Foolproof Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe 455

FOOLPROOF LEMON MERINGUE PIE RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• 1. In a 2- to 3-quart pan, mix 1 1/4 cups sugar with 6 tablespoons cornstarch and salt. Whisk in 1/2 cup cold water, lemon peel, and lemon juice, blending thoroughly. Whisk in the egg yolks. Add the butter and whisk in 1 1/2 cups boiling water. 2. Set pan over medium-high heat and stir with a flexible spatula until mixture boils, about 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and stir filling 1 minute more. 3. Pour filling into pie crust. 4. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup sugar with the remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch. 5. In a deep bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with a mixer on high speed (use whisk attachment if available) until very foamy and no liquid whites remain in bottom of bowl. Continue to beat at high speed and gradually add the sugar-starch mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time. Then beat until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks. 6. Spoon meringue onto hot pie filling. With a spatula, swirl meringue to cover filling completely, touching the rim of the pie shell. 7. Bake in a 325° oven until meringue is browned, about 25 minutes. Set pie on rack until cool, about 3 hours. Serve, or invert a large bowl over pie (take care not to touch meringue) and chill up to 1 day.

PERFECT LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
• PIE CRUST:.
• Mix flour, vegetable shortening, and salt together in a bowl using a wired pastry cutter. The dough should form into small clumps that don't feel greasy.
• Using a tablespoon, put the ice cold water in one tablespoon at a time, mixing as you go. I usually start with about four - six tablespoons and work my way up from there. The dough will eventually form into a ball. The dough should not feel wet on the outside, just slightly moist and if you break it in 1/2, it should not feel soggy on the inside. If you put in a little too much water, you can always add a bit more flour.
• If you like, you can wrap the dough and place it in the refrigerator for awhile at this stage. Using the ice water, though, removes the need to refrigerate if you don't want to.
• When you're ready to roll, dust your work surface (I use taped-down wax paper for this), your hands, your rolling pin, and your dough with flour. Roll out the dough on your work surface starting in the middle and working outward. Try to keep it in circle form, but it isn't a huge deal. Roll it until it is about 1/4" thick all over.
• Lift up the dough and place it in your pie dish.
• Poke the dough at the bottom of the pie dish with a fork all over. Take the teaspoon or so of sugar and sprinkle it all along the bottom, covering the fork holes. This prevents the bottom of the crust from getting soggy your filling to leaking.
• Around the top rim of your pie dish, pinch the dough so that it forms a small peak all around the rim. I do this by placing my index finger of my left hand on the top of the rim and the thumb from my left hand on the bottom. I then do the same with my right hand about one inch to the right. I slide my right hand (still gripping the dough) toward my left hand, allowing the dough on top of the rim to peak.
• Once this is done, dip two fingers in water, place around one of the peaks and pull your fingers back and down onto the rim of the pie dish to seal the "valleys" of your dough to the pie dish. This prevents them from coming up when baking.
• For the lemon meringue pie, you need to pre-bake your pie crust a bit. The fork wholes at the bottom should prevent it from bubbling up. If you want, you can line the crust with parchment paper and put in some dry beans while baking it to help keep the shape.
• Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until it starts turning brown. You'll be baking it for about another 10 minutes later, so you don't want it to get too brown.
• Allow the pie crust to cool while making the filling and meringue.
• Reduce the oven to 375 degrees.
• LEMON FILLING:.
• Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a medium (3 quart) saucepan.
• Blend water and egg yolks together.
• Turn heat on medium and gradually add water and egg yolks to the mixture.
• Continue to heat on medium, allowing the mixture to simmer, stirring constantly until thickened.
• Remove from heat, gently stir in juice and zest and then stir in butter until it melts.
• Put aside while preparing meringue, but don't allow mixture to cool.
• MERINGUE:.
• In a small saucepan, mix cornstarch, water, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally until thickened and clear. Remove from heat.
• In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy.
• Beat in vanilla extract.
• Beat in 1/2 cup of sugar, a little at a time.
• Finally beat in cornstarch mixture a little at a time and continue beating until all the sugar has dissolved and the meringue forms a soft peak.
• ASSEMBLING THE PIE:.
• Pour the warm lemon filling into the pie crust and smooth it until it is even.
• Top the pie with meringue, pushing the edges of the pie crust - ensuring that it makes a good seal with the crust. I like to use the back of a spoon to form little peaks in the meringue.
• Heat at 375 for 10-15 minutes until meringue turns a soft golden brown.
• Allow to cool completely before serving.

