I'll Bring Dessert.

I really don't know what keeps compelling me to volunteer to bring people dessert. I guess it just seems like the sporting thing to do when someone invites me to their house for dinner. Or lunch. Or cocktails. I'll bring dessert! It's a reflex. And no one ever seems to mind.

The thing is, I don't even really like baking, and it's always a much bigger time commitment than it should be to find the right recipe. I scour cookbooks, magazines, and websites, but almost everything I come across falls short based on one or more of the following deal-breakers:

-It's an all-day project, with 76 steps and requiring excursions around town for esoteric ingredients found at boutique chocolatiers or in the basements of Chinatown;
-It breaks the bank (see above re: chocolatiers);
-It's insufficiently impressive (oh ADMIT IT, if you're going to go to the trouble to make something from scratch you sure as shit aren't showing up with oatmeal raisin cookies);
-It requires fancy equipment like an immersion blender, kitchen torch, spring-form pan, parfait glasses, etc.;
-It relies on a seasonal ingredient that is not, in fact, currently in season;
-I would need to be a trained art handler to transport it in tact to its destination;
-It's meant to be served immediately out of the oven.

But after a lot of research and testing, I have come up with what I believe to be the ultimate go-to "I'll Bring Dessert" recipe: a baked lemon custard. It avoids all of the above pitfalls, and even happens to be reasonably healthy. The ingredients cost around $15, it takes me 30 minutes to prepare, and the only equipment needed is a hand mixer and a baking dish (I used an 8" souffle dish, but a square baking dish around that size would work too).


To give the dessert a seasonal touch I grab a garnish when I buy the rest of the ingredients -- recently I bought blackberries, mint, and whipping cream. You can improvise with different garnishes at different times of year: berries in the summer, dried fruits in the fall, shaved chocolate or chocolate sauce in the winter...you get the picture.

Baked Lemon Custard
Adapted from Bon Appétit, January 2006

Serves 6

3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
4 large eggs, separated
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Butter an 8" souffle dish, or similar ceramic baking dish.
3. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and lemon peel in large bowl; beat in egg yolks.
4. Mix in flour in three additions alternately with buttermilk in two additions. Stir in lemon juice.
5. Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in medium bowl until stiff peaks form.
6. Fold egg whites into yolk mixture; pour batter into baking dish.
7. Bake until custard is set in center and beginning to brown, about 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

Can be made 1 day ahead -- cool completely, cover, and refrigerate. Transport in souffle dish then invert onto plate to serve. Accept praise graciously.