LEMON MERWHIP PIE

Always a treat in our house was my mom’s lemon merwhip pie - named that because she topped the pie with whipping cream instead of meringue. She started with an amazing sesame shortbread crust, filled it with a luscious lemon filling, covered it with a light whipping cream topping and decorated it with toasted almonds. The textures and flavours work wonderfully together - crumbly, velvety, fluffy, crunchy, sweet and tart with a touch of alty-nutiness- I’m drooling just thinking about it. We recently hosted an event where I made a deconstructed version of this pie and served individual portions on a little spoon (pictured above) and it was a hit. Try this pie out for your next dinner or go all out and serve these spoons at your next hosted event - either way its sure to be a dessert people remember.

For the Crust

1/2 cup better, softened

2 Tbsp sugar

1 cup flour

2 Tbsp sesame seeds

1 Tbsp white vinegar

pinch of salt

In a medium bowl, mix butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon; bland well. Add salt and flour and mix well. Add sesame seeds and vinegar.

Pat into a 9” pie dish and bake at 250F for about 20 min. or until golden brown. set aside to cool.

For the Filling

5 lg egg yolks

6 Tbsp cornstarch

1 1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 Tbsp butter

Whisk egg yolks in medium bowl; set aside.

In a medium saucepan which together cornstarch, sugar, salt and water. Over medium heat, bring mixture to boil, whisking constantly. Let simmer for 1-2 min until mixture begins to thicken.

Add a spoonful of cornstarch mixture to beaten egg yolks to temper the yolks. Continue to whisk in spoonfuls of the cornstarch mixture until you've used about half of the mixture.

Add egg yolk and cornstarch mixture back to the pot with the cornstarch. Return to a boil whisking constantly. Cook 3 to 4 minutes until thick.

Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter. Let cool.

For the Topping

1 cup 35% cream (heavy whipping cream)

sliced almonds, toasted to golden brown

In a small bowl, whip the cream until peaks form.

To Assemble

Once curst and filling are cool, spread filling over crust. spoon whipping cream over top and lightly smooth out. Top with toasted almonds. Voila!