I was supposed to make this thursday, but ended up going for drinks instead. Company's coming over so I'm banging this out today for the dessert.
First, your ingredients - you'll need graham crumbs, sugar, milk, cream, 4 eggs, and a lemon. Oh, and butter (not shown here).
Step #1 - put parchment paper on a couple of baking sheets, and set your oven to 350F.
Step #2 - Make a graham crust. Melt 1/4c of butter in the microwave in a bowl, dump in 1c of graham crumbs and mix:
Step #3 - Make like an autobot and roll that shit out. Throw in the oven, you'll bake it for about 10 minutes.
Step #4 - separate your eggs. You'll need 4 yolks and 2 whites, save the last two whites for breakfast or something.
Step #5 - Make a meringue. Take the egg whites, add 2 egg yolks and take them for a spin in the kitchenaid with the whisk attachment. Handheld mixer works if you don't have a kitchenaid.
Step #6 - When you've got a nice white meringue with peaks that look like this, you're done:
Step #7 - Make like Fly and spread that shit, you'll want it about 3/8" thick. Throw it in the oven, it'll bake for about 15-20 minutes until it's golden on top.
Step #8 - Crust is done! You don't need all of the crust, so I just cook it until the edges are a bit burnt. Set it aside to cool.
Step #9 - Time to zest your lemon. I use one of these Microplane things which are endlessly useful to have, but you can use the small holes on a cheese grater if you're careful with it. Make sure you only get the zest, and none of the white stuff.
Step #10 - One naked lemon, and a bunch of grated zest.
Step #11 - Measure out 1.5c of cream and 1.5c of milk. I only had 1c of milk and used 2c of cream, more cream gives you a creamier but less healthy ice cream.
Step #12 - Add the cream/milk to a medium sized saucepan, and dump in the lemon zest. You'll want to bring this to near boiling (only a few bubbles around the edge) and hold it there for about 5 minutes in order to get all the oils from the lemon zest absorbed into the milk fat.
Step #13 - Meanwhile take your 4 egg yolks, 2/3 cup of sugar and a pinch of salt, dump them in a metal bowl and whip that shit like... oh, never mind.
Step #14 - I didn't show any pictures of the process, because it's a two handed job. With one hand, keep whisking the yolk/sugar mixture and with your other hand, SLOWLY pour the half of the cream mixture into it. DO NOT STOP WHISKING. This process is called 'tempering' and it prevents the yolks from curdling.
Once about half of the cream mixture is in with the yolks, you can dump everything back into the pot with the cream. Keep cooking, whisking the mixture the whole time.
Step #15 - Meringue is done, err... slightly overdone. I'm sure it'll be fine. Set it aside to cool.
Step #16 - The mixture is done when it passes the spoon test - it should stick to a spoon, forming a reasonably thick coating without dripping/running off. Takes about 5 minutes. Move the pot off the burner and let it cool.
Step #17 - Take half your lemon, and juice it into the mixture. Don't worry about seeds, next step will get rid of them.
Step #18 - Get a glass/plastic food container with a top, and strain the mixture into it through a metal strainer. This removes the lemon rind, any bits of egg that may have curdled, or lemon seeds that made it out when your juice.
Let the mixture cool to room temperature before you put the lid on, then put it in the fridge and let it chill.
Put the meringue into your freezer. Break up the graham crust, throw away the burnt edges and throw it in your freezer.
And that's where I am right now with it. More to follow when it goes into the ice cream maker.
First, your ingredients - you'll need graham crumbs, sugar, milk, cream, 4 eggs, and a lemon. Oh, and butter (not shown here).
Step #1 - put parchment paper on a couple of baking sheets, and set your oven to 350F.
Step #2 - Make a graham crust. Melt 1/4c of butter in the microwave in a bowl, dump in 1c of graham crumbs and mix:
Step #3 - Make like an autobot and roll that shit out. Throw in the oven, you'll bake it for about 10 minutes.
Step #4 - separate your eggs. You'll need 4 yolks and 2 whites, save the last two whites for breakfast or something.
Step #5 - Make a meringue. Take the egg whites, add 2 egg yolks and take them for a spin in the kitchenaid with the whisk attachment. Handheld mixer works if you don't have a kitchenaid.
Step #6 - When you've got a nice white meringue with peaks that look like this, you're done:
Step #7 - Make like Fly and spread that shit, you'll want it about 3/8" thick. Throw it in the oven, it'll bake for about 15-20 minutes until it's golden on top.
Step #8 - Crust is done! You don't need all of the crust, so I just cook it until the edges are a bit burnt. Set it aside to cool.
Step #9 - Time to zest your lemon. I use one of these Microplane things which are endlessly useful to have, but you can use the small holes on a cheese grater if you're careful with it. Make sure you only get the zest, and none of the white stuff.
Step #10 - One naked lemon, and a bunch of grated zest.
Step #11 - Measure out 1.5c of cream and 1.5c of milk. I only had 1c of milk and used 2c of cream, more cream gives you a creamier but less healthy ice cream.
Step #12 - Add the cream/milk to a medium sized saucepan, and dump in the lemon zest. You'll want to bring this to near boiling (only a few bubbles around the edge) and hold it there for about 5 minutes in order to get all the oils from the lemon zest absorbed into the milk fat.
Step #13 - Meanwhile take your 4 egg yolks, 2/3 cup of sugar and a pinch of salt, dump them in a metal bowl and whip that shit like... oh, never mind.
Step #14 - I didn't show any pictures of the process, because it's a two handed job. With one hand, keep whisking the yolk/sugar mixture and with your other hand, SLOWLY pour the half of the cream mixture into it. DO NOT STOP WHISKING. This process is called 'tempering' and it prevents the yolks from curdling.
Once about half of the cream mixture is in with the yolks, you can dump everything back into the pot with the cream. Keep cooking, whisking the mixture the whole time.
Step #15 - Meringue is done, err... slightly overdone. I'm sure it'll be fine. Set it aside to cool.
Step #16 - The mixture is done when it passes the spoon test - it should stick to a spoon, forming a reasonably thick coating without dripping/running off. Takes about 5 minutes. Move the pot off the burner and let it cool.
Step #17 - Take half your lemon, and juice it into the mixture. Don't worry about seeds, next step will get rid of them.
Step #18 - Get a glass/plastic food container with a top, and strain the mixture into it through a metal strainer. This removes the lemon rind, any bits of egg that may have curdled, or lemon seeds that made it out when your juice.
Let the mixture cool to room temperature before you put the lid on, then put it in the fridge and let it chill.
Put the meringue into your freezer. Break up the graham crust, throw away the burnt edges and throw it in your freezer.
And that's where I am right now with it. More to follow when it goes into the ice cream maker.