Fast forward a few months and my brother-in-law's girlfriend picked out the Lemon Crumb Dessert for me to try (since I plan on making all of these recipes anyhow, I have friends and family pick out the next one for me to keep the order semi random, plus other people tend to be more sympathetic and less sadistic than my husband for this purpose), and based on the recipe, it looked very similar to a lemon icebox pie.
Fortunately I recently acquired a large stock of high-quality unflavored gelatin (I've heard good things about the Great Lakes brand, but I've had luck with Vital Proteins, so that's what I use), so I was able to use that plus lemon extract in place of Jell-O. Aside from that, I made the recipe as written, except I reduced the salt to roughly an eighth of a teaspoon because excess salt can very easily ruin a whole batch of gelatin.
To extract two thirds of a cup of lemon juice, I juiced three lemons and added a tiny bit of water to reach the full amount, so if you don't mind having some leftover lemon, get four to make sure. As far as my gelatin ratio goes, I used one-and-a-half tablespoons in this recipe, which is a fine amount. In a previous test with my gelatin, I found that one tablespoon per cup of liquid makes a gel that is very solid and similar to gummy candy in texture, so I dialed it back for a creamier end result. I added half a teaspoon of lemon extract to replace the Jell-O flavoring, but if you like lemon you could add a whole teaspoon without issue.
In order to get the graham cracker crumbs, I crunched up a few bags of crackers with a hammer, measured the total quantity of the bits, and then ran them through the food processor, which worked perfectly. It took me about two-and-one-third bags to reach four cups of crumbs.
The only fiddly thing about making this recipe was whipping the gelatin-lemon-milk mixture. When I read "whip until fluffy," I think of the medium-peak stage of whipped cream. Though I know whipping gelatin takes a long time, I went at it with my hand mixer at high speed for a good ten minutes and the beaters were still not leaving any discernable trail in the mix. In that time, the volume of the liquid had increased substantially, but it was not what I would call fluffy. Since I was getting nostalgic for my grandmother's lemon icebox pie, which is dense and custardy and in no way fluffy, I settled for rolling with what I had instead of continuing.
In the end, the Lemon Crumb Dessert delivers on its promise to feed a crowd; since I didn't have any pans of the size specified in the recipe, I am housing this recipe in a loaf pan, a casserole dish, two ramekins, and a small Pyrex storage bowl. I didn't think I would have enough graham cracker crumbs to put a crust in the glass bowl, but in the end I had enough left over to give it a top crust.
This recipe doesn't look like much--in fact it resembles mayonnaise more than anything--but it is very tasty. It is indeed identical in flavor to the lemon icebox pie of yore, but texturally it is unique. After all my doubting, I think I beat this mixture just enough because, after setting, it is quite fluffy. It has the consistency of a stiff meringue, which makes it feel light, as gelatin often does at its best. That's a good thing, too, because otherwise, with all of the dairy, sugar, and butter, this recipe would be very rich.
I am pleased with how this recipe turned out, and there's not much I can recommend as to how to improve upon the way I made it. The Lemon Crumb Dessert would make a delightful dish to serve at a spring picnic or a backyard barbecue in the heat of August as it's cool, refreshing, and not too heavy. For all of the lemon included, it's not even intensely lemony. My husband is not fond of gelatin, but he said this was the best JOJ recipe I have made so far, so that's pretty high praise.
No comments:
Post a Comment