Serves8 to 10
- Active time:40 min
- Start to finish: 6 hr (includes freezing)
June 2003
This dessert was inspired by the time-honored tradition of serving gingerbread with lemon sauce—the tang of lemon cuts the richness of molasses.
For crust
-
1 1/2
cups
finely crushed gingersnap cookies (6 oz)
-
5
tablespoons
unsalted butter, melted
-
2
tablespoons
sugar
For ice cream
-
1 1/2
cups
heavy cream
-
1
cup
whole milk
-
3/4 cup plus 2
tablespoons
sugar
-
4
teaspoons
finely grated fresh lemon zest
-
1/8
teaspoon
salt
-
6
large egg yolks
-
2/3
cup
fresh lemon juice
Make ice cream:
-
Bring cream, milk, sugar, zest, and salt to a boil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Whisk yolks in a bowl until blended, then add hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Transfer custard back to saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until thick enough to coat back of spoon and registers 175 to 180°F on thermometer, 3 to 5 minutes (do not let boil).
-
Immediately pour through a fine-mesh sieve into cleaned bowl, then stir in lemon juice. Cool custard to room temperature, stirring occasionally, then chill, its surface covered with a round of wax paper, until cold, about 3 hours. Freeze custard in ice cream maker.
-
Spread ice cream evenly in crust and wrap pie plate in wax or parchment paper, then in plastic wrap. Freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.
-
About 20 minutes before serving, put pie in refrigerator to soften.
Cooks’ notes: - Ice cream can be made 2 days ahead of assembling pie. Soften in refrigerator about 30 minutes before spreading in crust.
- Assembled pie can be frozen up to 3 days.