A Slice of Sunshine - Arizona Sunshine Lemon Pie

Arizona Sunshine Lemon Pie

Heavens, I love pie, maybe even more than cake.  I like pie so much, I include it in the long list of endearments for our kitties.  Maggie-Pie, Molly-Pie, Fluffy-Pie.  And of course, Sweetie-pie, but he's of the two-legged variety of pie, grins.  

Did you know that Arizona was second only to California to lemon production?  I had absolutely no idea—I thought all citrus came from Florida.  Orange trees abound here, boughs leaning heavy over brick walls, fabulous orange globes sold at local farmers' markets; one of my co-workers brings in the hugest, juiciest grapefruit I've ever seen in my entire life.  You bite into a grapefruit section and juice squirts and pours down your chin and you have to hurl your body into a 45 degree angle and mop your face before that sweet juice hits your chest and stains your favorite shirt and becomes testimony to your grapefruit greed. No bagfuls of lemons on the sharing table, though.  How can that be?  Too commonplace?  I figured it was all novelty and whimsy and supernatural, kind of like trying to grow roses here.

But lo and behold, Arizona sunshine is to lemons as lemons are to Arizona Sunshine Lemon Pie, or something like that.  

If you like a pie that's big on lemon flavor, is super fast to make (it's made in a blender and uses the entire lemon, sans seeds, of course) and is family and company worthy, this one is good!  I'll present the recipe as originally written, and then add my own thoughts in Cook's Notes.

ARIZONA SUNSHINE LEMON PIE

1 large lemon, well washed and rinsed

4 large eggs

8 tablespoons butter (4 ounces or one stick)

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

whipped topping

single, uncooked pie crust, your own or store bought, for a 9" pie

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Leaving rind on, cut lemon in large chunks, remove seeds.  Pour all ingredients into a blender (or food processor) and process until smooth.  Pour into pie crust and bake for about 40 minutes.  If crust becomes too brown, cover it with tin foil.  Test with a toothpick for doneness.  Let cool before serving.  Refrigerate after cooled.

COOK'S NOTES:  I made a bit of a bigger project out of this than the recipe states.  First of all, I was concerned about the pith adding too much bitterness, so I cut the lemon flesh away from the rind, removed maybe half of the pith and then tossed the lemon peel and flesh into the blender.  Because I removed the pith, I added another half lemon, peel and flesh, minus pith, to the blender.  Besides, how large is a large lemon?  It's all in the eye of the beholder.  I wanted to see the lemon texture before going ahead so I added the sugar and vanilla and blended that first. Then I added the eggs and butter and gave it a few more spins in the blender, combining all ingredients well.

Arizona Sunshine Lemon Pie

This pie was a tad on the sweet side but not cloyingly so.  Regardless, for my personal tastes, I might add more lemon or less sugar the next time I make this.