Lemon Meringue Pie

This is my first attempt at a lemon meringue pie, and I am very happy with the way it turned out! I got a basic recipe from allrecipes, but modified it so that it was my own.

My Recipe:

1 pre-baked pie shell

Lemon Filling:
1 cup white sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
2 lemons zested
2 1/2 lemons juiced
2 tablespoons butter
4 egg yolks

Meringue:
4 egg whites
6 tablespoons white sugar
*1/2 to 1 teaspoon vanilla paste/extract (optional)*

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Filling:
In a saucepan, mix together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add in water, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Cook on medium-high, stirring constantly until mixture boils. Stir in butter. Whisk egg yolks in a small bowl, and slowly stir in 1/2 cup of the lemon/sugar mixture. Once mixed, add the yolk mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the lemon/sugar mixture. bring to a boil and keep stirring frequently for several more minutes. Remove from the heat, and pour filling into the baked pie shell.

3. Meringue:
In a glass or metal bowl, beat egg whites until they are foamy. Then add the sugar in slowly, and keep beating until the whites form stiff peaks. Spread the meringue over the pie, selling the edges at the crust. (Spatulas work best for this.)

*On Vanilla: When I used the vanilla , I used 1 teaspoon vanilla paste, and added it in when I started mixing in the sugar. Doing this caused the meringue to take a much longer time to stiffen, and in the end I never did end up getting the same consistency as normal meringue. Looking back, I would have added the meringue last once the desired stiffness was reached.

4. Bake in oven for 10 - 15 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.



When I first took the pie out of the oven and had a slice, the lemon mixture weeped a bit - the plague of all lemon meringue pies- but once it had been refrigerated for several hours it looked like this:



Voila! No more weeping! So, from what I've learned, if you want a slice right when it comes out, go ahead, but don't expect it to be completely firm until after it is chilled.