What’s not to love about this time-honored dessert? It’s one of my all-time favorites. I’ve amped up this traditional recipe with a bit of extra lemon juice, a ton of fluffy meringue, and a lightly sweetened crust. The only down-side is the long cooling time required between preparation and om nom noms, but it’s definitely worth the wait.
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 tsp. Salt
- 1/3 cup Shortening
- 2 tbsp. White Sugar
- 3-4 tbsp. Ice Cold Water
Filling
- 3 Egg Yolks
- 1-1/2 cups White Sugar
- 1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp. Corn Starch
- 1-1/2 cups Water
- 3 tbsp. Butter or Margarine
- 3/4 cup Lemon Juice
Meringue
- 5 Egg Whites
- 1/2 tsp. Cream of Tartar
- 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
- 9 tbsp. White Sugar
Directions
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, blend together flour, salt, sugar, and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
- Slowly add water and mix until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and is fairly moist.
- On a heavily floured surface, roll dough into a large circle of a suitable size for your pie tin. (I’ve been known to make this pie in a round cake pan instead, to accommodate lots of filling and meringue.)
- Turn rolled dough out into pie pan and flute or crimp as desired.
- Prick the dough several times with a fork, on both the bottom and sides.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until light brown.
- Remove crust from oven and set aside.
- Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees.
- In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks and set aside.
- In a medium-sized saucepan, mix together sugar and corn starch.
- Add water and place the saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir constantly and be patient! It will seem as if nothing is happening, and you will start to lose hope, and then suddenly the mixture will start to turn translucent, thicken, and bubble.
- Once bubbling, boil for 1 additional minute.
- Put a large spoonful of the hot corn starch mixture into the egg yolks, and quickly mix together.
- Stir egg mixture into corn starch mixture, and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat, and add butter or margarine and lemon juice.
- Mix until butter or margarine has melted and lemon juice is completely incorporated.
- Pour filling into baked crust. Use a rubber spatula to get every delicious drop into your pie. (Then lick the spatula. Yum!)
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, whip egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla until foamy.
- Gradually add sugar and whip until stiff and glossy.
- Pipe meringue on top of filling, ensuring that the meringue is touching the crust all the way around, and the filling is completely covered.
- Bake in preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes, until meringue is light brown.
- Cool for at least 2 hours before transferring to refrigerator.
- Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving.*
*I know this is difficult, and that the pie with all of it’s lemony-fluffy-goodness is calling to you from the fridge, but cutting into this pie before it has completely set is a decision that is sure to lead to disappointment.