CRASH COURSES: When life gives you lemons, and by “gives you lemons” we mean “fires you,” Lehman Crumbles will ease the ache
Tangy, toasty Lehman Crumbles are sure to disappear faster than a stack of applications at a Wall Street Starbucks. Nuttier than the “Dow 36,000″ guy, this lemony, crunchy treat is a fabulous addition to any dinner party, bake sale to save your home or bribe for any B-level associate who may know a bit too much.
Save big bucks by cracking, skinning and chopping the nuts at home, unless of course you’re one of the lucky few Lehman employees who were rewarded for their incompetence with millions of dollars before the old girl cratered.
If so, you’re better off keeping a few Brazilian models on retainer who can jet into town, crush your almonds between two signed Picassos and serve them to you on ivory trays made from the tusks of albino elephants carved into your likeness by Tibetan monks.
Hint: For extra tartness, double up on the lemon juice so you can pucker up like a Wall Street trader who just got ran over by a Dow headed for an eight-hundred-point plunge. Again.
COMING TUESDAY ON One Big Kitchen: “Subprime Steak,” how to get the most out of cuts of meat that when you left home, you swore you’d never eat again.
- Kristin Kunert
PREVIOUSLY IN CRASH COURSES: Dick Punch.
The lemon cream is terrific, and you can use whatever nuts you like.
The recipe and more, after the jump.
Recipe: Lehman Crumbles
Adapted from “The Dessert Bible”
For the crust:
1 ¾ cups flour
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ½ sticks of butter at very cool room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces
For the lemon curd:
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup lemon juice (from 3-4 large lemons)
¼ cup whole milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
1. For the crust: Grease the bottom of a 9×13 pan with butter or shortening. Line with a sheet of parchment paper so the paper goes up and over the edges. You might need two sheets (one going the short way, one going the long way). Grease the top of the parchment paper.
2. Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and process to blend 8-10 seconds and then pulse until the mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse meal, about three 1-second bursts. Sprinkle the mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly with your fingers into an even layer on the bottom of the pan and about ½ inch up the sides. The mixture will be very light and fluffy, almost like cornmeal, rather than like a pie dough. Forming the sides may appear difficult, since the mixture is so light, but it will harden during baking. Don’t worry if the sides are uneven either in height or thickness. It will look much better once it is baked.
3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. While crust is chilling, heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake crust 20-25 minutes, until light golden brown.
4. For the filing: Whisk the eggs, sugar, and zest in a medium bowl. Whisk in the flour and salt and then stir in the lemon juice, milk, and butter to blend.
5. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees. Stir the filling one more time and pour into the hot crust. Stir the filling one more time and pour into the hot crust. Bake until the filling feels firm when touched lightly, about 20 minutes. Watch carefully, since once the filling starts to set, it will firm up quickly. Do not overbake it.
6. Spread a thin layer of blanched almonds over a tray and toast them lightly in the toaster oven. Once they are as toasty as you like, pulse them a few times in the food processor, or chop them well with a knife. Take about 1/3 cup of confectioners’ sugar and sift it or shake it through a wire strainer to remove the lumps, and combine with about 1/3 cup of the chopped toasted almonds. You’ll have to judge the crumbliness by eye. It all depends on what you like.
7. Sprinkle the nut-sugar mixture over the cooling filling. Allow to cool completely, and cut into squares.
Filed under: Crash Courses, Home cooking, Recipes, baking, fruit, holidays, parties, stunt-cooking, vegan & veg, vegetables
