Paulsen Zoo: Lemon Meringue Pie (without zest of finger)

This is my dad, my grandPa, and my father-in-law's favorite pie. If you love lemon bars, you will love this pie. End of story. I made it this past weekend for my father-in-law Dale's birthday.

Lemon Meringue Pie

For the pie filling:

1 1/2 c. sugar

2 T butter

6 T cornstarch (aka 1/4c. + 2T)

1/4 t. salt

1 1/2 c. boiling water

1 t. lemon zest

1/2 c. lemon juice (I fresh-squeeze mine, usually takes two lemons)

3 beaten egg yolks

1/2 c. cold water

For the meringue:

4 egg whites

6T sugar

1/4 t. cream of tartar

and 1 cooked pie crust to put it in!

Separate the eggs, putting the egg whites into your stand mixer (or bowl you will use for making the meringue), and 3 of the egg yolks into a small bowl. Beat the egg yolks with a fork.

Start boiling some water (I use our tea kettle). In a saucepan, stir together sugar, salt, and cornstarch.

Juice the lemons into a measuring cup. I use this lime squeezer, it works just fine if you squeeze the lemons both ways, meaning squeeze them pulp-side up, and then pulp-side down to get all the juice out. Two lemons usually gets me 1/2 cup.

Use a spoon to scoop out any seeds that got into the lemon juice, but don't worry about a little bit of pulp. You are going to add lemon zest so a few lumps won't matter anyways.

Zest the lemons. Usually I do this before juicing them (it's easier). I have this fancy zester that my mom got me for Christmas one year. Just be careful not to zest your finger into the pie!!! This advice comes from experience. Cut finger + lemon juice = pain!

Pour the cold water, lemon juice, and beaten egg yolks into the saucepan with the dry ingredients.

Add the butter. Turn burner of stove onto medium heat.

When the water boils, add the 1 1/2 cups boiling water gradually. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

It will get thick right before it boils, and the bubbles will make popping sounds. Boil for 3 minutes, still stirring.

Remove from stove and stir in lemon zest. Cool while preparing meringue.

Beat egg whites at high speed until frothy and forms soft peaks (shown below).

Add 6T sugar and cream of tartar and beat until stiff and not dry. I know it's done when I pull up the stand mixer head and the meringue holds it's form in a peak where the wire whisk was removed.

Pour cooled pie filling into baked pie crust.

Spread meringue on top, using spatula to make waves and patterns. Make sure edges of meringue are "sealed" against the pie crust.

In the Jones family, we top all our meringue pies with a Pie Pip (shown below). The contest is to see who can steal the Pie Pip from the top of the pie (well, Auntie Wendy and Dad compete).