Some Sibling Bonding For The Sake Of Mom

I was able to go home for Mother’s Day and cook a nice dinner for my Mom and my sister, who is a new Mother and celebrated her first Mother’s Day. I made the works: homemade lasagna (forgot to take pictures to share the recipe with you… oh well I guess I will just have to make it again… I don’t mind, honestly) rolls, salad, and delicious lemon pie for dessert.

I even got my little brother (I should say younger not little because he towers over me now) to help with everything. I was so proud of him that he put down his video games and came and set the table, made the entire salad all by him self and helped me make this pie. I got to teach him all about measuring ingredients, tempering eggs, and how to cut fruits and veggies. He even seemed some what interested (this coming from a kid who if left alone to fend for himself for the evening thinks heating soup from a can is too much work). I guess I had better make a few more trips home in the next few weeks to teach him the basics so that he won’t starve when he leaves for college this summer.

This lemon pie was the featured Pillsbury calendar recipe for the month of May. When I saw it I knew Mother’s Day would be the perfect occasion to make this pie (I mean I could have made it ‘just because’ for just Eric and I, but that would have been detrimental to my health thighs).

This pie tasted great. I love lemon/citrus desserts but some people are not fans. This pie has just the right amount of lemon flavor: not too little and not too over powering, just right. I also loved how I could taste every flavor element of the pie, the lemon, the cream cheese, the white chocolate.

Notes: The original recipe uses a traditional pie crust. The first time I baked the crust it shriveled up on me so I had to make it again. This crust did not taste bad, but I think the next time I make this pie I will use a graham cracker pie curst. This will be much easier and will eliminate the need to turn the oven on (which in the summer months is the last thing you EVER want to do). Also, the original recipe uses water but I always like to substitute milk when I bake for the added richness. However, because I did this my pie did not turn out looking like the pie pictured in the calendar; with one distinct cream cheese layer and one distinct lemon layer. I was slightly bummed about this because I liked how neat it looked with the separate layers. But after eating this pie and loving how smooth and creamy my version turned out I like my way better. Plus if you use milk and don’t try to separate the pie filling into two separate layers you save time and dirty up less dishes; and I am all for that!

Oh, and P.S.
The original recipe also calls for topping this pie with whipped cream, um I totally used sliced strawberries that I had sprinkled with some sugar and let sit for about an hour to let some of their natural juices form. THIS was the perfect topping for this perfect Mother’s Day dessert!

Lemon Truffle Pie
Prep Time: 1 Hr 10 Min Total Time: 3 Hr 10 Min Serves: 10

Crust:
1 premade graham cracker pie crust

Filling:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 egg yolks, beaten
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup white vanilla baking chips or chopped white chocolate baking bar (6 oz)
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

Topping:
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 tablespoon sugar

In 2-quart saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch and flour. Gradually stir in milk until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Reduce heat to low; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Stir about 1/4 cup hot mixture into egg yolks until well blended. Stir egg yolk mixture into sugar mixture in saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Cook an addtitional 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat. Stir in butter, lemon peel and lemon juice. Stir in vanilla chips and return to stove and cook over low heat just until chips are melted, stirring constantly.

In small bowl with electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium speed until fluffy. Beat in melted vanilla chip/lemon mixture until well blended. Spread into pie crust. Refrigerate until set, 2 to 3 hours.

In another small bowl toss strawberries with sugar. Place in refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours or until pie is ready. Serve prepared strawberries over pie.

recipe adapted from Pillsbury.com