Lemon Meringue Ice Cream Pie in Toasted Pecan Crust

MathMom.calif's Note:

Amazing pie, from the cover of Bon Apetite Magazine, April 2007. From their R.S.V.P. column. This recipe comes from Jamie's Restaurant in Pensacola, FL. I served it at Memorial Day family get-together, and everyone said it was amazing. I agree. A bit time consuming to put together, but SO worth it! Time to make is an estimate (I didn't really keep track.) Freezing times are included in the "passive cooking time".

• Total Time: 3 hrs 55 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 25 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 3 cups vanilla ice cream , divided (I recommend a premium quality, all-natural ice cream)

Lemon Curd

• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel (I used lemon zest)
• 1 pinch salt

Crust

• 1 ½ cups finely chopped pecans (I did this in my food processor)
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup butter , melted

Meringue

• 4 large egg whites , room temperature
• 1 pinch cream of tartar
• 6 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

1. For the lemon curd: Whisk eggs and egg yolks together in a medium bowl and set aside.
2. Melt butter in a medium metal bowl set over a large pot of simmering water.
3. Whisk in sugar, lemon juice, lemon peel and salt. Gradually whisk in eggs yolk mixture. (Thin stream and whisk constantly, be careful not to cook the eggs. May want the egg yolks at room temperature before beginning this step.).
4. Continue cooking and whisking until thick and thermometer reads 178-180 degrees F, about 8 minutes. (I was unable to get my mixture above 162, even after turning water up to boiling and cooking for 14 minutes, but it seemed thick, so I stopped for fear of over cooking, and it turned out fine.).
5. Transfer curd to a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap pressed down to the surface. Chill for a minimum of 4 hours.
6. NOTE: Curd can be made up to 2 days ahead.
7. For the crust: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
8. Mix together pecans, sugar and butter in a medium bowl until moistened. Press into a 9-inch glass pie dish--mixture will be crumbly. (I used a 10-inch glass pie dish.).
9. Bake crust until lightly toasted, about 12 minutes. Crust will slip down the sides of the dish. Use the back of a spoon to press crust back into place.
10. Cool crust on a rack. Freeze crust for 30 minutes.
11. Dollop 1 1/2 cups of the softened ice cream into the bottom of the crust and spread into an even layer. Spread the lemon curd over the ice cream and freeze until firm, about 2 hours. (Note: I froze after putting in the first ice cream layer, too, for about 30 minutes.).
12. Spread the additional 1 1/2 cups of softened ice cream over the curd and freeze until firm, about 2 hours.
13. For the meringue: Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites in a medium bowl until frothy. Beat in cream of tartar. With mixer running, gradually add sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Spoon meringue over pie, swirling decoratively.
14. NOTE: All steps above can be done up to one day ahead of time. Freeze pie until ready to brown the meringue.
15. To finish the pie, using a kitchen butane torch, toast the meringue until golden in spots or place pie in a preheated 500 degree F oven until meringue is golden in spots, watching to prevent burning (about 3 minutes). (I used the oven method.).
16. Cut pie into wedges and serve immediately.

Reviews

[Food.com]

Congrats! Your recipe was featured as Recipe of the Day on our homepage today (8/15/11)!

[Lori in NC]

This was a huge hit with my girls' night out group. Based on reviews from the Bon Appetit website, I used about 1/2 batch of a lemon curd from Gourmet 2001, and was glad to have some leftover! Instead of the 9" pie pan, I used a 10" tart pan with a removable bottom, so it was easy to get out of the pan and slice. I did top the pie with the meringue the night before, and browned it at the last minute. I was also excited to have an excuse to buy a kitchen torch - it was a breeze to brown the meringue. This was the perfect recipe for this heat wave - just remember that it takes a lot of time in the freezer with all of the layers. Thanks for sharing!

[weefaith]

This was an amazing pie! I made it for dinner guests, and everyone raved. I did, however, make a couple of changes. I used prepared lemon curd due to time constraints, and I didn't do the meringue topping. I just topped it with toasted coconut and lemon zest. It was truly wonderful and refreshing.