Adventures of the Curd Kind

Lately, I've been thinking about baked goods. Nothing over the top (of the crust), just your ordinary items available at the local market, like all the variations of breads and pies, and the first that came to mind is the lemon meringue.

Of course, the first part of every pie is the crust, and having a mother who can bake with one eye closed, one hand tied behind her back and monkeys taunting her (AKA me and my brother begging for cookies) has brought me to believe in this about crust -- never bother with store-bought. Why? Pie crust is one of the simplest things to make, as long as you keep a few things in mind, but that's for another post.

Now, lemon meringue. It's easy to get a slice of this pie at most diners or bakeries, but too many times have I seen one of these sugary, lemon curds gone wrong when homemade. The meringue is too short, or the crust is too tough. Even worse, the filling is a tart, citrus soup. So, I set out on a mission -- to create the best recipe for this simple but oh-so-easily-disastrous confection.

To start, I tried a family recipe which won't be posted here. The taste was alright, but overall, it was not a good pie. Typical of many I've tried, the filling was soupy, and the meringue was tough. Upon looking over the recipe closer, I noticed that it only called for 3 eggs, and the meringue didn't include any cream of tartar. So it was no wonder that the recipe failed, and pushing forwarding on my mission, I tried another from Alton Brown.

This recipe uses 4 eggs instead of 3 and includes cream of tartar, and the pie did come out better. It wasn't perfect though, and the filling separated. Determined to complete this quest, I threw out the soupy pies and started over. This time, I increased the egg content even further and also tried a new meringue. Some other key changes include using a wooden spoon, quality zest, lower baking temperature and increased cooking time. The results were amazing. With just a few changes, I was able to make a lemon pie that had a nice curd. My recipe is below, and I've emphasized my alterations in bold.

Best Ever Lemon Meringue Pie

5 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)

1/3 cup cornstarch

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/3 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (only use the outermost part of the peel for the zest, avoiding any pith. This may require an entire lemon to get enough for the recipe)

1 (9-inch) blind-baked pie crust

1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Preheat the oven to 325

Whisk the eggs yolks in a small bowl and set aside. In a sauce pan, whisk cornstarch, sugar, water and salt. Turn the heat on to medium and stir mixture frequently with a **wooden spoon**. Bring to a boil and let boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat, and add half the mixture to the eggs. Gently whisk to combine, and then add the egg mixture to the remaining mixture in the sauce pan, also gently whisking to combine.

Turn the heat down to low and return the pan to the burner. Cook, stirring constantly, for one minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in the butter, lemon juice and zest. **Return to the burner and cook for one more minute, stirring constantly.**

Pour mixture into the prepared pie crust and top with meringue while the filling is still hot. Spread the meringue to the crust to prevent shrinking, and bake till meringue peaks are golden, approximately 20-25 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 4 hours before serving. The pie should be completely cooled before cutting.

Meringue

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

5 egg whites

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl. With a whisk attachment, beat egg whites until soft peaks form, and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Viola!!

Easy as Pie Part 1: Crust

The first in my Baked Installment: Pie Crust...easy to make and equally easy to ruin. Here are the tips my mom shared with me when I picked up my first rolling pin (with a few of my own additions over the years):

1. Keep all your ingredients cold. I cannot emphasize this enough. So, again. Keep all your ingredients COLD!!! This helps to keep the butter/shortening/lard from melting in your dough, and those globs of fat you'll see in the rolled out dough will make your crust nice and flaky.
2. Use a healthy* portion of fat. Most recipes for crust call for only 3 TBSPNs of butter, but this just isn't enough. Why would we want to skimp here anyway? It's not as if we're thinking about our waistlines when making pie! So, make it good...and make it buttery. I use 1/3:1 ratio for my butter and flour. If your recipe calls for one cup of flour, then use 1/3 cup of butter. Then, use an additional 2 TBSPNs of lard or shortening.
3. Add the cold water a little at a time. Check the dough after each tablespoon to see if it's too dry, and keep going till you have a firm dough. You'll see some loose flour in your bowl, and that's alright. You just don't want a gooey mess.
4. Work the dough as little as possible. Why? As you massage the dough, this creates gluten strings which are great for maintaining th structure but not for a flaky texture. So, we don't want these. Work the dough just enough to combine everything. Then, you'll form a ball and roll the dough out to fit your pan.
5. When rolling out the dough, first press the rolling pin into the dough about 3-4 times to help flatten it. Then, roll up and down. Turn the dough, roll up and down. Repeat till your dough is about 1/4" thick.
6. Set in the pan. Trim the edges, and chill for 15 minutes.

Inspired by a friend who recently asked me to show her how to make crust, and written for prosperity sake. Maybe others will find this helpful, too.

*healthy in the sense of ample, not the calorie-counting sort.