Lemon curd pistachio sundaes are exquisite. I’ll admit that a hot fudge or caramel sundae is hard to beat, but man cannot live on hot fudge and caramel alone. (I’ve tried.) Lemon curd makes such a fresh sundae, you’ll feel like a sundae virgin all over again.

Lemon curd is one of the finest foods on the planet, and  vanilla ice cream is one of the most underrated. In many ways, they’re opposites – vanilla ice cream is so muted, round, soft, and as comforting as Karen Carpenter, as compared to the dazzling, electric, sharpness of lemon curd’s Broadway belt. It seems unlikely that they’d complement one another, yet they do – and so beautifully. In order to get the textures to work together in a sundae, though, you need a curd that’s pourable – and that’s what you get here: the lemon curd ingredients and method are adjusted to produce a thick, lemon sauce, while its flavor is unchanged from traditional curd.

What you need for 8 servings:

FOR THE LEMON CURD

5 large egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup lemon juice (from 3 lemons )
5 tsp finely grated zest (from 2 lemons)
1 stick unsalted butter (softened – although cold will work)

FOR THE PISTACHIOS

Vegetable-oil cooking spray
1/2 cup sugar
4 Tbs water
5 oz. lightly toasted pistachios (1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp coarse salt, optionally

FOR SERVING

1/2 gallon French vanilla ice cream
1 cup heavy cream, whipped

How to make the curd:

Whisk yolks, sugar, juice, and zest over a med-high flame until the mixture thickens. (Traditional lemon curd will thicken just below a simmer. This one should come to a full boil, but only for a few seconds. It will quickly scorch if you let it boil too long.) Whisk in butter, a few Tbs at a time. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pushing the wrap right onto the surface of the curd. Allow to cool, then refrigerate until completely chilled (a few hours). Can be made up to three days in advance.

How to make the pistachios:

Spray a jelly-roll pan with non-stick spray. Bring sugar and water to a boil over a med-high flame. Let it continue to boil until the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage (238˚F) – which will happen in a mere matter of a few minutes. Add pistachios (and salt) and stir until sugar crystallizes. If crystallizations doesn’t occur, remove the pistachios to the baking tray the earliest sign of caramelization. Spread the pistachios out and let them cool. Coarsely chop. Can be made up to a week in advance.

How to assemble the sundaes:

Layer scoops of ice cream with dollops of curd and sprinkles of pistachio. Top with whipped cream, and garnish with a few more pistachios.

Notes:

1. I’ve made my best curds when I’ve avoided anything metallic: I’ve used a glass saucepan, a plastic-coated whisk, a wooden spoon, and strained it into a ceramic bowl.
2. Don’t throw away the solids left in your sieve. Stir them into a bowl of ice cream, or add them to a batch of rice pudding.
3. As an alternative, you can use straight-up pistachios, without candying them. Texturally less interesting, but still flat-out delicious.
4. You may not be familiar with crystalization, unless you have had a spectacular caramel failure or the like. Stirring is one of the main players, so once you add the pistachios, don’t stop stirring. It won’t happen immediately, but you’ll eventually notice something that looks like snow or a thick frost developing on the side of the pan. It should be significant and easy to see. This is crystalization. Let it happen for a moment or two, then off heat. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. You’ll think that what’s left in your saucepot is going to be a nightmare to clean, but it’s not. Soak it in the hottest water you can get from your tap. That may take care of all of it. If any stubborn sugar remains, add enough water to the pot to cover the sugar areas, and bring the water to a vigorous boil.

This is a ridiculously delicious sundae.

Lemon Curd Pistachio Sundaes

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! This content was not written in exchange for anything, nor was it solicited.

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