Lemon Meringue Pie

Today’s pie in inspired by this month's Cook the Books Club pick

 

Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame by Olivia Ford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a super cute, very fast read. It leans heavily on the Great British Bake-Off for inspiration with its unlikely 77-year old contestant and a bit of a mystery that's slowly revealed throughout the book.

Overall the story was pretty predicable, but it was also adorable, so I didn't terribly mind.

View all my reviews

I really had to chuckle at this one.  The author only barely pretended they weren’t writing an episode of the British Bake Off scene for scene, but I love that show, so I enjoyed the book.

As with the show, the book had a ton of inspiration, but ultimately I decided to challenge myself with Lemon Meringue Pie.  I’ve never made one before, but I feel like I’ve mastered meringue and tempering eggs doesn't make me cry anymore, so it was time to give it a shot.

The pie is a lot of work, but I was trucking on through.  It looked beautiful, it baked up, I removed it from the oven and then my beautiful meringue looked like it was falling.  Frankly I was devastated.  Did I underwhip the egg whites?  Underbake?  What happened?  I was sad, I was googling, I was already planning to remake the pie.

Then I cut my first slice and, hello perfection.  While I do think I lost some height (maybe slightly underbeaten?), I did not have the hallmark weepiness of a failed meringue.

The pie was beautiful and oh so lemony!  A perfect summer pie!

Lemon Meringue Pie

Adapted slightly from Life Love & Sugar

Crust

½ tsp salt

1 cup all purpose flour

6 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut in small pieces

2-3 tbsp cold water

Lemon Curd Filling

5 egg yolks

1 ¼ cups water

1 ¼ cups sugar

⅓ cup cornstarch

¾ cup lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)

1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 1-2 lemons)

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, softened

Meringue Topping

5 egg whites, room temperature

¾ teaspoon cream of tartar

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Pinch salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Whisk together the flour and salt in a medium sized bowl.

Using a pastry cutter or two forks, cut the butter pieces into the flour until it forms pea sized crumbles.

Beginning with 2 tablespoons of water, sprinkle the water over the flour and butter mixture and lightly mix until it forms a ball.  Add additional water if necessary.

Lightly flour a surface and roll the dough into a 12-inch round.  Gently fold the dough in half twice (into quarters) and place into a deep 9-inch pie plate.  Flute the edges, if desired.  Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Poke the bottom with a fork several times to prevent air bubbles.   Line the crust with parchment, then add pie weights.  Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.  Then carefully remove the pie weights and parchment and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is just beginning to brown.  Place on a wire rack to cool.

Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

To make the filling, place the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk to mix.  Set aside.

Place the water, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, zest, and salt in a medium sauce pan over medium heat.  Whisk to mix.  Cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble.  Remove from heat.

Add 1 tablespoon of the hot lemon mixture to the egg yolks, while whisking constantly to avoid overheating and scrambling the eggs.  Keep adding the lemon mixture by tablespoons until about ⅓ cup of the mixture has been added and eggs are tempered.  

Next, pour the tempered egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining lemon mixture and whisk to combine.  Return to heat and cook for another 1-2 minutes or until thick bubbles form at the top.  Remove from heat and whisk in the butter.  Pour the hot mixture into the baked pie crust.

Immediately begin the meringue.  Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on medium until foamy, then turn to high until soft peaks form.

Add the sugar, cornstarch, and salt.  Beat on high until stiff peaks form. The mixture is stiff enough when the mixing bowl can be flipped upside down and the meringue stays put.

Spoon the mixture over the hot filling, taking care to ensure that the meringue goes all the way to the edges of the crust, sealing the filling in, on all sides.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Meringue will be browned and have reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.

Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour.  Move the pie to the refrigerator and chill for another 2-3 hours before serving.