I didn't make any of those recipes today.
I can't bear to relinquish one minute of my three-day weekend to the grocery store, so I've decided to work with what I have. Today that is eggs, butter, sugar, flour and lemons.
Some of the best treats are unplanned. This dessert is like lemon meringue pie with the crust served on the side. Like me, you may choose to forgo the spoon altogether and opt for the cookie-shovel instead.

Lemon Meringue Custards
Serves 4-6
Lightly adapted from desserts to give thanks for. [click to print]
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar for custard plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar for meringue
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (juice from 6-8 lemons)
3 eggs, whites and yolks separated, both reserved for use
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 1/4 cups cold water
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla
Custard:
Have four 6 oz. custard cups at the ready, or six 4 oz. custard cups.
In a medium saucepan whisk together 1 1/4 cups sugar, lemon juice, egg yolks, cornstarch and 1 1/4 cups water. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly. After 7-10 minutes, the custard will start to thicken. Remove from heat when bubbles have disappeared and mixture is thick. Stir in butter until melted. Divide between custard cups. Chill in refrigerator while preparing the meringue.
Meringue:
The meringue is browned in the oven or with a kitchen torch. If using the oven, go ahead and preheat to 400 degrees. Skip this step if using a kitchen torch.
Fill a medium saucepan 1/4 to 1/3 full of water and bring to a simmer. Combine egg whites, remaining sugar, salt, cream of tartar and vanilla in a heat-proof glass bowl. Have ready your hand mixer and a candy thermometer. Place bowl over simmering water and beat with hand mixer on low speed until temperature reaches 160 degrees on the thermometer - this won't take long! Remove from heat and beat until stiff peaks form.
Remove custards from refrigerator and top with meringue. Place on a baking sheet and brown meringue in oven for 6-8 minutes (keep a close eye on this) or brown with kitchen torch.
Serve at room temp. or chilled - delicious either way!
Butter Cookies
Yield: about 3 dozen 3" cookies [click to print]
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened (3/4 lb.)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
Generous pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together. Don't over mix! Beat until just incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix again briefly. Sift together flour and salt and add to the butter mixture; mix on low until just combined.

Note: If making small holes in the 3" round cookies as I did, cut the smaller holes just after the cookies come out of the oven.
What a delicious dessert! The presentation is so pretty!
ReplyDeleteThis is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the little video/animation part...I read tons of blogs and ive never seen that anywhere. Very cool :)
And the toasted tops to the meringue...ooh-la-la. I love it!
Looks wonderful!
ReplyDeleteUna verdadera exquisitez de postre con una presentación preciosa. Me ha encantado.
ReplyDeleteBesos,
Love the animated photo! Those cookies are adorable. You always come up with such beautiful and creative posts, Heather :)
ReplyDeleteThis sound perfect for summer. Love it!
ReplyDeletelove the animated photo. now I have a bad craving for lemon meringue :)
ReplyDeleteLooks so YUMMY
ReplyDeleteI'm a massive fan of lemon meringue! i made some lemon meringue cupcakes
http://devonshiregirly.blogspot.com/
X
i really can't imagine a more perfect summer dessert than anything lemony and creamy. this sounds like heaven!
ReplyDeleteThese sound deadly! Love this!
ReplyDeleteNow you gone and added live action! I can't take anymore genius lady! Lovely creation.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this! I have 2 lemon trees in full bloom and I think I'm going to have to whip this up today, although unfortunately that means a trip to the store for cream of tartar. Oh well, it sounds very worth it!
ReplyDeletexo Mary Jo
This looks amazing! I love lemon desserts so refreshing in the summer time :)
ReplyDeleteSo yummy! Those butter cookies are adorable and I am sure delicious :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a heavenly dessert! I love lemon merigue pie, so this version is just up my alley. *drool*
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Rosa
This is the most gorgeous dessert presentation! Everything you make I want to eat. I'd definitely use a cookie instead of a spoon:-)
ReplyDeleteLemon desserts are my favorite and I love that I have almost everything in my pantry/fridge to make these right now - just missing cream of tartar! Know of any good substitutes? Gorgeous photos as always.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Just Beautiful. Lemons, shortbread and meringue. Just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful. I can't wait to make these. I think i have everything I need here at the house. How lucky(and unusually odd)is that!! love the animation. Also, Your desk sounds like mine looks. Thanks for a great post
ReplyDeleteAhhh, it looks so delicious! Beautiful presentation. It is a delight to look at your creations.
ReplyDeleteThanks all! For those asking about the cream of tartar - you could probably get away with leaving it out. It stabilizes the egg whites so they are extra fluffy. I've made meringue without it before.
ReplyDeleteOk, this is a perfect looking summer dessert! Love how you decided to just make something with what is on hand...I make way to many trips to the grocery stores!!! Beautiful pics too:-)
ReplyDeleteLove your cookie shovel, love the video. Both the dessert and the presentation are so original!
ReplyDeleteI love this! Imagining desserts from new and interesting angles is always exciting to me.
ReplyDeleteCookie shovels! love it! they look so delicious.
