Preparing The Pie Crust
How To Avoid A Weepy Watery Lemon Meringue Pie:
- Make sure to make the meringue immediately after making the filling and top the pie while the filling is still hot.
- Make sure to seal the edges of the meringue to the pie crust no gaps.
- Dont over bake the meringue.
- Make sure that, when youre mixing your egg whites, you mix on low while youre adding the sugar, which will ensure the sugar gets dissolved properly.
- Dont make meringue pies on high humidity days.
If you dont like this kind of meringue topping, you can use my instead. In that case, completely blind bake the pie crust, add the filling, let it cool, then top it with that frosting and torch the tops.
Lemon Meringue Pie isnt really that hard to make, there are just a lot of steps. With a little practice and patience , you can enjoy my Aunt Tootsies pie just like we do!
If You Make A Mistake Try Again
Do you want to know where I messed up? See tip #4. I accidentally beat my meringue until it actually stuck inside the balloon whisk on the stand mixer. It no longer created beautiful peaks, and it looked lumpy instead of smooth and glossy. If this happens to you, dont be afraid to dump it and start over with a clean bowl. Itll be better in the end to get it right.
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Why This Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe Is So Great:
- Made from scratch All 3 components of this pie are made from scratch, but with minimal ingredients and effort.
- Simple flaky pie crust The pie crust is only 4 ingredients. Its all made by hand and there is no chilling required. You just mix, roll, and bake!
- Easy lemony filling There is no tempering of the eggs with this recipe, which makes it a whole lot easier to prepare. You simply cook everything over the stovetop until thickened.
- Mile-high meringue topping The meringue is also only 4 ingredients and makes enough for a mile-high and impressive meringue pie. Then its baked in the oven until golden to ensure the egg whites are heated through for safety.
Why Does The Bottom Of My Pie Crust Not Cook
Maybe your filling was too liquidy. Maybe you were watching Oh Brother Where Art Thou? while baking. This is a tricky problem to fix, but hope is not lost. If its a fruit pie, try putting it back in the oven for a few minutes on the very bottom rack, thus putting the underbaked bottom closer to the heat source.
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Why Does Meringue Shrink
As egg whites are beaten, they stretch and trap air bubbles. The size and strength of the bubbles determine the durability of the meringue. Small, even bubbles are more lasting than big, uneven ones.
An acid, such as cream of tartar, makes egg-white bubbles stronger. Add it before beating the whites into a coarse foam. To further strengthen the protein in the whites and force the bubbles to break into firmer, tiny ones, gradually beat in the sugar. When the foamy mass is glossy and holds distinct peaks, the bubbles are still flexible enough to swell when heating air expands in them as the meringue bakes. If sugar is added before a coarse foam is established, the whites get too stretchy to make a stiff foam. If you add the sugar too fast, the granules wont dissolve and the bubbles will be uneven. If you overbeat the whites, the meringue loses its gloss and the bubbles are stretched to their maximum when heated, they pop and drain liquid. In underbeaten egg whites, the insufficiently developed bubbles break and drain.
However, even perfectly whipped meringues are relatively short-lived . Heat firms the pie meringue, and one that is baked longer at a lower temperature will hold up better than one baked briefly at a high temperature. As the meringue cools, the air in the bubbles contracts and causes slight shrinkage. Eventually, the bubbles sag, moisture drains from them, and the mixture gets gummy and chewy.
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How To Make Lemon Meringue Pie:
Start with the crust you can do it homemade or purchase a store bought, refrigerated or frozen pie crust. If you need to take a shortcut but want it to still appear homemade, opt for the refrigerated, rolled crust and you can roll it right into your own pan
Next is the filling: I like to keep mine as simple as possible, which means whisking everything together before cooking, rather than having to temper the eggs later. The only risk with doing this is a lumpy filling, but that is easily avoided if you whisk consistently during the cooking time.
If you like you can put it through a strainer to ensure its super smooth, but Ive never had any issues with it.
Finish with the meringue: Make sure that there is no drop of egg yolk or other grease in your egg whites this will prevent them from whipping.
Also be sure that you whip it until the sugar is completely dissolved, as undissolved sugar can lead to a weeping meringue.
After that, youre nearly done! Just toss it in the oven for a few minutes to toast it up.
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Putting The Pie Together
Finally, heat the Tiptree Lemon Curd filling until it is steamy. Scoop it into the pre-baked pie shell, making sure to spread it evenly. To top with meringue, work quickly and use a rubber spatula to spread the meringue mixture evenly around the edge of the pie. Make sure the mixture attaches to the crust with no gaps. The crust will help anchor the meringue and keep it from shrinking. Be sure to fill in the center with more meringue, then use the back of a spoon to create peaks all over the meringue.
About Tiptree
All Tiptree products are made without artificial preservatives or GMOs. Tiptree has been creating scrumptious jams and preserves for over 100 years in small-batch copper kettles, so you can rest assured you are receiving the highest quality possible. Questions about the Chicken Almondine with Tiptree Apricot Preserves? Get in touch with us today!
