Ingredients
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 egg whites
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Zest of 2 lemons
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 egg yolks
Pinch salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy cream
Step by step
Store the KitchenAid® Ice Cream Maker in the freezer on the coldest setting for at least 15 hours before making your sorbet.
Combine heavy cream, sugar, and salt together in a medium pot over moderately high heat. Bring this mixture to a boil. While it is reaching temperature, combine the egg yolks, lemon juice and vanilla in a small bowl, and beat it with your KitchenAid® Hand Mixer until smooth.
When the cream mixture has started to boil, slowly add a few tablespoons at a time to the yolk mixture, in order to warm up the eggs without curdling. Once the egg mixture is tempered, slowly add it to the boiling cream mixture, stirring constantly.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes, until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Once thickened, remove from heat and whisk in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 4-6 hours.
Once chilled, add the mixture to Ice Cream Maker attached to your KitchenAid® Stand Mixer and churn until ready, about 15-20 minutes. Spread the sorbet into a KitchendAid® Square Pan lined with freezer paper, and place it in the freezer until solid, roughly 45 minutes. Using a large cookie cutter, cut rounds of sorbet the same size as sugar cookies. Freeze rounds until needed.
For the baked meringues
Preheat your oven to 250°F. Using your KitchenAid® Stand Mixer, whip the egg whites with vanilla and cream of tartar until the mixture is light and foamy. Slowly add in the sugar in a small stream, beating on high speed. The meringue will become glossy and soon stiff peaks will form, in about 5-7 minutes.
Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Place the meringue in a piping bag and pipe rounds of meringue onto the prepared pan. Bake the piped meringues for 45-50 minutes, then turn off the oven. Allow the meringues to cool in the oven, then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
For the sugar cookies
Using your KitchenAid® Hand Mixer, mix together the butter, cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add in eggs and vanilla, beating until smooth. Mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt until incorporated. Cover and chill the dough for at least one hour (or overnight) to make rolling out simpler.
Preheat your oven to 390°F. Roll out the dough on a floured surface 1/4″ – 1/2″ thick. Cut into shapes with any round cookie cutter or by hand. Place cookies 1″ apart on cookie sheets lined with parchment.
Bake for 6 to 8 minutes in the oven. Allow to cool completely.
Layer a sugar cookie with a cookie cutter round of the frozen sorbet, then top with a baked meringue. Repeat this process until all of your sandwich cookies are made. Serve immediately or wrap each in freezer paper and freeze until ready to serve.