Happy national lemon meringue pie day!

 

So apparently….today is National Lemon Meringue Pie Day! So to honour this day I made this…..

Pretty, Eh?

I can remember my mother making lemon meringue pie for us growing up, but I am pretty sure that hers were the ones that came out of a box.  I will say that she did always make her own pie crusts though…and it was good crust!  We use to eat them often up at the cottage – and when it was the six of us there was no cutting the pie into eighths….it was sixths baby!  A nice, oversized slice of lemon meringue pie!  Can you say comfort food?

Today I decided to do something a little different – a Lemon Meringue Tart. 

I started with a simple graham crust recipe – shrunk by thirds – to fit into two small 4 inch tart pans. My fav for making small desserts.  Then I made this Lemon Curd to fill the tart shells…..

Dorie's Lemon Curd
1 egg
6 egg yolks
1 1/4 c sugar
6 TBSP of unsalted butter - cut into 6 pieces
Juice of 4 lemons

Put all the ingredients in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, and stir with a heatproof spatula to moisten the sugar. Put the pan over medium-low heat and cook, stirring without stopping, until the butter melts and the mixture thickens like custard, 4 to 6 minutes. Keep your eyes on the pan, because the curd can curdle quickly. It is cooked enough when you can run your finger along the spatula and the curd doesn't run into the track you've created. Don't worry if the curd looks thin at this point - it will thicken more as it cools. Remove the pan from the heat and scrape the curd into a heatproof jar or a bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the curd to create an airtight seal and cool to room temperature before storing in the fridge.

Then I made a meringue to top them….I used Dorie’s recipe and halved it to make a rich thick meringue for my tarts!

Meringue Topping

2 egg whites – at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat your broiler!

Working in a clean, dry mixer bowl with the clean whisk attachment whip the egg whites at medium speed until opaque.  With the mixer running, add the sugar in a slow stream and continue to beat until the whites are glossy and form firm peaks.

Spread the meringue over the lemon filling. Make sure the meringue covers all the way to the edges, because it will shrink when it bakes.

Run the pie under the broiler until the meringue is golden and the tips are dark brown.  Remove the tarts from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving.

And then you end up with this……

I hope you all had a very happy National Lemon Meringue Pie Day.

Take Care,
Tania
Love Big, Bake Often