How To Make Lemon Meringue Pie Crust:
Though you can make this pie with graham cracker crust, I personally love my lemon meringue pie with buttery flaky pie crust.
- First, we need to blind bake the pie crust. Thiss super important step to prevent a soggy, undercooked pie crust.
Heres my detailed homemade all-butter pie crust recipe. And you can prepare the pie crust and blind-bake it in advance.
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How To Make Lemon Meringue Pie Filling:
Now, the lemon curd filling is the star of the show here. You want your filling just sweet enough to balance out the tartness, soft yet firm enough to hold its shape when sliced, and silky smooth!
And to achieve that perfect consistency, were using a combination of cornstarch and flour. The reason for flour is that in case, cornstarch weakens and doesnt work, flour is there for a backup, if you will.
What is tempering egg yolks?
Egg yolk makes this filling luxuriously thick and creamy. In order to avoid scrambling the yolks when adding it to the boiling sugar/lemon juice mixture, we need to temper it first.
- While it may sound complicated, tempering simply means adding a small amount of hot liquid into the yolks while continuously whisking it.
Why Is My Pie Watery
When water accumulates between the lemon curd filling and the meringue topping, this is called weeping. To prevent this from happening, make sure to add the meringue when the filling is hotthis will cook the meringue from the bottom and ward off a watery pie. Spreading the topping all the way to the edges of the pie crust will also help.
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Add Cornstarch To Your Meringue
While the mild acid in the cream of tartar helps stabilize the meringue, adding a little bit of cornstarch to the meringue helps it firm up and retain its shape because it absorbs extra moisture. This also suppresses weeping. As Pat says, it helps prevent the beading of moisture on top of the meringue after it is cooled.
How To Keep Lemon Pie From Turning Watery
Lemon pie seems like a straightforward, simple dessert, but ignoring the small details can derail your success — resulting in a soggy, watery mess. Making lemon pie involves three steps — blind baking the crust, making the lemon filling and adding the meringue topping. Complete each step separately and carefully for a lemon pie that’s sweet and smooth, never watery.
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Full Blind Bake / Partial Blind Bake
If your pie recipe calls for a baked pie shell, you want to fully bake it. And I teach you how in this blog post. But some recipes require a partially baked pie crust and those recipes will typically include pre-baking or partially baking the crust in the instructions. I teach you how to do that too. Whether youre fully blind baking or partially blind baking pie crust, the process is exactly the same its the bake time that differs.
Ingredients For Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie
Here are some of the main ingredients youll need for this lemon pie!
- Lemons: fresh lemon juice is the best for making the lemon curd!
- Eggs & Egg Yolks: for making the creamy lemon curd.
- Butter:cold, unsalted butter for the pie crust.
- Egg Whites:I recommend having the egg whites at room temperature for making the meringue.
- Sugar: you can use regular or superfine sugar for the meringue. Youll need regular sugar for the lemon curd.
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Chocolate Swirled Meringue Cookies
These chocolate swirled meringue cookies are made from just 5 ingredients. Delightfully crisp on the outside with a melt-in-your-mouth texture inside, these naturally gluten free chocolate meringues are simply irresistible. Follow the recipe closely because these require precision. Use my video tutorial, step-by-step photos, and success tips as your guide.
Welcome to day 10 in Sallys Cookie Palooza! On the last day of my Christmas cookie countdown, I present you with chocolate swirled meringue cookies. These piped swirls take us right back to day 1 when I published my beloved butter cookies.
Weve truly gone full circle this year.
How To Make A Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie
Heres how to put together this delicious lemon pie!
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Let Your Curd Get Really Thick
As your curd cooks, it will thicken. Since the transformation from liquid to goop happens so quickly, its tempting to take the curd off the stove too soon. Let it thicken to the point where it is a smooth paste. When you add the lemon juice, it will loosen the curd, so you want it to be thick going in.
How To Make Lemon Meringue Pie Topping
The meringue toasts in the oven. A lot of recipes call for putting the whole pie under the broiler, but I prefer to bake it so that the egg whites have a chance to cook through. Also, see the end of step 6 in the recipe below. Make sure you spread the meringue topping on while the filling is still warm. The warm filling helps seal the two layers together, preventing separation.
- Did you know? Room temperature egg whites whip faster than cold egg whites. And room temperature egg whites whip into a greater volume than cold egg whites. So make sure your egg whites are at room temperature before starting the meringue.
- Time saving tip: You need 5 egg yolks for the lemon filling and 5 egg whites for the meringue topping. Separate the 5 eggs while they are cold. Leave the egg whites out on the counter. Blind bake the pie crust and prepare the lemon filling. By the time youre ready to start the meringue, the egg whites will be room temperature.
Meringue can be tricky, but youre a baker and you can absolutely handle this.
Want to watch me make the lemon meringue pie filling, topping, and assemble the pie? Here you go!
- Cook Time:1 hour, 10 minutes
- Total Time:7 hours, 10 minutes
- Yield:one 9-inch pie 1x
- Category:Pie
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