ReplyDeletewhat a heavenly summer dessert. And i also love your cookie spoons :)
ReplyDeletehummm!!! j'adore ton dessert!! merci pour cette superbe présentation et ce plaisir visuel! en attendant de réaliser la recette et de la déguster! bonne journée!!
ReplyDeleteI agree, some times when we are forced to pillage our cabinets and fridge creativity abounds. Crust on the side is just so clever. Love it! Lemon meringue is my favorite pie.
ReplyDeleteMagnífica presentación y un postre absolutamente delicioso!!
ReplyDeleteI loooooove lemon meringue. It is my all time favorite dessert. But I could give or take the crust sooo...this is perfect.
ReplyDeleteAnd I envy that you have a desk. I set up at my dining room table, which gives me no option for clutter :( Hopefully soon...
So cute! I love the presentation and it looks so delicious! What a great dessert for a warm summer eve! Thanks, Chris
ReplyDeleteLove the animation! And the recipe looks marvelous. =)
ReplyDeleteHi!
ReplyDeleteIm your follower!
I really really liked your blog!
Keep up the good work!
Do visit mine too at http://aliascreativelife.blogspot.com/
Alia
I love your presentation and that last picture where your eating it! Nice job :)
ReplyDeleteWhat I love best is that you've created perfect portion control with this. Love it. Small cups of pie instead on one big one!! Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteI just want to dive into those dishes and eat them from the inside out so I leave the meringue for last.
Another beautiful post! Thank you so much for sharing!
This is such a gorgeous dessert!
ReplyDeleteThis is too funny because I too made lemon meringue this weekend by total chance. At first I wasn't sure an impromptu dessert like this was a good idea - all signs pointed to failure as my meringue fell while be transported in the car to the Memorial Day party - but in the end it was really good! I'm not a pie fan so I love the idea of the cookie. Definitely going to try that next time. My recipe didn't call for heating the meringue over water - I may try that next time as mine was a little weak. Yours looks beautiful!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely gorgeous!!!
ReplyDeleteHeather, I love the cookie shovel!! Funny I was talking with a friend yesterday about how things often work out better when unplanned. This dessert is so creative & I bet beyond delicious!
ReplyDeleteLemons and meringues are two of my favorite things. This dessert looks divine!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh I just sat here and watched that animated cookie shovel waiting to see how much of the dessert would disappear. (I'm a little slow tonight!) I'm still amazed that you just whipped this little dessert up with what you had on hand. Gosh it's so yummy looking and how fortunate that I just purchased an entire bag of lemons the other day without a thought as to what to make with them. Now I know. xo ~Lili
ReplyDeleteThese look to spectacular! Now they're the frontrunner (next to your Key Lime Swirl Cheesecake Bars) as to what's on my baking menu next...
ReplyDeleteThese look so delicious!! I am going to give them a go for my blog!
ReplyDeleteMichelle
www.kissedbysweets.blogspot.com
This looks out of this world! I love the cookies on the spoon, and your little "movie"! You always have something new up your sleeve and I love it! Have a great weekend, heather!
ReplyDeleteLove the animated gif..soooo inciting.
ReplyDeleteThis looks yummy....you have a lovely blog...I am having a giveaway in my blog..Y dont you check and join that
ReplyDeletehttp://yummytummy-aarthi.blogspot.com/2011/05/chocolate-recipe-and-chocolate.html
Love the green color with the yellow. I'd seen this cookie idea on other blogs like Tartelette and wanted to try it for a while now.
ReplyDeleteThat looks so good.
ReplyDeleteHello! I absolutely love your blog and am always trying your recipes. When I saw this one I knew I had to make it. The custard and meringue turned out great, but the butter cookies turned into a goopy mess in the oven. I looked over the recipe again and tried it once more and this time they burned in just a few minutes! Do you know what might be wrong? I followed the exact ingredients in the recipe so I am unsure what went wrong :(
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle!
ReplyDeleteAwfully sorry to hear you ran into a spot of trouble with the cookies. I can't say for sure what went wrong, since both results were so opposite. Perhaps the cookies needed to be chilled for a longer period of time before putting them in the oven -that may solve the "goopy".
As for them browning too quickly... perhaps your oven is running hotter than the dial says? An inexpensive oven thermometer can help you best gauge what's going on.
I wish I could be more help Michelle! Thanks for the feedback!
I tried it again at a friends house and it worked! My own oven failed me. But of course in the end everything was fantastic. Thanks for the recipe :)
ReplyDeletegood info i like it for good Проститутки Киева ok!
ReplyDeleteI was looking for a Blueberry Cake recipe and I found your blog.. This is perfect my kids will love it.. Thanks a lot..
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hi heather! i made the curd and it never thickened - not to a custard/curd consistency. i was whisking for an hour, adding more cornstarch (mixed with a bit of the mixture and some water before adding it) along the way when it wasnt thickening. i did double the recipe and i did let all the ingredients rest in the saucepan while juicing the lemons. could these have affected the result?
ReplyDeleteoh! and it made made only 7 4oz dishes and the colour was much more brown than it was yellow.
ReplyDelete