THE BEST LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• For the pie crust: Pulse the flour, shortening, sugar, salt and vinegar in a food processor until the mixture looks like damp sand, about 10 pulses. Add the butter and pulse until you can still see large pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle in 3 tablespoons ice water and pulse until the dough begins to come together. Pinch the dough; if it doesn't hold together, add up to 3 more tablespoons ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough holds together when pinched. Lay out a sheet of plastic wrap and dump the dough onto the plastic. Using the edges of the plastic, press the dough into a disc. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and preferably overnight. (Freeze up to 2 months.)
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 13-inch round. Place in a 9-inch pie dish, gently pressing the dough into the edges and letting the excess dough drape over the sides. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Trim any excess dough with a paring knife and crimp the edges decoratively or press them down with the tines of a fork. Prick the dough on the bottom all over with a fork. Place a sheet of parchment paper inside the dough and fill with pie weights or uncooked rice or beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment and weights and bake until the crust is deep golden brown on the edges and lightly golden in the center, 10 to 12 minutes more. Let the crust cool to room temperature.
• For the filling: Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Add the lemon juice and 1 1/2 cups water and whisk to combine. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate medium bowl. Place the sugar mixture over medium heat and cook, continuing to gently whisk, until the mixture begins to bubble and is extremely thick. Temper the eggs yolks by slowly adding half of the hot sugar mixture to the yolks while constantly whisking. Add the tempered yolks to the saucepan and return to the heat. Bring the mixture back to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and lemon zest until completely melted and incorporated. Pour the filling directly into the pie crust and cover with plastic wrap pressed directly against the surface of the filling (see Cook's Note). Refrigerate while you make the meringue.
• For the meringue: Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment along with the sugar, cream of tartar and salt. Whisk together to combine. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Cook, whisking constantly, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture feels hot to the touch. Transfer the bowl to the mixer and add the vanilla. Whisk on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Remove the plastic wrap from the pie and gently mound the meringue on top of the filling. Use an offset spatula to make sure the meringue completely covers the filling and meets the crust all around the edges. (This will seal in the filling and help prevent weeping.) Use the offset spatula to create swirls and peaks in the meringue. Toast the meringue using a kitchen torch or broil in the oven until golden brown, keeping an eye on the meringue if broiling, 1 to 2 minutes. Refrigerate the pie until the filling is completely cool and set, about 4 hours.

WORLD'S BEST LEMON PIE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt. Gradually stir in water. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat. Gradually stir 1 cup of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to saucepan. Bring to boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter, lemon juice and zest until smooth. Pour into pastry shell. In a bowl, beat egg whites and salt until stiff but not dry peaks are formed. Gradually beat in sugar until soft peaks form. Spread over pie, sealing edges to pastry. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until meringue is golden. Cool. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

PERFECT LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• For crust, blend crumbs, butter and sugar in a bowl.
• Spoon into 9" piepan and press firmly against the bottom and sides (but not over rim).
• Bake 8- 10 minutes.
• Cool before filling.
• For pie filling, mix cornstarch, sugar and salt in heavy saucepan, slowly blend in water, and heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth.
• Blend a little hot mixture into egg yolks, return to pan and cook and stir over lowest heat 2- 3 minutes; do not boil.
• Off heat, stir in 1/2 cup lemon juice and the 2 Tbsp butter.
• Spoon filling into pie shell.
• To create meringue use glass mixing bowl for best results, although metal works fine too.
• DO NOT use plastic.
• Beat egg whites until frothy using electric hand mixer, add cream of tartar and salt, continue beating, adding sugar 1 Tbsp at a time.
• When all sugar is incorporated, add vanilla and beat hard (highest mixer speed) until glossy and peaks stand straight up when beaters are withdrawn.
• Spoon about half the meringue around the edge of warm filling, pile remainder in the middle, twirling spoon around to create peaks.
• Bake pie for 12- 15 minutes until touched with brown.
• Cool pie at least two hours before serving.

GRANDMA'S LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
• To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

FOOLPROOF MERINGUE

Steps:

• In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, combine egg whites, vanilla and lemon extract. Beat until foamy. Gradually add white sugar, continuing to beat until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, covering completely.
• To bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C.) Bake pie in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.