Grammy's Lemon Cream Pie (2024)

Grammy’s Lemon Cream Pie

The best lemon cream pie you will ever taste! Original 1960s recipe made from scratch with fresh lemon juice, cream cheese and real whipped cream.

Servings: 12 slices (1 pie)

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For the Lemon Cream Pie:

• 1/2 recipe Darn Good Whole WheatPieCrust enough for 1 deep, 9-inchpie
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezedlemonjuice about 3 large lemons
• 1 tablespoon freshly gratedlemonzest from about 1 lemon
• 12 ounces reduced fat cream cheese* softened to room temperature

For the Homemade Whipped Cream:

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon powderedsugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• Prepare the crust according to my Darn Good Whole Wheat Pie Crust recipe, either halving the recipe (it yields enough for 2 crusts) or freezing the second crust for a later time. (I recommend making the recipe as written and freezing the second crust. It will be great to have on hand and you are going to the effort anyway, so you might as well enjoy twice the crust!)

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Roll out the pie crust, then fit into a 9-inch widepieplate that is 1 1/2 to 2-inches deep. Trim any overhang, then crimp the crust edges as desired. Line the crust with aluminum foil or parchment paper so that the foil/paper comes all the way up the sides of the dish and fits against the sides and bottom snugly. Fill the dish with dried beans orpieweights. Place in the preheated oven and bake until the edges are barelybeginning to turn golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the foil/paper and weights, then return the crust to the oven and continue baking until the bottomlooks dry and lightly golden and the edges have browned, about 5 to 8 additional minutes. The bottom of the crust will puff a little as it bakes, but it will deflate again once removed fromthe oven. Let cool completely.

• Place a heatproof bowl over a pan of lightly simmering water to create a double boiler. Add the eggs into the bowl, then with a hand mixer on medium speed (or a whisk and someserious arm power), beat the eggs until thick and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes if using a mixer. With the mixer running, slowlyadd the sugar, then thelemonjuice andlemonzest. Once incorporated, switch from a mixer (or whisk) to a rubber spatula. Continue to cook the mixtureover the simmeringwater, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the bowl with your spatula, until it forms a thick, smooth custard, about 8 additional minutes. When you dip your spatulainto the custard, the custard should easily coat the spatula'sback, and if you draw a line through the custard on the back of the spatulawith your finger, the sides of the custard should stay separated.Remove the bowl from the water and let cool to almost room temperature.

• In a large mixing bowl or a standing mixer fit with the paddle attachment, beat thecream cheese on medium-high speeduntil it is completely soft and smooth, about 3 full minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium, then gradually add the cooledlemoncustard to the cream cheese, beating until smooth and fully combined so that no white streaks remain. Pour the cream cheese into the baked pastry shell. Refrigerate thepieuntil fully chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.

  

• Up to 4 hours before serving, prepare the homemade whipped cream: In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat thecream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment over medium speed. When it starts to thicken, add the powdered sugar and vanilla, increase the mixer speed to high, and continue to beat until soft peaks form. (Do not overbeat or the cream will separate.) Spread over the chilled pie, slice, and serve cold.

• *My Grammy usesfull fat cream cheese. I used reduced fat cream cheese to make the pie a bit lighter, and thought it was still plenty rich and creamy. Feel free to choose whichever you like—just do not sure fat free cream cheese as both the texture and flavor will be off.
• TO STORE:Refrigerate pie for up to 3 days.
• TO FREEZE:Wrap pie tightly with plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

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