Lemon Cream Cheese Pie

[Darienne]

My experience in free-form baking is very limited and I would like to make my traditional Christmas pie for guests this year.

The recipe is from a very old cheese cookbook and this book is currently 2,000 miles away. I've looked up a number of recipes online but none of them use enough lemon juice to make the pie interesting. They all seem to call for 2 T of juice only. Phooey.

This isn't something I am comfortable fooling around with. Oh, then I always top the pie with a bittersweet chocolate ganache. Delicious.

What do I recall? 9 oz of cream cheese (inconvenient), one egg only, either 1/4 or 1/3 cup lemon juice, lemon zest and then flour, sugar, butter (I think), vanilla, ??? And it's set in a cracker crumb crust which I'll have no problem with.

Can anyone help me to reconstruct this or a similar lemon cream cheese pie. The salient detail is the larger amount of lemon juice and also zest. Thanks so much. (I'd settle for two eggs, etc)

[Dave Hatfield]

I'm not so sure that its the amount of lemon juice. I think its the quality of the juice. The old fashioned small lemons are more 'lemony' than the big modern varieties. Ripeness also plays a part. The riper the better.

Also, you can cut down on the sugar to increase the sharpness.

Cream cheese? I rather use a home made custard base.

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Which cookbook, Darienne? I might have it on my shelf right here, and be able to give you the exact recipe.

[HeatherM]

I found a recipe HERE that sounds similar to what you're looking for.

[Darienne]

  On 12/18/2011 at 7:34 PM, HeatherM said:

I found a recipe HERE that sounds similar to what you're looking for.

Not the same, but sounds as if it might work very well. Thanks for your trouble.

[Darienne]

  On 12/18/2011 at 4:53 PM, Panaderia Canadiense said:

Which cookbook, Darienne? I might have it on my shelf right here, and be able to give you the exact recipe.

Hi PanaCan, I looked through the offerings at Amazon.com this morning to see if I could spot the book but the older books on cheese, which this is, mostly had 'no image available', so that was a no go.

Lots of old cookbooks have the same title: The Complete Cheese Cookbook, The Cheese Cookbook. It's one of those and I can't recall ever looking at the author's name. I've had it forever. Probably purchased second hand somewhere. It's a quite thin hardback, tall and wide, ochre coloured edges. Like a thousand other nondescript old cookbooks. No colored photos (I think.) I normally have the recipe with me, but this time I forgot about it.

Still it's hardly the end of the civilized world as we know it. I am not without many resources. It's just that, well, you know, you decide what you want to make in some emotional response...and then you can't find the recipe or get the ingredients or whatever.

Thanks for your offer.

[kayb]

Here's one that I've used a number of times:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (9-inch) graham cracker crust

1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling, chilled

Directions

In either a stand mixer fixed with a paddle attachment or using a hand held electric mixer, cream the cream cheese until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly add the milk mixing on low speed until well combined. Stir in the lemon juice and vanilla and pour into the crust. Place the pie into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours up to overnight, until well chilled and set.

Top the pie with the pie filling just before serving.

I see no real reason why you couldn't add the zest and change the cherry topping for chocolate ganache. And add an egg, if it makes you happy; you'd want to bake it a bit, I guess, to help it set due to the additional lemon juice. Anyway, sounds like it should work. I'm intrigued by the idea of chocolate on top; I may have to try that!

[Darienne]

Thank you KayB. Just might try that one.

No, I am not wedded to the egg. Whipping a couple of things together and sticking them in the fridge sounds pretty good sometimes.

Yes, do try the chocolate. The lemon and the chocolate complement each other beautifully.