Monday, November 24, 2008

Lemon Meringue Pie

I have these old ceramic pie plates from my grandmother that have nifty recipes on the bottom and there is nothing that brings out the baking dork in me like these pie plates.  I love making apple pie in the apple one and lemon meringue pie in the lemon one and so in the spirit of the holidays I bring you Lemon Meringue Pie.  Yes you can still make it if you don't have a pie plate with lemons on the bottom, but if you do I promise it will taste better.

For my pie crust I use the recipe from the Tartine cookbook.   It is pretty basic, flour (check), butter (you know it) and water.  Anyway bake up your favorite pie crust and let cool.



For the filing:

8 tblsp. cornstarch
3 cups sugar (add and extra cup if you like your pie extra sweet)
2 cups boiling water
1 tsp. salt
3/4 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. meyer lemon juice
grated rind from 4 lemons 2 each kind
4 tblsp butter
8 eggs seperated

In double boiler, combine cornstarch, 2 c sugar and boiling water.  Cook, stirring constantly, till mixture thickens.  Add salt, lemon juice & grated rind.  Continue cooking, and don't you dare stop with the stirring lumpy pie...yuck!  Once completely blended, beat egg yolks (in a separate bowl, make it a big one) until lemon colored.  Pour mixture over egg yolks, stirring constantly, then transfer back into the top of your double boiler and cook for 4 minutes.  Add butter and blend well.  Remove mixture and let cool, then pour into cooled pie shell.  




For the meringue preheat oven to 325.  Beat egg whites till very stiff, gradually adding 12 tblsp. sugar.  Beat until mixture forms stiff peaks.  Spread over lemon mixture and bake for 15 minutes or until you have a nice golden brown crust over the meringue.  Let pie completely cool before serving (the lemon will need to set up again, yeah go ahead and stick it in the fridge).

I made this pie in october for Canadian Thanksgiving (What so I live in California, I know a lot of Canadians and I like turkey) and it was a hit, so if you are thinking you would like to change it up this holiday season and bring a lemon pie instead, be bold and go for it!