Lovely lemon

So fun to photograph! This Lemon Meringue Pie used the same pie dough as last week and the previous Pumpkin Pie. The difference is that the shell had to be pre-baked to avoid shrinking. For the filling, water, sugar, salt are brought a boil and a cornstarch, lemon juice and water mixture is added, as well as eggs; all this is mixed (very) quickly to avoid lumps. Once removed from the heat, butter is smoothed across the surface of the mixture and then dropped in to melt, to avoid 'skin' forming. Once cooled slightly, the filling is poured into the pie shell.


For the Swiss Meringue topping, egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar were heated over a double boiler and then whipped until stiff peaks were formed. I piped this over the top of the filling, but it can be poured on and 'spiked' by hand for a more rustic look. The pie is then browned in the oven until golden.