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A classic recipe for lemon meringue pie, with homemade crust, tart lemon filling and toasted meringue topping. This pie tastes as delicious as it is impressive with its mile high mound of swirly meringue.
You might also love this chocolate eclair pie, chocolate cream pie, and Bavarian cream pie.
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Ingredients
- Pie Crust or Shortcrust Pastry. Take your pick between a thin and flaky homemade pie crust, or a press-in-the-pan shortcrust pastry, which is more like a shortbread cookie. Honestly, there’s no best option here; both types of crust are equally good with the lemon filling and fluffy meringue.
- Eggs. You’ll need 6 eggs, but you’ll be separating them to use the yolks for the filling and the whites for the meringue.
- Sugar. Adds sweetness to the filling and the meringue, as well as helps to stabilize the whites when they’re whipped.
- Cream of Tartar. Stabilizing ingredient for the meringue.
- Vanilla Extract. Flavor.
- Lemons. You’ll need fresh lemon juice and grated zest to add plenty of lemon flavor to the filling.
- Corn Starch. Thickens and sets the filling.
- Butter. Adds richness and flavor to the lemon filling.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.
Instructions
Crust
- Prepare the Pie Dough as instructed. Follow the instructions for this Eclair Pie to blind bake the crust in a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom.
- If preferred, you can also make a press-in-the-pan Shortcrust Pastry, instead of pie dough. The shortcrust pastry will also need to be blind baked, per the instructions.
- Cool the crust completely, before adding the filling.
Meringue
- Make the meringue first, before making the filling, so the meringue is ready to spread over the hot filling.
- When you separate the eggs, you’ll be using all the egg whites for the meringue, and all the egg yolks for the filling. It’s important that no grease or fat (or broken egg yolk) touches the egg whites, or they may not whip properly. Use a paper towel or cotton ball soaked in lemon juice or vinegar to wipe clean all the mixing bowls and utensils that you’ll be using to make the meringue.
- Start by setting up a double boiler. This is simply a saucepan filled with about an inch of simmering water, set on the stove over medium low heat, with a heat-proof bowl placed on top of the saucepan. The bottom of the bowl should not be touching the water.
- In the bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar. Heat the egg white mixture, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture reaches 160 F.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, pour the warmed egg white mixture. Whip the egg whites on medium high speed (#6/8 on a Kitchen Aid mixer) to stiff peaks, then beat in the vanilla extract. It may take about 10 minutes to whip the egg whites.
- Set the meringue aside while you make the filling.
Filling
- In a non-reactive saucepan, combine the sugar and the lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until fragrant. Whisk in the corn starch and salt, then whisk in the lemon juice, egg yolks and water.
- Set the pan on the stove over medium/low heat. Cook the filling while stirring constantly, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon or spatula. This may take about 15 minutes.
- Add the butter, stirring it in until melted, then press the filling through a fine mesh strainer to remove the lemon zest.
Assembly
- Spread the hot lemon filling into the cooled crust. Immediately, spread the meringue on top of the hot filling, spreading it all the way to the edge of the pie. Use a spatula to make the meringue as swirly as you like.
- Toasting the meringue is optional, since the egg whites are already cooked. If you have a brulee torch, you can use it to lightly toast the meringue. Otherwise, you can bake the pie in a 375 F oven, for anywhere from 5-10 minutes, until the meringue is lightly browned.
- Let the pie cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for several hours, before serving.
- Lemon meringue pie is best served the day it’s made. Refrigeration speeds up the process of the meringue “weeping” and causing pools of liquid to appear around the pie, so keeping leftovers isn’t recommended.
Be sure to read all of my BAKING FAQs where I discuss ingredients, substitutions and common baking questions, so that you can be successful in your own baking!
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to bake lemon meringue pie to cook the meringue topping?
No, this isn’t a requirement. The whites in the meringue are already cooked, so only bake it with the topping if you want to brown the meringue all over in the oven.
How should I store the leftover pie?
Lemon meringue pie is best served the day it’s made. Refrigeration speeds up the process of the meringue “weeping” and causing pools of liquid to appear around the pie, so keeping leftovers isn’t recommended.
How do I prevent my lemon meringue pie from weeping?
