It’s time for another Daring Bakers challenge. This month the challenge is a lemon meringue pie. A lemon meringue pie is a pie with a lemon filling and a meringue topping. I was particularly looking forward to this challenge as I have never had a lemon meringue pie and I like using lemon in sweet dishes.
Of course, I procrastinated until the very end. In fact I made the lemon meringue pie on the very last day. I completely forgot to pick up a pie plate and I had to use what I had on hand. I ended up using some mini spring form pans and a small circular baking dish.
Crust
Up until now I have not had so much luck with pie crusts. None of the pie crusts that I have made have been very good at all. This time I decided to try using a food processor to make the dough. The dough was really easy to make using the food processor. This pie crust turned out great! It was nice and light and flaky and golden brown. Right off at the start I was really pleased with this challenge if for no other reason than I had made some progress with my pie crusts! I will have to work on forming a nice looking edge the next time tough.
Lemon Filling
The lemon filling was pretty straight forward and easy to make. I really enjoy the way that lemon works in sweet dishes! I made sure that none of the filling left in the pan at the end went to waste. 🙂
Meringue
I have made meringue before, though the meringue that I made was a crispy and dry one where this one was nice and soft and moist. I sill have not been able to find any cream of tartar so I left it out. Since I don’t have a mixer I pulled out my trusty pair of forks and beat the egg whites to peaks in no time. I almost didn’t pull the pies out of the oven in time and the peaks of the meringue were browned pretty nicely. I was really pleased with the texture of this soft and moist meringue and it tasted pretty good.
In the end the lemon meringue pies came together nicely. I, of course, had some right after taking the photos. The lemon meringue pies may have taken a bit of work to put together but they were well worth it. The crisp, light and flaky crust and the sweet lemon filling and the soft and sweet meringue topping really work well together. I need to try to start the next challenge before the last day the next time. Now I am off to take a look at the other Daring Bakers lemon meringue pies.
Lemon Meringue Pie
ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup cold butter (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
- 1/3 cup ice water
directions
- Place the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the water and pulse a few more times.
- Press the dough together, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
- Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface.
- Place the dough into the pie plate.
- Bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven for 20-25 minutes with foil on.
- Remove the foil and bake until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
Lemon Filling
ingredients
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 5 egg yolks (beaten)
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
directions
- Bring the water to a boil in a sauce pan and set aside for 5 minutes.
- Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a bowl.
- Whisk the mixture into the water.
- Bring the mixture back to a boil, whisking continuously.
- Temper the eggs by adding a cup of the mixture to them and mixing them.
- Pour the eggs into the sauce pan and whisk.
- Bring to a bowl while whisking.
- Add the butter and whisk until it is incorporated.
- Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla and mix.
- Pour the mixture into the pie crust and cover with plastic so that a film does not form on the top and let cool
Meringue
ingredients
- 5 egg whites (room temperature)
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
directions
- Beat the egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and vanilla until they form soft peaks.
- Slowly mix in the sugar.
- Pour the meringue on top of the pie.
- Bake in a preheated 375F/190C oven until golden brown on top, about 15-20 minutes.
my crust was a pain in the back – your cake looks wonderful!
You can totally get cream of tartar at the “bulk barn,” or probably at most bulk stores, in case you’re still looking
I have enough cream of tartar to last the rest of my life Kevin! I couldn’t seem to find it in small quantities. Your pie looks amazing. It tasted wonderful didn’t it??
Bravo!
I have started using the food processor for pie crusts as well, and it sure does make everything a lot easier!!
I love your little pies!
It’s hard to get a pie plate in Germany….
Great work!
All your components “obviously” turned out great Kevin!!
Looks great, well done!
Great job, Kevin! I love looking at all the entries on daring baker’s day!
I’ve read that a lot of people had trouble with the crust, so I’m glad yours went well.
I’ve read about 20 million Lemon Meringue Pie posts, so I’m getting really hungry.
It’s nice to see a different shape. Good job Daring Baker!
I second your comments about having difficulty with pie crusts, but your end results looks pretty tasty!
Oh yessss! Lemon meringue pie may be my favourite kind of pie. Yours looks great.
Great job! You were much more successful with your crust than I was.
But I can’t believe you made that meringue with forks! Way to go, I think my arms would’ve given up!
I love that tartlet! Looks great!
Hi Kevin,
Congrats on your pie crust success! Now that you’ve had lemon meringue pie, do you like it enough to make it again? My family love this pie, so I had to make it twice for them while I was visiting them. I really did miss my food-processor thought, I had to make everything by hand…
Looks lovely! Nice job, glad your crust worked well.
xoxo
oh my!! Kevin your merengue pie is wonderful, (I always make the childs love so) but yours really are lovely and wonderful!!!Congrats!!Gloria
I love that you used the spring form pan. Beautiful!
Mmmm… looks lovely!
ok kevin – i am so impressed now – you made meringue w/o a mixer and with just two forks?!?! that’s crazy! good job on the challenge!
Looks great Kevin. Looking at all of the pies, I wish I would have gone with the little free form ones!
Very pretty pies. I am impressed that you made the meringue by hand. If I had tried that, my arm would be in a sling right now!;)
Wow… my arms would fall off if i tried to beat egg whites into meringue by hand! You rock!
I’m glad you were pleased with the pastry crust. My contribution’s going to be a couple of days late,and the crust is the component I’m most worried about.
You did a great job! The peaks on your meringue are lovely!!!!
Gosh! they are lovely, you did them so gorgeously!
Excellent, I love little pies! I was scared of making the pastry but I was really pleased with mine too.
So pleased I wasn’t the only one to leave it to the last minute.
Lemon Meringe pie is my favorite pie, bt unfrtunly not my husband’s
Thumbs up, Kevin!
It looks just great Kevin!
Yum! Your pies look delicious. I skipped the cream of tartar too and my meringue turned out perfect.
Yay for a great DB start!
Excellent improvising! And getting it done at the last minute too. Well done. 🙂
i don’t like meringue… isnt that weird… but I LOVE this kind of pie… i just eat the lemon part!
this looks really beautiful! your meringue peaks are perfect!
Looks amazing Kevin – you’ve been tagged by Equal Opportunity Kitchen.
I made sure the curd didn’t go to waste either – by eating any extra with a spoon. Yum! Congrats on conquering your pastry fears.
your lmp looks wonderful!! great job!
Way to lick the pan the lemon curd was made in for your challenge this month! Great job.
Kevin, you are so prolific with cooking that I am always scrolling down to find your DB posts 🙂 What a great job you did on your pie. I love the little one most!
You deserve an award simply for beating the meringue by hand. Nicely done!
so pretty, i love your shapes.
that just looks great. sounds like you had fun making it, too.
Looks great! I really enjoyed the crust on this pie…so different from a regular crust.
Way to go with using what you had! Who says a pie has to be made in a pie pan/dish? I love the lil pies you ended up with. 🙂
I’m equally happy that you found a LMP recipe that you liked – I hope you make it again!
Super job, Kevin!
xoxo
Oh, yours turned out lovely! Great job!
I have to figure out pie crusts and how to make a good one, so it’s nice to hear that you’re figuring it out! 🙂 Your little pies look great.