Description
Lemon Cream Pie is a refreshing summer dessert that perfectly balances tart, zesty lemon flavors with a luscious, creamy sweetness. Featuring a buttery graham cracker crust and a light, airy lemon filling, it’s ideal for warm days or as a bright finale to any meal. Easy to make and impressively delicious, it can be customized with various toppings and adaptations to suit your taste.
Ingredients
Scale
Crust
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 5 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 tablespoons sugar
Filling
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4–5 lemons)
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup heavy cream or whipped topping
- Optional: 2 egg yolks (for cooked filling)
- 2 tablespoons sugar (if desired, to balance tartness)
Instructions
- Prepare the crust: Press graham cracker crumbs mixed with melted butter and sugar evenly into a pie dish. Chill in the refrigerator to firm up while preparing the filling.
- Make the lemon filling: In a bowl, whisk together fresh lemon juice, lemon zest, sweetened condensed milk, and optionally egg yolks if using a cooked filling. This mixture creates the tangy base of the pie.
- Whip the cream: Whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form, ensuring a light and airy texture.
- Fold and combine: Gently fold the whipped cream into the lemon mixture, preserving the airiness to form a smooth, silky filling.
- Assemble and chill: Pour the combined filling into the chilled crust. Refrigerate for at least four hours or overnight to allow the pie to set and flavors to develop.
Notes
- Use freshly squeezed lemon juice for the best bright, fresh flavor.
- Don’t skip the lemon zest to intensify the citrus aroma and taste.
- Chill your mixing bowl to help whip cream faster and achieve better volume.
- Fold whipped cream gently to keep the pie light and fluffy.
- Allow the pie to chill long enough for optimal texture and flavor development.
- Leftovers store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days without losing texture or flavor.
- Can be frozen wrapped securely; thaw overnight in fridge before serving to preserve creamy texture.
- This is a no-reheat dessert; thaw gently at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 0 minutes (if using no-cook filling) or 10 minutes (if cooking filling with egg yolks)
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No-Bake
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (1/8 pie)
- Calories: 300
- Sugar: 25g
- Sodium: 150mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 11g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 28g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 3g
- Cholesterol: 50mg