So, I have this friend who loves Lemon Meringue Pie...


 Linda    13 Oct : 23:58
 None    Misc

meringue.jpg

Three methods from different sites makes it AWESOME!

The computer where I have carefully stored some of my favorite recipes, some that I have yet to share with you, well, it died a few months ago. The recovery is underway, but in the meantime, I did some searching for a perfect Lemon Meringue Pie, based on what I remembered. For example, I know I'd read America's Test Kitchen's comments: “We wanted to develop a lemon meringue pie recipe that gave us a meringue that didn’t break down and puddle on the bottom or “tear” on top. We realized that the puddling underneath the meringue was from undercooking. The beading on top of the pie was from overcooking. We discovered that if the filling was piping hot when the meringue was applied, the underside of the meringue would not undercook; if the oven temperature was relatively low, the top of the meringue wouldn’t overcook. Baking the pie in a relatively cool oven also produced the best-looking, most evenly baked meringue.” ATK also used “animal cracker” crumbs to strengthen the crust, as well as add a touch of flavor... Which led me to THIS recipe from Food.com. No animal crackers in the house, but graham cracker crumbs were an acceptable sub. So I made the crust using this recipe – three, count 'em, THREE TIMES!! The first was absolutely beautiful – yellow and white from the butter and shortening showed through – but I didn't let it cool long enough before I tried to roll? And I SHOULD have known better, but after not waiting long enough the first time, somehow I rushed through the second attempt... Trust me, you don't want to know. Yet when I ACTUALLY FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS, the crust became nothing less than magnificent! A little thicker than many might like, but SO delicately 'melt in your mouth' good!
Crust
Now, for the filling and meringue I used William and Sonoma's recipe, but heeding ATK's advice, I whipped the whites BEFORE I started cooking the lemon curd. That way the lemon was piping hot, and the meringue would fully cook on the bottom. Let your lemon zest soak in the lemon juice until you are ready to use it (strain before you cook with the eggs, if you like) – while the tiny bit of 'chew' is not a bad thing, letting it soften might be better.
Meringue
Five minutes in a hot oven, then another twenty sitting there as the oven cooled (with the door open just slightly) THIS time... I think I'll explore the cooler/longer method next time. I promise a beautiful picture of a slice soon – but I kinda owe that first peek to my friend wink


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