I have not found a way to prevent this type of pie from weeping. The advise from many websites is to be sure to spread the meringue onto the filling while it’s still hot, but I did not find that this did anything to prevent weeping. Other advice was to only whip the meringue to soft peaks, not stiff peaks, the theory being that as the proteins in the meringue continue to tighten as the pie sits, this causes the weeping against the surface of the filling, and soft peaks are allegedly more stable than stiff peaks. At my high altitude of 5,280 feet, I tried this recipe with the meringue whipped both to stiff peaks and to soft peaks, and the result was exactly the same. Within a few hours, pools of liquid started to form around the pie. So, my advice? Top the pie with the meringue when you’re ready to serve the pie, and enjoy it right away. No leftovers.
Can I make this pie in advance, without the meringue?
Yes, you can. You can make the crust and fill it with the lemon filling, up to 1 day in advance, keeping it loosely covered in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, make the meringue and pile it onto the pie.
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Mile High Lemon Meringue Pie
Heather Smoke
A classic recipe for lemon meringue pie, with tart lemon filling and toasted meringue topping.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
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Prep Time 1 hour hr
Cook Time 45 minutes mins
Chill Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins
Total Time 5 hours hrs 15 minutes mins
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings8
Equipment
Stand Mixer with Whisk Attachment
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 recipe All Butter Pie Dough
Meringue
- 6 large egg whites
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ tsp cream of tartar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest
- 5 tbsp corn starch
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- ½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
Instructions
Crust
Prepare the Pie Dough as instructed. Follow the instructions for this Eclair Pie to blind bake the crust in a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom.
If preferred, you can also make a press-in-the-pan Shortcrust Pastry, instead of pie dough. The shortcrust pastry will also need to be blind baked, per the instructions.
Cool the crust completely, before adding the filling.
Meringue
Make the meringue first, before making the filling, so the meringue is ready to spread over the hot filling.
When you separate the eggs, you'll be using all the egg whites for the meringue, and all the egg yolks for the filling. It's important that no grease or fat (or broken egg yolk) touches the egg whites, or they may not whip properly.
Use a paper towel or cotton ball soaked in lemon juice or vinegar to wipe clean all the mixing bowls and utensils that you'll be using to make the meringue.
Start by setting up a double boiler. This is simply a saucepan filled with about an inch of simmering water, set on the stove over medium low heat, with a heat-proof bowl placed on top of the saucepan. The bottom of the bowl should not be touching the water.
In the bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar. Heat the egg white mixture, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture reaches 160 F.
In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, pour the warmed egg white mixture. Whip the egg whites on medium high speed (#6/8 on a Kitchen Aid mixer) to stiff peaks, then beat in the vanilla extract. It may take about 10 minutes to whip the egg whites.
Set the meringue aside while you make the filling.
Filling
In a non-reactive saucepan, combine the sugar and the lemon zest. Use your fingers to rub the zest into the sugar until fragrant. Whisk in the corn starch and salt, then whisk in the lemon juice, egg yolks and water.
Set the pan on the stove over medium/low heat. Cook the filling while stirring constantly, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon or spatula. This may take about 15 minutes.
Add the butter, stirring it in until melted, then press the filling through a fine mesh strainer to remove the lemon zest.
Assembly
Spread the hot lemon filling into the cooled crust. Immediately, spread the meringue on top of the hot filling, spreading it all the way to the edge of the pie. Use a spatula to make the meringue as swirly as you like.
Toasting the meringue is optional, since the egg whites are already cooked. If you have a brulee torch, you can use it to lightly toast the meringue. Otherwise, you can bake the pie in a 375 F oven, for anywhere from 5-10 minutes, until the meringue is lightly browned.
Let the pie cool at room temperature for 30 minutes, then refrigerate for several hours, before serving.
Lemon meringue pie is best served the day it's made. Refrigeration speeds up the process of the meringue "weeping" and causing pools of liquid to appear around the pie, so keeping leftovers isn't recommended.
Keyword High Altitude, Lemon, Meringue, Mile High, Pie
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I'm Heather, and welcome to Curly Girl Kitchen, where you will find high-altitude tested recipes for beautifully photographed cakes and sweets. I believe that the kitchen is the heart of a home, and everyone is welcome in mine. So stay a while, sip a cup of coffee, and bake something sweet with me!
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