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Thursday 6 August 2015

Lemon Meringue Pie - Gluten-Free!

It seems to have turned into a summer tradition of whipping up a delicious lemon meringue pie when my sister-in-law, Lily, visits.  I, personally, think it's an excellent tradition.  The recipe below is written out in order of how best to prepare this pie.  The meringue below requires boiling a sugar syrup and then letting it cool.  I find if you do that first then it's ready to use by the time you've made up your crust and lemon curd filling.  I find that by doing this, the meringue has more structure and holds together perfectly when slicing your pie.   It was definitely a hit! 'Til next summer... or perhaps sooner... Enjoy!
Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Pie
A fresh slice of delicious gluten-free lemon meringue pie! 

Lemon Meringue Pie - Gluten-Free!
Serves 8

Make a batch of Kristin's buttermilk pastry crust recipe.  You'll need half recipe for this pie, so you can make a half recipe, if desired.  Or, you can use the other half of the pie crust dough as the bottom for a quiche or another pie like the raspberry cream cheese pie or blueberry cream cheese pie Let the dough chill while you prepare the following sugar syrup.

Prepare a sugar syrup for the meringue topping first to allow the sugar mixture to fully cool while you make and bake your pie crust and make the lemon filling:

Mix together in a medium sized saucepan:
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp cornstarch
1/2 cup water

Cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil, whisking constantly.  When it's at a rolling boil, let it boil for 1 minute.  Then set aside the sugar mixture to cool.

Roll and bake one pie crust at 425F for 15-17 minutes until light golden brown.   To get the prettiest crust, roll out the dough between plastic wrap.  Use plastic wrap to help shape the edges of the dough.

While crust is baking, prepare lemon curd filling:

In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat, whisk and bring to rolling boil for 1 minute:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cup water
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
zest of 1 or 2 lemons

Add, whisking constantly:
4 egg yolks, whisked
3 Tbsp butter

Let the lemon mixture boil for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and pour over hot pie crust.  Cover immediately with plastic wrap while you finish making the meringue topping.  
Lemon curd filling in baked pie crusts.  You can see one with a crimped edge vs. one hastily pressed into the pie plate.  The difference in color was primary due to the egg yolks used, although the one on the left I accidentally added too much sugar (it was actually really delicious, though I try not to do that normally).  Bright yellow yolks will give a vibrant hue to the filling.  The taste will be great either way. 

Set oven temperature to 350F.

Finish meringue topping:
Whisk (easiest in a mixer or with a good hand-held mixer) until soft peaks form:
4 egg whites
pinch salt

Slowly add the cooled sugar syrup to the egg whites.  Beat on high until stiff peaks form.

Remove the plastic wrap from the top of your lemon curd.
Spread meringue gently over pie, making sure to have the meringue touch the edges of the crust to create a nice seal over the entire pie.  You can smooth the top or use a spoon to make little spikes across the tops depending on your preference.
Meringue topping spread on top of pie. 
Bake at 350 F for 12-15 minutes.  Meringue should look a nice light brown on top.  Let pie cool on a wire rack.  Great warm, but best cooled, then chilled in the refrigerator.  Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve.  Enjoy!
Cooked pies, now set aside to cool. 
Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Pie
Great while still warm or cooled completely. This meringue slices so nicely and tastes great! 

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