Last updated on April 18th, 2025

Ingredients
- Crust
- Lemon Filling
Never-fail meringue:
Dietary Substitutions
- TO MAKE GLUTEN-FREE
- TO MAKE VEGAN/DAIRY FREE
Related Recipes
More pie recipes

This Classic Lemon Meringue Pie has a flaky all-butter crust, creamy lemon filling and topped with a light toasted meringue. This vintage Spring dessert was inspired by a 1960’s recipe and has a perfect balance of sweet and tart that is perfect for Easter brunch or Mother’s Day tea party.

My vintage inspiration.

The vintage inspiration for this pie comes from my 1965 “Farm Journal’s Complete Pie Cookbook.” Farm Journal was originally an agricultural magazine founded in 1877. They started publishing cookbooks in the 1950’s that were reliable source and geared toward farm wives for gatherings and those with large families. I also have been inspired to make other recipes from my vintage Farm Journal cookbooks like modern made Apple Cranberry Pie “Farm-Journals Best Ever Pies” (1981), and my modern baked Oatmeal Apricot Cookie from “Freezing and Canning Cookbook” (1963).

How I baked it modern.

Added more lemon flavor
Used ClearJel in the filling
Made stabilized never-fail meringue

Ingredients

CRUST

flour: Use all-purpose unbleached flour with 10-12% protein, such as King Arthur or Sir Galahad Artisan Flour (its bulk-purchased name) which has 11.7% protein. Avoid bread flour, as its higher protein content (11-14%), develops more gluten, which results in dense baked goods.
sugar: Sugar is derived from sugarcane and provides sweetness to baked goods. The most common type being granulated white sugar. Cane sugar is a natural option that is less processed with a slightly courser texture.
butter: American butter is made from churned cream that contains 80% butterfat. European butter is churned longer and has a higher fat content (82%-85%), which is why it yields more flavor.
salt: Use a fine-ground pink salt which adds essential minerals and nutrients to baked goods.
vodka: Vodka is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from grains or potatoes. Adding vodka to pie crust will give it a flaky, tender texture because the alcohol prevents the gluten from developing.

FILLING

lemon: Lemons are a tart, citrus fruit that grow on trees in warm climates. Place lemons on the counter the day you plan to use them, as they will yield more juice at room temperature.
Superfine Sugar: Superfine sugar, also known as castor sugar, has a finer texture compared to granulated sugar. Its fine granules help yield tender baked goods by incorporating quickly with other ingredients. When making boiled frostings or candy, superfine sugar dissolves faster, reducing grittiness and creating a smoother texture.
clearJel: Instant ClearJel is a modified food starch used as a thickener, stabilizer, and gelling agent, used for pie fillings creating a clear, smooth texture rather than cloudy. In baked goods it helps retain moisture and produces a light, tender texture. Use cornstarch as a substitution if ClearJel is hard to find. For every 1 T. of cornstarch, use 1 1/2 T. ClearJel. For every 2 T. flour or tapioca, use 1 T. ClearJel. You can find it online here.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Step-by-Step Guide

Step #1:

MAKE THE CRUST
Put dry ingredients in food processor or mixer, add cold butter and pulse until crumbly. Remove bowl from mixer and add lemon juice and water. Mix by hand with pastry blender until just combined.
Pour out onto a piece of saran wrap and shape into (1) 8″ round disk. Refrigerate 10 minutes or overnight.
Place pie disk between 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll out into round disk 2″ larger than your pie plate. Place dough in pie plate and crimp edges. Pierce pie shell with fork, lightly dust with thickening agent, and brush with egg white wash.
Place a round circle of parchment over the pie and fill bottom with pie weights. Bake pie shell at 400° for 15 minutes.

Step #2:

MAKE THE PIE FILLING
Place water, sugar, clear jel and salt in heavy pan. Cook 5 minutes.
Remove from burner and add in egg yolks, lemon juice, lemon zest, and unsalted butter and stir constantly until incorporated.
Place back on burner and return mixture to a boil (about 1-2 minutes). Set aside until use.

Step #3:

MAKE THE MERINGUE
In heavy duty pan, cook together sugar, cornstarch, and water until all ingredients are dissolved (about 3-4 minutes). Remove from burner.
In the bowl of stand mixer, place egg whites, cream of tarter, salt, and vanilla. Mix for 5-7 minutes until egg whites are glossy and stiff.

