Friday, June 5, 2009

Lemon Meringue Pie

For my first attempt at Lemon Meringue Pie I decided to go with a recipe from Alton Brown. I have found that generally Alton's recipes turn out great if you follow the directions exactly. I went to the Food Network website to find the recipe and had not actually seen Alton prepare the pie on his show. As a rule, I always read the reviews of a recipe before I make it to see if there are any tips I might need. Lucky I did this time! The recipe neglected to note a key step that Alton talked about on the show. After the butter, lemon juice and zest are added you must bring the mixture up to a boil again and let it boil for at least 1 minute. I let mine boil for about 1 minute 45 seconds.


Lemon Meringue Pie Alton Brown Style

Ingredients
Lemon Filling:
4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue) 1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell
1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Directions
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.
Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Bring mixture back to a boil. Allow mixture to boil for no less than a minute. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:
4 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar
2 tablespoons sugar
Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.
Yield: topping for 1 (9-inch) pie

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