Active Time

　　20 minutes

　　Total Time

　　1 hour plus cooling

　　This lemon meringue pie recipe is perfect for any season. While citrus fruits like lemons are at their best in winter, this sweet-tart dessert has such a sunny color that it also looks right at home on a summer day. The filling is similar to lemon curd, with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest, sugar, egg yolks, and plenty of butter. While it has a fairly sharp flavor, the cloudlike meringue topping balances it out, giving you a perfect equilibrium of taste and texture in every bite.

　　While each of the pie’s elements—pie crust, filling, and meringue—is simple, you’ll want to proceed with care to avoid having a soggy crust, a soupy pie filling, or a meringue that “weeps” (releasing beads of water): First, blind-bake your pie shell and let it cool to room temperature, so that it’s nice and crisp. Then, when you make the lemon filling, be sure to bring the milk mixture to a boil, to activate the cornstarch (which is what will thicken the pudding). While the pie crust and lemon filling cool, whip your egg whites with cream of tartar and sugar until stiff peaks form so the meringue holds its signature shape. Finally, when you fill the baked pie crust, spread the meringue to the very edges of the pie, so that it touches the crust, before decorating it with pretty swoops and swirls. This will seal the pie and keep it from losing moisture when you slide it back into the oven to toast the meringue until it’s golden brown.

　　

Ingredients

Makes one 9- to 10-inch single crust pie

　　

For shell:

1 recipe Pastry Dough for a single-crust 9- to 10-inch pie

　　Raw rice or pie weights for weighting shell

　　

For filling:

1 cup sugar

　　5 tablespoons cornstarch

　　¼ teaspoon salt

　　1 cup water

　　½ cup milk

　　4 large egg yolks

　　1 tablespoon unsalted butter

　　½ cup fresh lemon juice

　　2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

　　

For meringue:

4 large egg whites

　　¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

　　½ cup sugar

　　

Make shell:

Step 1

On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough into a 13-inch round, (about ⅛-inch thick) and fit into a 9-inch (1-quart) pie plate. Trim edge of dough, leaving a ½-inch overhang, and crimp edge decoratively. Prick shell in several places with a fork and chill, covered, 30 minutes.

　　

Step 2

Preheat oven to 400°F.

　　

Step 3

Line shell with wax paper and fill with rice or pie weights. Bake shell in middle of oven 10 minutes. Remove paper and rice carefully and bake shell until golden, about 12 minutes more. Cool shell in pie plate on a wire rack.

　　

Step 4

Lower oven temperature to 350°F.

　　

Make filling:

Step 5

In a heavy medium saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt and gradually whisk in water and milk, whisking until cornstarch is dissolved. In a medium bowl whisk together egg yolks. Cook milk mixture over moderate heat, whisking, until it comes to a boil. Gradually whisk about 1 cup warm milk mixture into yolks and then whisk egg yolk mixture back into milk mixture. Bring to a simmer, whisking, then continue to whisk until thick, 3–5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter, lemon juice, and zest until butter is melted. Cover surface of filling with plastic wrap.

　　

Make meringue:

Step 6

In a large bowl with an electric mixer or in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, beat egg whites with cream of tartar and a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks. Beat in sugar in a slow stream, beating until meringue just holds stiff peaks.

　　

Step 7

Pour filling into shell and spread meringue on top, covering filling completely, sealing it to pastry. Draw meringue up into peaks and bake pie in middle of oven until meringue is golden, about 15 minutes. Let pie cool completely, about 2 hours. Pie can be chilled for up to 6 hours.

　　Editor’s note: This recipe was originally published in the May 1995 issue of ‘Gourmet’ and first appeared on Epicurious in August 2004. The instructions have been updated to reflect that the lemon filling should be cooked on the stove until thick and that the pie should be completely cool before slicing. This way for more of our best pie recipes →