Lemon Meringue Pie

Dec 12, 2005 | From the kitchen of Rose

Margaret Question:
Help! I have made excellent lemon meringue pies (no, I don't have your pie bible...just the cake book) and yesterday I made a double recipe for my son's 42nd. And it was much to sweet and did not set properly even though I am sure I used the right amount of cornstarch plus flour and cooked over boiling water for at least 20 minutes. Could I have overcooked it? The order lemon juice is added to the egg yolks is different in different recipes. Is there a physical / chemical reaction that could have impacted it's "set-up"? I was abit embarrassed as I am known as a good cook and baker. The meringue was fine and has not "wept" even after 24 hoursl.

Rose Reply:
lemon meringue is in the top 3 of my favorite pies. i hope it helps to know that the same thing happened to me when i was showing off my new pie plate to my cousins about 6 months ago! this is the first time in many years that this has happened and on thinking about it i realized that a double boiler is NOT a good idea bc cornstarch will not thicken completely until it reaches a boil and a double boiler prevents it from reaching this temperature. i suspect that bc you doubled the recipe and used the double boiler it did not get hot enough. also the lemon juice is best added AFTER thickening as the acidity can prevent the cornstarch from doing it's job!

if egg yolks don't reach a temperature of over 140 degrees F the thickening they provide actually reverses itself due to the enzyme amylase in the yolk which attacks the starch unless it's deactivated by adequate heat. whew! make it again soon so you won't be left with a sense of failure. it happens to everyone.

baking can be full of surprises. but mostly happy ones!

krissy
05/14/2013 08:23 AM

I tried that pie recipe and it came out great. Although it required a lot of steps it was worth it. I like how it has a lot oc egg yolks. Instead of putting it jnder z broilef I used a cooking torch just to see how it came out and it worked well. Actuslly I have eaten and baked meringue pies that way where you dont cook the top and eat as is so its the consistency of whipped cream.. I like it this way too though.

krissy in reply to comment from Woody Wolston
05/10/2013 10:16 AM

Thank u that is a good idea. My fiance is a librarian. I see if he can ri g it nome to ight.

Woody Wolston in reply to comment from krissy
05/10/2013 10:08 AM

Hi Krissy,
We do not have the recipe for Lemon Meringue Pie on the site.
For any recipe or subject, you can type in the words in the Google Search Box under the pink rose at the top of the page and then click on Search. You will then see a list of "found" entries for you to check. If there is nothing on the site to match your search, you will see that we do not have an entry.
Many libraries have The Pie & Pastry Bible on their shelves.
Rose & Woody

krissy
05/10/2013 09:26 AM

Excuse my typos in my previous comment. I am on a touch s reen computer and im not good with them. My fiances nephew loves his but very hard to type with. I would lke to bake your lemon meringue pie sometime soon u bring to my famiky if I geg to visit them soon as last time I visited my parents were dissapointed I did not bake anything and that is there favorate but I dont have the book moved in yet. Is the recipe on the site.

krissy
05/10/2013 09:04 AM

Is the lemon meringue pie onthis site. I ha e ur book but I am living with my fiance and I didnt move the box with the book in yet. I might visit y famiky someti e this weeke d if I can but I widld like u ri g the pie there.

Mindy@FindingSilverLinings
04/05/2011 12:38 PM

I started out with a key lime pie recipe & ended up with an lime,orange, coconut meringue pie with an oreo crust! Gotta love a happy accident!

http://fisilis.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/paradise-meringue-pie/

Krissy
03/01/2011 12:28 PM

I posted this question again just it case it didn't go through, so sorry if you read it twice. As for lemon meringue, I have made it a few times and only succeded the first time. I used Martha Steward Pies and tarts (good book and though I would like to check out yours), after that one time, I tried her recipe and a couple of others and was not successful. (I didn't want to attept the popular cornstarch recipe as that one did not explain to well for a lemon meringue amatuer). Anway, the last time I made it, the ingredients turned to liquid. Anther time I made it, it tasted good and thankfully it didn't go to waste, but the it was mushy and hard to serve. I made it again with my friend who is a cook (though not much of a baker, but I was hoping he could help) and the same think happened. I did use cornstarch, cook ingredients till thick and chilled it. Is that a common problem? I am not sure if I should attemp it again, but I would like to perfect my lemon meringue making skills, still I hate to waste ingredients.

