Now this post is all sorts of silly. First it is a Cake Slice post and I'm posting it on the 18th instead of the 20th. For those of you who don't know the Cake Slice Bakers always post their monthly bakes on the 20th. Secondly this cake is (dun, dun, dun).... a pie! Hee hee, if you are going off the rails, you might as well really go for it, right?!
As a lot of you know already, the friendly group of Cake Slice Bakers picks a book to bake from each year. Then our fearless leaders pick four recipes each month. Each of us bakers picks one of those to bake and we all reveal it on the 20th. This month, like always, had a bunch of delicious sounding choices. I always hope that between the group all of the choices get baked at least once.
Right now we are baking from World Class Cakes from Roger Pizey. This book is definitely eye candy, especially for somebody with a sweet tooth like me! The problem is it seems very few of them use what I would consider standard sized pans. A lot of them use specialty pans and while they look gorgeous, my cupboards are already bursting at the seams with gadgets and pans!
As I was thumbing through the choices, the Marco Pierre White's Harvey's Lemon Tart immediately jumped out to me. I have been in a real lemony mood lately and the texture looked delicious. Upon closer examination it was to be baked in a 10" tart pan that I don't own. I was tempted to scale up to use my 12" tart pan. However, after doing some rough math in my head that resulted in me thinking I'd need to use about 15 eggs in the filling alone, I thought I had better not.
So I made the executive decision to make it in a pie pan and scale down the filling a bit instead of always making more, more, more! Whew! Decision made and ingredients on hand, hard part done! Then I get to reading the recipe. He wants you to make a sweet pastry dough that includes powdered sugar and egg yolks. Then he wants you to refrigerate that for 24 hours before rolling it out and placing it in the tart pan. Now he wants you to put it back in the refrigerator for 2 hours before blind baking it, then filling it, then baking it again.
Don't get me wrong, I am sure it would totally be worth it. But I had promised to bring a dessert to family dinner that was less than 24 hours away. So I compromised! If I was using a pie plate, I would use a standard pie dough! Whew! Crisis averted!
Now on to the filling. I actually made this filling by hand. I even whipped the cream. I had actually never whipped cream by hand before, so I wanted to see if I could do it. I wouldn't say it was fun and my forearm didn't appreciate my efforts, but I can say I had quite the sense of accomplishment as the cold cream started forming peaks.
The rest of the filling was quite easy to make. Again, he wanted you to refrigerate it for a couple of hours before pouring it in the hot par-baked crust. A couple of hours I can handle, so I played along and went for it.
I have to say the result was quite delicious. It had a nice balance of sweet and sour and a really nice creamy finish. I topped ours with some more whipped cream sweetened with just a few drops of honey. It all went really well together.
It ended up only being an inspired recipe instead of a direct follow, but it would be one that I would make again! I will caution you that this pie serves a lot better when it is cold. It is delicious either cold or at room temperature, but the slices come out much nicer chilled.
I am going to post the code to see the other bakers' cakes below. They will start filling in on the 20th. Please make sure to come back and check them out!

Harvey's Inspired Lemon Pie with Honey Whipped Cream
Adapted loosely from World Class Cakes by Roger Pizey
Ingredients
- pastry for 1 pie crust, chilled
Filling:
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup + 2 T sugar
- 1 cup lemon juice
Whipped Cream:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 T honey
Instructions
1. In a chilled bowl, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. 2. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until completely combined and smooth. Add the lemon juice and whisk to combine. 3. Stir together the lemon mixture and the whipped cream, then cover and chill for two hours though longer is ok. 4. During the last half hour of chilling the filling, prepare the pie crust. Parbake according to your recipe's directions or preheat the oven to 400 F. Roll the dough out and place into pie plate. Crimp the edges and dock the bottom with a fork. Cover with parchment paper and add pie weights or dry beans. Bake for about 12 minute or until lightly golden.5. Quickly whisk the filling together again and then pour cold filling into hot crust. Reduce the oven temperature to 250 F and return the pie to the oven. 6. Bake for about 45 minutes. The center should still have just a little bit of wobble left. Remove from oven and cool completely, then chill until ready to serve. 7. To serve, whip up the remaining cream and honey until you form stiff peaks. Spread over the center of the pie or serve each slice with a dollop.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 1 9" Pie
I love lemon pie. This looks refreshing.
ReplyDeleteWishes for tasty dishes,
Linda
Thank you so much, Linda!
DeleteOh yes... This sounds wonderful! Glad that you took it down a size instead of larger!
ReplyDeleteIt's a rare showing of restraint on my part. I guess I do have it in me! ;-)
DeleteLemon pie is my husband's favorite summertime pie! Looks yummy, Carlee!
ReplyDeleteIt just seems right for summer! Thanks, Jas!
DeleteI love lemon so much. I've been eating Greek lemon yogurt every morning for breakfast but I'd rather have this pie!!!!! Looks so scrumptious! Have a beautiful day!
ReplyDeleteI am always drawn to lemons during the hot weather too. The cold citrusy acidity really feels right! Thanks, Andrea!
DeleteThis looks great and I was on the fence about this one after my first choice didn't work out. No doubt I'll make this because lemon pie is my husband's favorite. Great work and here's to more fun next month!
ReplyDeleteYou definitely should make it! It was a hit with my family!
DeleteLooks great, Carlee!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteCarlee your pie looks sensational and I am in love with your pie box. I have to agree that this is certainly a delicious lemon tart, and one that I am going to be making again and again.
ReplyDeleteIt really did turn out well, even if I did take a few shortcuts. I'll definitely be making it again too!
DeleteHi Carlee thank you for your words. Yes you must try this one because is so good!!! I love your lemon Pie. A pie that I will Bake soon.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Ana http://acozinhadaanikasblog.wordpress.com
Thank you so much!
DeleteLove that time trumped the directions and it worked out to be a gorgeous pie!
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty much the story of my life ;-) Thank you so much!
DeleteLove love your pie box! You finished product looks amazing! Got tired just reading your post about the-making-of-that-sweet-dough of Harvey's! That is truly a long drawn affair in-the-making-of-sweet-dough! But having said that, might give his method a try because I made a sweet dough pastry before and it was difficult to roll out!
ReplyDeleteIsn't the pie box fun? It has a leather strap for carrying it too. It makes me want to just carry my pies around the block for the heck of it ;-) I love the idea of the sweet dough pastry and it looks amazing, but sometimes you just have to go with what you know!
DeleteI have a cream pie recipe that uses Harvey Milk. Do you know what this is and where I can buy it?
ReplyDelete