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Active Time
45 minutes
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Total Time
3 1/4 hours
This sublime lemon dessert is the perfect antidote to all those chocolate bunnies and chocolate-stuffed eggs proliferating at Easter like, well…rabbits. It helps that our pudding is simple to make, too.
A seriously tart lemon curd—quickly cooked on top of the stove—is folded into sweetened whipped cream, which both tempers the tang and lightens the dessert with a suave silkiness. Crisp, airy wisps of meringue, lightly sprinkled with chopped pistachios and easily shaped and baked into cigars, are delightful on their own, but they're surprisingly efficient alternatives to spoons for delivering the pudding to your mouth.
Editor's Note:This recipe is part ofGourmet'sModern Menu for Easter. Menu also includesFrisée, Radicchio, and Fennel Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette;andArugula-Stuffed Leg of Lamb with Roasted Spring Vegetables;.
Ingredients
Makes 8 servings
Meringue cigars:
Lemon pudding:
Special Equipment
For meringue cigars:
Step 1
Heat oven to 200°F with racks in upper and lower thirds. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a pencil to mark parchment with parallel lines 5 inches apart; these lines will be your guides when piping. Turn paper over.
Step 2
Beat whites with salt in stand mixer at high speed (or in a large bowl with handheld mixer) until they just hold soft peaks. Gradually add sugar, beating, and continue to beat at high speed until meringue holds stiff, glossy peaks. Secure paper to baking sheets with dabs of meringue.
Step 3
Spoon some meringue into pastry bag and pipe 5-inch-long cigars (3/4 to 1 inch wide) onto 1 baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Add more meringue to pastry bag and pipe more cigars in same manner on other baking sheet.
Step 4
Sprinkle cigars generously with pistachios.
Step 5
Bake cigars in oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until crisp but still white, about 2 hours.
Step 6
Turn off oven and cool meringue cigars in oven 1 hour, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
Make lemon pudding while meringue cigars are baking:
Step 7
Set a large fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl.
Step 8
Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Add butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until butter melts, curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk, and first bubble appears on surface, 6 to 9 minutes.
Step 9
Immediately force lemon curd through sieve into bowl and chill curd, its surface covered with a round of wax paper, until cold, at least 1 hour.
Step 10
Beat cream and confectioners' sugar in another bowl with cleaned beaters until mixture just holds soft peaks. Fold one third of whipped cream into lemon curd to lighten, then fold in remaining cream. Divide among individual bowls and chill, covered, if not using right away.
Step 11
Top with strawberries and serve with meringue cigars.
•Meringue cigars can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in layers, separated by wax paper, in an airtight container.
•Curd can be chilled up to 1 week.
How would you rate Lemon Pudding with Strawberries and Meringue Cigars?
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Reviews (6)
Back to TopMade the pudding for Christmas Eve - served in martini glasses. Servings are small, but it is delicious and so creamy! I topped it with blackberries and mint leaves.
jansan1
Orange County, CA
12/24/2016
酥皮雪茄是难以置信的!我没有让the pudding so I'm not rating the whole recipe.
jansan1
Orange County, CA
3/24/2016
Easily cut the meringue recipe in half - this was way too much!
bluebeard80
Murfreesboro, TN
4/1/2015
The lemon pudding is delicious, light and fluffy. A perfect companion to a large meal. I however did not feel the need to use all of the sweetened whipped cream called for and used about 3/4 the amount for an even more lemon-y flavor. Perhaps it was a mistake on my behalf, but I didn't find the meringue's added much. The texture was a bit off putting and I'd have rather just added some chopped pistachio's to the pudding for a salty contrast. Overall the pudding is a real winner and so easy!.
ebmalon
4/2/2013
This was dessert was perfect with our Easter feast! I made the lemon curd and meringue cigars in advance as suggested. There was enough meringue to make way more than eight cigars, so I chopped additional pistachios and made bite sized-meringues with the left overs. This dessert will be on the menu again next Easter!
ryanandkatie
Traverse City, MI
3/31/2013
I made this a month or so ago for a group of extended family and it was a hit. Everyone gobbled it up, and I am sure would have had seconds if we hadn't provided individual servings. The lemon pudding flavor was fresh and sweet (a tad to sweet, my husband thinks, but I thought it was perfect). It firmed up nicely. I had never made meringue cigars before--they were easy, and the pistachios provided a nice salty contrast to their sweetness. Since I made this a while ago, the precise details elude me, but my husband has talked about the recipe since, mentioning how much he liked it and would like to make it again, so I wanted to add this review.
Anonymous
Chicago
3/30/2013
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