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Old-Fashioned Lemon Meringue Pie

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This Classic Lemon Meringue Pie has a flaky crust topped with a creamy lemon filling nestled under a pillow of toasted meringue.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: 1960's, pies
Servings: 8
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Equipment

Ingredients

CRUST

  • 2 c. unbleached flour
  • 2 tsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 12 T. butter cold & diced into cubes
  • ⅓ c. ice cold water
  • 1 T. vodka (lemon juice or white vinegar)

PIE FILLING

  • 1 ⅓ c. water
  • 1 ¼ c. sugar superfine
  • ⅓ c. instant ClearJel or cornstarch
  • ½ c. lemon juice
  • 2 T. lemon zest
  • 4 egg yolks (save whites)
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 3 T. butter
  • ¼ tsp. lemon extract

MERINGUE TOPPING

  • ½ c. sugar superfine
  • ⅓ c. water
  • 1 T. instant Clearjel or cornstarch
  • 4 egg whites
  • ½ tsp. cream of tarter
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

PREP

  • Pre-heat oven to 400°.
  • Zest and juice 2 lemons.
  • Separate out egg yolks and whites into 2 bowls.

PIE 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 on a pastry mat 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.

FILLING

  • Place water, sugar, clearjel 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.

MERINGUE TOPPING

  • In heavy duty pan, cook together sugar, clearjel, 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.

ASSEMBLE 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.
  • Allow 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.