Dixon's is a restaurant in Ogden, Utah - and it's known for this pie. My sister gave me the Utah Dining Car, Junior League Cookbook several years ago - she bought the book just for this one recipe so it had to be good...and it is. I'm not usually a fan of lemon desserts - or white desserts in general - if I'm going to indulge I'd like to have chocolate - preferably mainlined but I'll settle for the conventional forkful. I made the pie crust - which I usually don't do because it goes into the oven looking so pretty and comes out shrunk up and deformed....and this crust was no exception. If I had been making it for just the mister and me I wouldn't have cared - but we were taking it to some friends for dinner and I so wanted it to look nice! Fortunately the filling is so good that no one noticed the crust.
This recipe is a three-parter. The first part is making the lemon filling in a double-boiler, then you let it cool. Second part is whipping the cream. Third part is mixing together the cream cheese with the other ingredients. And the last step is folding them altogether into one luscious concoction - so I guess it's really a 4-parter!
This pie needs to chill completely before serving so the pie pieces will hold their shape. It usually needs about a 3 hour chill time.
Dixon's Famous Lemon Cream Cheese Pie - Utah Dining Car, Junior League Cookbook
Two 8-inch pie crusts or one 9-inch baked deep-dish pie crust
Filling:
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
3 eggs, beaten and strained
juice from 2 lemons (not huge lemons, just "regular" sized)
1 1/4 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla
yellow food coloring (optional)
Cream Cheese Mixture:
6 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup whipping cream, whipped
Topping:
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
zest of one lemon, optional
In the top of a double broiler mix sugar and cornstarch. Add eggs, lemon juice, and water. Cook until thickened to a custard consistency, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla and a couple of drops of yellow food coloring if desired. Allow to cool completely.
Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat well. Fold in whipped cream. Fold cooled lemon filling into cream cheese mixture. Blend well. Spoon into baked pie crust(s) and chill for at least 3 hours before serving. Make Topping: In the bowl of an electric mixer whip cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until thick. Spoon whipped cream over top of pie, mounding up in the center. Sprinkle zest over top of pie, if using. (I personally like the zest as it gives the pie a real zing plus the yellow "sprinkles" on top let everyone know what kind of pie it is.) In the photo below you'll notice I didn't cover the pie with whipped cream...my mistake! And sorry for the blurry pic!