Food You Can Eat: Frozen Lemon Terrine

First things first:  I had this a few years ago when visiting in-laws and it was mind blowing.  It was like ice cream, but not.  It had that exquisite combination of lemon and cream which I love.  It changed my whole life.  Needless to say, I got the recipe.

A caveat before we get started:  This recipe, while excellent, is kind of a pain in the ass to make.  So, if you don’t have both a hand mixer and a stand mixer, brace yourself for a lot of mixing by hand.

Here’s what you’ll need:

5 Large Eggs, separated

1 Cup Sugar

2 Lemons, zested and juiced

Salt

1 Pint Heavy Cream

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Start by setting up a double boiler and a separate pot half full of ice water.  Also place either plastic wrap or aluminum foil into a couple of loaf pans.  Use enough so that it hangs off the sides.

In the double boiler, mix together the egg yolks, ½ cup of the sugar and the lemon zest and juice. 

If you have a hand mixer, set it on low speed until the mixture becomes frothy.  If you don’t have a hand mixer, suck it up and mix it by hand with a whisk. 

Remove the top of the double boiler and set it in the ice bath.  Beat the mixture on high with the hand mixer (or just prepare for your shoulder to fall off when using the whisk) for about 8 minutes.  By this time the mixture will be pale and thickened.  Remove from the ice bath and set aside.

Using a stand mixer, whip the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form.  Pour in the remaining sugar in a steady stream and add a few shakes of salt.  Continue to beat until incorporated.

Using a separate bowl (if you don’t have two bowls for your stand mixer, then you need to step up your kitchen game), whip the heavy cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold the whipped cream into the egg yolk mixture.

Then fold in the egg white mixture.

Spread the mousse into the prepared pans, then cover with the plastic or foil to seal. 

Freeze for a minimum of four hours.

To serve, pull from the freezer, then use the plastic or foil to lift out of the loaf pan, unwrap and cut into 1-inch slices.

This could also make an excellent pastry filling if you don’t care to wait four hours to eat it.

This is totally worth throwing my shoulder out.