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Gluten-Free Meyer Lemon Custard with Almond Thyme Crumble and Honey Mascarpone | sharedappetite.com

Gluten Free Meyer Lemon Custard with Almond Thyme Crumble


  • Total Time: 40 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 6-8 1x

Ingredients

Scale

Meyer Lemon Custard

  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice (2 to 3 lemons)
  • 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 tablespoon pieces

for the Gluten-Free Almond Thyme Crumble

  • 1 1/3 cups Bob's Red Mill finely ground almond meal/flour
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • Zest from 1/2 Meyer lemon
  • 1/2 cup cold butter, chopped into chunks

for the Honey Mascarpone

  • 8 ounces mascarpone
  • 1 tablespoon honey

Instructions

  1. Divide Meyer Lemon Custard among small bowls or plates. Top very generously with Almond Thyme Crumble and a small scoop of Honey Mascarpone.

for the Meyer Lemon Custard

  1. Make sure eggs and butter are cold. Bring about 2 inches of water to a boil in a medium pot (one that is slightly smaller than the bowl you'll be using to mix the custard). Meanwhile in a large metal bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, and sugar until smooth, about 1 minute.
  2. Lower heat to maintain a rapid simmer and set the metal mixing bowl over pot. Whisk mixture constantly, turning the bowl occasionally for even heating. Once the eggs are foamy and have thickened a bit (about 2 to 3 minutes), add 1/3 of the Meyer lemon juice. Continue to whisk constantly until the mixture thickens again. Add another 1/3 of the lemon juice and whisk until it thickens again, and then add the remaining juice. Continue to cook and whisk constantly until the mixture has thickened to the consistency of a soft pudding. The whisk should leave a definite trail in the bottom of the bowl. Total cooking time should be around 10 minutes, but go more by feel than time.
  3. Turn off heat and whisk in butter one piece at a time. This will loosen the mixture slightly, but it will set as it cools. Pour the warm custard into another bowl and let cool completely, at least 1 hour. Refrigerate until ready to serve. I like to remove the custard from the refrigerator a bit before serving so it's not very cold when eating.

for the Gluten-Free Almond Thyme Crumble

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium mixing bowl, combine almond flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, egg, vanilla extract, thyme, and Meyer lemon zest. Scrap into food processor and add butter chunks. Pulse until the butter is well incorporated but there are still small chunks of butter running throughout. Pour out into a thin even layer on a parchment paper lined large baking sheet. Cook for 10 minutes, remove and stir, pushing the more done outside pieces towards the center and the gooey center towards the edges. Continue cooking in 5 minute intervals, stirring between each and breaking into crumbles, until the crumble light golden brown. It took me about three 5 minute intervals, for a total cooking time of 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely. Crumble will crisp up as it cools.

for the Honey Mascarpone

  1. Mix together the mascarpone and honey in a small bowl. Taste, and if you would like it sweeter, add a little more honey.

Notes

If you can't find Meyer lemons (which you totally should because they are awesome), regular lemons will work.

This is, in essence, a deconstructed pie or tart. The crumble serves as the crust, so make sure there is a good ratio of crumble to custard so they get some crunch in every bite.

Feel free to serve these as little cute parfaits (alternating crumble and custard, and then topping with the honey mascarpone). You can also leave all three components out and let guests build their own (hello easy entertaining!).

When I serve this, I put it in the little mini flare serving dishes you see in the photos (they hold just under 3 ounces each). I get about 10 to 12 servings with them. The custard is quite rich, so small servings are totally acceptable.

Lemon Custard barely adapted from Thomas Keller's Bouchon Cookbook.

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 25 mins