Daring Bakers Challenge Recipe: Lemon Meringue Pie
January 28, 2008 by Marye Audet
Filed under Daring bakers
This months challenge was Lemon Meringue Pie. YUM!
Lemon Meringue is one of Marc’s favorites. This was a fun challenge and because it was a challenge I took the extra time to pipe the meringue. Sorry to say that by the time I realized MOST of my pictures were blurry the pie was LONG gone.
One of the things I normally do differently is to bake the meringue separately from the pie and add it on before cutting and serving. This keeps the meringue crispy and keeps the filling from weeping under the meringue, you know that watery layer that sometimes happens when you cut into the pie? To bake the meringue separately just bake it on parchment in a round that is about 1/2 inch bigger all around that the pie.
I baked this meringue on top of the pie, as the instructions stated, and had no problem with weeping. Check out the other Daring Bakers…there are some incredible pies!
Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie
For the Crust:
3/4 cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt
1/3 cup (80 mL) ice water
For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter
3/4 cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
3/4 cup (180 mL) granulated sugar
To Make the Crust:
Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt.Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.
Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of 1/8 inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about 1/2 inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.
To Make the Filling:
Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated. Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.
To Make the Meringue:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.
Beautiful job on your meringue! Truly a DB creation
Great challenge Marye!!! Looks as though you had no trouble at all with your DB challenge this month. My biggest mistake was that I made my pie on a Sunday so had to eat the whole thing myself!
Thanks Tablebread
Valli…it’s a tough job but someone has to do it, huh?
Love the meringues! Congrats on another successful challenge!
I love your piped meringue, gorgeous! Fantastic job!
Ha - I love that you couldn’t do two rounds of photos before it disappeared! From what we can see, though, it came out wonderfully.
Never would of thought to bake the meringue seperate. Nice pie.
Piping meringue was fun, wasn’t it? Mine didn’t really end up looking as I had expected it to, but it looked fine anyway, and tasted great. Your’s looks great though! (I keep wanting to start making it all over from looking at everybody’s yummy photos.)
Wow… I’d never have thought to bake the meringue separately! Great job on this month’s challenge!
Your pictures look fine! I hate when that happens. I swear, sometimes I’ll take 50 pictures, and every single one of them turns out blurry.
You did a great job, Daring Baker!
Hah! Next time I do a meringue, I’ll remember to bake it separately … like a great bit meringue cookie! Good job!
i’ve struggled with weeping tarts before but would never have thought to bake the meringue separately - what a great idea!
Brilliant idea to bake the meringue separately! And I love the piping of your meringue.
Your pie looks wonderful!
Thanks, y’all!
I am glad that I did not miss this month. It was fun;..and Marc was happy. He loves lemon meringue
I’d never thought of baking the meringue separately… what a brilliant suggestion! And great job with the January challenge.
The meringue top looks really good!
Great job on the challenge this month!
What a brilliant idea to bake the meringue separately. I’ll have to tuck that away for future reference. Your pie looks lovely!
lovely wavy meringue
A job well done on your lmp!
Love the way you piped the meringue! Absolutely gorgeous!
Marye, marye!
What a lovely pie! I always love how you decorate your desserts and how well they always turn out. Great job!
Hi Marye,
Interesting idea about baking the meringue separately! Great job on the pie!
Wonderful!
Nice job on your pie and I love the tip on baking the meringue separately!
Thanks ! The meringue trick is one that I found in one of my antique cookbooks, and I love it..
That’s really an interesting meringue method. Your meringue here is beautiful!
Thanks Claire!.
Well done on another challenge. It’s all just a piece of cake to you isn’t it? I’m just going to catch up on your other posts.
You’re bacj!
No, actually it was a piece of pie…
hey I saw yours and they were awesome