Lemon Meringue Pie Shake!

Without further ado, I present the recipe for the best shake I've ever had, created especially for me by Ashley Anne Fuller.  She once heard me say that a lemon meringue pie shake I'd had at Holstein's in Las Vegas was the best thing I'd ever tasted (or something hyperbolic like that) and that after that first taste, Holstein's never had it on the menu again and no one there could remember how to make it (or so they told me). So AA tried to make my shake dreams come true by recreating the magic--AND SHE NAILED IT! Or made it better. I couldn't tell how AA's shake compared with Holstein's  when I drank AA's (a) I'd had my first lemon meringue pie shake in 2011, so it'd been a while; and (b) I was too busy saying "oh my goodness" to do much thinking/comparing. But let me tell you this--I don't like lemon meringue pie (nor does Ashley Anne), but we both loved this. And we're still thinking and talking about it.

Here's our best recollection of what went down:

THE SHAKE
(makes four too-small servings)

1 half-gallon vanilla bean ice cream
juice of 2-3 lemons (or to taste)
zest of 2 lemons (or to taste)
10 oz of lemon curd (we used store bought but homemade would probably be excellent too) (or to taste)

Blend these ingredients. Add milk or ice cream or lemon or lemon juice or lemon curd until it tastes awesome and is the consistency you want. (Ashley Anne was tweaking the flavor for almost 20 minutes before it tasted like a sweet punch of bright lemony/vanilla magic. Her palate may not be yours, so keep testing/tasting/trying.)

Then top with...

MARSHMALLOW CREME MERINGUE 

3 egg whites
Dash of salt
1 c. marshmallow creme

Beat egg whites and salt until soft peaks form. Gradually add marshmallow creme beating until stiff peaks form. Use culinary torch to brown meringue.

Serve with...

PIE CRUST COOKIES

 (I used only half of the dough from this recipe to make the crust for our shakes.)

1 cup flour
1 TBS sugar
1/4 tsp salt
6 TBS butter, chilled
1 egg yolk
1 TBS ice water
1 TBS lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Cut butter into flour mixture until it resembles tiny peas. (Or pulse several times in food processor.) Combine egg yolk, water, and lemon juice with a fork. Sprinkle egg yolk mixture over flour mixture and stir together with a fork until it forms a ball. (Or pulse again in food processor until it clumps together.)

Roll out between two pieces of parchment (or on floured surface), sprinkle with sugar, cut into triangles or other fun shapes, and bake for 7-8 mins or until golden brown.

Yikes! I want more right now. RIGHT NOW.