January's challenge was Lemon Meringue Pie. For those who are not familiar with the Daring Bakers, each month a recipe is posted and kept secret by the members of the Daring Bakers. We must then conquer the recipe sometime during the month and then post it on the designated day. So, today is the day we all are posting our Lemon Meringue pies. Thanks to Jen (Canadian Baker) for the recipe idea.
When I was shopping at the store looking for Cream of Tartar, I had to call my mom and ask where the heck I could find it in the store. She told me the spice aisle. So, to the spice aisle I went and stood in front of that intimidating huge wall of spices and could not focus my eyes on Cream of Tartar. Finally, a very nice lady helped me find it. If you do not know what it looks like, it's a white powdery looking substance packaged in a small spice jar. Maybe I'm the only one in the baking world that didn't know what it was... embarrassingly enough I was initially looking in the soup aisle... such as Cream of Mushroom... yikes.
I was excited about the dough because I finally learned how to flute the edges and make it pretty! But, was I ever bummed when I took the crust out of the oven and the fluted edges did not stay. Good thing I took a picture before baking the crust!
Check out everyone else's pies on the Daring Bakers blogroll.
Recipe:
Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie
For the Crust:
3/4 cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt
1/3 cup (80 mL) ice water
For the Filling:
2 cups (475 mL) water
1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter
3/4 cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract
For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar
1/4 tsp (1.2 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract
3/4 cup (180 mL) granulated sugar
To Make the Crust:
Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt.Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of 1/8 inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about 1/2 inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.
To Make the Filling:
Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated. Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick.
Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.
To Make the Meringue:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.
Free-Style Lemon Tartlets(from "Ripe for Dessert" by David Lebovitz)
Prepare the recipe as above but complete the following steps:To roll out tartlet dough, slice the dough into 6 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll each circle of dough into a 5 inch disk. Stack the disks, separated by pieces of plastic wrap, on a plate, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.To bake the dough, position rack in oven to the centre of oven and preheat to 350ºF (180ºC). Place the disks of dough, evenly spaced, on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely.
To finish tartlets, first place oven rack in the upper third of the oven and increase heat to 425ºF. Divide the lemon filling equally among the disks, mounding it in the centre and leaving a 1-inch border all the way around. Spoon the meringue decoratively over each tartlet, right to the edges, in dramatic swirling peaks.Return tartlets to oven and bake for about 5 minutes, until the meringue is golden brown.
Laura says
I would not put salt or cream of tartar in your meringue. You will get a better meringue if you whip the egg whites until soft peaks, then add in a bit of sifted icing sugar, and whip until hard peaks. The meringue will be a mile high
Claire says
Your pie looks wonderful...and your fluted crust is great! elcome to the DB's.
Rosa's Yummy Yums says
Your LMP looks marvelous and perfect! I love the meringue topping! Well done!
Cheers,
Rosa
Lis says
I love your lil spikes! Such a pretty pie. 🙂
Glad everyone liked it!
And uhh.. I laughed out loud at my monitor when you confessed you were lookin in the soup aisle. Thanks for that! 😀
Welcome to the DB'ers!
xoxo
Lunch Buckets says
Congratulations on your first DB challenge success!
Dolores says
Congratulations, and welcome. Great job on your first challenge. Don't worry about the cream of tartar thing... it's the first of many items this group will send you to the store searching for. 🙂
Jenny says
Oh you made me laugh. If tartar were a soup ingredient, I wonder what it would be. At least you didn't substitute tartar sauce.... 😉
Your pie looks terrific!
Angel says
Don't feel bad about the cream of tartar. My one try at making angel food cake asked for it and since i didn't know what it was i put tartar sauce in it. It was possibly the most disgusting cake ever!!! Your Pie looks fabulous, and it seems like the curd is holding its form well too. Great Job!!
Mer says
Good job!
Elle says
That is one beautiful pie! My crust lost the flutes during baking, too, but meringue covers a multitude of ooops. So glad you are a Daring Baker!
wmpe says
Your LMP looks great! Your cream of tartar adventure is too funny! Wendy
Tartelette says
Welcome to the Daring Bakers! Your pie turned out gorgeous...and look at that inside shot...Yum!!
Deborah says
I've never been good at making the pie crusts pretty. It seems like most people had a hard time keeping the edges of this one pretty. Your finished pie looks wonderful!
~Amber~ says
Your pie looks wonderful, the meringue is beautiful. Congratulations on your first DB challenge.
amberskitchen.blogspot.com
Katia says
Looks like you had a great experience with the pie. The pie is great- and you learned what cream of tartar was! 🙂
Aparna says
Congratulations on a lovely looking pie. This was my first challenge too.
MrsPresley says
congrats on your first DB challenge! the meringue topping is beautiful!
Susan says
I don't know how anyone who's never used cream of tartar before knows to look for it in the spice section. Thanks goodness for moms and cell phones! My crust flutes didn't stay either. Pie looks great. Welcome to the group!
Melanie says
Very funny about the cream of tartar! Congrats on your first challenge - I think your pie looked great!
Tracy says
Wow, your pie is impressive. From one rookie Daring Baker to another, congratulations!
Beth G. says
Congrats on your first challenge- your LMP looks great!!
Nikki57 says
Congrats on finishing your first challenge. It looks great!
Laura Rebecca says
Congrats on completing your first challenge -- the pie looks great!
Peabody says
Looks like it turned out great. Welcome to the Daring Bakers.
Jennyfer says
Look at that meringue! Good job!
Big Boys Oven says
Love LMP it looks so awesomely beautiful!