Lemon Meringue Pie

Being that it is my mom's birthday tomorrow, I knew I should get on baking her a birthday surprise. I know she isn't much of a cake person but her favorite kind of pie is Lemon Meringue. So the long process begins!

I think it's best if you start with the filling for the pie before you start the meringue. So let the lemon scent fill the air and start squeezing the juice from the fresh lemons! I was going to use the juicer but find it easier because the lemons fit in your hand to just squeeze them by hand. A trick I have learned is to roll the lemon under your hand on the board before cutting it open to loosen all the juice up inside!

After you are done squeezing the lemons and grading the lemon zest, begin with the ingredients on the stove. Once the mixture starts to boil and is an almost translucent mixture, you want to add in your separated egg yolks. This will give it a really creamy yellow look but make sure to mix it in as fast as possible because you don't want the heat to cook the eggs. Now add in the juice and zest which makes it smell amazing, cover and set aside.

Now on to the meringue! I find it easiest if you have all your ingredients pre measured, because you need to add everything in kind of quickly to make it work out the right way. Start with the mixture on the stove so that it has some time to cool! As soon as it comes to a boil let it cook for one more minute and take it off the heat.

Go back to the mixer and whip the egg whites together until they are nice and foamy like so:

Add in the dry ingredients in two parts. If you add it in all at once it will get too clumpy and not turn out the way you want it to. You want the peaks after all the dry ingredients are mixed in to be soft and not stiff. If they are stiff it might be tough to get the texture you need once you add in the mixture from the stove. Once you are forming soft peaks, add in the mixture from the stove one tablespoon at a time. Mix until you have hard peaks.

Almost done!! Add the HOT filling into the already cooked pie shell...

And immediately add in the meringue on the top of the hot filling. Smooth with a spatula and then form peaks with either a spoon or spatula. I used a spatula because I found it stuck less to the rubber than it did to the metal. Put in the 350 degree oven until you have golden brown peaks. ENJOY!

Recipe from Baking Basics: Techniques for Perfect Baking

Filling

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup cornstarch

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup freshly squeezed and strained lemon juice

2 tablespoons lemon zest

2 tablespoons butter

Meringue

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/3 cup water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup sugar, divided

4 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Filling

1.Mix the sugar, water, salt, and cornstarch in saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat until mixture becomes thick and translucent.

2. Quickly whisk in egg yolks, then add lemon juice, zest and butter. Return to simmer and cook for 1 minutes.

3. Cover the surface of the filling with plastic wrap to keep hot and prevent a skin from forming.

4. Immediately prepare meringue.

Meringue

1. In small saucepan mix cornstarch with water, vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute, them remove from heat and cool.

2. Combine egg whites in bowl of electric stand mixer. Beat until foamy. 

3. In separate bowl, combine remaining sugar and cream of tartar; add in two batches to egg whites, beating until soft peaks form.

4. Add cornstarch mixture 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until stiff peaks form.

Put it Together

1. Pour hot pie filling over the crust.

2. Pour meringue immediately onto the hot pie filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until the peaks and swirls of meringue are golden brown. Let cool; serve.