Krissy
03/01/2011 12:27 PM

To the previous user, sorry, I think the reason you recieved my comments is because you clocked the option,"LEt me know if somebody adds a comment" and the last few responses were from me. The reason you have not recieved any before is because I am the first person this year to make a comment on the cite, anyway, just to be on the safe side I will post my question again, but I am pretty sure it is on the page.

Anonymous in reply to comment from Krissy
03/01/2011 12:07 PM

Krissy, I'm not sure why but I've just gotten several of your questions/comments directed to Rose. Can you check to make sure my email address is not somehow involved in your send list?
Many thanks!

Krissy
03/01/2011 11:59 AM

As for lemon meringue, I have made it a few times and only succeded the first time. I used Martha Steward Pies and tarts (good book and though I would like to check out yours), after that one time, I tried her recipe and a couple of others and was not successful. (I didn't want to attept the popular cornstarch recipe as that one did not explain to well for a lemon meringue amatuer). Anway, the last time I made it, the ingredients turned to liquid. Anther time I made it, it tasted good and thankfully it didn't go to waste, but the it was mushy and hard to serve. I made it again with my friend who is a cook (though not much of a baker, but I was hoping he could help) and the same think happened. I did use cornstarch, cook ingredients till thick and chilled it. Is that a common problem? I am not sure if I should attemp it again, but I would like to perfect my lemon meringue making skills, still I hate to waste ingredients.

Krissy
02/28/2011 10:46 PM

Thanks, I will try that.

Rose Levy Beranbaum in reply to comment from Krissy
02/28/2011 10:32 PM

follow the book's directions and if it doesn't firm at room temperature you have nothing to lose by refrigerating it.

Krissy
02/28/2011 10:31 PM

Thank you. SO you think it is okay to refrigerate it? The book to cool it outside the fridge, but its an old recipe.

Krissy
02/28/2011 10:28 PM

I made a chocolate meringue pie and the ingredients liquified after. The recipe was from the Joy of COoking; is that normal? Should it harden?

Rose Levy Beranbaum in reply to comment from Krissy
02/28/2011 10:23 PM

i'm not familiar with the chocolate meringue recipe but i can tell you that chocolate, when chilled, definitely firms up mixtures! i knew a chef who would add white chocolate to thicken mixtures bc when the cocoa butter is chilled it becomes very hard.

Krissy
02/28/2011 10:18 PM

By the way, I am going to try your idea on increasing egg yolks. I did not know they were smaller, since the Joy of Cooking is an older book (which I like) its good to know how I could adjust it.

Krissy
02/28/2011 10:16 PM

I just stumbled into your website and I actually saw you had advice on lemon meringue. I have your cake book and would like to get my hands on your pie book. However, the past two times I have made lemon merange, two differnet recipes, the custard melted and everything turned to liquid. Now I tried a chocolate pie with a merange topping and the same thing happened. I just made it though, so I am thiking it could harden. It says not to refridgerate. I tried covering the whole thing up so every crevice was covered, but it still leaked and liquified. I did not cool in fridge. The chcolate merangue recipe was from The Joy of Cooking and most of the recipe's I have tried in that book were a success. Do you think the chocolate merange could harden and be fine? I mean it does not have as much wet ingredients as the lemon merange so I assume it is more forgiving.

Rose in reply to comment from Nina Altschiller
02/27/2010 01:31 PM

i've never used the same amount of batter designed for the (2) 9 x 1 1/2" pan for (2) 9 x 2 so i really can't report the difference but it normally does fill by half and rise to the top resulting in 1 1/4" high layers. were yours 1 1/4" high?

