Lovely Lemons - Snow Pudding

Tuesday, March 4, 2008, by Leigh Anne

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Today I will share my second in a series of lemon recipes. If you missed the first one - be sure and check out the Lemon Cheesecake Bars. They are yummy.

In fact one of my sweet college boys called tonight with a question about the recipe - he and his girlfriend were making them together (or at least he squeezed the lemons!) Hope they turned out good!

Today’s recipe is for Snow Pudding. I had checked out some cookbooks from the library recently and as I was reading through them one evening I came across this recipe.

It brought back a flood of memories. My junior high years growing up in Wisconsin were spent at Kemper Hall. The best description of Kemper Hall I can give you is - think “Dead Poet’s Society” - the female version.

Kemper Hall sat on the banks of Lake Michigan and had been an all girls boarding school for many years. The year before I started there they admitted ”day students” and also, lucky for me, they allowed boys to attend as day students too.

Lunch each day was served in the old dining hall where students were seated at tables with a teacher (many of which were nuns in full habit) or some adult administrator, including the headmaster and principal. Lunch was served family style.

Being the picky eater that I was, I did not eat the lunch prepared at school. Instead I would bring my trusty old peanut butter and jelly sandwich from home and eat in the back room along with a few of the other “day students” including my best friend LuAnne.

The only time we ate in the old dining hall was for special events during the year such as the Epiphany Banquet and the Founder’s Day Celebration where we all wore our matching white dresses.

O.K., so what does Snow Pudding have to do with all of this…..get to the point Leigh Anne…

The one dessert I remember being served at these special events, and that I have remembered for over 30 years is….Snow Pudding. When I think of Kemper Hall, I think of Snow Pudding. So when I found the recipe in ”Sara Moulton Cooks at Home” I had to try it.

One of the best things about this recipe is that the Snow Pudding has NO FAT (now if you add the Vanilla Sauce it is a different story) and it is delicious served with fresh berries.

Sara describes it as follows, “Imagine a lemon meringue pie in which the meringue itself has been charged with lemony tartness and the gluey filling jettisoned. Snow Pudding may well take you by surprise”

My neighbor Hannah taste tested it for me and loved it and has been asking me when it was going to be on the blog - so here it is Hannah!

Let me know if you try it and what you think!

Snow Pudding - Serves 6

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. table salt

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. freshly grated lemon zest

3 large egg whites at room temperature (If you are concerned about salmonella, use pasteurized egg whites or powdered egg whites)

1 cup fresh blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or strawberries

Vanilla Sauce

Pour 1/4 cup cold water into a small saucepan. Sprinkle on the gelatin and set aside for 5 minutes to dissolve. Add the sugar, salt and 1 1/4 cups cold water. Set over medium high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar and gelatin have dissolved, about 2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice and zest. Pour into a large bowl and refrigerate until almost set, about 2 hours.

Use an electric mixer to beat the gelled mixture until light and airy, 3-5 minutes. Add the egg whites and continue beating until the mixture increases in volume and begins to form gentle, soft peaks, about 5 minutes.

Place a few berries in the bottom of decorative glasses or dishes. Spoon in the pudding, cover with plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 3 hours or preferably overnight. Serve in the glass with the vanilla or raspberry sauce on top.

Vanilla Sauce:

LA Notes - I did not have a vanilla bean so I just used a teaspoon of vanilla extract. It is VERY important that you do not let it boil as you are cooking it - it will curdle and you will have to start over - guess how I know that?!

2 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise
5 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon table salt

Combine the milk and vanilla bean in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until small bubbles form around the edge. Remove from the heat, cover, and infuse the milk for 10 minutes. Scrape the seeds of the bean into the milk. Rinse and dry the bean and save for another use (such as putting it in your bag of sugar, which will turn it into vanilla sugar). Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and salt in a large heatproof bowl until thick and light, 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the hot milk. Return the custard to the pan and stir over low heat until slightly thickened or until a finger drawn across a wooden spoon dipped in the sauce leaves a mark (about 160 degrees F). Do not boil, or the sauce will curdle. Strain into a large bowl and cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours. Serve over top of Snow Pudding.

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