Bonnies Lemon Meringue Pie Food

THE BEST LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• For the pie crust: Pulse the flour, shortening, sugar, salt and vinegar in a food processor until the mixture looks like damp sand, about 10 pulses. Add the butter and pulse until you can still see large pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle in 3 tablespoons ice water and pulse until the dough begins to come together. Pinch the dough; if it doesn't hold together, add up to 3 more tablespoons ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough holds together when pinched. Lay out a sheet of plastic wrap and dump the dough onto the plastic. Using the edges of the plastic, press the dough into a disc. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour and preferably overnight. (Freeze up to 2 months.)
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 13-inch round. Place in a 9-inch pie dish, gently pressing the dough into the edges and letting the excess dough drape over the sides. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Trim any excess dough with a paring knife and crimp the edges decoratively or press them down with the tines of a fork. Prick the dough on the bottom all over with a fork. Place a sheet of parchment paper inside the dough and fill with pie weights or uncooked rice or beans. Bake for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment and weights and bake until the crust is deep golden brown on the edges and lightly golden in the center, 10 to 12 minutes more. Let the crust cool to room temperature.
• For the filling: Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium saucepan. Add the lemon juice and 1 1/2 cups water and whisk to combine. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate medium bowl. Place the sugar mixture over medium heat and cook, continuing to gently whisk, until the mixture begins to bubble and is extremely thick. Temper the eggs yolks by slowly adding half of the hot sugar mixture to the yolks while constantly whisking. Add the tempered yolks to the saucepan and return to the heat. Bring the mixture back to a simmer and cook, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and lemon zest until completely melted and incorporated. Pour the filling directly into the pie crust and cover with plastic wrap pressed directly against the surface of the filling (see Cook's Note). Refrigerate while you make the meringue.
• For the meringue: Add the egg whites to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment along with the sugar, cream of tartar and salt. Whisk together to combine. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. Cook, whisking constantly, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture feels hot to the touch. Transfer the bowl to the mixer and add the vanilla. Whisk on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form, 5 to 6 minutes.
• Remove the plastic wrap from the pie and gently mound the meringue on top of the filling. Use an offset spatula to make sure the meringue completely covers the filling and meets the crust all around the edges. (This will seal in the filling and help prevent weeping.) Use the offset spatula to create swirls and peaks in the meringue. Toast the meringue using a kitchen torch or broil in the oven until golden brown, keeping an eye on the meringue if broiling, 1 to 2 minutes. Refrigerate the pie until the filling is completely cool and set, about 4 hours.

GRANDMA'S LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
• To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar and cream of tartar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• First make the pastry. Either by hand or using a food mixer with a beater attachment, cream the butter, icing sugar, egg yolks, vanilla and lemon zest together. Add the milk and combine well. Tip in the flour and a pinch of salt, then rub or beat to form a dough. Shape into a thick disc and chill for at least 30 mins or overnight.
• Meanwhile, make the lemon filling. Beat the eggs and sugar together then add the zest and juice and stir in the double cream. Cover and put to one side.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Roll pastry out to a little thicker than a £1 coin and line a 23cm tart tin. Leave the excess pastry around the edges as this can be cut off when the tart has been cooked. Line the tart case with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans and bake for 20 mins. Remove the baking beans and reduce the heat to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and cook for another 20 mins. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Trim off the excess pastry from the edge of the tart using a serrated knife.
• Pour the lemon mix into the tart case. This may be easier with the tart case sitting in an open oven as so not to have to move it when full of mixture. Turn the oven to 140C/120C fan/gas 1 and cook for 30-35 mins until set with a slight wobble in the centre. Remove and cool to room temperature.
• For the meringue, put the sugar, 65ml of water and the glucose in a heavy bottomed pan on a medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Once it is dissolved, bring to the boil and use a sugar thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature.
• Using a pastry brush dipped into cold water, brush down the inside of the pan just above the level of the sugar syrup, this will stop the sugar crystallising. Place the egg whites into a food mixer with a whisk attachment and when the syrup temp reaches 110C, turn on the mixer and whisk the whites
• When the temperature reaches 118C (soft ball - this will be marked on the sugar thermometer), steadily pour the sugar syrup in a thin stream into the now stiff egg whites and continue whisking for 20 mins until completely cold. Transfer into a piping bag with a medium-size star nozzle. As it is cooked, this meringue can be made in advance. You can even make it the day before.
• You can pipe the meringue onto the tart as a whole or in individual portions, then glaze with a blowtorch. It can be easier and neater to cut the slices before piping with meringue. They can still be served in tart formation on a serving dish, with an ice-cold glass of limoncello, if you like.

