Lemon Meringue Pie

Laurel, my mother in-law, and I made a lemon meringue pie! We had a lot of fun making it because neither of us has made this kind of pie before! It was fun to experiment and put our heads together to see what we came out with...however, it was pretty much just Laurel's head because this is only the second pie I have made in my ENTIRE LIFE! It was pretty much delicious! And, once more, the credit goes to...WENDY! Thank heavens for amazing sister in-laws!

Yellow Pie Crust Recipe From: Laurel

Meringue and Filling Recipe From: Wendy Winterholler

Yellow Pie Crust:

1 1/8 cup flour

1 Tbs. sugar

1/4 t. salt

1/2 cup butter flavored crisco

2 Tbs. cold water

Combine flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in crisco like so:

When all mixture is crumbly, add water, 1 Tbs. at a time, and toss with fork after each addition. Mix lightly. After dough is throughly mixed, press dough into a loose ball. DO NOT TIGHTLY PACK DOUGH. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.

After refrigeration, roll dough out until approx. 1/4 inch thick. Place into pie pan. Leave 1-inch rim of dough along outer edges of your pan. Form a  rim on edge of pan by pinching with fingers. Prick bottom and side thoroughly with a fork. Bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool prior to adding filling.
Meringue:

3 egg whites

2 t. cream of tartar

1/2 t. vanilla

6 Tbs. sugar

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar and vanilla until foamy and about double in volume. Soft peaks will begin to form. Gradually add sugar one Tablespoon at a time, beating at highest speed until sugar dissolves and meringue forms firm peaks. The color at this time will also change from white to glossy.

Filling:

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 Tbs. cornstarch

3 Tbs. flour

dash salt

1 1/2 cups HOT water

3 slightly beaten egg yolks

2 Tbs. butter

a light 1/3 cup of fresh lemon juice (aka...not quite 1/3 cup)

Mix the sugar, cornstarch, flour, and salt in a sauce pan and gradually add hot water, stirring constantly. Cook and stir over high heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat and continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes more. (Make sure that you do the full 2 minute cooking times, this allows the fillings to cook and hold its shaped when cooled).

After the mixture has cooked for the above 2 minutes, crack eggs yolks into a DIFFERENT BOWL. Add a small amount of hot mixture to gradually temper the eggs. (Temper=slowly warm up the eggs before adding them to the boiling mixture, if they are added while cold they will immediately cook, yuck!) Then add the eggs to the boiling mixture and bring to a boil again. Cook and Stir for 2 minutes. Remove the hot mixture from the heat and add butter and lemon juice. Stir until well blended (the butter will be melted).

Pour the hot mixture into the pie shell.

Spread meringue over pie fillings making sure to seal the edges completely to the shell to prevent shrinking. We used a small spatula and plopped ping pong ball sizes of meringue on top, then smoothed so there were no holes. I felt like we were getting TOO close to the edges, I was wrong! Exaggerate sealing the meringue to the shell!

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until meringue is a delicate brown. Allow pie to cool for AT LEAST 4 hours on rack away from a draft.

Serve and be amazed!