Mile High Lemon Meringue Pie Recipes

MILE-HIGH LEMON PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a thickness of 1/8 inch, and use to line a 9-inch pie tin. Crimp the edges decoratively. Chill until firm. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and cream to make a glaze. Prick the bottom of the shell with a fork, brush the top edges with the glaze, and line with parchment paper. Weight the shell with pie weights or dried beans, and bake until the edges begin to brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove paper and weights; continue baking until golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes more. Let cool.
• To make filling, combine cornstarch, cake flour, salt, and sugar in a medium nonreactive saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add 2 cups cold water. Bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly, about 4 minutes.
• Remove the pan from heat. Temper egg yolks by beating a small amount of hot mixture into the yolks before adding them to pan. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
• Remove the pan from heat, and whisk in the lemon juice and rind. Add the butter one piece at a time. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, and let cool.
• Pour the filling into the cooled shell and refrigerate, covered with aluminum foil, until firm, about 1 hour.
• To make the meringue, combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in a heat-proof bowl. Set over a pan of simmering water; beat until warm and sugar is dissolved. Remove bowl from heat; whip into stiff peaks.
• Spread the meringue over pie so that it touches crust all around. Broil until brown, about 2 minutes, watching constantly. Serve at room temperature.

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• For the crust and lemon curd filling: Bake the crust according to the package instructions. Let cool.
• Add 1/4 cup water to a bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let the gelatin bloom while you prepare the filling.
• In a pot, bring the lemon zest and juice and half of the sugar to a boil. In a separate bowl, vigorously whisk the eggs with the remaining sugar until completely incorporated.
• Bring the pot off the heat and let cool slightly. Slowly add the egg and sugar mixture to the pot, whisking continually. Using a candy thermometer, heat the mixture to 185 degrees F, whisking vigorously. Add the bloomed gelatin and butter. Mix thoroughly using an immersion blender. Strain, then pour into the pie shell. Refrigerate until completely set, about 1 hour.
• For the meringue: Mix the sugar and 1/2 cup water in a pot and heat to 248 degrees F.
• In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Whisk on medium speed until soft peaks form. Switch the speed to high, slowly add the sugar and water mixture in a thin steam and whisk until fully incorporated and stiff peaks form.
• Spread the meringue generously on the pie and style using a palette knife (offset spatula) as desired. With a kitchen blowtorch, gently go over the meringue until a toasted color is achieved. Or place under the boiler until browned, 2 to 3 minutes.

MILE-HIGH MERINGUE PIE RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• Pie crust: Whisk together the flour and salt. Add the shortening, working it in until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Add the butter to the flour mixture, and work it in roughly with your fingers, a pastry cutter, or a mixer. Don't be too thorough; the mixture should be very uneven, with big chunks of butter in among the smaller ones. Add 2 tablespoons of water, and toss to combine. Toss with enough additional water to make a chunky mixture. It should barely hold together when you squeeze a handful, though the remainder may look quite dry. Scoop the mixture out onto a piece of parchment or waxed paper, and flatten it out a bit. Take a spray bottle of water, and spritz the dry parts with the water. Using the parchment or waxed paper, fold the dough over on itself - first from one side, then from the other. You'll find that the dry crumbs are becoming incorporated with the cohesive dough. If there are still dry areas, spritz them with additional water, and fold the dough in on itself again. Keep folding and gathering until just a few dry crumbs remain unincorporated; this should only take a few folds. For a visual demonstration of this technique, see Pie, Any Way You Slice It. IMPORTANT NOTE: Instead of doing the spray bottle thing (too much hassle, as I've tried it before) I used my food processor by adding the shortening and pulsing until crumbly. I then added the butter (cut into small chunks) and the ice water and pulse a few times until the dough was "shaggy". I dumped the dough onto plastic wrap and molded into a round disk and refrigerated for at least 30 minutes. When you're "ready to roll," remove the dough from the fridge. If the dough has been refrigerated longer than 30 minutes, let it rest at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling, to allow the butter to soften up a bit. Roll the dough to the size needed (about 12" for a 9" pie). Place it in a pie pan, and refrigerate it while you prepare your filling. Fill and bake as directed in your recipe. Blind bake the pie crust: To bake an unfilled pie crust, preheat the oven to 400°F. Line the chilled crust with foil or parchment paper, and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the crust for 20 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and gently remove foil or parchment with the weights or beans. Return the crust to the oven for 10 to 20 more minutes, until it's golden brown all over. If the edges of the crust start becoming too brown, cover them with a pie shield, or strips of aluminum foil. Remove the crust from the oven and cool completely before adding the filling. To make the filling: Mix the sugar, Instant ClearJel (or cornstarch), and salt together in a saucepan. Add the eggs and whisk well, then whisk in the juice. Heat the mixture over medium heat until it's very hot; it may come to a boil, or it may just "seethe" a bit, like it's trying to boil and not quite making it. Let it boil or seethe for 30 seconds. Stir in the butter, stirring until it melts, then pour the mixture into the baked pie shell. Rub a piece of butter over the surface to prevent a skin from forming (I didn't find this necessary. I gently pressed plastic wrap over the filling). Cover with plastic wrap, and chill for several hours before topping with the meringue. To make the meringue: Preheat your oven to 375°F with the oven rack in the lowest position. Whisk the meringue powder and water together, then beat until foamy. Add the salt, sugar and vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until the meringue is thick and shiny. Beat in the marshmallow. To finish the pie: Remove the pie from the refrigerator. Top it with the meringue, using a spatula to form peaks. Bake the pie for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the meringue has browned. Remove it from the oven, cool it, and refrigerate until serving. Store the pie, loosely covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days.

