Lemon Meringue Pie

Another classic (that I’ve put off)

 

Mostly because of the heart-stopping amount of egg yolks it requires. I used up a whole carton of eggs! 

(And now I have a whole bowl of egg whites in my fridge.)

I know, it reminds me of Mickey Mouse, too.

The lemon filling was quite mild; the bulk of it was actually corn starch and water (I have never made filling this way before, but that’s what the book ordered!). It yielded a firm filling that was not too sweet or too tart, but a mellow citrus. Quite good for a solid, staple dessert.

And it was topped with Italian meringue. Oh, I will conquer meringues one day, I swear! The meringue “wept” (oozed) into my filling and crust and I had to suction some of the liquid out with a dropper. I recently started taking a “cooking and science” class online. (Check out edX.org, an awesome site for free, quality online classes!) A lot of the math and equations are going straight over my head, but I’m hoping to solve some of the mysteries of cooking. Like why I keep failing to achieve the perfect meringue.

But it still looked quite glorious. Like I torched it! (In truth, I forgot and left it in the oven a leeettle longer than I’m normally comfortable with.) And it was quite good, not too sweet, and a great complement to the lemon filling.

I couldn’t wait until my evening appointment and dove right into one of the minis. Hehe! Gone in sixty seconds.

We ate off napkins:)

I find that when feeding a large group, it’s best to stick with sweet, rich, or custard-based pies. Because a small slice will usually suffice for most people. Fruit pies, on the other hand, can be finished off by like three people (maybe two, if male). I wasn’t expecting a lot of people, but the group kept getting bigger. In an interesting sort of way… I’m going to miss these (pie) gatherings when I move!