Lemon Meringue Pie…In A Glass! from Jordan Reid on Vimeo.
On Saturday afternoon, I traipsed two whole blocks over to Flex Mussels, where genius pastry chef Zac Young (formerly of Butter) taught me how to make a sort of deconstructed lemon meringue pie served in a glass. It is delicious.
Go to 4:11 for some fun presentation ideas, and 4:48 for a special guest appearance.
Lemon Curd: Whisk together the juice of four lemons, 3/4 cup of sugar, three eggs, and one egg yolk in a heatproof bowl over a hot water bath. Whisk continuously for about ten minutes, or until it’s nice and custard-y looking. Slowly incorporate two sticks of butter, cut into small pieces (you don’t want it to break, and it will if you dump in the butter all at once!). Transfer to another dish, cover with plastic wrap (which should touch the top of the custard), and refrigerate a couple of hours to set.
Graham Cracker Crumble: Combine 4 oz. graham cracker crumbs, 2 oz all-purpose flour and 2 oz granulated sugar. Then mix in a stick of butter, melted, and smoosh together with your hands until nicely incorporated. Spread across a baking sheet and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. The end result should look like delicious sand.
Meringue: In a very clean bowl (use the bowl from your stand mixer if you have one), combine 4 oz egg whites (no yolks at all!), 6 oz granulated sugar, and half a vanilla bean. Place bowl over hot water bath and warm it up until the sugar dissolves, and then remove the mixture from the water bath and beat it on high until cool. The end result should be a thick, marshmallow-y looking fluff.
