I grew in with the ever cool and creamy "Lemon Icebox Pie". Ya know, graham cracker crust, very pale, yellow, creamy, and almost fluffy center, 'nilla wafers on the sides. The only time I saw a lemon meringue pie was in the cases at 24 hour diners and they looked pretty sad. The meringue was usually weeping with beading and the filling spilling out into the pan after the first piece was removed. Nothing was really appealing about it to me. I vaguely remember attempting to try it once at a church picnic where the entire meringue on the slice slid right off onto my plate before I could get to my seat. I wrote off this pie as not worth my time. Lemon Ice-box would keep my lemon craving taste buds in check if ever needed.
Of course though, as fate would have it, a customer was craving a little bit of the sweet summertime in the middle of December and requested this pie. I wondered for a moment if they were sure they didn't mean Lemon Ice-Box pie. Surely they knew that pie was far superior in texture, taste and presentation!
I accepted the culinary challenge though and was determined to conquer this hot mess they call a pie.
Alton Brown to the rescue! I had recently watched his episode of "Good Eats" where he deconstructs lemon meringue pie and the common pitfalls such as the meringue separating from the filling, a soggy crust, a curd that won't set, and a weeping meringue. Surely with food science know-how on my side I could conquer these things. Day before the order I notice the reviews on his recipe had lots of people failing still to get their curd to set. "Lemon meringue soup" is what they ended up with. With another few hours research and comparing a few recipes I managed to tweak it just a bit to practically no-fail. Just requires longer cooking times for the curd and specific cooling instructions for it to properly set.
Recipe adapted from Alton Brown's Lemon Meringue Pie
Ingredients
Lemon Filling:
- 4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (fresh squeezed)
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
- 1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell
- 1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows
Directions
Blind bake pie shell by docking (poking holes in bottom with fork for steam to escape) covering with foil and filling with beans, rice, pie weights for 10 mins. Take out, remove foil and weights and bake uncovered another 10 mins until golden brown.
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture. (tempering the egg mixture)
Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook for another 5 minutes. Stir in butter and lemon juice and whisk together. With rubber spatula, stirring constantly, cook yet another 3 minutes while starting the meringue. Curd will be about the consistency of pudding before it sets in the fridge. Thick, but not set completely. Pour mixture into pie shell immediately and top with meringue while filling is still hot. If you add meringue to cool pie, it will not stick to the filling and will slide off after cooling. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 7-10 minutes depending on over until just browned lightly at peaks. Remove from oven and cool at room temp preferably on wire rack for minimum 1 hour (I did 3) Then refrigerate for another 2 hours to make sure curd set. If you try to slice while pie is still even slightly warm filling will ooze and be a bit loose.
Meringue Topping:
- 4 egg whites
- 1 pinch cream of tartar
- 8 tsp sugar
(I had 2 extra white in the fridge from a custard and made a bit more meringue for an extra high topping so I used 6 whites and 3 tbs sugar)
Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Spread onto pie while lemon curd is still hot.
Yield: topping for 1 (9-inch) pie
I must say, the curd had the most amazing smooth, buttery, and lightly tart taste. I baked it, said a prayer and crossed my fingers. It certainly looked pretty after the meringue browned but I could tell it was still quite "Jiggly" so I set it on the counter and just walked away. 2 hours later it was nice and set. I call it a success. If any of you had ever attempted this and had sliding meringues, soggy crusts, or runny curds, these tips are sure to help.
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