Nina Altschiller
02/27/2010 12:17 PM

I made the All Occasion Downy Yellow Butter Cake yesterday. I did not have 9x1 1/2 cake pans, only 9x2. I went to my local kitchen supply shop, and they do not carry 1 1/2" deep pans, so I ordered some, but in the meantime, I needed to bake a yellow cake, so I went ahead and used the 2" pans. I'm experimenting with a new oven (Thermador) and have a Sharp Convection oven, so I thought I'd bake one layer in each. Not having used either before (never believing my salesman when he told me I'd love baking in the Sharp), I set my timer for 23 minutes, to begin checking for doneness. The cakes rose to the tops of the 2" pans and were nicely golden, but still soft in the center. I checked them again at 28 minutes and the tops still didn't spring back, at 29 minutes, they'd just started to pull away from the sides, which meant they were slightly overdone. The layers were identical in texture, very light with very small but visible holes, and moist, but I expect not as moist as if I'd caught them before they started to pull away from the pans. Here's my question: Would the shallower pan have made them denser, or would they have spilled over the tops? The batter did not fill half of the pans, yet it rose to the top. I weighed everything, so having too much batter was not an issue.

Sylvia Smith
12/29/2009 09:51 PM

What good thinking to add crumbs so it has something to hang on to! it's the worst to work so hard on a dessert just to have the topping slide off... so frustrating!
-Sylvia
Seiko SpaceWalk

Anonymous
10/24/2009 11:22 PM

I would refrigerate it.

Mildred Johnson
10/24/2009 09:48 PM

I'll not use the lemon meringue pie until tomorrow. Should I store it in the refrigerator or leave it out.

Mildred Johnson
10/24/2009 09:44 PM

I don't see where the question about refrigerating a lemon meringue pie was addressed. I need to know if it is good to put it into the refrigerator if the pie is made a day ahead of time.

Megan Harding
09/18/2009 07:04 AM

Hello danielle trickett!

danielle
09/18/2009 07:04 AM

hello megan harding...

Mathew
07/12/2009 11:47 AM

Whoops, I see the correction is posted directly above.

Matthew
07/12/2009 11:43 AM

Kim,

I think it is a matter of style--these are two different styles of citrus pie, but you could probably interchange one type of juice for the other if you wanted. Please also see the book errata section for a correction on the LMP.

Kim
07/12/2009 08:26 AM

Hi Rose,
My question is in the difference(s) between the Lemon Meringue and Key Lime Pies. With the Key Lime pie, you call for condensed milk but not for the Lemon Meringue. Why? I have regular success with the Key Lime, but not with my Lemon. Last night, my Lemon was soup and now I see now that the egg yolks weren't cooked to temperature. But I'm curious why you use condensed milk with lime and not lemon? Are the two juices interchangeable?

Rose
06/02/2009 06:00 PM

place a thin biscuit or cake crumbs on top of the cake before adding the meringue.

Tara Lynch
06/02/2009 05:50 PM

My meringue slips off my cake in transit. Can you help?

Tara Lynch

Rose
12/07/2008 08:32 PM

the egg council guidelines state that raw or under cooked eggs can be dangerous to the very young,the very old, and those with compromised immune systems.

Anna Robinson
12/07/2008 06:13 PM

I made my son a LM pie today and had the same problem that was mentioned above. Perfect coming out of the oven..then a mess. He said that when he cut into the pie it was soupy. I now know that I didn't bring the filling up to 140 - 160 degrees. Can he still eat this pie without getting ill from the lemon/egg mixtture not reaching the proper temp?

Maria Wetherill
07/02/2008 08:58 PM

Rose & everyone who started this post on Lemon Meringue Pie,

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Rose, your replies to everyone's posts has given me a wealth of information on why my LM pies haven't work.

When we lived in Delaware County, I never had a problem with my LM pies. Since moving up to the Lehigh Valley, my success rate is closer to zilch! My dear father-in-law renamed it "Lemon Meringoo Pie" b/c of the same issues everyone has posted. I will attempt another using the tips you've given.

I bake pies for friends during the holidays & LM is always one of the requests. Since I have to deliver the pies on Tues (before Thanksgiving), I'm hesitant in offering a LM choice. When refrigerated, for more than 1 day, how does this affect the pies' stability? If you add the cake crumbs, will this prevent the pie from becoming "meringoo" if kept refrigerated more than 1 day?

