Tart and Easy: The Best Lemon Pie

Sunday Family Lunch is usually made up of rich foods, its good to have something sweet in a non cloyingly way, something that cleanse and refreshes the palate to end the meal. I'm a fan of citron based desserts  I can make a Lemon Meringue Pie in my sleep, actually I can make a mean one by just using an oven toaster. Today. I decided to make a Lemon Cream Pie. Its fast and really easy. Did I mention its to-die-for good? :P

You will need a pre-baked pie crust (I made mine from scratch), 2 juicy lemons( squeeze and strain the seeds), 400ml of condensed milk, a teaspoon of vanilla essence (filling), 2 large eggs, a cup of whipped cream, vanilla beans/essence, and half a cup of icing sugar. Optional: Lemon Zest.

Stir in the eggs (one at a time) to your condensed milk, do not beat just stir until the egg is incorporated and the mixture is smooth and creamy-looking. Add the vanilla essence and the lemon juice to the milk mixture, whisk until well combined then pour to the pre-baked crust. Brush the edges of the crust with egg wash. Bake at 175 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes or until the filling is firm near the crust but the center still jiggles. When its done let it cool.

Prepare the whipped cream. Whip the cream until soft peaks add the icing sugar a little at a time then add the vanilla beans/essence. Use this as pie's topping. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving. You can sprinkle Lemon Zest if you like it to be more tart.

TIP: Refrigerate the Lemon Cream Pie with your "discarded lemons used in this recipe". They still retained their smell, the whipped cream topping absorbs the lemon scent, making your pie more "sweet lemon smelling". 

" They say the bigger your investment the bigger your return. But you have to be willing to take a chance. You have to understand you might lose it all. But if you take that chance, if you invest wisely, the payoff just might surprise you. "