Lemon Meringue Pie

I'm not a very experienced baker, but I definitely wanted to try to go big and make a lemon meringue pie. I love perusing the Whisk Kid's website, and discovered her recipe for lemon meringue pie. Her's looks much better than mine, but her recipe is spot on! I was terrified that my pie would end up tasting like lemon-y scrambled eggs, but it didn't!! It gets much better after a little bit of time in the fridge.

Also, PLEASE make the pie crust if you can! Her recipe for the crust is so buttery and delicious...its something a frozen pie crust just canot match.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Crust:

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

8 Tb. butter (cut up, and very cold)

4 Tb. water, very cold

Combine flour and salt. Cut in butter until tiny bits. Again, make sure the butter is very cold. Add just enough flour until moistened, knead a few times. Wrap up dough and refrigerate from anywhere to 30 minute to two days. (As a side note, I did not do this. DO NOT LEAVE OUT THIS STEP. It is very important. My pie crust did not act right once it hit the oven!)

When ready to use the crust, roll out until even to fit a 9" pie plate. Lay over pie plate, pinch down the edges, and prick dough all over with a fork. Place back into freezer.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place pie weights/beans/rice/etc onto pie crust when baking to ensure it bakes flat. (Also didn't do this. Again, NECESSARY!) Bake for 20 minutes. Remove weights/beans/rice/etc. Bake for 5-10 minutes longer. Remove from oven and prepare filling.

Pie Filling:

4 egg yolks at room temperature

1 c. sugar

2 Tb. flour

3 Tb. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 c. water

2 lemons, juiced and zested

2 Tb butter

4 egg whites

6 Tb. white sugar

Place egg yolks in large clear bowl. Whisk and set aside.

Combine cup of sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Stir in water, lemon juice, and lemon zest, and bring mixture to a boil, stirring continually. Stir in butter. Remove from heat. Pour 1/2 cup of mixture into egg yolks, whisking vigorously to ensure that egg yolks become tempered. Pour those egg yolks into the sugar mixture and continue whisking. Put pan back on the heat and continue cooking until very thick. (Just a note, this took a really long time for me!) Remove from heat and pour into cooked pie crust.

Put egg whites into mixing bowl. Using a free standing mixer or hand mixer, beat egg whites together. Slowly add the 6 Tb. of sugar and beat until you have stiff peaks.

Spoon meringue onto hot filling. Use a spatula/spoon/whatever, to fluff up the top, moving meringue to border of crust.

Bake for approx. 10 minutes, or until the tips of the meringue start to brown.