Lemon tarts were a favourite and I have a grand aunt who is in her late seventies who made this for me whenever I visited her once a year. So when I read this month’s challenge I was all excited but pushed it to the very last week of the month.
This month’s challenge hosted by Jen was a Lemon Meringue Pie. The challenge requested for a lemon filling and a meringue topping. A mountainous topping, when cooked briefly browns the outside and is a delicious covering for most pies..loved by many but not by me.
A pie usually consists of a case with a deep filling and then covered by pastry, whipped cream, meringue and so on. A tart on the other hand has a shallow case and filling and the latter is rarely covered entirely.
The pastry shell of the crust dough was delicious and I flavoured it with a wee bit of sugar and lemon juice. The fluting though went haywire. The filling was spooned into the crust. The meringue was spread with a knife but my meringue did not have too high a peak probably because I didn’t beat enough..
All went well and came out from the oven looking good until I cut a slice while it was hot, because of a certain V and realized that there was a seepage of the filling..
Left it to cool overnight and the filling had set well but the meringue had shrunk..but it tasted great..stored the leftovers for a couple of days..the crust did not get soggy as was mentioned.…
I would make the pie again but would forego the meringue and use a lesser amount of lemon juice!! probably an orange pie! and definitely tartlets!!!
The recipe for the lemon meringue pie is as follows:
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie
For the Crust:
¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water
For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
½ cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup (60 mL) butter
¾ 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
½ tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
½ tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
¾ cup (180 mL) granulated sugar
For 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 ⅛ inch (.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 ½ 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.
For 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.
For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). 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, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.
A tip that I would want to share from my elderly aunt is that you can scatter either bread or cake crumbs on the crust to absorb the moisture from the filling because a filling with a high liquid content can lead to the crust being soggy. An alternative would be to brush the crust with egg whites before spooning in the filling.
If only I had told her earlier that I was making one!!
Do visit here and see the other DB's pies or tartlets
