Faux Tart with Instant Lemon Ginger Custard

Faux Tart with Instant Lemon Ginger Custard

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Description

I was at Palena, my favorite restaurant in Washington, at the end of a meal, when the dessert's taste and texture made me gasp. It was a shallow lemon custard, not just silky but crystal clear in its flavor: a blast of just lemon, cream, and sugar in one bite. Pastry chef Aggie Chin explained that it's her take on a posset, a traditional English dessert in which the cream softly sets with nothing but the help of the acid from the lemon juice. I knew I'd try this at home. It makes the perfect topping for the cookie-crumble crust I like to make, and the perfect base for the fruit I like best with lemons: berries. This can be easily doubled when you'd like to make dessert for two nights in a row, or for you and a friend to share.

Ingredients

1 or 2 gingersnap cookies, crumbled (about 1/3 cup of crumbs)
1 teaspoon honey
1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
A handful of blackberries, blueberries, or raspberries

Directions

  1. Sprinkle the crumbled cookie into the bottom of a large ramekin, small glass jar, or small shallow bowl. Drizzle the crumbs with honey, then use a fork to combine the two and then to lightly pack down the mixture. Transfer to the freezer while you make the custard.
  2. Grate the ginger, then press the grated ginger through a fine-mesh strainer into a small bowl. You should have about a teaspoon of ginger juice.
  3. Pour the cream into a small saucepan set over medium heat, stir in the sugar, and bring the mixture to a boil. Let it boil for about 5 minutes, then remove from the heat and stir in the ginger juice and lemon juice. Let the mixture cool in the saucepan for about 20 minutes.
  4. Pour the warm cream mixture into the ramekin over the crumbs, and refrigerate until the cream has set, at least 30 minutes but possibly longer, depending on the depth of the container and the fat content of the cream. (Or you can make it the day before; cover it with a piece of plastic wrap pressed tightly on the surface of the cream.) The custard will be softly set, like a pudding, not firm like a flan.
  5. Top with the berries and eat.

Tags

    Milk/Cream Berry Ginger Dessert Spring Summer Lemon Juice
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