Lemon Meringue Pie

I have been ill due to a complication with my gall bladder surgery. Since I have been cooped up in my house I felt well enough to do some baking and experimenting yesterday. When I was growing up my  Mom made the best lemon meringue pies ever when I was a kid. I have a feeling she used the boxed lemon meringue filling. Mine is a different recipe. I did sub bottled lemon juice for squeezed. I also have perfected my meringue and got to pull out my stand mixer. You can use a hand held mixer, but I found this saves the wrists.



Lemon Meringue Pie

1 premade, pre-baked pie crust (I used Martha Stewart's recipe)
3/4 cup lemon juice
3 TBSP corn starch
2 TBSP flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
4 eggs separated (yolks for the filling)

Meringue
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1 pinch cream of Tartar
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Poke holes and prebake the pie crust using parchment paper loaded with pie weights or beans to weigh the pie crust down. If you don't do this the crust separates from the pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove the pie weights and bake for another 5 minutes or until the pie crust is baked through. .

Add the water, corn starch, flour,  and sugar to and sugar to a medium sauce pan. Stir with a whisk until boiling. Add in the lemon juice. Stir and remove from the heat. Add the egg yolks one at a time and continue to stir. After all have been added, return to the heat and continue to mix for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool for 20 minutes. Stir the mixture periodically. Put the whites in the fridge.

Use a fine mesh strainer to pour the pie filling through. Use a spoon to push it through and into the pie crust. This assures there are no lumps in the filling. Refrigerate pie for 2 hours. Remove the whites from the fridge and place in a clean metal bowl. I used a stand mixer. I began beating the meringues on low. I added the vanilla and sugar with a pinch of Cream of Tartar slowly until the whites became glossy and formed peaks. Cover the pie with the meringue and use a knife to lift the meringue up and form peaks. Place under a broiler for 5 minutes until browned. Cool for a few minutes and back to the fridge if you can wait that long!