Lemon Torte - help!

CurlyMireya

I have a recipe from one of my cookbooks that I want to use, but I'm unsure about making my own crust. For this recipe (posted below), can I use a frozen pie crust instead? The crust has to be baked beforehand, so how long would I bake just a pie crust - what temp? Also what is whipping cream - they're also calling it whipped cream, so can I use the kind in the plastic containers (like Cool Whip), or is it the stuff in the dairy section in the little cartons? This cookbook is from 1980, so I'm having a hard time translating some of the recipes. I've noticed in other torte recipes, they often use whipped cream (from the plastic tubs). Would I be alright using that in this recipe?

4 egg whites
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cup sugar
4 egg yolks
3 tsp. finely chopped lemon peel
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
dash salt
1 cup whipping cream



Preheat oven to 450. In a large mixer bowl, beat egg whites, vanilla, cream of tarter and salt at medium speed till soft peaks form. Gradually add 11/2 cups sgar about a tbsp at a time, beating at high speed about 12 minutes or until very stiff peaks form. Spread beaten egg whites at the bottom of a well-greased 9-in pie plate. Place in preheated oven; immediately turn heat off. Let stand in oven with door closed for 5 hours or overnight.

For lemon filling: In a small bowl, beat egg yolks about 5 mins. or until thick and lemon colored. Transfer to a small saucepan. Stir in peel, juice, 1/2 cup sgar and dash salt. Cook and stir over low heat about 12 mins or till thickened and bubbly. Remove from heat; cover. Cool without stirring.

To assemble torte, whip cream to soft peaks. Spread a little less than half of the whipped cream in the bottom of the torte shell. Top with colled lemon filling, then remaining whipped cream, spreading creamt to cover the entire shell. Chill 5 hours or overnight. Cut into wedges, using a wet knife. Makes 8 servings. [/i]

mysteryflavored

I don't know about the crust, but whipping cream is heavy cream. It doesn't say to add any sugar to it, so I guess that would be the difference between whipping your own cream and using store-bought whipped cream.

CurlyMireya

mysteryflavored wrote:

I don't know about the crust, but whipping cream is heavy cream. It doesn't say to add any sugar to it, so I guess that would be the difference between whipping your own cream and using store-bought whipped cream.

So, I buy heavy cream and whip it? :brilsmurf: Which means stirring it until I get it to the right consistency? It doesn't have sugar in it? Eh, that doesn't sound very good. I guess the filling will be sweet enough to make up for it, though. Do you think if I use ordinary Cool Whip, that it will be too light?

mysteryflavored

CurlyMireya wrote:

So, I buy heavy cream and whip it? :brilsmurf: Which means stirring it until I get it to the right consistency? It doesn't have sugar in it? Eh, that doesn't sound very good. I guess the filling will be sweet enough to make up for it, though. Do you think if I use ordinary Cool Whip, that it will be too light?

Well, stirring won't whip it; you'd need to use an electric hand mixer or a bowl mixer to do it. The end result should probably be somewhat lighter than Cool Whip, I think, but I don't think it should make too much of a difference.

Jayvyn

The crust you can just purchase the pre-made ones that are not in a pan. What you need to do is a blind bake which is when you bake the crust without any filling. Make sure you have something to weigh the crust down like beans (line the crust with wax paper to separate the beans from the crust) so the crust won't bubble. Ten to fifteen minutes at 350 degrees should be good depending on your oven just check the crust until it is cooked thru not brown.

I hope this helps.

CurlyMireya

My torte actually turned out really good! I was surprised since usually my first-time dishes turn out awful. I made my own whip cream, and I don't think I can ever go back to Cool Whip again - so good. I went with a ready-made pie crust, and bought a Jello lemon pie filling mix instead of making the recipe filling. The mix was trickier than I thought it would be - I had to boil it with water and egg yolk, and though I stirred it constantly like the directions said, it came out clumpy and had more of a custard consistency than pudding. I didn't have a wire whisk, and wouldn't have wanted to use one anyway cause I didn't want to scratch up my pan - that was probably where I went wrong. Once I got it out of the pan though, I was able to work out the clumps, and it turned out good - not liquidy at all, but more like a meringue. It had a surprisingly good taste for a Jello mix.