If life gives you lemons, make a deconstructed lemon pie in a martini glass
I’ve always loved lemons. When I was a little girl, I always preferred lemon sorbet over chocolate ice cream. We used to go to the beach quite frequently since it was very near Caracas. At the end of the day at the beach, we went to Tomaselli, an Italian ice cream shop where I always ordered Lemon granita. The truth is, citric fruits are my favorite. In fact, I’m so fond of both the citric flavors and scents that my day fragrances are all citric, as well as the candles I buy for my house.
That is why when I received the exquisite box of Lemons, Limoneira sent me; my imagination started to work. I wondered which recipe I could come up with to honor such a fabulous gift.
In fact, I use lemons everyday. As I wake up each day, I drink a glass of water with fresh squeezed lemon juice. During the day, and especially in the summertime, I love to drink lemon- infused water with mint leaves, it is not only refreshing but, very digestive as well. Almost all my salad dressings and vinaigrettes are made with lemons and apple cider vinegar. And ultimately, I also use lemons whenever I’m preparing fish, seafood, and poultry.
Instead of Lemonade I decided to make a twist of one of my mom’s recipes and created this deconstructed lemon pie
So, after doing some brainstorming, I recalled a dessert my mom used to make, using yogurt, condensed milk, freshly squeezed lemon juice, grated lemon zest and graham crackers. Suddenly, I got it! I would make a deconstructed version of my mom’s recipe, served in Martini glasses, significantly reducing the portions and calories as well. Then, visualizing my deconstructed lemon pie, I decided that instead of making the usual cookie crust I would just put them in a food processor to crush the cookies, getting rid of the butter and additional sugar.
With the whole recipe in my mind, I headed to the supermarket, bought everything I needed and put myself to work.
Here you have an easy and quick recipe to prepare this Saturday as it is National Lemonade Day. I just tell you that three persons had my deconstructed lemon pie and said that it was delicious.
Recipe- 4 portions
Ingredients
1 cup condensed milk
1 ½ cup plain natural yogurt
1 cup lemon juice (4 lemons)
Grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
Four sweet graham crackers (I used gluten free)
Garnishings
2 Lemon slices cut in half
2 strawberries
Mint leaves
Grated Lemon Zest
Preparation:
First of all, crush the cookies in a food processor, until they look like breadcrumbs and set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the condensed milk, yogurt, lemon juice and part of the grated lemon zest. When all ingredients are well mixed and with a creamy consistency, put the mix in the freezer for about 2 hours, until the mix gets more firm.
On each Martini glass, serve one tablespoon of the cookie crumbs on the bottom but do not press, add two tablespoons of the creamy lemon mixture you kept chilling in the freezer and let it set irregularly. Once again, serve two tablespoons of the cookie crumbs and another layer of the creamy lemon mixture, leaving about half inch of space at the top of the glass. Garnish each glass with a half lemon slice, a strawberry slice, two or three mint leaves and grated lemon zest. Place the four Martini glasses in the fridge until ready to serve.
This recipe is so easy that it would take you no more than 15 minutes to prepare in two different stages. The first part of crushing the cookies and mixing the ingredients takes around 5 or 6 minutes at the most. You just wait at least 2 hours for the mixture to turn into a more firm cream and then you’re ready to prepare the four Martini glasses at the same time.
Enjoy!
