I made a lemon meringue pie on Christmas Eve. My dad told me how good it my stepmother’s recipe was. I got the recipe the other day except for the cream of tartar the recipe is basically same. From what I can tell if came from a April 1977, McCall’s magazine
When I made mine, I squeezed fresh lemon juice and it made a big difference in taste from bottled lemon juice.
You know how I feel about making piecrust, but I did make it from scratch, it was Christmas after all.
Ingredients:
pie crust (9 inch)
---LEMON FILLING---
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 tablespoon salt
4 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon butter
---MERINGUE---
4 egg whites
1/4 tablespoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
Directions:
1. On lightly floured pastry cloth, roll the pastry to an 11-inch circle, rolling with light strokes from center to edge. Fold pastry in half; with fold in center, carefully transfer to a 9- inch pie plate. Unfold; fit into a pie plate, pressing gently toward the center. Fold edge of crust under, press into an upright rim. Crimp edge decoratively, using thumb and forefinger Refrigerate 1/2 hour. Preheat oven to 450F'. Prick entire surface evenly with fork. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on rack.
2. Make lemon filling: In medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, flour, 1 3/4 c sugar and salt, mixing well. Gradually add 2 cups water, stirring until smooth. Over medium heat, bring to boil, stirring occasionally; boil 1 minute, till shiny and translucent. Quickly stir some of hot mixture into yolks. Pour back into hot mixture; stir to blend. Return to heat; cook over low heat 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice, lemon peel and butter. Pour into pie shell. Preheat oven to 400F'.
3. Make meringue: In medium bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat whites with cream of tartar until frothy. Gradually beat in sugar, 2 tbsp. at a time, beating after each addition. Beat at high speed until stiff peaks form when beater is slowly raised. Spread meringue over lemon filling, carefully sealing to edge of crust and swirling the top decoratively. Bake 7 to 9 minutes, or until the meringue is golden brown. Let cool completely on rack- 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Serves 8. Cut with wet knife.
