one type of lemon. Those, the ones in the bag. Lemon lemons… No mention of Meyer… Sad face. However – I freakin’ loved these and would make them again (and am considering it) in a heartbeat.