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
How To Make The Pie Filling
To make the lemon pie filling:
- Whisk together the sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan.
- Add the milk, lemon juice, and lemon zest to the pan, stirring it all together over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil.
- Add the butter, continuing to whisk until the butter melts into the rest of the mixture. Measure out 1/2 cup of the mixture and set it aside.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, slowly whisk the half cup of reserved sugar mixture with the egg yolks. Add this to the saucepan and bring it to a boil, stirring constantly to thicken the mixture. After it has come to a boil, remove it from the heat and pour it into the pre-baked pie crust.
How To Make Lemon Meringue Pie
Over the years and especially the past few months, I learned that lemon meringue pie can be a daunting process but it doesnt have to be. Let me make this recipe easy for you by giving you a tested recipe, lots of helpful recipe notes, and a video so you can watch it come to life.
Now that you have a general idea of the process, lets learn why this lemon meringue pie recipe works and what mistakes to avoid.
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How To Prevent Weeping
One of the biggest issues people have with Meringue pies is weeping. That is when the egg whites shrink and some droplets of moisture appear on the surface of your pie. They wont hurt you but they dont look great. Here are a few great ways to make sure your pie turns out perfectly each time.
- Overbaking cook your pie low and slow and always check your pie at the minimum baking time
- Undissolved sugar Be sure that your sugar is completely dissolved by mixing egg whites and sugar on low speed until smooth. Rub a little bit of this between your fingers, and if it feels grainy at all, the sugar is not fully dissolved.
- Cooled filling Dont let your filling cool before topping it with meringue. When you pour on the meringue onto the pie filling, the filling should be hot. The heat from the filling will help seal the meringue onto the filling and make it less likely to weep.
- Unsealed edges Make sure that you push the meringue all the way out to the edge of the pie.
How To Make Meringue
To make the meringue, beat the egg whites with a hand mixer until they become foamy. Dont forget to use the egg whites from the eggs you used for the pie filling. Add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Stiff peaks are sharp peaks that can stand on their own even after the beater has been removed. Spread the meringue over the pie filling.
Bake the pie in the oven for about 20 minutes. The meringue will turn a golden brown. Chill for 4 hours before serving. Store covered in the refrigerator.
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Joanne Flukes Books In Order: Chronological Reading Order
Joanne Fluke, also known as Joanne Fischmann, is a renowned American author who makes a chocolate cake for her readers. Shes, however, best known for her notable work, The Hannah Swenson mystery series.
Joanne is the New York Times bestselling author of the Hannah Swensen mysteries, which started with Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder. Also, she was opportune to have five movies created based on her Hannah Swenson series for the Hallmark Channel. Aside from the series, Joanne has also written other captivating novels, some under different pseudonyms.
How To Make Lemon Meringue Pie Filling
- Makepie crust using this tutorial and bake pie crust before filling.
- Mix together sugar and cornstarch in a sauce pan and add in water, stir until mixed.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil for one minute.
- Add a little of the hot mixture into your 3 egg yolks.
- Pour that hot mixture into the pan with the rest of the hot mixture and stir. This prevents the hot mixture from cooking the eggs.
- Boil one minute longer, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat. Continue stirring until smooth.
- Add in butter, lemon juice and lemon rind.
- Pour mixture into pie crust.
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How To Make A Lemon Meringue Pie
Pies can be intimidating but I promise this one is much more simple than it seems. This recipe uses under 10 ingredients to create a tart, sweet and irresistibly flaky pie! With a few of my most useful tips and tricks youre guaranteed a show stopping result.
Check em out:
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.
Use the three-bowl method
Its very important that not a speck of egg yolk be present in the egg whites to create meringue. The yolks have fat and fats break down meringue. Separate the egg over one bowl, then place the yolk in another bowl. Transfer the successfully separated egg whites to the third bowl one at a time.
Dont overbeat your meringue
If you overbeat your meringue, you will not be able to make beautiful peaks and valleys with your spatula and it can deflate. Be sure to gradually add in the sugar as soon as your egg whites foam so it has time to dissolve without the risk of overbeating.
Books Arranged According To Release Date
Below are her books arranged according to their order of release.
Joanne has also published under several pseudonyms, including Jo Gibson, Chris Hunter, John Fischer, R.J. Fischer, Kathryn Kirkwood, and Gina Jackson.
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Joanne Fluke Books In Order
As earlier mentioned, Joanne Fischmann wrote other novels aside from the Hannah Swenson series. These novels, however, were under different pseudonyms.
She also wrote several wonderful and captivating books using the alias Jo Gibson. Also, she wrote a couple of wonderful horror novels, such as Slay Bells, which is my favorite.
How To Properly Cool And Store A Meringue Pie
After you bake the pie, its important that you let it cool properly. For at least an hour, you shouldnt think about cutting into the pie at all or else it will deflate. Place it on the cooling rack after taking it out of the oven. If you dont have a baking rack, you can also set the pie on a heat-resistant pot holder.
After you are done cooling the pie at room temperature, you will need to place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. For best results, I recommend refrigerating for 24 hours.
