Friday, Jan. 25, 2013

Lemon Meringue Pie

It amazes me how quickly time flies by.  I can’t believe my dad is already turning 70 today!  It’s a little bit of a shocker; I think I’m still in disbelief.  I think we need to slow time down.  It seems like it was only few years ago that he showed us how to fish (and spent the majority of time untangling one of our lines), numerous camping trips, arguing about ridiculous curfews, teaching 3 daughters how to drive (I couldn’t imagine anything being more stressful than that!), going to our graduations, and, most recently, attending my sister’s wedding.  We have teased him about his old-age endless times and how my Uncle Bob coined the phrase “Elder-siting” just for him.  But, no matter how old one is, it all comes down to how you act & feel.  And I think my dad’s doing pretty good for his age-he’s constantly learning and pushing himself to do everything he wants to do.  He’s even got himself connected with Facebook and Skype! Scary-I know! 

Anyway-last year, my uncle sent me some of my grandmother’s handwritten recipes.   There’s only a handful of them…sigh.  Browsing through it, I found her lemon pie recipe, which coincidently, is what my dad asked for his birthday.  While it needed some slight adjustments, I loved the smooth texture and flavor of this pie.  I am not a huge fan of lemon meringue pie to begin with, but I am lucky that Gavin is (as evidenced by him eating the whole test pie in a matter of days).  My grandma didn’t leave instructions for the pie crust and the meringue (she likely knew it off the top of her head-she was a great baker from what I was told), so I had to find one I knew it would work.  I loved how it turned out!  We are so excited to share this with my dad tonight.

So, to end this post-Happy Birthday my dear dad!  We love you so much.  Thank you for being so patient with us, for pushing us to better than we ever thought we could be, for all the good memories and all the trips to town (haha-our personal chauffeur!) when we were young.  We look forward to many more good memories in the years to come.

Hey, Dad-Your pie was made by Marlina & I! J

Lemon Meringue Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

INGREDIENTS

For the pie crust

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 tablespoons ice water, plus more if needed

For the lemon filling

¾ cup sugar

1 ¾ cup water

4 tablespoons cornstarch

1 egg

1 grated rind of a lemon

½ cup- ¾ cup lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

2 tablespoons butter

For the meringue

5 egg whites, room temperature
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

¾ cup granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS

For the pie crust

Combine the flour and the salt together and mix well. Add in the unsalted butter and mix with your fingers, until the texture is coarse and crumbly. Add in the ice water, mix until all the flour is combined and all the dough stick together. Shape into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour (for up to 2 days in the refrigerator).

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, lining the crust with aluminum foil to prevent burning. Remove foil & bake for an additional 10-15 minutes and cool completely.

For the lemon filling

Sift the sugar and starch into a saucepan. Pour water over the mixture, and over medium-high heat, stir until thick and clear.

Separate the yolk from the white (save that white for the meringue). Whisk into hot mixture. Add butter and remove off stove. Continue stirring until the butter melts, then add in salt, lemon rind, and lemon juice until fully incoporated. Allow to cool completely before pouring into pie crust.

For the meringue

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. With an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract on medium speed until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually and beat until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Transfer to cooled pie, spreading to the edge of the crust to seal. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within the day to prevent a soggy crust.

Source: Pie Crust & Meringue from Brown Eyed Baker, Lemon Filling adapted from my grandmother.