Lemonade Cake with Blueberry Sauce

5 from 4 votes

Lemonade Cake with Blueberry Sauce

A tart lemon curd is tempered with whipped cream and a meringue and poured over a vanilla wafer crust. And that blueberry sauce is one you will make over and over to serve with pancakes and waffles as well as over ice cream.

Prep Time1 30

Chilling time6

Total Time7 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Blueberry Sauce, Lemon Mousse cake, Summer dessert

Servings: servings

Calories: 234kcal

Author: Helen S Fletcher

Equipment

9x3 cheesecake or springform pan

Ingredients

Lemon Curd

1 tablespoon water
1 ½ teaspoons gelatin
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams or 3 ½ ounces)
½ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
½ cup unsalted butter cold, cut into 6 pieces (114grams or 1 stick)

Vanilla Wafer Crust

1 ¼ cups vanilla wafer crumbs (about 40, 140 grams or 5 ounces)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, (58 grams or 2 ounces)

Lemon Mousse

1 cup heavy cream
2 egg whites (leftover from above)
¼ cup sugar (50 grams or 1 ¾ ounces)
Lemon Curd

Blueberry Sauce

⅓ cup granulated sugar (65 grams or 2 ¼ ounces)
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon lemon juice or balsamic vinegar
2 ½ cups fresh or frozen blueberries (12 ounce bag)

Instructions

Lemon Curd

Soften the gelatin in the water. Set aside.
Place the eggs and yolks in bowl. Whisk to combine.
Whisk in the sugar and the lemon juice. Strain the mixture into the top of a boiler. Add the butter and place over gently boiling water.
Stirring constantly, bring the curd to 172°F on a thermometer.
The gelatin will have formed a wiggly blob at this point. Tear it into small pieces and add it directly to the hot curd. Whisk to dissolve it into the curd.
Cover the surface directly with plastic wrap. Cool to use.
If made ahead, microwave briefly to bring it to room temperature when ready to use.

Vanilla Wafer Crust

Process the wafers into crumbs either using a food processor or putting them in a plastic bag and crushing them with a rolling pin.
Add the butter and mix with a fork.
Press them evenly into the bottom of 9x3" cheesecake pan or springform mold. Set aside.

Lemon Mousse

Beat the cream to medium peaks. Remove from the bowl and set aside.
In a clean mixing bowl, whip the whites until the whisk leaves marks in them.
Slowly add the sugar and beat to medium peaks. Fold into the lemon curd.
Fold in the reserved cream. Pour it into the crust and chill 6 hours or overnight to firm up.

Blueberry Sauce

Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together in a medium saucepan.
Whisk in the water.
Add the blueberries and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. It will have thickened. Continue cooking and stirring for 2 minutes.
Transfer to a bowl and cover directly with plastic wrap. Cool to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator if not using immediately.

Notes

If you are queasy about using raw egg whites, put the whites and sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Place the mixer bowl over (not in) a saucepan of simmering (not boiling) water. Beat or whisk continuously with a hand held mixer or whisk. Heat to 160°F or 70°C which should take between 3 ½ minutes. Place on the mixer and continue to beat until a meringue forms as described in the recipe.

Either fresh or frozen blueberries can be used. If using frozen berries, do not thaw them first.

When using cornstarch, it is important to either dissolve it in a small amount of water or mix it with the sugar in the recipe before adding the water. If it is not dissolved first, it will become lumpy and not thicken.

Heavy cream with a 36 % butterfat content whips up thicker than whipping cream with less butterfat and is recommended for the best results.

Straining the eggs and yolk mixture in the beginning removes the chalazae which is the hard, stringy egg white that suspends the yolk in the middle of the white. If it is not strained out, it cooks up hard and ruins the smoothness of the Lemon Curd. It is also much easier to do it in the beginning and not at the end when it has thickened.

Nutrition