Pi Day – Lemon Meringue Pie

It’s looking like my sprained ankle is pretty bad because I still can’t put weight on it 13 days later.  It’s a real annoyance; mostly because I can’t cook.  I can sort hobble around in the kitchen, so I may something new at the end of the week, but for now it’s still leftover recipes from me.

I made my first ever Lemon Meringue Pie on March 14th.  I used Alton Brown’s recipe pretty faithfully and I have to say it worked fairly well.  The lemony inside was a bit more gelatinous than I think I’d want in the future so next time I’ll play around with that.  I didn’t want to stray from the recipe too much because I was terrified that things wouldn’t set properly.

The meringue was absolutely sublime.  I think there was a Daring Baker’s* challenge at some point for lemon meringue pie and I had seen beautiful photos of meringue.  I was so hopeful that mine would be successful.  Maybe I went a bit overboard?  You be the judge, but I love the towering swirl of egg whites and sugar.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Alton Brown’s Recipe Here or…

Lemon Filling:

• 4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell
• 1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.

Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:

• 4 egg whites
• 1 pinch cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.Yield: topping for 1 (9-inch) pie

*Daring Bakers are a very large group of baking bloggers who try out a new and usually difficult recipe each month.  I should be joining in for the next challenge.  Wish me luck!