Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie. Old fashioned & scratch made!
Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie. If your lemon meringue pie comes from powder in a box, STOP! A fantastic homemade lemon meringue pie, made completely from scratch, tastes much better and is actually just as easy to prepare.
Originally published Oct, 2007
Here's one for the lemon lovers. Made completely from scratch, just like Grandma used to make. No artificial anything here! So much better than those artificial powder pretenders. Reminds me of Sunday suppers while growing up.
A homemade lemon meringue pie is a good reason to perfect your pastry making technique too. I always recommend that beginner bakers start with pastry pie shells before moving on to two crust filled pies.
You will get a better feel for working with the the dough and likely have more success in getting a flaky pastry if you practice with making pie shells for filled or custard pies first.
Perfect your flaky crust technique here and then move on to two crust fruit pies when you are more comfortable with pie pastry.
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The Very Best Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie
If your pie comes from powder in a box, STOP! A fantastic homemade lemon meringue pie, made completely from scratch, tastes much better and is actually just as easy to prepare.
Ingredients
For the Pastry. Sufficient for two 10 inch pie shells.
- 1 cup very cold butter cut into small cubes
- 2 ½ cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup ice water, or a little more. Only enough to make a dough form.
For the Filling
- ⅓ cup corn starch
- ⅓ cup cake flour
- pinch salt
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 5 egg yolk slightly beaten
- Zest of 2 lemons, very finely chopped
- Juice of 2 lemons, about ¼ cup.
- 2 cups water
- 3 tablespoon butter
For the meringue
- 5 egg whites
- 1 ¼ cups sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tarter
- Pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the pastry
- Using a food processor or a pastry blender cut cold butter into flour and salt until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Small pieces of butter should still be visible.
- Pour cold water over the mixture and work in by tossing with a fork until dough begins to form. Use your hands as little as possible and work the dough as little as possible.
- Divide dough into 2 balls, flatten into 2 rounds, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rest for a minimum of 20 minutes. You can freeze the second round for another time.
- You can make your dough the previous day but make sure you take it out of the fridge for 10 minutes to warm slightly before rolling out.
- Roll the dough into a 12 inch round and place in the bottom of a 10 inch pie plate.
- Trim and flute the edges as desired. Poke a few holes in the bottom of the pastry shell, rest in the refrigerator for an additional 20 minutes before baking at 400 degrees F for 12 – 15 minutes or until golden brown. (For best results I often now blind bake the crust as shown tin the photos above.)
- Cool completely before adding the filling.
To make the filling
- In a medium saucepan, combine corn starch, cake flour, sugar and salt. Pour in water and stir constantly over medium low heat until mixture comes to a slow boil.
- Remove the pan from the heat and reduce the flame to low.
- Pour about a cup of this mixture onto the slightly beaten egg yolks while whisking constantly.
- Pour the egg mixture back into the rest of the other mixture in the pot, whisking constantly.
- Return to the stove and cook for an additional 3 minutes stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice and lemon rind.
- Finally whisk in your butter one tablespoon at a time.
- Pour the filling into the baked and cooled shell. Let stand for a few minutes while preparing the meringue.
To prepare the meringue
- Whip egg whites, vanilla, salt and cream of tarter to soft peaks.
- Very gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat the egg whites.
- Dollop in heaping tablespoonfuls onto pie. Gently spread over the filling, making sure that the meringue touches the crust all the way around the pie. This will help to prevent the meringue from shrinking.
- Bake in a 325 degree F oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the meringue is well browned. Cool pie thoroughly in the refrigerator before serving.
- Keep refrigerated.
- Dip a sharp knife in cold water to help with cutting the pie into slices and clean the knife with paper towel between cuts.
Notes
In reviewing the comments and following up with some people who had issues with this recipe, please note that you should not attempt to make any substitutions. At the end, when it says to add the butter, ONLY REAL DAIRY BUTTER will work. Many people have reported using margarine, even the tub of spreadable margarine. That is the road to sure disaster. Butter means butter.
- The amount of lemon juice is often asked about online and in emails. I get about ¼ cup of lemon juice out of 2 lemons. For safety sake don't add more than that. The lemon flavour comes mostly from the zest anyway. The juice just gives it a little tangy flavour. -Be sure to cook the base enough before adding the juice and butter. Use a silicone spatula to scrape the bottom as you stir, so that the mixture will not burn, but it has to be as thick as possible as is shown in the photo.
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Nutrition Information
Yield
12Serving Size
gAmount Per Serving Calories 299Saturated Fat 12gCholesterol 129mgSodium 284mgCarbohydrates 27gSugar 20gProtein 3g
I'm going to make this pie for my husband this weekend. Can all purpose flour be used instead of cake flour. Thank you!!
I've never used anything but cake flour.
Hi, I would like to know what kind of flour? Thanks
For the crust or filling?
One way to help keep the meringue from weeping or sliding is to sprinkle some cookie crumbs on top of the filling before adding the meringue to the top of the pie. HTH
hello i would like to try out this recipe, but the problem is that i live in germany where you cant buy cream of tartar. is there any way to replace it? thank you for your help!
