âKindness is like snow – it beautifies everything it covers.â ~ Unknown
NOTE: I spend my Wednesdays Unplugged from appointments. Itâs my day to stay home, enjoy cooking and welcome our kids and grandkids for dinner in the evening. We end our meal with quotes from the Norwegian âQuote Cupâ passed on to me from my grandmother. I share a quote and a recipe here each week, along with an update and photos of what has been going on in our lives. I love trying new recipesâŚand love getting recipes you would like to share!
Winter came for Thanksgiving last week with a beautiful blanket of snow. We also got to see a production where our grandson worked on the sets and did spotlights… fun!
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
When I got an email from Bon Appetit talking about lemon meringue pie being what the author looked forward to at Thanksgiving it made me hungry for exactly that. That recipe didn’t excite me, but the classic lemon meringue pie recipe at Sally’s Baking Addiction did. She called it the perfect lemon pie and I agree! She said she made more than a dozen pies before she got the perfect balance of sweet/tart lemon filling that was neither too stiff nor too soft… and a meringue that was soft and billowy but not weepy. To me, this truly was the perfect lemon meringue pie!
PERFECT LEMON MERINGUE PIE
- Your favorite homemade pie crust or Sally’s Homemade Buttery Flaky Pie Crust
- 5 large egg yolks
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
MERINGUE
- 5 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
PARTIALLY BAKE PIE CRUST
Preheat oven to 400 degrees to blind bake the pie crust. Chill pie crust at least 30 minutes, then roll and place in pie plate. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake about 15-16 minutes. Remove from oven, remove weights and prick holes all around the bottom of the crust. Return to oven and bake about 7-8 minutes, until the bottom crust is just beginning to brown. Remove from oven to cool, but the crust can still be warm when you add the filling.
FILLING
Whist the egg yolks together in a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup. Set aside. Whisk the water, sugar, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice and lemon zest together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. The mixture will be thin and cloudy, then eventually begin thickening and bubbling after about 6 minutes. Once thickened, give it a whisk and reduce heat to low.
Very slowly stream a few large spoonfuls of warm lemon mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Then, also in a very slow stream, whisk the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan. Turn heat back up to medium and cook until the mixture is think and big bubbles being bursting at the surface. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter. Spread filling into the warm crust and set aside as you prepare the meringue, but don’t let the filling cool down too much because the warm filling helps seal the meringue to the filling.
MERINGUE
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar with a handheld mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment about 5 minutes, until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar and salt, while you continue beating on high speed until glossy peaks form about 2 more minutes. Spread meringue on top of filling, making sure to spread the meringue all the way to the edges so it touches the crust. This helps keep the meringue from weeping.
BAKE for 25-30 minutes, until the meringue is browned on top. Remove from oven, cool on a rack for about an hour, then chill in the refrigerator at least 4 hours before slicing and serving.
This pie tastes best the day it is made… it doesn’t keep very well, but is so delicious that isn’t really a problem!
