Take your pie out of the oven and cool it on a cold stove burner or a wire rack. Once it is cool, cover it with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate it until you’re ready to serve.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: I like to use my Crème Fraiche on this pie. Here’s the recipe just in case you don’t have it handy:
HANNAH’S WHIPPED CRèME FRAICHE
(This will hold for several hours. Make it ahead of time and refrigerate it.)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
? cup white (granulated) sugar
? cup sour cream (you can substitute unflavored yogurt, but it won’t hold as well and you’ll have to do it at the last minute)
? cup brown sugar (to sprinkle on top after you cut your pie into pieces)
Whip the cream with the white sugar until it holds a firm peak. Test for this by shutting off the mixer, and “dotting” the surface with your spatula. Once you have firm peaks, gently fold in the sour cream. You can do this by hand or by using the slowest speed on the mixer.
Transfer the mixture to a covered bowl and store it in the refrigerator until you are ready to serve your Easy Lemon Pie.
To serve your pie, cut it into 6 generous pieces or 8 smaller slices and put each slice on a pretty dessert plate.
Top each slice with a generous dollop or two of Hannah’s Whipped Crème Fraiche.
Sprinkle the top of the Whipped Crème Fraiche with brown sugar.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: If you want to get really fancy, cut a paper-thin slice of lemon, dip it in granulated sugar, and put it on top of each slice of pie.
Chapter Two
Hannah breathed a deep sigh of relief as she hurried in the back door of The Cookie Jar and sat down on a stool at the stainless steel work island. She’d been manipulated by two master manipulators, but she couldn’t be angry with either one of them. If everything Grandma Knudson had told her was correct, she had to change her small, intimate wedding plans and endure a huge church wedding and a reception with all the bells and whistles. Delores, Andrea, and Michelle would plan an elaborate affair, but there was no other recourse. And thankfully, there was nothing for her to do except choose her wedding gown and show up for the ceremony.
One quick cup of coffee later and Hannah was on her feet, mixing up sugar cookie dough. She was just getting ready to mix in a cup of chopped pecans when Lisa Herman Beese-man, Hannah’s young partner, rushed through the swinging restaurant-style door that separated the coffee shop from the kitchen.
“There’s a phone call for you, Hannah,” Lisa announced breathlessly. “It’s somebody named Eric, and he said he was from the Food Channel. I think it’s about the Dessert Chef Competition.”
Hannah handed the wooden spoon to Lisa and gestured toward the bowl. “Will you stir in those pecans while I take the call? I’m making a variation of sugar cookies with maple flavoring and pecans.”
“Sure. No problem. Aunt Nancy and Michelle have got everything covered out in the coffee shop.”
Lisa began to stir, and Hannah headed for the phone on the kitchen wall. She flipped to a blank page in the shorthand notebook she kept on the counter, picked up a pen, and grabbed the receiver. “This is Hannah.”
“Hi, Hannah. It’s Eric Connelly from the Food Channel. We’re in a little time crunch here and we had to move the Dessert Chef Competition up a week and a half. Can you clear the decks back there and be here on October tenth instead of October twentieth?”
“Oh!” Hannah was so flustered, it took her a moment to think of something intelligent to say. “Yes. Of course I can.”
“Good. And I’m telling all four contestants that we’ve added a new wrinkle to the contest.”
He seemed to be waiting for her to respond, and Hannah gave a little nod she knew he couldn’t see. “What’s the new wrinkle? Or is that something we’ll find out when we get there?”
Eric laughed, a nice deep laugh that ended in a chuckle. “It’s no secret. We just thought it would be more interesting if we went off-location for most of the episodes. We’ll start here in our home studio, but the winner that night will have the hometown advantage from then on.”
“Hometown advantage?”
“Yes. If you win, the remainder of the contest moves to your hometown in Lake Eden, Minnesota.”
Hannah glanced at the one industrial oven she owned and began to frown. “But . . . my place is rather small. I don’t have room for four other chefs.”