MILE-HIGH LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• If using a hand-held mixer, you will need a very deep bowl, and should move the beaters vigorously when beating the egg whites for the meringue, to avoid underbeating the egg whites. This pie is best on the day it's made.
• FOR THE FILLING: Whisk sugar, lemon juice, water, cornstarch, and salt together in a large nonreactive saucepan until cornstarch is dissolved. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Whisk in yolks until comined. Stir in zest and butter. Bring to simmer and stir constantly until mixture is thick enough to coat back of spoon, about 2 minutes. Strain through fine-mesh strainer into pie shell and scrape filling off underside of strainer. Place wrap directly on surface of filling and refrigerate until set and well chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• FOR THE MERINGUE: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400°F Combine water and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to vigorous boil over medium-high heat. Once syrup comes to rolling boil, cook 4 minutes (mixture will become slightly thickened and syrupy). Remove from heat and set aside while beating whites.
• With electric mixer, beat in large bowl, at medium-low speed until frothy, about 1 minutes. Add salt and cream of tartar, and beat , gradually increasing sped to medium-high, until whites hold soft peaks, about 2 minutes. With mixer runnin, slowly pour hot syrup into whites (avoid pouring syrup onto whisk or it will splash). Add vanilla and beat until meringue has cooled and becomes very thick.
• Using rubber spatula, mound meringue over filling, making sure meringue touches edges of crust. Use spatula to create peaks all over meringue. Bake until peaks turn golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer to wire rack, and cool to room temerature.

MILE-HIGH LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the shortening and pulse a few times until combined. Add the butter and pulse just until coarse crumbs form. Add the vinegar and 3 tablespoons ice water; pulse until the dough comes together but is slightly crumbly. Pinch the dough - if it's too crumbly, pulse in more ice water 1 teaspoon at a time. Turn out the dough onto a large sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap the dough, then flatten into a disk. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 13-inch round. Ease into a 9-inch pie plate. Fold the overhanging dough under itself, then crimp the edges. Refrigerate the crust until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork, line with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Place the crust on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown around the edges, about 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and continue baking until the crust is a deep golden brown on the bottom, 20 to 30 more minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool while preparing the filling but leave the oven on.
• Make the filling: Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl until smooth; set aside. Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan to combine. Whisk in the water and lemon juice and turn the heat to medium. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, whisking, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Slowly whisk about one-quarter of the sugar mixture into the egg yolks. Whisk in another one-quarter of the sugar mixture until smooth, then pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Continue cooking, whisking constantly to keep the egg yolks from scrambling, about 1 more minute. Stir in the butter and lemon zest until the butter melts; remove from the heat.
• Immediately make the meringue while the filling is still hot: Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes. Very slowly beat in the sugar; continue beating until firm glossy peaks form, about 4 minutes more (do not overbeat). Give the lemon filling a quick stir, then pour into the crust. Immediately spread the meringue on top of the hot filling, spreading it all the way to the crust; use the back of a spoon to make swoops and peaks. Bake until the meringue is golden brown in spots, 5 to 7 minutes; do not overbake to avoid weeping.
• Remove the pie to a rack and let cool 1 hour, then refrigerate until completely cooled before slicing, about 4 hours.

MILE HIGH LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• Unfold the pie crust and place in a 9-inch pie plate, pressing the crust firmly into the plate, then flute if desired. Bake the pie shell according to the package directions; let cool.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar, the cornstarch, and salt; mix well. Gradually whisk in the water and milk, stirring until the cornstarch is dissolved. Cook over medium heat, whisking until the mixture comes to a boil.
• In a medium bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks. Gradually whisk in about 1/2 cup of the milk mixture, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the saucepan. Simmer over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes,whisking occasionally.
• Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter and lemon juice. Pour the filling into the pie shell; set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350. In a medium bowl, with an electric beater, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, making meringue.
• Spread the meringue over the pie filling, sealing to the edges of the crust. Using a spatula or the back of a tablespoon, form peaks in the meringue, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the meringue is golden. Let cool, then slice and serve.