Cake Batter & Crumbs: Daring Bakers Challenge: Lemon Meringue Pie

I'm so excited to be part of the Daring Bakers group. January's challenge is my first, and it was really a lot of fun. Jen from The Canadian Baker announced that this month's challenge will be Lemon Meringue Pie, which was a little more intimidating for me because my husband's grandmother makes an awesome lemon meringue pie. Dare I attempt such a pie as well?

The recipe has three components. First the crust is prepared and blind baked in the oven. I should have read the recipe more closely as I didn't realize I needed pie weights. Guess I don't make many pies and will have to work on that. I rummaged through my cupboards looking for some dried beans that I could use as weights, but had none. I thought for a while about other solids I could shove inside some tin foil to weigh the crust down. I almost grabbed a box of macaroni, but in the end decided it was worth the trip to the grocery store to buy a bag of dried beans. Sixty-eight cents later, I was on my way home with my makeshift pie weights. The lemon curd is such a beautiful, glossy-yellow filling for the pie. It's poured into the pie crust and allowed to cool to room temperature. The last component is the fluffy meringue that is piled on top and browned in the oven.

Overall, I thought this pie was a great success. My pie crust didn't come out as pretty as I had hoped and it seemed to slide a little down in the pan. Luckily the meringue covers most of it! The crust though has a really nice sweet flavor and wasn't dried out like some can get. The lemon curd has an excellent tart flavor and is complimented really well by the sweetness of the meringue. Not sure if it beats grandma's, but hey she's had a lot longer to perfect her recipe!

Check out everyone else's pies at The Daring Bakers' Blogroll.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Daring Bakers January Challenge
recipe from Wanda's Pie in the Sky

Lemon Meringue Pie

Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:

¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:

2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
½ cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
¼ cup (60 mL) butter
¾ cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:

5 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt
½ tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
¾ cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.

Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

Comments

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Congratulations on your first challenge! You completed it in a true DB style :)

Posted by:Tablebread | January 28, 2008 at 08:11 AM

Your pie looks awesome, congratulations on a successful challenge!

Posted by:Amber | January 28, 2008 at 08:53 AM

Just lovely!!!

Posted by:DeeLight | January 28, 2008 at 11:23 AM

Your pie looks great!

Posted by:Deborah | January 28, 2008 at 12:51 PM

Congratulations on your first challenge! Isn't this so much fun? I joined last month, and both challenges so far have been a lot of fun, even though everything doesn't always work out exactly as I exptected..

Posted by:lina | January 28, 2008 at 01:08 PM

i'd say your pie came out beautifully! welcome to the DBs, and congrats on your first challenge!

Posted by:steph | January 28, 2008 at 02:33 PM

Looks like a wonderful pie! Congrats and welcome to the DB'ers!

Posted by:Michelle | January 28, 2008 at 02:48 PM

Congrats on your first challenge! It looks great!

Posted by:Meryl | January 28, 2008 at 03:06 PM

Looking great... good job.

Iisha

Posted by: | January 28, 2008 at 06:58 PM

Great job on your first challenge! The pie is beautiful!

Posted by:Carla | January 28, 2008 at 08:16 PM