Lemon Meringue Pie from Scratch

1/28/11: Lemon Meringue Pie

Last Friday my younger sister and I were trying to figure out a dessert to make for dinner. We chose a rather risky one: Lemon Meringue Pie. Because this pie is such a classic (it is right beside chocolate chip cookies, pound cake, and blueberry muffins in the realm of baking in my opinion), you would think that it is an easy recipe to execute. Not so. Especially for a person who has failed in the past with the meringue part!

We used Annemarie's Betty Crocker cookbook for the crust, the filling, as well as the meringue topping. The filling and meringue recipes worked out well, but we weren't happy at all with the crust recipe. There just wasn't enough dough to work with and we actually had to go back and make another batch. Next time I should use our traditional go-to recipe for a double pie crust and simply cut the recipe in half.

Now for the filling and meringue part:

Lemon Meringue Pie

Yield: Two 9" pies (my family likes their pie!)

Ingredients:

Two 9" pie shells that have been blind baked

3 cups sugar

2/3 cup cornstarch

3 cups hot water

6 egg yolks, slightly beaten

6 tbsp. butter

8 tbsp. lemon juice

3 tbsp. grated lemon rind

Meringue:

6 egg whites

1/2 tsp. cream of tartar

12 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. flavoring (optional)

Directions:

In a saucepan, mix together the sugar, cornstarch, and hot water. Cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil 1 minute. Beat a little of the hot mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. Then move warmed egg yolks to the cornstarch mixture. Boil 1 minute longer, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Continue stirring until smooth. Blend in butter, lemon juice, and lemon peel.

Onto the meringue! In a large, clean bowl, beat white with cream of tartar until frothy. Gradually beat in sugar, a little at a time. Continue beating until stiff and glossy.

Now to assemble the pie. Pour filling into the pre-baked pie shells and smooth top. Spoon the meringue on top of filling in large dollops. Try to smooth out--while not disturbing the filling below--and make fun swirls or peaks with your spoon.

Move pies to a 400F preheated oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

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So that's the recipe but I do want to write here some things I would change next time. First off, Papa and Annemarie said that they would like more meringue on top as well as a stronger lemon flavor. So for next time, I will maybe use 5 eggs per pie and add the extra yolks to the filling; Annemarie said that the extra yolks won't harm the recipe. All they will do is make the filling slightly thicker. She's made this pie before so she should know!

And I will add a couple more lemons to the mix to get a real pucker sensation!

You may notice here that this meringue is darker than what you are used to. That is way my family likes it even if it causes "weeping."