Lemon Torte

This frozen torte is a lemon lover’s version of a semifreddo, somewhere between a mousse and an ice cream, with a cookie crumb base instead of pastry. The lemon filling is built from three components: whipped egg whites for lift, egg yolks beaten with fresh lemon juice and zest for tang, and whipped cream for richness.

Folding is everything here. Whip the whites to firm peaks and the cream to soft peaks separately, then fold them into the lemon yolk base in stages. Rushing this step deflates the air you just worked to incorporate and leaves you with a dense, flat torte.

Fresh-squeezed lemon juice and freshly grated zest make an enormous difference. Bottled lemon juice tastes one-note and dull by comparison.

The raspberry sauce is a foil, not an afterthought. Its tartness cuts through the cream and sets off the lemon.

Pro Tips

• Use a springform pan so you can release the sides cleanly after freezing. A regular pie pan makes serving a mess.
• Let the torte stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before slicing. Straight from the freezer it’s too hard to cut.
• Strain the raspberry sauce through a fine-mesh sieve to remove the seeds. Takes two minutes and makes the sauce feel far more polished.
• Any crisp cookie works for the crust: shortbread, vanilla wafers, gingersnaps, or graham crackers all hold up.

Variations

• Swap lemon for Meyer lemon or a mix of lemon and lime for a different citrus profile.
• Use gingersnap crumbs in the crust for a spicy contrast.
• Top with fresh blueberries alongside the raspberry sauce for a two-berry finish.