Introduction: How to Make Lemon Meringue Pie

About: Hey y'all! My name is Lydia and I want to share my passion for cooking/baking with everyone!

If you are looking for a sweet treat on this hot summer day, look no more because we are making Lemon Meringue Pie today! This pie is sweet, tart and has a beautiful meringue. The pie, lemon filling and the meringue all work so well together. This pie does have a lot of steps to it so make sure to have a few extra hours on hand to make this and once it bakes you will need to allow it to fully cool before slicing into it (that is really the hard part in my opinion). The pie is best the first day because of the nature of meringues (they tend to fall and start weeping). So, if you want to learn how to make your own Lemon Meringue Pie follow along step by step and don’t forget to check out the video tutorial as well. Let’s go!

Supplies

Step 1: Ingredients

  • 1 homemade pie crust

For the lemon filling

  • 6 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 cup sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • ½ cup lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons butter

For the meringue

  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1/3 cup cold water
  • ½ cup white granulated sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 5 large egg whites (room temperature)

If you need to convert the measurements: https://unitconverter.net/cooking-measurement

Step 2: ​For the Pie Crust

Preheat over to 375 degrees F. Roll out pie crust and fit it into pie dish. Crimp the edges and line a sheet of aluminum foil onto so it goes over the edges. Fill that with dry beans or pie weight.

Step 3: Blind Bake

Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil with the weights and prick the crust with a fork. Bake pie for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.

Step 4: ​Lemon Filling

In a medium-sized saucepan add cornstarch, sugar, salt stir to combine.

Step 5: Boil Mixture

Add water and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil on medium heat, whisking constantly. Let simmer for a minute or two until the mixture begins to thicken. Once mixture is thickened, remove from heat.

Step 6: Whisk Egg Yolks

In a medium bowl whisk egg yolks. Add a spoonful of cornstarch mixture to egg yolks and whisk to temper the eggs. Repeat until you have used up half of the cornstarch mixture.

Step 7: Add Egg Yolks to Cornstarch Mixture

Add the rest of the egg yolk mixture to the cornstarch mixture in the saucepan and on medium heat cook 3-4 minutes stirring constantly.

Step 8: Add Lemon Juice

Remove from heat and mixture through a fine sieve and stir in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and butter until combined. Set aside.

Step 9: Combine Cornstarch and Water

Preheat Oven to 325 degrees F.

In a small saucepan, whisk together 1 cornstarch and 1/3 cup of cold water until the cornstarch dissolves. Heat on medium heat and whisk until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Remove from heat and set aside.

Step 10: Combine Sugar and Cream of Tartar

Whisk together sugar and cream of tartar and set aside.

Step 11: Beat Egg Whites

Place egg whites in the bowl of your mixer. Start beating the egg whites on medium speed. Once the egg whites are frothy, slowly add in the sugar and cream of tartar, a spoonful at a time. Beat until the egg whites form soft peaks.

Step 12: Add Cornstarch Mixture

Add the cornstarch water mixture (it should look like a gel) a spoonful at a time, as you continue to beat the egg whites. Increase the speed to high and continue to beat until the egg whites have formed stiff peaks.

The cornstarch mixture will help in keeping the meringue from weeping (or getting watery).

Step 13: Heat Lemon Filling

Heat the lemon filling until it is bubbly. Add it to the pre-baked pie dish and spread it evenly on top.

By heating the filling, we are keeping the pie from forming condensation and weeping. Meringues tend to weep so we want to avoid any of that and we want to get the perfect Lemon Meringue Pie.

Step 14: Add Meringue

Add the meringue on top of that and seal the edges to the pie crust to prevent weeping. Use the back of a spoon to create texture.

Step 15: Bake

Bake for 20 minutes or until the meringue is golden brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Step 16: Enjoy!

Enjoy this refreshing pie!

Step 17: Video Tutorial

If you prefer a video tutorial, you can watch it here!