the girly who shall end all girls

I went to a pie party today, and I was hungry for a lemon sponge, so I made one.

lemon sponge is a single-crusted pie with a variant custard filling - it gets its texture (puddingy on the bottom, spongy on the top) from egg whites folded into the filling mixture. I had never made one before today, but they were enough of a fixture of my childhood that I assumed the recipe was in my Farm Journal pie cookbook. no dice. apparently this is a regional dish from the mid-Atlantic states? the internet provided before I broke down and called mom.

recipe based on the Washington Post version.

FOR THE CRUST
1 9-inch gf pie crust from the serious eats recipe * note: this MUST chill for two hours before baking.

FOR THE FILLING
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, well beaten, plus 2 large egg whites, beaten until stiff
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
2 capfuls lemon extract (I had wussy lemons today, YMMV)
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

For the filling: Combine the sugar and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer or handheld mixer; beat on medium-low speed, until well incorporated and a little fluffy. Stop to scrape down the bowl.

On low speed, add the egg yolks, lemon zest and juice, beating until well combined. Stop to scrape down the bowl. The mixture may look a bit curdled; this is okay. Add all but a few spoonfuls of the milk, then blend the tapioca flour into the remaining milk with a fork and add that and sprinkle in the salt; beat on low speed just until well incorporated.

Gently fold in half the beaten egg whites, being careful not to deflate them; once any signs of white have disappeared, gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

When ready to bake, place the pie pan with the crust on a baking sheet. Use a fork to poke a few sets of holes in the bottom of the pie dough crust.

Pour the filling into the pie shell; transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake (middle rack) for about 1 hour; the filling will be set with a few nicely browned spots, and the crust will be just lightly golden. I had to keep adding time at five minute intervals to get a proper set. (I've seen some anemic pictures online, they're wrong. it should definitely change color from the raw mixture.)

Let it sit for 30 minutes before serving. pull the hot cookie sheet with the pie plate on it out of the oven and put it on a towel so it doesn't burn you while it sits on your lap in the car on the way to the party.

I think the texture is best when it is completely cool but people liked the warm middle, so what do I know?



*i have always used brown rice flour instead of white, and it turns out great. that crust is stupid good.

i came across this hypothetical gmail plugin today posted as a joke. but it's really an underserved need (like mail goggles but better). what do you wish your email program could detect and prevent? i think i would like something similar for chat or texting...

after some scheduling fail, i finally picked up my big quilt from the longarmer. it looks great, better finished than i had imagined it. except that it's not finished yet, i have to bind it. (i'll take pictures when that's done.) i now have two quilts at that stage. stress leaves me a bit butterfingered, so i'm reluctant to do the required trimming of edges even though i know that the rest of the process pleases my inner geometry nerd and the actual hand finishing is meditative.

i just got fixings for lunch - Exalted game soon. (the letter near "a" and "c" is sticking. i didn't realize how much i use it. writing without it is an interesting exercise.) QFC HAS HERLOCHER'S MUSTARD. i cannot adequately express the awesomeness of this. they also have Snyder's of Hanover pretzels. please get Yuengling next, QFC.

NYC "discovers" whoopie pies.

i don't know if this is a good thing or not.

community organizer icons.

EDITED TO ADD: more.

more reporting on PA. this all rings true.

“It’s the first election in Bedford that the Democratic Party has been this openly represented,” she said.

Student registration for Centre County increased to 8,000 voters this year. This is the first year the county switched from Republican to Democratic. (i grew up in rural Centre County.)

another tidbit: my parents report receiving an "Obama is a Muslim" email forward from a friend recently. unlike most forwards, it was followed by a correction/retraction from the sender after someone on the distribution list corrected him.

more awkward adolescence for kijjohnson.

this one is hard to write. it's hard to write because this part of my awkward adolescence shouldn't have been a problem. it isn't a problem. no one should ever be marginalized for it. and i'm practically normal among my current batch of friends, so it's not like people reading this don't get it, and other people had it worse in one way or another.

the block on talking about it is very strong.

i was a very smart little girl.( Read more... )

people routinely treated me like shit for something that is intrinsically positive. saying "they're just jealous" doesn't ever cut the sting.

*sigh*

i really should have written about how i chose the wrong audition song for the spring musical my senior year, refused to take "just" a chorus part in a teary huff, and then ended up being the acting coach for the girl who got the role i wanted.

livingdeadpan wanted to hear about my awkward adolescence. (this is part one. part two, for kijjohnson comes later.)

( about the way i looked )