This pie is so easy and refreshing, it almost feels like you are eating ice cream. You can use lime instead of lemons and possibly orange, but I haven’t tried it yet. Note: Don’t add the whipped cream on top until ready to serve. Freezing with the whipped cream doesn’t last too well.

Ingredients

• 1 store bought graham cracker crust or to make your own:
• 10 graham crackers
• 3 tablespoons white or brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 cans sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained of seeds and pulp
• zest of one lemon
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons powdered sugar

Directions

If making your own crust, preheat the oven to 350F.

Pulse the graham crackers in a food processor fitted with a steel blade until you have course crumbs. You can also buy graham cracker crumbs, in which case you would need 1 1/2 cups. Add the sugar and melted butter and pulse a few more times to just combine. Press crumbs inside of a pie plate, all along the bottom and up the sides, using your fingers.*

In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and the zest until creamy, about a minute. Add the juice and condensed milk and beat until thoroughly combined. Pour mixture into the pie shell and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the center is jiggly yet firm, not at all soupy. Check the pie after 25 minutes as oven temperatures vary and you don’t want to overcook it.

Remove pie from oven and all it to cool. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight or for up to 1 week. When ready to serve the pie, remove from the freezer about 10 minutes ahead of time. Meanwhile, beat the heavy cream, vanilla and sugar until whipped cream is made. Spread the whipped cream all over the pie forming generous peaks. Using a knife dipped in hot water will also help to cut the pie.

*Graham cracker crust tip:

Tip for using this crust for other recipes: you can add in a pinch of cinnamon, curry or other interesting flavors to give the crust more personality. You don’t want to do that in this case, although I have often wondered if a few pinches of lavender might be nice in this crust. Also, for something like a chocolate pudding pie that requires no baking, you will need to bake the crust for 10 minutes and let cool before filling.