Sunday, April 1, 2012

Loving Lemon

As a college student you would think that cooking and baking wouldn't be on my top priority list. Unfortunately for my bank account. . .it is. I have a newfound passion for all things culinary and have been dabbling since I returned from Italy. This is my new venture to save what I come up with. I can only hope to inspire people along the way. I have a soft spot for Alice Waters so my first post is dedicated to her:









Lemon Meringue Pie

Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
a generous pinch of sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 stick and 6 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter cut into chunks
3 tbsp ice cold water
2 tbsp raspberry extract (*special touch)

Combine the salt, sugar, flour in a food processor, slowly adding chunks of the butter into the mix. The butter should blend until the lumps are the size of small peas. Add the water slowly until the dough begins to combine and holds together when squeezed. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours.

Flour your counter surface generously, the roll dough into a 12" circle about 1/8" thick. Fit into a 9" pan, trimming the edges and pricking the bottom several times. Freeze the crust for 20-30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 375º, line the crust with pie weights and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the weights and then bake at 350º for another 12-15 minutes or until golden brown and firm. Place to the side.

Filling:

Ideally, I would use Meyer lemons because they are far sweeter, but these are a rarity in the Midwest, so work with what you have locally!

2 lemons
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
6 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks
a pinch of salt

Meringue:

3 large egg whites
1/4 tbsp cream of tartar
6 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract



Finely grate lemon zest into a small bowl, and add fresh, strained juice. In a saucepan, beat the yolks, eggs, and sugar together. Add the juice and zest mixture to the pan. Cook over low to medium heat, constantly stirring until the butter is melted and the mixture thickens and coats the spoon. Remove from heat and whisk then set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
Run mixture through a mesh strainer into the pie shell and evenly smooth throughout.

Bake at 350º for 5-10 minutes or until filling sets then, remove and turn the temp up to 375º.

Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until frothy, then add cream of tartar. Beat until soft peaks can be made and beat in sugar and vanilla. Spread the meringue over the pie to create a seal with the crust (corner to corner). Bake for roughly 10 minutes or until meringue lightly browns. Allow pie to cool completely (roughly 1-2 hours).
Enjoy!


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