Lemon Meringue Pie

This pie was not easy to make, and once I finished it I said that I probably wouldn't be making it again...

Then I had a bite.

But really how annoying is it to make a three component, gazillion-step recipe, with instructions to "Serve that day" (after cooling to room temperature). I did it though, and my friends and I were verrrrrrrry happy to dive into it the night I made it and find the lemon filling just the slightest bit warm, indicating how fresh it was. I had literally started making the thing early in the morning and my friends came over at like 8pm! And really, the pie the next day, having been refrigerated overnight, was great too, but it did bead up on top of the meringue. However, the filling and meringue did not separate or get oozy, and the flavor didn't dull, so I might make this one day ahead of time if I needed to. Well... at least I might do the crust ahead because that took hours of chilling in between steps, but I'd do the filling and meringue the same day - these components cannot be made separately ahead of time.

The recipe is from the ol' tried and true American Classics cookbook from Cooks Illustrated (and America's Test Kitchen). It's in fact the dish pictured on the cover, so I see it allllllllllll the time and was finally compelled to make it.

The recipe seriously is long and tedious (and I'd have to re-type it since it's not online), so I won't post it unless there is a request for it. I'm happy to do it though if anyone wants it, so just ask!

An interesting part of this pie is the crust, which is rolled out with graham cracker crumbs rather than extra flour. This makes the crust a little... heartier I guess is the right word. It does not get soggy next to custard fillings.

For this kind of pie, and many others, you have to bake the pie crust before putting in the filling. Pie crust is tricky, I don't care what anyone tells you. You make the dough, chill it, think it's lookin' good. You roll it out, still doing OK. Get it in the dish, crimp the edges with a fork or somehow manage to make the edges look decent - homemade looking, but decent. You're feeling good. You might even chill it for a while at this point, but then you throw it in the oven and it SHRINKS majorly and it BUBBLES up in the middle like a sopapilla. It can ruin your day.

I liked this pie crust recipe (which can be rolled graham cracker crumbs or flour depending on the type of filling), even though I had previously sworn by Martha's pate brise (an all butter dough). This one has butter and shortening. You can see from the before baking and after pics that it only shrank a little, and did not bubble up. Oh happy day!

Two main steps made this possible: 1: proper chillage (once it's in the pie dish, refrigerate 40 minutes and then freeze 20 minutes just before baking), and 2: pie weights (I have ceramic ones, but the link I made to heavier, metal ones on a chain is the kind I want for Christmas, hint hint anyone!). Some cookbooks will tell you that dry beans work just as well as actual "pie weights" but they do NOT. They are not heavy enough. You line the crust with foil to prevent too much browning, and press in the pie weights in, then bake. After 25-30 minutes you remove the foil and weights and allow it to continue cooking to brown for 5 or so more minutes.

Here's the pie as it went into the oven. A tip for any meringue pie recipe is to make sure that the meringue touches the edges of the crust all the way around the entire pie. This will make it stick and prevent the meringue from pulling into the middle.

It's so hard not to dive in as soon as it comes out of the oven!

So much baking, unlike cooking, is nerve-wracking because you discover if you've succeeded or failed at the same time as your guests do. But whatever the outcome, at least you've tried, right?! And always try to follow Julia Child's advice to NEVER APOLOGIZE; NEVER EXPLAIN. Everything turned out precisely how you intended it. (Or at least that's what they'll think!)