I am on maternity leave for the month of August while my husband and I cuddle with the newest addition to our family! In the meantime, guest bloggers are taking over! Kelsey, from P.S. Heart, is here this week sharing a recipe that makes me wish Wonkavision existed. Check out P.S. Heart, where Kelsey & Co. share more recipes, along with fashion, DIY stuff, and incredible photography.
Hello there! I am so delighted to be a guest here on Maria’s lovely blog, which I’ve been a fan of for a long time! My name is Kelsey, and I make up a third of the team that runs the blog P.S. Heart, alongside my sister, Jordyn, and one of my besties, Clara. The three of us love food, fashion, and photography, as well as the occasional diy!
Jordyn and I have been active in the kitchen for as long as I can remember, whether it was actually helping our mom out, or just licking the beaters. We were blessed to have the freedom to make a gigantic mess, or burn the crap out of something, without fear of punishment…as long as we cleaned up after ourselves! This instilled confidence at a young age, and Jordyn and I have been baking up a storm and experimenting with new flavors and recipes ever since.
Now this recipe is such a classic, and comes from the wonderful Jean Paré. What a lady. Her cookbooks were (and still are) a staple in our kitchen, and are full of so many treasures. I love how summery this dessert is, and it’s easy on the eyes as well! I’m in love with the tartness of the lemon, the velvety heaven of the cream cheese layer, and then the lovely crunch of nuts in the crust. So good! Make this for your next patio party… your friends will love you!
LEMON LAYER DESSERT
- 1 cup cold butter, cubed
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup finely chopped pecans
- 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
- 4½ cups cold water
- 2 packages (2.9 ounces each) lemon pudding mix
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a medium bowl, cut cubed butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Then stir in finely chopped pecans. Press crumb mixture into an ungreased 9×13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl, beat together softened cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth. Gently fold in whipped cream. Then spread the mixture over the cooled crust.
- In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup of cold water, the pudding mix, sugar and egg yolks until smooth. Stir in the remaining 3 1/2 cups of cold water. Cook pudding mixture over medium heat until it reaches 160 degrees or is thick enough to coat a metal spoon. Remove from heat, cool, and then spread over cream cheese layer.
- In a large bowl, beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add icing sugar and vanilla, and beat until stuff peaks form. Spread over lemon layer. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- *We’ve substituted a classic graham cracker crust as the bottom layer instead of the pecan crust, and it works wonderfully.
