It is birthday season in our family. Three of us have January birthdays, together with my grandmother, who will have fun her 92nd birthday this 12 months. Our household matriarch loves all issues lemon so this 12 months I am planning to make her favourite, mile-high lemon meringue pie. The recipe for this uniquely American pie was developed in Philadelphia within the early nineteenth century by a feminine baker and entrepreneur named Elizabeth Goodfellow. A proprietor of one of many nation’s first cooking faculties, Goodfellow herself by no means printed her recipes, or “receipts” as they have been identified then, however they have been documented by a lot of her college students.
Lemons have been a delicacy when Goodfellow created that first lemon meringue pie, and even in my grandmother’s youth any contemporary produce in winter was a valuable commodity. Many recipes, like this one, have been developed to maximise each taste and frugality. Fashionable cooks are additionally in a position to get pleasure from an ever-widening array of scrumptious citrus. Along with sunny-hued Lisbon lemons, the usual selection out there in most shops, Meyer lemons will also be discovered typically as nicely. Not technically a real lemon, Meyer lemons are a hybrid, created by crossing citron and mandarins and have been named after Frank Meyer, the USDA worker who initially introduced them to the U.S. from China in 1908.
These splendidly fragrant lemons are deeper hued and thinner skinned than different lemon varieties, with sweeter flesh than an ordinary lemon. Thinner pores and skin makes them extra perishable, so make sure to retailer them within the fridge to increase their shelf life. Permit them to come back to room temperature earlier than juicing as this will increase their yield of juice, both by leaving them out on the counter for a number of hours or zapping them for 10 to fifteen seconds within the microwave.
Along with including nuanced taste to traditional recipes, Meyer lemons produce unimaginable lemon curd and actually have a house in savory dishes. Brighten up a winter salad with a subtly candy French dressing, scrumptious over a mattress of wintery blended greens, or shingle skinny slices of Meyer lemon on prime of merely seasoned salmon fillets earlier than shortly roasting in a scorching oven.
Meyer lemon meringue pie
For the filling:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup every cornstarch and flour
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice (or use a mix of lemon, lime and orange juice)
4 egg yolks
2 tablespoons grated Meyer lemon zest
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (if utilizing salted butter omit ⅛ teaspoon salt, above)
For the meringue:
4 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
6 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon citrus liqueur, reminiscent of limoncello or vanilla
A pinch of salt
1 cup marshmallow unfold
1 9-inch pie shell, baked and cooled
First make the filling by combining the sugar, cornstarch, salt and juices in a saucepan and cook dinner over medium warmth till the combination thickens and boils for about 10 minutes. Have the egg yolks prepared in a separate medium-sized mixing bowl. Take away from the warmth and beat a big spoonful of the new combination into the egg yolks to mood them, whisking vigorously, till totally blended. Stir the tempered egg combination again to the saucepan with scorching sugar combination and return to the warmth and proceed to cook dinner over low warmth, stirring continuously, till the combination is thick and clean, about 5 minutes. Take away from the warmth and stir within the zest then whisk within the butter one piece at a time. Pour the lemon combination into the baked pie shell and rub a bit of butter excessive of the filling to stop it from forming a pores and skin, then cowl with plastic wrap and chill for at the least three hours earlier than topping with the meringue.
When able to make the meringue, preheat the oven to 400 levels with the oven rack within the lowest place.
Beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar by hand or in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment till frothy. Steadily add the sugar one tablespoon at a time. Remember to add the sugar slowly to permit it to mix in fully. This may stop your meringue from weeping and permit it to chop cleanly. Add the salt and liqueur or vanilla and proceed beating till the meringue is stiff and shiny. Beat within the marshmallow cream.
Take away the pie from the fridge and dollop the meringue topping onto the pie filling, being cautious to seal the meringue to the sting of the crust to guard the filling. Swirl the meringue with a spatula to type peaks. Bake for 10 minutes till the meringue is golden brown. Let cool for at the least three hours at room temperature earlier than serving. Don’t refrigerate as this may occasionally trigger this meringue to fall.
