Lemon Curd Jello Pie
I made a Raspberry jello Pie before and it turned out great. I wanted to keep experimenting with Jello Pies and decided I had to do a lemon jello pie with lemon curd and it turned out great! Check out this recipe for the perfect lemon pie for the summer!
Ingredients and Supplies
I will put them in the steps where they are needed, but here is the whole list.
Crust:
- 1 pkg Graham Crackers
- 6 Tbs. Butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
Lemon Curd:
- 2 lemons - for about 1 Tbs. of lemon zest and 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 Eggs
- 4 Tbs. Butter
Jello, Cool Whip Topping:
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1/2 ish cup cold water (I measured out 1/2 but probably only used 1/3 or 1/4 cup)
- 1 (3oz) pkg of lemon jello
- 1 (8oz) pkg Cool Whip (make sure you have moved it from freezer to fridge, I took mine right from the freezer and it was a pain to mix in with the jello water)
Other Supplies:
- Pot and bowl or for making curd
- Lemon Juicer
- Pie Pan
- Knife and cutting board
- Food Processor
- Mason Jar or container for lemon curd
Lemon Curd
So, this pie takes lemon curd. You can buy it or make it yourself. I suggest you make it as it is easy and delicious! This was my first time ever making lemon curd and it turned out! So if I can do it, you can do it. I followed this Instructable by jen7714, but you can use your favorite recipe.
For the lemon curd I needed:
- 2 lemons - for about 1 Tbs. of lemon zest and 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 Eggs
- 4 Tbs. Butter
You'll need a pot and bowl to cook the ingredients and a lemon juicer really helps to get every last drop of lemon juice from the lemons :) Find a jar to store it in and put it in the fridge for now to cool down. You can make this way ahead of time or just make it first and let it cool while you get the rest of the pie ready. For my pie my timeline was
- Day 1 - Lemon Curd
- Day 2 - Assemble Pie
- Day 3 - Consume Pie
* You could probably make and eat the pie in one day if you wanted. I have ordered this Instructable, though, in the best order to get everything made. So make lemon curd, then the crust, then lemon jello mixture, then assemble the pie with the jello mixture.
Crust Time
I went with a graham cracker crust because I love it. I provide the recipe on my Raspberry Jello Pie Instructable and in my Graham Cracker Crust Instructable but here it is again!
- 1 pkg Graham Crackers
- 6 Tbs. Butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
I used a food processor to grind up my crackers but you can do it by hand too. So grind that up and mix it with melted butter and sugar. I always microwave butter, because that is what I do. But you can let it come to room temp on its own, if you want, until it is soft enough to use.
Put the mixture in your pie plate and push it down.
Add Curd
You can add as much curd in as you want. I think I used about half or so of the curd I made. Just spread it on your crust. I had just assembled my crust so it was a little warm and very crumbly. Just be carefully while spreading the curd so it doesn't pull up all the crust, but if the crust mixes in with the curd a bit, who cares. Will still taste the same :)
Jello Layer
Time to do your Jello layer. I reduced the water from my raspberry jello pie, but you can use the amounts from there or from here.
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1/2 ish cup cold water (I measured out 1/2 but probably only used 1/3 or 1/4 cup)
- 1 (3oz) pkg of lemon jello
- 1 (8oz) pkg Cool Whip (make sure you have moved it from freezer to fridge, I took mine right from the freezer and it was a pain to mix in with the jello water)
First dissolve the jello i the boiling water. Then mix in some of the cold water to cool it down. Now mix in all the cool whip. I also threw in a dollop of lemon curd, but you don't have to. Not sure if it made a difference or not, but I like to think it made it even better :)
Mine mixture was really melty, so I put it in the fridge while I did dishes. You can cool it a bit, or use it right away. But whenever you are ready, spread the cool whip jello mixture on your pie. Last time I didn't use it all on one pie and I don't know if it was because I used less water, but it didn't seem like as much so I used the whole thing on my pie.
Now put it in the fridge to stiffen. I left mine in the fridge overnight (so you know it will keep just fine) but you probably don't need it to sit in there for more than 10 minutes or so. You just want to cool whip mixture to stiffen and it seemed to stiffen just fine while I was doing dishes.
Decorate
So the next day I took out my pie and was ready to add the final touches.
I used some leftover lemon curd, lemon zest and some lemon slices just for decoration. Decorate and enjoy!
More Pictures
Here you can see a side view. My crust was just stuck on to my pie pan so it was hard to get out a nice whole piece. If you know how to stop it from sticking to the pie pan, please share!