This week school begins and I am the proud mama of a senior! I think she already has a touch of senioritis – is there a remedy for that? Yep! Miss T’s last year of high school and I am vastly aware of how fast it will pass. We don’t see much of her anyway as she was recently hired by Starbucks as a Barista. I’ll admit she looks pretty great in her black on black on black uniform complete with a Starbucks baseball cap! Part of me is sad that my baby will head off to college this time next year, but part of me can’t help but dream of what adventures my man Dan and I will seek as empty nesters. I hope to have more time for cooking and blogging, and of course bee keeping.
The Texas heat has not let up but we did have a short but much-needed rain shower early last evening. It was glorious! The wind blew and the air-cooled off, we just sat and enjoyed feeling the giant raindrops splatter on our feet. I would have liked the drop in temperature on Thursday however, when we went to remove a hive of bees from a storage shed in a hot back yard. Yes, Queen Mary and hive #7 moved into the apiary Thursday afternoon. These girls had found a small hole into a space between a floor and a sub-floor of this little storage shed. After my man Dan ripped the floor apart I was able to remove their hive along with the queen. Success! Dan named her “Mary, Queen of Scotts”; as the man who called for the removal was named “Scott”. I like his sense of humor. Still praying for more rain so that fall will bring a last round of food for the bees, before they hunker down for winter.
It was 104* that day and we got plenty hot while working outside in the middle of the day. The only thing I seemed to have an appetite for was ice cream. In the August issue of “Southern Living” I’d noted a Lemon Meringue Ice-Cream Pie. In fact there was an entire section devoted to ice cream treats, but being a lover of lemon I chose this one.
I have never made homemade lemon curd and let me tell you, it’s well worth the standing and stirring required at the stove. Honestly, I could eat it with a spoon straight out of the jar and be soooooo happy! This pie is easy, but I should warn you, it is also time-consuming. After making and baking the vanilla wafer crust, it must cool completely, same goes for the lemon curd. The ice cream needs to soften to a spreadable state and then be refrozen before serving the pie. I discovered that freezing overnight is best. Oh! and the meringue is whipped over a pot of boiling water. Ha – I had to laugh at myself, all I wanted was to make and eat something cold and I spent a great deal of time stirring and mixing over a hot stove. Nonetheless, this pie is a dreamy combination of tart lemon curd, sweet wafer crust and creamy vanilla bean ice-cream.
Enjoy!
Lemon Meringue Ice-Cream Pie
Ingredients
- 2 pt. vanilla ice cream
- Vanilla Wafer Crust – recipe follows
- 1 1/2 cups Homemade Lemon Curd – recipe follows
- 16 vanilla wafers
- Meringue Topping – recipe follows
Preparation
- 1. Let ice cream stand at room temperature 5 minutes or just until soft enough to spread. Spoon 1 pt. ice cream into Vanilla Wafer Crust. Top with 3/4 cup lemon curd; repeat with remaining ice cream and lemon curd. Gently swirl ice cream and curd with a knife or small spatula. Insert vanilla wafers around edge of pie. Cover and freeze 8 hours.
- 2. Spread Meringue Topping over pie. If desired, brown meringue using a kitchen torch, holding torch 1 to 2 inches from pie and moving torch back and forth. (If you do not have a torch, preheat broiler with oven rack 8 inches from heat; broil 30 to 45 seconds or until golden.) Serve immediately, or cover loosely with plastic wrap, and freeze 4 hours or up to 1 week.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups coarsely crushed vanilla wafers
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°. Stir together crushed vanilla wafers, powdered sugar, and melted butter; firmly press on bottom, up sides, and onto lip of a lightly greased 9-inch pie plate. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and cool completely (about 1 hour).
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Ingredients
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, coarsely chopped
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
Preparation- 1. Stir together first 4 ingredients in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, and cook, stirring constantly, 3 to 4 minutes or until sugar dissolves and butter melts.
- 2. Whisk about one-fourth of hot sugar mixture gradually into eggs; add egg mixture to remaining hot sugar mixture, whisking constantly. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, 15 minutes or until mixture thickens and coats back of a spoon. Remove from heat; cool completely (about 1 hour), stirring occasionally. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 2 weeks.
Meringue ToppingIngredients
- 2 egg whites
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preparation
- 1. Pour water to depth of 1 1/2 inches into a 3 1/2-qt. saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and let simmer.
- 2. Meanwhile, combine egg whites, next 3 ingredients, and 1/4 cup water in a 2 1/2-qt. glass bowl; beat mixture at high-speed with an electric mixer until blended. Place bowl over simmering water, and beat at high-speed 5 to 7 minutes or until soft peaks form; remove from heat. Beat to spreading consistency (about 2 to 3 minutes). Use immediately.
AUGUST 2011
This recipe looks wonderful. Katherine loves these wafers. We had a rain last night that didn’t cool a thing down, just made it a sauna. Glad you had a reprieve.
Greg, the longer this pie sits in the freezer the better it gets. That rain was a nano reprieve, the temps are back to 104-105 and predicted to remain there through the weekend. We are absolutely sick of it!
OH that look sooooo good. Mum made lemon meringue pie the other night but adding that to ice cream is just too GOOD <3
Bex – you can just put a scoop of ice cream, a spoonful of lemon curd and crush up a few wafers in a bowl and it’d be almost the same. I love LEMON!