Lemon Meringue Pie for the Daring Bakers
This is a recipe that benefits especially from being made in the smallest pans for which you have the patience. The filling is quite sweet, and still plenty puckery, so a high crust ratio is just the bee’s knees. I made two thirds of the recipe for the filling and still had lemon filling and meringue left over. I piped the leftover meringue into kisses and baked them in a very slow oven overnight to serve alongside glasses of lemon parfait. Here is the recipe. My comments are in square brackets.
Lemon Meringue Pie
[I made two 5-inch pies and seven tiny tartlettes]
Recipe from: Wanda’s Pie in the Sky by Wanda Beaver.
For the Crust:
3/4 cup (170 gram) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt
1/3 cup (80 mL) ice water
For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup (50 gram) butter
3/4 cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
3/4 cup (180 mL) granulated sugar
To Make the Crust:
Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.
Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of 1/8 inch (0.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about 1/2 inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling [I just prebaked the crusts without any lining. The smaller your tarts, the more you can get away with].
To Make the Filling:
Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated. Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.
To Make the Meringue:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC) [a little higher I think—I baked these at 400]. Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes [in the top third of the oven], or until golden [ideally, you should have a contrast of dark tips and white valleys]. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust [you can even have them while they are still warm. Yummy!].
27 Comments:
ooo these look delightful!
They look wonderfull appetizing!
miriam and ostwestwind,
thanks! I am so glad I made these!
Yes, they look pretty! Good job :)
those really look lovely!!
They are gorgeous! Great job!
Your littlepies look delicious. I learnt one thing toady, that is that small is beautiful and more manageable and easier to eat.
The meringue looks really beautiful.
maryann, carrie, beth g., aparna, and colette,
many thanks, I think I am going to make these again very soon, maybe with kaffir lime juice. Also, I will halve the filling and meringue, and make a sour cream crust (recipe to follow).
These look so wonderful!
I love your meringue! Very true about the crust to filling ration: it really depends on the pie.
Fabulous tartlets! love the meringue peaks!
Lovely looking pies...love the kisses! Yes, they were plenty puckery, a great challenge & not quite my dream finale! Enjoyed the challenge, even though my pie was wobbly & watery...but IO had a great time! Your pies are ever so sweet!!
Oh my goodness, your tarts look soooo good! They look too good to eat!
Can I adopt those little darlings? Of course, I'll eat them, because how could I resist? Your meringue is so pretty.
deborah and rachel,
thanks so much!
chou,
thanks, yes, this works very well when you increase the crust ratio.
passionate baker,
sorry your filling went wobbly--I hope you'll try again.
mother bliss,
NOTHING is "too good to eat"!!! :)
sher,
give them a good and loving home!
Great job... you've got some beautiful bite sized tarts. I'm glad you enjoyed experimenting with a new recipe.
Your tarts looks so darling. The piping looks so perfect. Now I'm going to try and make some this weekend. They are too cute to not try.
Oh they are just perfect!
I'm french and I was very surprised with the lemon cream recipe. If you wanna make a lemon curd, you should use butter but if you wanna make a lemon cream, you make a creme patissiere using egg yolks and cornstarch and you substitute the milk with lemon juice.
Your lemon tarts look amazingly beautiful! Great job!
Cheers,
Rosa
sandra,
very interesting, thanks.
rosa,
you are so kind!
Those tarts are simply dazzling! I love the look of them - beautiful :)
Very, very pretty -- I love the little peaks!
Looks gorgeous! The French are all over shortbread crusts with lemon curds, I could not get enough growing up. The tall peaks of meringue always symbolized America for me! The minis are just darling!
Those are just crazy cute. Good work!
Glad you got to try something new...great job!
Oh, my! That curd looks glorious!
Post a Comment
<< Home