Description
The perfect balance of tart and sweet
Ingredients
Meyer Lemon Lattice Meringue Pie
Crust*
1 ½ cups (6 oz) all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar plus additional for pie edge
½ teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons (4 oz) vegetable shortening, cold
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) cold water
1 egg white
Meyer Lemon Filling
2 eggs
7 egg yolks
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup meyer lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
1 tablespoon meyer lemon zest
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Lattice Topping**
2 egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- For the crust combine the flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl; cut in shortening.
- Add water and mix until just combined. Shape into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill 15 minutes.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface and fit into a 9-inch pie dish. Decorate edge with pastry cut-outs.
- Line the pie shell with aluminum foil and weigh down with dry beans or pie weights. Place pie dish on a baking sheet. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Remove foil and weights.
- Lightly brush edge of crust with egg white; sprinkle with sugar. Return crust to oven and bake 10 minutes more or until a light golden brown.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325F.
- Meanwhile, prepare filling. In a medium saucepan, whisk eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and zest. Add butter and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes or until mixture thickens and reaches 170F. on an instant read thermometer.
- Remove from heat; stir in heavy cream. Pour filling into warm pie shell.
- For lattice topping, beat egg whites and cream of tartar to soft peaks.
- Gradually add sugar and vanilla beating to stiff peaks.
- Pipe meringue over pie in a lattice pattern.
- Bake 20 minutes or until meringue is golden brown. Cool and chill pie before serving.
Notes
*ready made pie crust can be substituted for home made crust
**double the lattice topping ingredients if you want to skip the lattice and cover the whole pie with meringue
** I suggest taking your meringue to the next level with this mile high light Italian Meringue made with roasted sugar. To roast the sugar: spread 1/2 cup of sugar on a piece of foil and place it in a pie plate at 350F for 30 minutes. Then continue with this recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Pie and Pastry Bible
In small heavy saucepan, (I use one that has a pouring spout edge), stir 1/2 cup roasted sugar with 2 tablespoons of water until sugar is moistened. Heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved and syrup is bubbling. Stop stirring and turn heat to lowest setting or remove from heat as you attend to the egg whites. In stand mixer with whip attachment, beat 4 egg whites until foamy. Add 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar and beat to stiff peaks. Increase the heat of the sugar syrup and boil until thermometer registers 236F. With mixer on high, immediately drizzle syrup into the egg whites avoiding the beaters. Beat for 2 minutes or until the mixer bowl no longer feels too hot to touch. Starting from the edges of the pie and covering the inside edge of the crust with meringue spread the meringue on top of the filling making swirls and peaks with a spatula. Bake the pie for 5 minutes at 350F to set the meringue and then place pie under broiler for 20 to 30 seconds for a deeper browning. You could also torch it.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: dessert
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American