Mimi's Lemon Meringue Pie

Mimi in Maine's Note:

This is the best-ever Lemon Meringue Pie you could ask for. It is made with fresh lemons and fresh grated lemon peel. This is to die for---well not actually, but it has great lemon flavor and it is not that hard to make. Before putting the lemon filling in the pie shell, you will notice that a couple of tablespoons of the meringue go into the filling. It is wonderful. Once you make this you will not want to have any other.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 pie

• 1 baked pie shell
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1/3 cup water
• 4 egg yolks ((slightly beaten--save the whites)
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

MERINGUE

• 4 egg whites (saved from the yolks)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

1. In a saucepan combine the first 1 1/2 cups water, salt, and the sugar; heat to boiling.
2. In a small bowl mix the cornstarch and 1/3 cup water to make a paste.
3. Add to the boiling mixture gradually, stirring constantly; cook till thick and clear.
4. Remove from heat.
5. Combine the egg yolks and lemon juice and mix well.
6. Stir into thickened mixture slowly, stirring all the while as you don't want to scramble the yolks (you could temper the yolks, but if you are careful about the contstant stirring, you will not need to do that).
7. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until mixture bubbles again; remove from heat.
8. Stir in butter and lemon peel.
9. Cover and cool to lukewarm.
10. MERINGUE:.
11. Add the salt to the egg whites and beat till frothy.
12. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, beating till glossy peaks are formed.
13. Stir 2 rounded tablespoons of the meringue into the lukewarm lemon filling and mix well.
14. Put the filling into a baked pie shell and pile the meringue on top spreading to the edge of the shell.
15. Bake in a 325-350 degree oven about 10 minutes or till golden.

Reviews

[Chef #1468548]

Okay so I made this pie tonight and followed the directions spot on except I added a little more lemon zest. I didn't think this would hurt the texture since it was only zest and not liquid. The only problem I ran into at first was that my boiling mixture didn't ever clear. It had a cloudy color. I wasn't sure how long to cook it since the recipe said to cook till think and clear. I decided that it probably wasn't going to change colors so I finished the pie. It looked amazing especially when I made my meringue and put it on top. I baked and let sit to room temp. I was excited because I had tasted the mix while cooking and it tasted amazing! But when I sliced into my pie it was so runny! I didn't understand since it started out thick and I thought I had pretty much followed the recipe to a T. So I turned to google and I read on several pages that corn starch won't work if cooked to long. I read that I should have cooked it at 1 minute after boiling where as this recipe never gave me an exact boil time and I must have overcooked my mix ruining my starch making a runny lemon pie :( I love the flavor but don't know why it didn't set right. This is my first lemon pie so I'm only at a guessing point. Any tips would be helpful.

[LonghornMama]

Excellent pie! Thanks for sharing the recipe!

[CHEF GRPA]

I really liked it. BUT with??? Calories 3304.2 Cholesterol 846.8 mg Sodium 3188.8 mg
Sugars 404.2 g I'll will not make it again. Next time I will read the Nutritional Facts.
Be for I attempting this again, I'll have to figure out what seasonings to use, by reading all of the review, and see that will work for others, and than for me, to make it more flavorful or lot better for me to do! Anyway, excellent to do a SCRATCH on recipes. The more I play with my food, the more I love cooking, to make a recipe that will work for me, that is!! Than I can do the happy food dance!! I've will added this to my recipe book with my additions.
THANK YOU!! SORRY It was good, But I can't have it. ** UPDATE 7/22/12 ** You are right duonyte not the hole pie but; 1 serving size, 1 piece of the pie; I did misunderstood the calorie count. thank you, But the pie is so good. 5 STARS