Tag: eggs

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Lemon Meringue Pie

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

  1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, blend together flour, salt, sugar, and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
  3. Slowly add water and mix until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and is fairly moist.
  4. 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.)
  5. Turn rolled dough out into pie pan and flute or crimp as desired.
  6. Prick the dough several times with a fork, on both the bottom and sides.
  7. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until light brown.
  8. Remove crust from oven and set aside.
  9. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees.
  10. In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks and set aside.
  11. In a medium-sized saucepan, mix together sugar and corn starch.
  12. Add water and place the saucepan over medium heat.
  13. 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.
  14. Once bubbling, boil for 1 additional minute.
  15. Put a large spoonful of the hot corn starch mixture into the egg yolks, and quickly mix together.
  16. Stir egg mixture into corn starch mixture, and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
  17. Remove from heat, and add butter or margarine and lemon juice.
  18. Mix until butter or margarine has melted and lemon juice is completely incorporated.
  19. Pour filling into baked crust. Use a rubber spatula to get every delicious drop into your pie. (Then lick the spatula. Yum!)
  20. In a large bowl or stand mixer, whip egg whites, cream of tartar, and vanilla until foamy.
  21. Gradually add sugar and whip until stiff and glossy.
  22. Pipe meringue on top of filling, ensuring that the meringue is touching the crust all the way around, and the filling is completely covered.
  23. Bake in preheated oven for 10 – 12 minutes, until meringue is light brown.
  24. Cool for at least 2 hours before transferring to refrigerator.
  25. 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.

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Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

When you have a hankering for lemon meringue pie, but all of your plates and forks are in the dishwasher, this is just the ticket! This robust cupcake perfectly nestles the lemon curd (which is so tart and flavorful it’ll make your tongue curl), and you can go crazy loading these up with a ton of sweet and fluffy meringue. 

Ingredients

Cupcake

  • 1-1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1 cup White Sugar
  • 1-1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt
  • 1/2 cup Whole Milk
  • 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 2 tsp. Lemon Juice
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 1/2 cup Water

Lemon Curd

  • 6 tbsp. Lemon Juice
  • 1/2 cup White Sugar
  • 6 Large Egg Yolks
  • 4 tbsp. Unsalted Butter

Meringue Frosting

  • 1-1/2 cup White Sugar
  • 3/4 tsp. Cream of Tartar
  • 1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 6 Large Egg Whites

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Line a muffin tin with 12 paper cupcake liners.
  3. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and combine. Set aside.
  4. Add the milk, vegetable oil, lemon juice, and egg to a medium sized bowl and whisk to combine.
  5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat until well combined.
  6. Slowly add the water to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined.
  7. Beat for an additional two minutes on medium speed.
  8. Fill the cupcake liners evenly and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  9. Remove the cupcakes from the oven, and transfer to a baking rack to cool.
  10. To make the lemon curd, separate six eggs, reserving the whites for the meringue.
  11. Combine lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, and butter in a double boiler. Heat while gently whisking until mixture thickens and reaches 160 degrees, coating the back of a spoon. (Be patient and vigilant. This takes a while, but just when you think it will never firm up, it goes from soupy to thickened in a heartbeat!)
  12. Pour the lemon curd into a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap pressed against the top of the curd to prevent a film from forming. Refrigerate until completely cool and firm, at least 2 hours. (If you want to speed things up, you can put the bowl in a bath of ice water, too.)
  13. Wait until the curd has cooled to make the meringue frosting.
  14. To make the meringue, combine the sugar, cream of tartar, vanilla extract and egg whites in a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water.
  15. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and egg whites are warm, to about 140 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat.
  16. Beat the egg white mixture on low speed, gradually increasing to high, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.
  17. To assemble, use a cupcake corer to make a hole in the center of each cupcake. (Enjoy snacking on the cupcake middles while you do the rest!)
  18. Pipe the lemon curd into the center of each cupcake.
  19. Pipe the meringue frosting onto the top of the cupcakes.
  20. Toast the meringue lightly with a kitchen torch. (Be careful not to torch the paper cupcake liners! They are surprisingly flammable.)
  21. Refrigerate cupcakes until ready to serve.
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