GRANDMA'S LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
• To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

BONNIE'S LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• 1. Pie crust is your first step. Prepare your crust and bake it in the oven. You may use a ready-made crust, your own recipe or the recipe below. The second step will be to read through this recipe so you are familar with it as you proceed.
• 2. PIE WEIGHTS This is my solution to keeping the pie crust nice and flat instead of lumpy. I bake my pie in a 10 inch glass pie dish. So I take a tin foil pie pan that will fit INSIDE the 10 inch pie dish on top of the uncooked pie crust. I spray the BOTTOM of the tin foil pie plate with pam. Place it in the pie shell and add about a cup of dried beans. That will be sufficient weight to make it work.
• 3. Here is how the pie crust looks after baked with pie weights.
• 4. Put the tea kettle on to boil water. It is best to assemble all ingredients before you begin. Place your egg beaters in the freezer and your egg whites in the bowl you are going to make the meringue in and refrigerate. Grate the lemon rind. Use level measurements. A timer is very helpful.
• 5. Mix dry ingredients first, then add water for no lumps. Use a whisk to make it smooth and then do your stirring with a wooden spoon.
• 6. Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, boiling water and the lemon rind in a deep non stick saucepan. Heat slowly, stirring until smooth, and then cook over low heat until thickened and no taste of cornstarch remains, constantly stirring about 15 minutes. Use the timer. It will be a sort of white color. (Once in a while, depending on altitude and climate, you may need to add a little more cornstarch than the recipe calls for so it will be thicker.)
• 7. Remove from heat and add the butter and mix well. Beat egg yolks slightly and add lemon juice; add to hot mixture slowly and mix well. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly for 5 to 7 minutes. Do not boil. It will now be a nice yellow lemon color. Remove from heat and set aside.
• 8. Fill your pie shell and it will be full!
• 9. MERINGUE: Beat 6 egg whites until frothy, add a pinch of salt, 1/2 cup sugar a little at a time--then beat until stiff and glossy, and makes stand up peaks. Cover the pie with meringue. SEAL THE EDGES. I pile the meringue in the center and work with a flat bowl scraper to the edges of the pie. Cover the pie so there is no separation between the filling and the meringue. Now bake your beautiful pie in a hot oven at 425 degrees for 4 to 5 minutes or until browned. It will look like my picture. The tip of the peaks will be darker brown. Watch it carefully so it doesn't burn. Cool on a rack in a draft free place until totally cool, then refrigerate. (If you put a warm pie in the refrigerator, you will have some moisture droplets on your meringue.)
• 10. Chill overnight before cutting (the hardest part is waiting!) Enjoy!
• 11. PIE CRUST: This is Ina's recipe and it has always worked for me. This recipe makes two 10 inch pie crusts. Ingredients: 12 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 tablespoon sugar 1/3 cup very cold vegetable shortening 6 -8 tablespoons ice water (about 1/2 cup) Directions: 1. Dice the butter and return it to the refrigerator while you prepare the flour mixture. 2. Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse a few times to mix. 3. Add the butter and shortening. 4. Pulse 8 to 12 times, until the butter is the size of peas. 5. With the machine running, pour the ice water down the feed tube and pulse the machine until the dough begins to form a ball. 6. Dump out on a floured board and roll into a ball. 7. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 8. Cut the dough in half. 9. Roll each piece on a well-floured board into a circle, rolling from the center to the edge, turning and flouring the dough to make sure it doesn't stick to the board. 10. Fold the dough in half, place in a pie pan, and unfold to fit the pan. 11. Repeat with the top crust. If you are using a single crust, flute the edges. 12 **Ina prefers to use Crisco shortening, that has been stored in the refrigerator.
• 12. Cook's Tip: Just a tip: make sure the filling gets very very thick and glassy looking when you are cooking it on the stove. That way, it will have no trouble setting up. Cool completely before refrigerating, and let the pie set overnight before cutting it, so it has time to set up. Thanks and enjoy!

MOM'S LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• In a medium-sized saucepot, bring sugar, cornstarch, salt, water, and lemon peel to a boil, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat and mix in with wire whip 4 egg yolks. Return to heat for 1 minute stirring constantly. Remove from heat and whisk in 3 T. butter, then ½ c. lemon juice.
• Pour into pie crust and cool.

GRANDMA'S LEMON CHIFFON PIE IN MERINGUE CRUST (PASSOVER)

Steps:

• For the crusts: Beat egg whites with salt and vinegar and add sugar until thick.
• Spread into 2 greased pie pans and bake for 45 minutes at 300 degrees F. Cool.
• For Pies: Dissolve the gelatin in 4 cups cold water.
• In a double boiler, heat the dissolved gelatin solution with the lemon rind and lemon juice until it reaches a custard-like consistency and then let it cool down.
• Meanwhile beat the egg whites with the sugar and salt until stiff.
• Fold the egg mixture into the cooled gelatin mix.
• Gently fill the pie crusts with the pie mixture and chill.