That's exactly what MyGirl and I did today ... with two of the three lemons we had left from a bag of lemons I got on discount several weeks ago.
I say "MyGirl and I" but the truth is, MyGirl did most of the work mainly because she was the one who wanted to make the lemon meringue pie. I just wanted to put the lemons to good use. If I had my way, I would make lemon squares because they are easy to make. Of course I know that whenever I make lemon squares, I end up eating most of it because the rest of the family don't like the 'tang' as much as I do. So when MyGirl suggested lemon meringue pie, I was all for it.
I think the lemon meringue pie idea came from having caught an episode of The Great Australian Bake Off a couple of weeks back where their technical challenge was to make a lemon meringue pie. Out of curiosity (and because there were some left over lemons), I had searched up the recipe and emailed it to MyGirl back in July.
Here we were in August and the lemons were still on the counter. So those lemons just had to made into something ... anything!
I pulled out my cookbook and we checked whether we had all the needed ingredients.
(Can you tell there was a lemon pie recipe in this cookbook?)
I discovered we didn't have enough biscuits to make a crumb crust, so I decided to make a flaky pastry pie crust from scratch instead. When the dough had rested in the refrigerator for about half an hour, I called MyGirl to get started with the pie (since I had to work on getting lunch ready).
She rolled out the dough and transferred it onto the pie plate. I put the crust in the oven to bake while she prepared the filling. After she made the filling, she did the meringue.
I swear I can leave her in the kitchen and she can whip up desserts on her own. When I asked her if she had added the sugar to the beaten egg whites slowly, she replied, "Mom, I KNOW how to make a meringue!" (Indeed she does.)
Truly this pie was MyGirl's creation. She even got the thumbs up from her oldest brother. Now THAT says a lot about how good the pie was. (On my part, I knew the crust was good because RD refused to let me have a bite off the crust which he has saved for last.)
Recipe : Magic Lemon Pie
1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 c lemon juice
1 t grated lemon zest
2 eggs, separated
1 8- or 9-inch crumb or baked pastry pie shell
1/4 t cream of tartar
1/4 c sugar
Preheat oven to 325 deg.
In a mixing bowl, combine condensed milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and egg yolks.
Stir until mixture thickens.
Pour into chilled crumb crust or cooled pastry shell.
Combine egg whites and cream of tartar in a medium bowl.
Beat until almost stiff enough to hold a peak.
Add sugar gradually, beating until stiff and glossy, but not dry.
Pile lightly onto pie filling.
Bake in pre-heated oven for 25 to 28 minutes or until meringue is lightly browned.
Cool and serve.
This recipe was adapted from another cookbook where it called for 3T butter and 2T shortening (and using a food processor and resting time of an hour). Since Crisco is not an off-the-shelf item here and I don't own a food processor, I made do with what we had available.
Recipe : Flaky Pastry Pie Crust (for a 9" pie crust)
1 c all purpose flour
1/4 t salt
1/4 c softened butter
3-4 T cold water
In large bowl, combine flour and salt
Use pastry cutter (or two knives) to cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse sand
Add water a tablespoon at a time until the dough holds together
Form into a disk and cover with plastic wrap
Let rest in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Blind bake at 375F for 20 to 25 minutes.
(Increase baking time to 35 to 40 minutes if baking with filling.)
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