Lemon Cream Pie (better than lemon meringue pie)

This is what happened within 24 hours of making this pie. And no, we did not share it with the kids. No formal slices were cut. We jut ate this straight form the pie dish because it was so good.

Ingredients

Graham Cracker Crust

• 12 graham crackers 2 cups crushed. I like to keep them course for a better texture

• 6 tbs butter melted

• 2 tbs sugar

• Pinch of salt

  
  

Lemon Filling

• 5 large egg yolks use the whites in the meringue recipe below

• 1 ¼ cups water

• ⅓ cup cornstarch

• 1 ¼ cup sugar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ½ cup lemon juice

• lemon zest from the lemons used for juicing

• 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature

Whipped Cream

• 1 cup heavy cream

• 1 Tbl. sugar

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Crust

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.

• Combine crushed graham crackers, melted butter, sugar, and salt. Mix thoroughly. (12 graham crackers crushed, 6 tbs unsalted butter, 2 tbs sugar, pinch of salt)

• Press graham cracker mixture into a 9 in pie dish, packing it in firmly. I only press it into the bottom of the pan so that you can see the lemon on the sides once sliced.

• Bake crust in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Once crust is done baking remove from oven.

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Filling

• Whisk egg yolks in a bowl and set aside.

• In a medium saucepan whisk together water, cornstarch, sugar, salt, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Over medium heat, bring the mixture to a simmer. Let the mixture simmer, whisking continuously, until thickened- 4-6 minutes then remove from heat. (1 ¼ cups water, ⅓ cup corn starch, 1 ¼ cups sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ cup lemon juice, 1 tbs lemon zest)

• Slowly stream, while whisking, 4-5 large spoonfuls of the lemon mixture into the whisked egg yolks (1 spoonful at a time) until completely mixed together- this is tempering the eggs. Then slow pour, while whisking, that tempered egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining lemon mixture.

• Whisk in the butter. Set aside and make whipped cream.

  
  

  Whipped Cream

• In a stand mixer (or with a hand-held mixer) with the whisk attachment whisk the cream, sugar, and vanilla until medium soft peaks form.

  
  

Assembly

• Pour warm lemon filling into the pre baked graham cracker crust.

• Place pie into the fridge until the lemon filling has cooled. If it is still hot or warm, it will melt the whipped cream and turn it back into heavy cream.