Arizona Lemons- Sour Cream Pie


Except from this book: I picked up a piece of pie and shoved it at her. "Eat," I said, "and tell me if I will win Best Cook."
She took the pie and said, "You are mad, but they say mad cooks make the best sauce."

I have discovered the amazing flavor of fresh lemons. Eaten just moments after hanging on the tree. Oranges that filled the air with an almost overwhelming perfume. Oh, the joys of being a fruit farmer! I was a farmer for a second or two while on a recent excursion back west to visit family and seek new employment opportunities.

I also reacquainted myself with my passion for reading. Specifically "Keturah and Lord Death" which I read for the third time. If you love foodie books this one is for you!! It is one of my absolute favorites. When first suggested I kindly declined saying, "I don't read romances." It isn't that kind of romance..read it and find out.

The combination of:
  • having fresh lemons
  • having just read a lemon tale
  • stumbling on a great blog called Food for Thought
  • finding a new pie crust recipe to try
propelled me into making my favorite lemon sour cream pie.

The pie crust recipe I used was found.....I can't remember where. It claimed to be "no fail". I found it again on all recipes.com. It claimed you didn't even need to roll it out..but for me that is part of the fun.

Very sticky stuff and it made enough for 4 pie crusts!! So I have been making pies and tarts for the kids.

Something is wonderful about crust. I love decorating and forming the pie crust ever so gently.

I am hoping for flaky. My most common problem with pie crust is that it shrinks in the pan and does not hold its beautiful shape (even when using a pie chain).

Two of the crust-I did have to try just pushing it in place. Not my style or my girls: they told me it was ugly..to ugly to fill and could they eat it.

We came home with our luggage stuffed with lemons, grapefruit, and oranges. In fact, I was wishing I had brought another piece of luggage for fruit. Never thought I would say that about fruit!!! The lemons held so much juice! not like store bought lemons that produce a minuscule amount.

If you put a piece of plastic wrap on the pie filling when it is hot and then take it off once it has chilled completely you will not have the layer of "scum". JT loves the scum but I do not. You will not even loose any of the filling! Jen, you have to try this.

The topping turns out loose...I always forget to make the whipped cream super stiff!

Finished pie!! This is a great summer pie because it is very refreshing and light.

Sour Cream Lemon Pie

The best lemon pie for summer time. This tastes like summer! From a Canadian Junior League cookbook this recipe was published again in Junior League Centennial Cookbook.


Filling

1 cup sugar

3 Tb cornstarch

1 Tb (cake) flour

1 Tb lemon rind

1/3 lemon juice

1 cup light cream

  • Bring slowly to boil and stir constantly.

4 Tb butter

  • Add butter and cook until very thick and smooth. Cool.

1 cup sour cream

  • Add to above and put in baked pie shell. Refrig till ready at least 4 hours.


Whipped Cream Topping

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 tea almond extract

2 Tb confectioners sugar

  • Whip the cream until very thick.

1/2 cup sour cream

  • Fold into whipped cream. Spoon over lemon pie filling.

Grated lemon rind

  • Sprinkle on top.




Comments

a quiet life said…
wow i am thrilled you found food for thought! if you don't mind, i am going to remove you from the last mr linky and add you in on this saturday, this way everyone can find you, and especially if you are sharing pie! i put the new mr linky up on friday night, i will just add you in directly when i post it. so happy to have a new reader/eater/picture taker join in!

i will check this book out at amazon, my to read list is soooooooo long, and frankly i love it! the pie looks great, i LOVE lemons, have tons of fresh citrus growing in my garden so i am thrilled to see more recipes!

i hope you join in often, its fun isn't it! post as many books as you want, love to SEE what you are reading!

love your blog title!

see you on saturday!
Thanks for keeping me straight. See you Saturday.
Amy said…
ummm, i'm coming over with a fork.
Maggie said…
There has to be a way to get drool out of a keyboard, right?

This looks wonderful and your crust is to die for!
Sarah said…
Yummy! I think my hips are getting bigger just looking at this pie. Glad you joined in the fun of Food for Thought. I'm going to add this book to my list. Thanks for sharing. Lemon pie is my absolute favorite.
Rettabug said…
Talk about pucker power...this actually makes me tingle to look at this wonderful pie! I ♥ ♥ ♥ anything lemon, so I'll have a nice big slice, please? and I'll take Jain's portion too, since she doesn't care for lemon very much. :-) LOL

Well done!
Nancy Jane said…
I'll have to check the book out, and I'm printing the pie recipe now and tucking it away for when the weather turns warm. Looks wonderful.
Maggie,
I find that Qtips work really well for computer drool!

Sarah,
I know my hips are getting bigger..but that is because I ate half the pie.

Rettabug,
I wish I could have Jain and you over for a lemon fest. You are welcome anytime.

Nancy Jane,
I hope you will try the pie and the book..both are my favorites.
HanaĆ¢ said…
Your pie looks beautiful. Love the crimping you did on the crust. I love lemon-anything so I will have to put this one on my todo list. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
I just made this again and used 5 lemons for the zest in the filling. It made it really great. I also whipped the cream until it was super stiff peaks before adding the sour cream. It held up better. Possibly the best pie I have ever made.