Lemon Cream Pie
You have just had the big heavy meal. It could have been pasta, steak and baked potato, pork roast with mashed potatoes, or your idea of whatever is big and satisfying. Even though you are stuffed you really feel the need for. as we say in our family, ‘something to cut it’, something to round out the main entrée. Something light, perhaps a bit sweet, but most importantly, something with a bit of a bite to clean the palate. You have arrived at just the right recipe that guarantees to finish off your meal with a refreshing snap. This recipe combines the right amount of tart with sweet and the cream filling wraps the tart and sweet into a pleasing, smooth texture.
The original recipe calls for meringue, but whipped cream also works. The meringue recipe is listed in the instructions.
Lemon Cream Pie
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 baked and cooled 9 inch pie shell.
Filling
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 6 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 cups cold water
- 3 large egg yolks (reserve the whites for meringue)
- 3 tbsp butter
- grated peel from 1 large lemon
- 1/2 cup lemon juice (juice of about 2 lemons)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
Meringue
- 3 egg whites
- 1/4 tsp cream of tarter
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Filling
- To make the filling, combine the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan.
- Stir in the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, then constantly as it gets hotter, until the mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Boil, stirring, for 1 minute.
- Put the egg yolks in a small bowl. Stir about 1 cup of the boiling sugar mixture into the yolks.
- Return the hot yolk mixture to the saucepan and boil gently, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
- Remove from the heat and add the butter, grated peel, lemon juice, and vanilla, stirring till the butter melts.
- Spoon the filling into baked and cooled crust.
Meringue
- Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl, and beat till foamy,
- With the beater going, gradually add the sugar, beating until the mixture holds a stiff peak; when you lift the beater out of the meringue, the meringue will stand straight up with just its top curling over.
- Add the vanilla at the end.
- Spoon the meringue atop the hot pie filling, bringing it all the way to the edge of the plate.
- Bake the pie for 8 to 10 minutes at 400 degrees, until the meringue is as golden brown as you like it.
- Remove it from the oven and allow the pie to cool for several hours before serving. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.