Lemon meringue pie requires coordination in the kitchen. Assemble ingredients while hot, pre-bake crust, add hot filling, quickly mix meringue, and spread over filling. Use fresh citrus fruit and lay out ingredients beforehand. Stabilize meringue with cornstarch paste. Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes.
Lemon meringue pie is a popular dessert, especially in the summer when the rich custard filling and fresh meringue sauce can be eaten cold after a light meal or tea. Making a good lemon meringue pie is actually a bit tricky and requires some coordination in the kitchen. Don’t be disappointed if your first effort isn’t perfect, but try to keep track of the steps you’ve taken to make sure the mistake doesn’t happen again.
Before you dive into a lemon meringue pie recipe, a few pointers may help. The first is that you want to assemble all the cake ingredients while they are hot. Pre-bake your crust, which will help keep it from getting soggy, and place the filling in the hot crust while the filling is still hot. Quickly mix the meringue and spread it over the pie filling as soon as possible. This will ensure that the bottom of the meringue is cooked through from the heat of the filling so that the meringue is cooked all the way through when the top is golden brown and remove the lemon meringue pie from the oven. Allow the lemon meringue pie to cool completely on a wire rack, then refrigerate it, as the pie will not be stable at room temperature.
This recipe works for any type of citrus fruit. If you want to try your hand at making an unusual cake, you can experiment with lime, orange, tangerine and other citrus fruits. You should always take the time to freshly squeeze and grate the zest. The fresh flavor will have a big impact on your finished cake.
You may find it helpful to lay out all the necessary ingredients and measuring tools before starting your lemon meringue pie. Once you get going, speed is of the essence.
The basis of the pie is, of course, the crust. Many types of crusts are suitable for lemon meringue pie. Choose a favorite puff pastry crust and remember to make half a recipe, as lemon meringue pie is topped with meringue, not crust. You can also make a full recipe and freeze the extra half to use another time. While you’re making the crust, preheat the oven so you can pre-bake the crust while you work on the meringue and filling. Once the crust is rolled out, pressed into a pan, and in the oven to bake, you can make the custard filling.
Before starting the filling, heat one tablespoon of the cornstarch, one tablespoon of the sugar, and 1/3 cup water in a skillet over medium heat. Stir the mixture until it freezes into a clear paste, then place it in a small bowl and cover tightly. This mixture will be added to the meringue as a stabilizer and will prevent it from weeping and collapsing, two common problems with lemon meringue pie.
To make the filling, combine 1 1/4 cups sugar, 1/3 cup cornstarch, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon lemon zest lemon, four egg yolks and 2-3 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Cook this mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula. Stir slowly, but be sure to go all the way around the pan with the spatula. The mixture will thicken and you should immediately pour it into the hot pre-baked pie crust and start on the meringue.
To prepare the meringue, use totally fat-free bowls and tools. Beat four egg whites until they begin to foam before adding ½ teaspoon vanilla and ¼ teaspoon cream of turtle. Slowly whisk in 1/2 cup superfine sugar and beat the mixture until the egg whites have formed stiff, glossy peaks. Next, add the cornstarch paste one tablespoon at a time, beating it all the way through after each addition and after the last tablespoon, beat for another 10 seconds. Immediately spread the meringue over the hot cream, starting at the edges of the cake so the meringue is anchored to the cake at all points and doesn’t shrink. Bake in a 325° Fahrenheit (163° Celsius) oven for about 20 minutes, until the meringue begins to turn golden, and remove promptly.
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