Once the pie has cooled down, you should cut it with a wet knife so that it doesnt stick to the curd and meringue. Make sure that you dont store the pie outside of the fridge for more than 2 hours at a time. You should return the remaining pieces to the fridge after serving it.
To store: Insert 3 toothpicks into the pie to support the plastic wrap. Push the toothpicks about halfway between the center and crust so that they stick out about 12 inch above the meringue. Position them in a triangle shape to ensure that all of the sides of the pie will be protected when you add the plastic wrap.
Drape a piece of plastic wrap over the toothpicks and pie . Fold the edges of the cling wrap around the outside of the pan or plate.
If one of the toothpicks tears or punctures the cling wrap, throw the piece away and get another one to use.
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The Woodstock Festival Opens In Bethel New York
On this day in 1969, the Woodstock Music Festival opens on a patch of farmland in White Lake, a hamlet in the upstate New York town of Bethel.
Promoters John Roberts, Joel Rosenman, Artie Kornfield, and Michael Lang originally envisioned the festival to raise funds to build a recording studio and rock-and-roll retreat near the town of Woodstock, New York. The longtime artists colony was already a home base for Bob Dylan and other musicians. Despite their relative inexperience, the young promoters managed to sign a roster of top acts, including the Jefferson Airplane, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Sly, and the Family Stone, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Creedence Clearwater Revival and many more. Plans for the festival were on the verge of foundering, however, after both Woodstock and the nearby town of Wallkill denied permission to hold the event. Dairy farmer Max Yasgur came to the rescue at the last minute, giving the promoters access to his 600 acres of land in Bethel, some 50 miles from Woodstock.
Early estimates of attendance increased from 50,000 to around 200,000, but by the time the gates opened on Friday, August 15, more than 400,000 people were clamoring to get in. Those without tickets simply walked through gaps in the fences, and the organizers were eventually forced to make the event free of charge. Folk singer and guitarist Richie Havens kicked off the event with a long set, and Joan Baez and Arlo Guthrie also performed on Friday night.
Chez Panisse Meyer Lemon Meringue Pie
This adaptation of Alice Waterss lemon meringue pie came to the Times in a 1987 article in the Sunday magazine. It takes a little time, but your efforts will be rewarded with a spectacular centerpiece dessert to be proud of: a cloud of toasted meringue atop a pool of buttery and bright lemon curd in a light and flaky crust. If you can’t find Meyer lemons, regular supermarket lemons will make a worthy substitute.
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Recipe: Lemon Meringue Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie
Karen Kaiser of Columbia, Md., was looking for a recipe for a lemon meringue pie similar to one she liked very much and lost. It came from a summertime issue of a popular womens magazine in the 1970s. The pie was made from scratch and was on the tart side.
Gloria Trainor of Knoxville, Tenn., sent in a pie recipe from the September 1972 issue of Family Circle magazine. She thought it might be the one that Kaiser was looking for.
The recipe suggests using a piecrust mix. If you are a purist, you can make the crust from scratch but, to save time, I opted to use the Pillsbury refrigerator crust, which I prefer to crust made from a mix. This pie has a smooth, fresh-lemon flavor with a cloudlike meringue topping and just the right balance of tart to sweet.
Lemon Meringue Pie
1/2 package piecrust mix or one 9-inch refrigerator piecrust
Filling:
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1. Prepare piecrust. Fit into an 8-inch pie plate and bake in a 450-degree oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown cool.
2. Combine 1 1/3 cups sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium-sized saucepan gradually stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to boil and is thickened. Boil 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Lemon Mint Meringue Pie
I got a postcard from New York. Well, a greeting card kindof postcard. Loren, a good friend, and Oscar, his adorable dog, sent it. Theyused to live here once. On the postcard theres a beautiful drawing of a classiclemon meringue pie. On the back, theres a recipe. I love postcards, but thisone spoke to my heart.
I really hoped that the recipe would be as wonderful as thepostcard, but alas, it was a little disappointing. I didnt give up and replacedthe recipe with one of my own. Now everything is wonderful.
I have to admit, I love this recipe. I used it a few times before with slight changes. I made the same pie with the addition of berries, halva and pistachio, berries once more and now mint.
The postcards recipe doesnt combine mint in the lemoncream, although the drawing is chock full of mint. So I added mint to the lemoncream and I transformed it into a fresh lemon mint cream.
However, the mint flavor wasnt as strong as I wanted it tobe after all. I guess Ill have to make it stronger next time, or maybe add themint to the cream some other way.
In the meantime, Im happy the postcard came to life andthat all the mint around the pies is justified. Thank Loren! Thanks Oscar! Illbe waiting for my next delicious postcard. In the meantime, Im sending you avirtual taste.
Pie Crust
5 pie forms, 11 cm diameter and 2 cm height A pastry bag fitted with a 16 mm smooth tipThermometer
The recipe makes 5 fresh lemony pies
Pie Crust
Lemon Mint Cream
Swiss meringue
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