Lemon Butter Pie

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a shallow 9 inch pie dish.

Step 2

Mix the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter. I find this works best if I use my fingers. Once it's all combined and evenly moistened, gently press it into your pie dish. Don't worry about messy edges, one of the charms of this lemon pie is the ragged crumb crust.

Step 3

Bake the pie crust for 8 minutes, then set aside to cool.

Step 4

To make the lemon butter filling put the lemon juice, eggs and yolk, and sugar into a medium sized heavy saucepan. Whisk everything together well.

Step 5

Heat, whisking or stirring constantly, over medium to medium high heat until the mixture thickens and reaches 180F. I like to use a silicone whisk and spoonula for this job because it makes it easy to scrape the pan completely as the curd cooks. Note: if you haven't made curd or egg thickened sauces or puddings before you may want to stick to medium heat.

Step 6

Push the lemon curd through a strainer to remove any stray lumps of egg. Stir to cool the curd to 140F (this won't take long.)

Step 7

Transfer to a food processor and turn the machine on. Add the pieces of butter, one at a time, letting each incorporate before adding the next.

Step 8

Turn the creamy lemon into your pie crust and spread out evenly. Refrigerate the pie for at least several hours before serving. If you would like a firmer consistency you can pop the pie in the freezer.

Step 9

Serve the pie cold, or even frozen. If serving straight from the freezer you may want to let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes or so to soften a bit.