Family Table: Make Merry with Dairy

Make Merry with Dairy

This delectable lemon dessert will brighten your holiday table

By Cristen Clark

The thought of a non-traditional spread over the holidays is exciting to me. In the past, my family has prepared barbecue for Thanksgiving and seafood or lasagna for Christmas. These meals are fun because they encourage creativity, and everyone tries new recipes. There’s always a celebration that showcases the standard fare for each holiday, but in my book, challenging tradition is fun and lends a little excitement.

I’m the type of person who rarely watches the same movie twice, and my cooking and baking odysseys reflect that, as well. It takes a really good recipe to make my book. Those types of recipes usually come from family and friends, or trial and error in my own kitchen. Once in a while, an internet search will reveal something I want to try.

The dessert table is one of great pride at any holiday event. There, you will find treasured family heirloom recipes of pies, cakes and cookies. I love to challenge tradition and bring something outside of the standard pumpkin, pecan or apple pies. Plus, anything with a citrus kick reminds me of my grandma and her love of all things citrus during the holidays.

Holiday cooking and baking are better when using Iowa dairy products, and here are some tips!

• Milk fat makes gluten bond together more effectively, making baked bread and pastry products fluffy and tender. I use milk or buttermilk in most of my sweet roll dough and pastry for this reason.

• Shredded cheese from a block melts more smoothly than shredded cheese from a bag, which has ingredients that interfere with creaminess.

• Butter in pie crust is best for flavor but also helps the texture. The water in the butter evaporates as the crust cooks, creating steam pockets that make tiny flaky layers.

• Adding 2 teaspoons of full-fat sour cream to 1 cup of heavy cream will help stabilize whipped cream — keeping it stiff and less likely to weep. When whipping the cream, be sure the bowl, beaters and cream are ultra-chilled for best results.

Lemon mousse is a light, bright bite that’s welcome after a big holiday meal. I love this dessert because it’s tangy and rich, but also because it’s easy to scale. Use smaller ramekins or antique sherbet glasses for smaller serving sizes.

Lemon Mousse Desserts

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• Zest of 1 lemon

• ¼ cup cornstarch

• 2½ cups whole milk

• 6 egg yolks

• ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2-3 lemons)

• ⅛ teaspoon salt

• 2 cups heavy cream

• ⅓ cup powdered sugar

• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sour cream

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, rub sugar and zest together to perfume the sugar with the zest’s essential oils. Add cornstarch to saucepan and whisk well. Then add milk, egg yolks, lemon juice and salt to saucepan.

Whisk almost constantly over medium heat, then switch to a silicone spatula and stir so the pudding doesn’t stick to sides of saucepan. Cook for about 6-8 minutes, until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat. It should be thick and glossy.

Pour pudding through a fine mesh strainer into a mixing bowl to remove any small lumps, if desired.

Cover with plastic wrap, gently pressing the plastic directlyonto the pudding so no skin forms. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, until pudding is well chilled.

To make the mousse, whip heavy cream, powdered sugar, sour cream and vanilla extract together until stiff peaks form. Gently fold 2/3 of the whipped cream into pudding base. Scoop into individual serving dishes and top with reserved whipped cream and lemon slices for garnish.

Alternatively, this mixture can be added to a prepared pie crust and topped with whipped cream for an easy lemon mousse pie.