Lemon Meringue Pie

I know this is not in my usual vein of posting, but I was making lemon pie for dessert on Thursday morning- at 6 am- before I went on my Turkey Trot, and I was thinking how much I really love baking.

So if the quality of the photos here is sort of poor, be assured it is because of the early hour and the blurry state of mind I was in.

Little cookbook tucked inside my own BC cookbook.

I make Lemon Meringue Pie from the little battered Betty Crocker recipe booklet that my mom had.  It is actually the pie section of the Betty Crocker cookbook she had, and somehow she had these pamphlets as well.  Anyway, I have the poor thing, it has seen a lot of pie baking slops and spills.

I do not care what any food snobs say, I do not make my own pie crust.  I CAN make pie crust, and I don't mind making the crust, but I DETEST cleaning up after pie crust. So I don't make it!  The pie crust is the least important part anyway.  At least to me.  So good old Betty makes an acceptable rolled up thing, and that suits me fine. Anyone who is tsking in their mind at me, can come and clean up the mess and I will be glad to make it.

I love the process of making lemon meringue pie.  I like to separate eggs, I like to zest the lemons, I like to squeeze the juice.  The smells are fantastic, the feel is wonderful and eventually, the taste is sublime.

Fresh ingredients make a wonderful dessert for a special day.  

The sugar and corn starch get cooked until thickened, slowly getting ready to be mixed with the egg yolks for richness.

The egg yolks are blended with a whisk and then the hot thickened emulsion is added a tiny bit at a time to the yolks.  This blends the two liquids together and doesn't cook the eggs. This is the tricky part of the process.  I have only goofed it up once in my life!  

There are no pictures of me doing the whisking as I need both hands for it.  And so therefor no hands for photo taking!  After the egg yolk are heated, then I add it back to the rest of the hot sugar and cornstarch mixture.

The next addition is the fragrant lemon and the creamy butter.  This is how the pie becomes awesome.

Pour the hot lemon mixture into the warm baked pie shell.

Next step is the meringue, which is kind of fun too.  The Kitchenaide mixer makes things so much easier than how I used to do it, with a hand held mixer.  Whip up the egg whites and cream of tartar until they are nice and shiny and hold a peak when you put a spatula into it.

Add sugar a little at a time until it is dissolved, then add vanilla.

Dollop the meringue onto the hot lemon and bake that baby until golden brown!

Lemon Meringue Pie

from the Betty Crocker Cookbook

One baked pie shell

Mix in saucepan- 

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

Stir in  gradually - 

1 1/2 cups water

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Boil 1 minute.  Slowly stir about half into 

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

Then blend the mixture back into the other half of the sugar and cornstarch mixture.  Boil one minute longer and remove from heat.  Stir in

3 Tablespoons butter

1/4 c. lemon juice

1 Tablespoon grated lemon rind

Pour into baked pie shell, cover with meringue. Bake until light brown- 8 - 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Meringue:

3 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Whip until foamy.  Beat in gradually

6 Tablespoons sugar 

then 1/2 tsp vanilla

Continue whipping until stiff and glossy.  Will hold a peak when touched with a spatula.