Lemon Sponge Pie

Submitted by CarolAT

"This lemon pie has a light and airy texture because the egg whites are beaten until fluffly, then folded into the filling. This delicious pie recipe was posted in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine."

 

• Ready In: 1hr
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 1 rolled refrigerated unbaked pie shell (1/2 of a 15-oz package)
• 2 eggs
• 1⁄3 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon peel, finely shredded
• 1⁄4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk

• Candied Lemon Slices (for garnish)

• 1 lemon, finely sliced
• 1⁄4 cup sugar
• 1⁄4 cup water

directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare pastry and line 9-inch pie plate. Line with double thickness of foil. Bake for 8 minutes, remove foil. Bake for 4 to 6 minutes more, or until lightly browned. Cool on rack. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees.
2. Separate egg yolks from whites; place whites in medium bowl and set aside.
3. In large bowl beat butter with electric mixer until fluffly. Beat in sugar until combined. Beat in egg yokes, lemon peel, lemon juice, flour, and salt until just combined. Add milk; beat until just combined (mixture will be thin and appear curdled).
4. Thoroughly wash beaters. In medium bowl, beat egg whites with mixer on medium speed until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Fold egg whites into beaten mixture. transfer mixture to prebaked crust.
5. Loosely tent top of pie with foil to prevent overbrowning, making sure the foil does not touch filling. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes more until set in the center.
6. Cool 1 hour on wire rack. Cover and refrigerate 3 hours. To serve top with Candied Lemon Slices.
7. Candied Lemon Slices: In a small saucepan, combine sugar, water; bring to boiling. Add thinly sliced lemon. Simmer gently, uncovered for 12 to 15 minutes or until syrupy. Transfer slsices to waxed paper. Discard remaining syrup.

Reviews

[Bonnie G #2]

Like Tink said, I'm in lemon heaven with this recipe. It's so good and easy to prepare. Love the fluffy texture, and a nice change from most Lemon custard type pies. I made only a few minor changes, added 1 teaspoon of lemon oil (we LOVE the lemon tang) and didn't doe the candied slices instead choosing to grate fresh lemon peal over the top before baking. Other than that followed the simple clear directions to the letter. I STRONGLY advise anyone making this NOT to make the mistake I did. It clearly states "to let it cool for 3 hours before slicing" I got overly eager and cut it way to early and the first slice was runny and not so pretty. After waiting till the next morning again cut it and as you can see by the photo it was perfect - IMHO Thanks so much Carol for a great recipe that is going to be my favorite to make for many occassions. Made for Spring PAC 2011

 

[Karen B.]

I heat the milk then add it to the butter sugar,egg yolks and salt. Than fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

 

[Bekah Balmer]

We loved this recipe. the only adjustment I would make for the next time is to let it sit overnight. Mine cooled and sat for over four hours but still ran a bit when we cut into it. The next day when I cut another slice it had set perfectly.

 

[Tinkerbell]

Oh! This has sent DH straight to heaven! I loved making the candied lemon slices; so pretty! The pie is such a light & fluffy texture but with a huge lemon flavor. Very refreshing! I had to improvise a bit after having an issue with lemons at the store. There were only 3 to choose from, only one that wasn't wrinkly & it was scattered with green areas. I ended up with one half-green lemon to split between 2 recipes; so I used a lime also & did half lemon & half lime zest in this pie, fresh lime juice & bottled lemon juice so I could slice it up for the candied lemon slices. I made & used recipe #333273 for this pie also. Thank you for posting, Carol! Made for Fall 2009 Pick A Chef.

 

[Sarah in New York]

This pie is wonderful! Very light and refreshing. I had trouble with my crust (my fault) and so I didn't take a picture (it's not very pretty), but the pie is very tasty. Made for ZWT5 - Epicurean Queens!