Taste of Tucson: An easy dessert with Mexican origins fits into a Southwest menu

When I lived in the Mississippi Delta, I learned about lemon icebox pie. A traditional Southern favorite, it required little to no cooking — a boon on those blistering Delta days.

Typically made with a graham cracker crust, it was simply a couple of eggs whisked into a can of sweetened condensed milk with some lemon juice beaten in. My preference is to bake the filled pie shell briefly (because of those raw eggs), then top with whipped cream or meringue.

This year, I learned that there’s a similar Mexican dessert called Carlota. It, too, requires no cooking, and, with citrus season just ahead, it seems like a good time to get ready to make this.

Both Carlota and lemon icebox pie rely on lemon juice’s acidity to thicken sweetened condensed milk into a creamy custard. (And, if you want to, you can make a very good lemon ice cream by running that custard through your ice cream maker.)

Be aware, though, that lemons vary in the acidity of their juice, and if you are lucky enough to have access to a Meyer lemon tree, you’ll definitely need more lemon juice than this recipe calls for, because Meyer lemons are sweeter and less acidic than conventional lemons.

I’ve made this dessert with lime juice, but again, because limes are less acidic than lemons, you’ll need more lime juice than the recipe says. If you use merely a cup of lime juice, the recipe “just won’t do right,” as my former mother-in-law used to say.

I remember her cussing when she tried to do an orange icebox pie and it wouldn’t do right. The idea seemed right, but she didn’t understand the chemistry behind the method, and didn’t realize that orange juice just isn’t acidic enough to thicken the custard.

Most of the Carlota recipes I’ve come across call for galletas Maria — inexpensive Mexican vanilla cookies that are pretty easy to find here in Tucson. But if, like me, you’re sometimes too lazy to go to the store for a single item, you can substitute vanilla wafers or even graham crackers. Neither are authentic, but still make a good dish.

I like both lemon icebox pie and Carlota because while they’re low on effort, they’re high on flavor. And everyone seems to like them – they’re refreshing, not too sweet, and fairly inexpensive to make.

Both desserts probably originate in the 1930s or 1940s, when virtually every home finally had a refrigerator. We haven’t called them “iceboxes” for years, and there’s a reason for that: Electric refrigerators replaced the old wooden chests that relied on a big cube of delivered ice to maintain cool temperatures — the “ice box” literally was a box with ice inside or, occasionally, atop the box.

While I’ve called for a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, you can also build your Carlota in a trifle bowl or other glass bowl that allows the layers to show through. Pro tip: The deeper your dish is, the longer you should refrigerate before serving, to give the custard longer to seep into the cookies and moisten them into a proto-crust.

Another thing I’ve learned is that the canned milks are essential to success. I once tried substituting four cups of half-and-half for the two cans of evaporated milk. They have about the same consistency, right? Wrong. It just didn’t do right, and I had a seriously sloppy mess on my hands.

Carlota (Mexican lemon pie)

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Makes about 16 servings

The lemon juice’s acidity causes the two milks to thicken to a custardy consistency. If yours isn’t thickening, add additional lemon juice bit by bit until it does. Some people like to freeze the finished dish before serving, but I usually don’t bother.

Ingredients

2 14.5-ounce cans evaporated milk

2 14.5-ounce cans sweetened condensed milk

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, from about 4 large lemons

14 ounces galletas Maria or vanilla wafers or graham crackers

Cookie crumbs or grated lemon zest, for garnish

Preparation

Combine evaporated milk, condensed milk, and lemon juice in a bowl; whisk until mixture is thick and smooth.

Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with Maria cookies or vanilla wafers and cover them with a generous layer of the milk mixture. Add another layer of cookies, and more of the milk mixture. Continue the layering, ending with a layer of the milk mixture.

Refrigerate overnight or for at least six hours. Remove from the fridge and garnish with cookie crumbs or lemon zest just before serving.