Tasty Tuesday: Lemon Meringue Pie

Monday, March 14, was Pi Day. My kids are a little too young to learn about the 3.14 pi, but that didn't stop us from making the kind-you-eat pie. 

Pie Crust

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable shortening                     1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour                       1/2 cup cold water

Directions:
1. Mix shortening, flour, and salt together with a fork or a pastry blender until very crumbly. Add as much water as needed to hold together, and mix lightly with a fork.
2. Roll gently on a floured pastry cloth to about an inch larger than pie plate. Fold carefully in half, lift to pie plate, and unfold. Press into pan. For a single-crust pie, trim with a small knife to about 1/2 inch beyond rim. Fold up, and pinch so edge of pie is raised from rim.

Before baking, we put the prepared crust into the freezer for 30 minutes so the crust wouldn't slip down the sides while baking. Then, we put wax paper and rice in the crust to weigh it down. We baked it like that for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. We took the rice and wax paper out, poked holes in the crust, and baked it for 10 more minutes.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients:
1 cup white sugar                                            2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour                       4 egg yolks, beaten
3 tablespoons cornstarch                                1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked        
1/4 teaspoon salt                                             4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups water                                              6 tablespoons white sugar
2 lemons, juiced and zested

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. 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.

3. 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.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

Jake tasted the meringue and said, "Mmm, this tastes like marshmallows!" He didn't like the lemon part though. Either did Alyssa, which is surprising since she LOVES lemons. The rest of us liked it. It is very tart and lemony and delicious. Happy Pi Day!