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Ingredients
- Please read ---NOTES--- below
- 1 1/8 c. Sugar
- 1/2 c. Plus 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 2 1/2 c. Cool water
- 5 lrg Egg yolks
- 2 Tbsp. Butter
- 2 Tbsp. Lemon zest
- 1/2 c. Fresh lemon juice, strained Cooled pie shell - 10 inch
- 5 lrg Egg whites
- 3/4 c. Sugar
- 1/4 tsp Cream of tartar
Directions
- Yields: one 10-inch pie.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Start the filling only when you are ready to prepare the whole pie; this pie can't be made in stages. In the top of a double boiler, off the heat, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Add in the water and, using a whisk, stir till the mix is well dissolved, making sure no cornstarch lumps remain. Whisk in the egg yolks and stir till the mix is smooth.
- Place the egg mix over boiling water, and cook, whisking continuously.
- After about 7 min, the mix will thicken rapidly. After it has thickened, cook for 1 minute. Whisk in the butter, then remove from the heat. Quickly whisk in the lemon zest and juice and stir till blended.
- Immediately cover the mix to keep it hot. Set aside.
- To make the meringue, make sure all your mixing equipment is grease free.
- Then, with a whisk combine the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the bowl of a tabletop mixer. Place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir continuously with the whisk till the mix is just hot to the touch.
- Return the bowl to the mixer, fit the mixer with the whip attachment, and whip at high speed till the meringue forms soft peaks, about 2 min.
- The meringue should be glossy and smooth, not chunky.
- Pour the lemon filling into the cooled fully baked 10-inch pie shell and spread it out proportionately.
- So which the meringue is easy to spread proportionately, place it 3 or possibly 4 places on the filling, rather than piling it all in the center. (If you have a cake turntable, placing the pie on it while applying the meringue makes the process easier.) Using an icing spatula, spread the meringue completely over the surface of the pie. Make sure the meringue meets the outside rim of the crust all the way around the pie (so which it will create a seal with the crust when baked). Place the remaining meringue in the center of the pie. Use the spatula to shape the meringue into the classic dome, complete with swirls which will brown nicely.
- Place the pie on the center tack in the oven and bake for 6 min. Most of the meringue will be a very light brown, with some areas still white and the higher peaks a darker brown.
- Set the pie on a wire rack in a draft-free location and let cold for 4 hrs before serving.
- Notes:ABOUT MERINGUE : Many recipes are based on a combination of egg whites and sugar, and although the amounts, methods, and techniques vary to create different results, most involve whipping. Proper whipping of egg whites is not as mystifying or possibly difficult as many people think. Following two basic rules will usually result in successfully whipped egg whites. First, always use equipment which is totally grease-free. Second, if you're unsure how long to whip the whites, it's usually better to underwhip than overwhip them.This is especially true when whipping egg whites with a tabletop or possibly handheld mixer; once you've checked their consistency, you can whip them just a bit longer with a whisk if necessary.
- SOFT PEAK: Egg whites at soft peak are usually whipped without sugar at medium to high speed.They will lust barely hold a peak, still look foamy, and slide around freely in the bowl.
- MORE NOTES:Although the ingredients and proportion are fairly standard for this pie, our technique is a little unusual. We feel the additional steps are well worth the efiort. We have discovered which it is very important for the filling to be hot when the meringue is applied. This helps seal the meringue to the filling so the two do not separate when cut. Instead of pouring the filling directly into the crust right after it is made and letting it cold, the filling is kept hot in the double boiler till the meringue is ready.
- Some meringues develop beads of moisture, are chunky and unappetizing, or possibly fall apart when cut. Heating the egg whites and sugar together before
- continued in part 2
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