Lemon Meringue Pie in a Pastry Shell

For Lemon Meringue Pie in a Pastry Shell, the counter starts with sugar, cornstarch, and kosher salt. Portion it for 10 slices.

Count on 25 minutes of prep and 35 minutes of cooking.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

• 1, homemade or store bought pie crust enough for a single crust 9 inch pie

Filling

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 egg yolks from large eggs
• 1 1/3 cups water cold
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• ½ cup lemon juice approximately 4 large lemons
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Meringue

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ½ cup water warm
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 4 egg whites
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

How the cooking goes

Par-bake the crust

1. Heat the oven to 350°F.
2. Line a 9-inch pie pan with the pie dough of your choosing. Roll the edges under and decoratively crimp.
3. Crumple baking paper to make it more pliable, then gently line the inside of the chilled pie shell. Fill with pie weights or beans.
4. Bake in the preheated oven with weights for 15-20 minutes or until the edges have begun to brown and the sides of the crust no longer look doughy. If you remove the weight too early, then the sides will collapse anyways.
5. Since we are only partially baking the crust, you want to see some deep gold parts around the edges and bottom before you remove the pie crust from the oven. Remove the parchment and weights and keep it to one side to cool while you prepare the filling.

Prepare the filling

1. In a large or medium saucepan, whisk together granulated sugar, cornstarch, salt, and lemon zest.
2. Beat in the egg yolks until the texture looks smooth. Slowly pour in the water, followed by lemon juice while whisking constantly. This reduces the likelihood of lumps and will help you get a smooth lemon custard.
3. Cook the lemon mixture over a moderate flame while whisking or stirring with a flexible spatula constantly. The custard will slowly thicken and then will eventually simmer and boil.
4. Allow the mixture to boil for 1-2 minutes over lower heat, then take it off the heat and stir in butter.
5. Tip onto the prepared crust. The crust can be warm or at ambient temperature. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

Make the french meringue

1. Dissolve cornstarch (for meringue) in warm water in a small mixing bowl. Keep it to one side.
2. Make French meringue by whisking the egg whites, cream of tartar and sugar together in the bowl of a electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. You could also make it in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer.
3. Once all the sugar has been added, continue to beat on medium high speed until soft peaks form. Once the French meringue reaches soft peaks, slowly pour in the cornstarch mixture and continue to whisk un stiff peaks form.
4. Cover filling with meringue, swirl decoratively using the back of a spoon and bake 325°F, 15-20 minutes. The meringue will be a nice deep gold.
5. Cool to ambient temperature and then refrigerate at least 4 hours before slicing.

After it comes off the heat

Let the pan settle before you slice, so the crumb stays together. Cover leftovers once they are cool.

If you want another plate from Lemon desserts, open Berry Trifle for the Dessert Plate and Lemon Curd for the Home Table.