Step #4:

ASSEMBLE & BAKE PIE
Pour warm lemon filling into cooled pie crust.
Top the lemon filling layer immediately with the meringue, covering all the lemon filling and up to the edge of the pie crust to prevent shrinkage. Bake pie at 375° for 10-12 minutes until meringue is golden brown.

Step #5:

COOL AND SERVE
Allow the pie to cool on counter for at least 1 hour. Serve either at room temperature or place in refrigerator and serve cold. When serving, dip knife into hot water before slicing pie to prevent sticking.
Store leftover pie in the refrigerator.

Baker’s Tips

Crust

To avoid a tough crust, add vodka or white vinegar to prevent excess gluten from forming. This not only keeps the crust flaky, it also prevents shrinking during baking.
To save time, make the pie crust ahead of time and place in refrigerator or freezer until needed.
Work quick to keep everything cold as possible.
Dice the butter into small cubes and put into the freezer prior to making the pie dough. Chill water with some ice cubes before using. After you roll out the crust, put in fridge for 15 minutes so it’s cold going into a hot oven. This step will help keep the crust from shrinking.
Cover crust with pie protector or foil to make sure the filling is cooked through but that the crust doesn’t burn.
To prevent a soggy crust, dust the bottom crust with a thickening agent and brush with an egg wash.
After you dust the raw pie crust dough, prick the bottom and sides with a fork. This will help steam escape and keep the bottom of the pie flat. Another way to keep the bottom flat is to cover the crust with parchment paper and place ceramic pie weights or raw, whole beans over the parchment paper.
Use a ceramic or glass pie plate, which conduct slow, even heat.

Lemon Filling

Be sure to put lemons on the counter the day you plan to make the pie. Room temp lemons will yield more lemon juice than lemons straight out of the fridge. The best tool for zesting lemons is a microplane. The best tool for juicing the lemons is a citrus squeezer.
You can choose your favorite thickening agent (cornstarch or ClearJel). Vintage recipes typically call for flour or cornstarch. I really like to use ClearJel in pie filling as it works as 1:1 substitution for cornstarch and doesn’t make the filling cloudy like flour tends to do. Use regular ClearJel since you will be cooking the filling. Instant ClearJel is used for fillings that are not cooked.

Never-fail meringue:

Be sure to set out and separate your eggs as part of your prep. Room temp egg whites are best to achieve a light meringue. Add cornstarch to my meringue keep it stabilized.
It is best to top lemon filling with the meringue while the filling is still hot. This will help prevent weaping, otherwise known as when liquid forms between the layer of filling and meringue.
When you are spreading out the meringue over the lemon filling, start from the outer edge towards the center and cover the filling right up to the edge of the crust to prevent the meringue from shrinking.
When serving, dip knife into hot water before slicing pie to prevent meringue from sticking and deflating from being cut. Be sure to eat a cream pie the same day it is made as the meringue will shrink and separate from the filling.

Dietary Substitutions

For the past 12+ years, I have owned an all-natural specialty bakery converting conventional recipes to gluten free, vegan, wholesome, etc. Read more about it here.

TO MAKE GLUTEN-FREE

Here are some tips for gluten free baking

Use a premium gluten-free flour blend.
Be sure to let the batter rest to help eliminate grittiness. Even letting the batter sit 15 minutes will yield a light and tender baked good. You can let batter sit in the fridge overnight, and up to 3 days.
Add 1-2 tablespoons additional liquid to help hydrate the flour.
Reduce the oven temperature by 25°, as gluten-free flour is delicate and could burn before the center is done.
Gluten-free baked goods dry out quickly, so put them in a sealed container right away.

TO MAKE VEGAN/DAIRY FREE

To replace the egg, place 1 tsp. of baking soda into your baked good and pour 1 T. white vinegar on top of the baking soda.
Swap out the butter with unsalted vegan butter sticks.

Equipment

Recommended tools: (affiliate links)

FOR THE FILLING

FOR THE CRUST

food processor, stand mixer or pastry blender (by hand)
liquid measuring cup
pie plate
pastry mat
pastry cutter
pie shield
pie weights

Storage

Baked Pie: After the pie is baked, cover pie and leave on counter up to 3 days. You can also freeze a pie that has been baked up to 6 months.

Unbaked Pie: Cover pie with saran wrap or foil. Place covered pie in a freezer-safe container up to 6 months. Bake pie straight from freezer and add additional baking time as needed.

Classic Lemon Meringue Pie

This retro Lemon Meringue Pie has a flaky crust topped with a creamy lemon filling nestled under a pillow of toasted meringue.

Servings

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45