I'm a stickler for perfection, and even though the client Oohed and Aahed over the end result, I was a bit hard on myself because the meringue lost some volume by the time this photo was taken - okay it was almost a day later after being baked but still.... .
For the filling, next time around I'm going to reduce the water by half and replace with milk for a richer taste and smoother mouth feel. For the merinque, I could've used powdered sugar but realized that using regular sugar is fine as long as the egg whites are sufficiently whipped - no grittiness at all.
Because of time not being on my side, I admit to giving in to using pre-made crust. :-( Be sure to blind bake (line crust with parchment paper, pour in dry beans or rice) at 325 degrees for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
Here's the recipe:
1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice - if you use bottled lemon juice your membership is revoked
1/2 tbsp of lemon zest
1 1/2 cups of water
1 1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
5 egg yolks - save the whites for the meringue
5 egg whites - saved from separating the eggs
5 tablespoons of Corn Starch
4 tablespoons of butter
1/4 teaspoon of Cream of Tartar (will help egg whites to hold)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
To make lemon filling (curd):
In a medium saucepan, stir or whisk together the water, cornstarch, 1 cup of sugar and salt. Cooking over medium heat, cook mixture until it reaches a gloopy consistency. At this point stir in butter, lemon juice and zest.
With egg yolks in a separate dish, take a bit of the hot mixture and stir into eggs for tempering-if you add the eggs directly without tempering you run the risk of having bits of cooked egg in your filling. Take egg mixture and now stir into the remaining hot mixture. Cover and onto the Meringue.
To make Meringue:
Using a handheld mixer, beginning whipping egg whites in a medium sized bowl that has enough room to hold the egg whites once they expand. Once egg whites begin to expand in volume intermittently add remaing 1/4 cup of sugar while still beating. Lastly add cream of tartar and whip until egg whites are stiff and are glistening.
Pour Hot Lemon Curd filling into prebaked pie shell and completely spread the meringue over the pie filling to the edges of the crust. This will ensure that egg whites don't weep as the hot filling will cook/seal the underside of the whites.
Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until meringue reaches a golden brown. Let cool at least 2-3 hours as the filling sets up nicely. Now you have Lemon Meringue Pie.
I'm going to use this recipe for bite sized tartletts and add to the menu.