I know of nothing else. It is not complete;y necessary but it does help stabilize the meringue.
Hi Carolin - you can purchase “Weinsteinbackpulver” in Germany.... it’s the equivalent of Creme of Tartar 🙂
I made this pie last night and it is very tasty...however, my lemon filling never gelled up and ran everywhere when I cut into it. I was hoping it would gel or harden up in the fridge over night but it did not. I followed the directions to the T. What did I do wrong?
I suspect you did not cook the filling to the proper consistency.
I would not recommend that. You may end up with lemon meringue soup in a soggy shell. Best to prepare fresh and consume within a day or so.
Can we make ahead and freeze
Afraid not.
I love this recipe! But I have a question. If I make the lemon ahead of time and it sets up in the fridge, can I bake the meringue on it the next day without ruining the lemon filling? I have to work the day of, and i won't have time to make the pie fruition start to finish.
Sorry the filling has to cool in the pie.
It needs to be stressed at the very BEGINNING of this recipe, make sure you cook the lemon pudding long enough until Extremely thick and pudding-like texture prior to topping with meringue then browning. Lemon meringue is basically lemon pudding in a pie shell topping with fluffy loads of beaten egg whites.
I’ve made my share of stove top scratch puddings and pot de creme.... meringue pies are a combination of these techniques.
Oh and just FYI to future people making this recipe, All-Purpose flour works just fine in creating the lemon pudding mixture, I know because I did it first time making this particular recipe.
Hope I made my pudding thick enough this is for tomorrow, Thanksgiving 2017.
Meringue came out fine no issues there.
There is a photo of the filling consistency before adding the lemon. I think you are right. For most of those with issues, this is their common problem.
I made the pieand followed recipe to a T. Filling tastes amazing, but my meringue flopped. I'm not sure what I did wrong. When filling the pie I thought it was filled to much could this have caused it the meringue to flop? In my thoughts I think I could have gotten 2 pies out of the filling and meringue?
Even though it flopped it still was a great hit with my family. The taste was great!
Thank you for the recipe. Definitely a keeper.
Even a small amount of oil coming into contact with egg whites can ruin a meringue. Make sure your bowl and utensils are completely grease free is my suggestion.
Gluten free and sugar free version!
I made this pie for the first time today. Fabulous looking and delicious! I substituted the cake flour for gluten free sweet rice flour. Also substituted corn starch for tapioca starch, ss husband is allergic to corn. Boiled the lemon filling for a LOT LONGER. than the suggested 3 min once egg yokes added. Continuously stirring with a silicone spatula and allowing the mixture to coat the sides of my non-stick ceramic pot. This produces a More even heat to a larger area of the filling. THAT made for a thick custard like filling that was just perfect. Since my kids don’t do well on sugar, I substituted the sugar in the filling for xylitol. No problem there. And the sugar in the meringue I substituted for 3/4 cups of powdered monk fruit sweetener. With the cream of tartar added and beating the meringue until very glossy, I had a beautiful meringue that was stiff, tasty and didn’t weep. So for those of you who want to enjoy this in a gluten-free and sugar free version, that’s how.
Hey! sounds really good! I have a question though... I absolutly LOVE the combination of lemon and mint. do you think if I add some super fine chopped mint leaves with the lemon zest it will work or it can ruin the whole thing?
I dunno about that! I wouldnt add that to the filling.
I have made many lemon meringue pies and have never been able to figure out what causes them to weep/ sweat so bad?? Also, you didn't say how long to let them cool before putting them in the refrigerator?? Also, what causes the meringue to shrink?
Im my experience, meringues that shrink are overwhipped. Cool almost to room temperature before the fridge will help with the weeping too.
Hi, I made the pie crust for your lemon meringue pie last weekend. I always have a terrible time making pie crust. (Maybe due to the fact that my mother could have 6 pie crusts made, rolled and in the pie plates by the time I gathered all the ingredients...lol) Hard to live up to. At any rate, I followed your instructions to a tee. All looked great. When I took them from the oven after the required time, the pastry had shrunk. I was so disappointed. What could have caused this?
This happens when you stretch the dough when putting it into the pan. Make sure the pastry is sort of pushed into the corners and has plenty of slack. Let the pastry rest in the pan for up to 20 minutes before baking as well.(in the fridge). Blind baking using parchment paper and baking weights is also a big help in baking pie shells.
My sister loves my meringue because it's high and puffy as she says. Her meringues never come out right and I've explained how to make it correctly for years. One piece of advice for the meringue:
* use glass or stainless steel bowls (no plastic)
* refrigerate the bowl and the beaters, so they are cold for whipping the meringue (I refrigerate mine over night)
QUESTION FOR ANYONE: I've made a zillion lemon meringue pies and never had problems, but now this happens. I take the pie out of the oven when most of the meringue is a beautiful light brown color, let it cool on the counter, then refrigerate it over night. This is what happens... MY MERINGUE DEFLATES !!! It goes from a one inch high meringue to a flat meringue. It still tastes the same, but this weird thing happening is driving me crazy! What makes a meringue DEFLAT like a flat tire?