Lemon Meringue Pie
Prep Time: 15 mins | Cook Time: 40 minutes | Course: Dessert | Servings: 8
Lovely lemony lemon meringue pie with a flakey crust and lightly browned meringue tips. The only thing that's better is to have many mini pie-lets so no one knows how many you've had to eat...including you. Inspired by grandma's love of a very lemony lemon meringue pie... and Argo cornstarch https://www.argostarch.com/Recipe/Mile_High_Lemon_Meringue_Pie
1 cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
Salt, a pinch
1 ½ cups cold water
4 egg yolks, save whites for meringue
1 lemon, zested
⅓ cup lemon juice, freshly juiced
Meringue:
4 egg whites
⅓ cup sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
½ tsp vanilla
In a medium saucepan, whisk sugar, cornstarch, salt, water and egg yolks together. Bring to a boil over medium heat until very thick. Take off heat and whisk in the lemon zest and juice. Pour into the pre-baked pie shell (recipe included below).
Preheat oven to 350*. Whip egg whites in a stand mixer while slowly adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Add in the cornstarch and vanilla and whip to stiff peaks.
Spoon over the lemon custard, sealing around the edges. Lift the spoon decoratively to create peaks. Bake meringue for 20 minutes or until lightly browned and beautiful.
Mini Lemon Meringue Pies
Cut pastry into 3” rings with a biscuit cutter. Place in mini muffin tins and bake at 425* for 15 minutes instead of 20. Spoon in the lemon filling and seal with a swath of meringue to seal the mini pie. I sprinkled the tops with a bit of raw sugar. Bake at 350* for 15 minutes or until nicely browned. Cool before running a butter knife around the edges and removing mini pies from the pans.
Perfect Pastry: (makes two pastry shells)
2 ½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking powder
1 cup (2 sticks butter) cut into tablespoons
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
8 Tbsp cold water
In a food processor with the metal blade, add the flour, salt and baking powder. Pulse once to mix. Top with the tablespoon size slices of butter and pulse until the mixture is roughly mixed together like a coarse cornmeal mix and the butter bits are no bigger than the size of a pea. You’ll want to do most of the mixing before adding liquid to keep the dough tender. Add in the vinegar and water and quickly pulse about 16 (or fewer) times to incorporate, the dough will begin to come together. Spread two sheets of plastic wrap on the counter and divide the dough between them. Wrap, flatten the discs (pressing in little areas that may need to still come together) and chill them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, longer is fine (up to several days). The dough can be made by hand in a large mixing bowl with a pastry blender, a large fork or even your hands; remember to do most of the mixing work before adding liquid to keep the pastry from being tough. I find dough made by hand needs 1 additional tablespoon of water. You may need to add 1 additional tablespoon of water if the weather is very dry as well.
Preheat oven to 425*. Using a sheet of waxed paper or parchment, dust your rolling surface with a sprinkling of flour. Place chilled pastry on top, dust the top lightly with flour and roll out an inch or so larger than your pie plate (if pastry is really cold it may need to warm up a bit before it rolls easily; if it cracks give it a few minutes before continuing to roll). When the pastry is rolled out, use your rolling pin to help fold the dough over the pie plate. Press in and crimp dough edges decoratively, prick the shell multiple times with a fork and chill another 15-30 minutes. Reserve second pie dough disk for another use. Have fun with decorating and crimping. There are many ways to crimp, decorate or emboss the outside edges of your pie crust from a corkscrew to cake embossing tools, etc. Bake the pie shell for 15-20 minutes. Pastry will be a beautiful browned color when done. Let cool.