Thank you again,

Maria

katta
06/29/2008 02:31 AM

hi good recipe

Jennifer
06/05/2008 04:03 AM

Heyy i was just wondering why when making a lemon meringue pastry it is mixed with a knife rather then a wooden spoon? Also what happens to the dough during the baking process?

Brian
04/09/2007 01:49 AM

I was able to get pasteurized eggs recently (they each had a litle "P" in a circle stamped on each shell). They weren't inexpensive, but it made me feel more comfortable using them in a buttercream when I wasn't sure exactly how high the temperature got.

Brian

Rose
04/08/2007 02:04 PM

please read what the egg board advises about the possible dangers to infants and older people and make your own decision about the possible risk involved.this is not a hot link so you need to put it in your browser.
www.aeb.org

Kitty
04/08/2007 01:44 PM

Now that I've read about making sure egg yolks reach 140 degrees F to cause the proper reaction with the starch, I'm worried that my really runny banana cream pie could have uncooked eggs involved. Is this a real concern, or can we keep on slurping it up with spoons?

Kitty
04/08/2007 01:43 PM

Rose
03/08/2007 07:40 PM

that's fine jenna--i appreciate your asking.

Jenna Mason
03/08/2007 01:29 PM

Thank you Rose, I hope that is is fine that I put your response in my report as a quote and point of reference. Jenna

Rose
03/06/2007 01:49 PM

i don't like what microwave does to pie crust so i wouldn't do it. you could of course use a cookie crust. then you would make the filling separately and the meringue billows beautifully in the microwave but doesn't brown so you'd still need to brown in under the broiler. you'll need to consult books on microwave cooking/baking for exact times and techniques but basically for the filling, you need to stir often and it does thicken very nicely in the microwave. i haven't done this for over 30 years as i don't see any advantage.

Jenna Mason
03/06/2007 12:44 PM

Oh I forgot to add: How diffiecult is it to change a conventional lemon meringue recipe to a microwave recipe? Are there any tips for the adaptation? What are some areas of conceren when converting the recipe? Jenna

Jenna Mason
03/06/2007 12:40 PM

Is is possible to make a lemon meringue in the microwave? What are some tips that can be used to avoid disaster? and is it easier than making it the conventional way as well as is it a recommened method? Thanks Jenna (Honours student at the University of Pretoria in South Africa)

sylvia
11/25/2006 05:04 PM

I changed my recipe a little and it worked fine. I left out a small amount of water and the same amount of sugar and added an extra Tbs of cornstarch (this was for a 9 in. pie.) I also added an extra egg yoke. I am not sure if that is what made it work good or if it was because I bought a new box of cornstarch. Anyway it worked!
Sylvia

Rose
11/24/2006 10:48 PM

for the filling, it must come to a full boil for the cornstarch to thicken so don't use a double boiler! also if the egg yolks don't come to at least 160 degree F they will thin out on standing.

it also helps to use either cake crumbs or a very thin cake layer--you can even cut it from a commercial angel food cake if not making a thin biscuit, to set on top of the lemon filling. this keeps the merinug efrom slipping off in transit and also absorbs any possible watering out from the meringue though with a cooked italian meringue it is unlikely that there would be much if any.

bernadette hanson
11/24/2006 10:25 PM

forgot to say in my previous post that I made the lemon meringue pie with the italian meringue from the pie and pastry bible.

bernadette hanson
11/24/2006 08:42 PM

I made a lemon meringue pie for the 1st time this Thanksgiving and while it looked beautiful after I made it, the next day was a different story. I had it in the refrigerator for one day and had to transport it to my in-law's house. When I took it out to look at it I saw that the meringue had shifted slightly and it looked wet between the meringue and lemon. When I cut into it that evening the lemon filling was like thick soup and did not hold it's shape at all. The meringue by itself seemed fine but I don't know if what happened was that it wept or that my filling never thickened completely. The flavor was great though. Thanks for your help.

Rose
11/22/2006 02:15 PM

you can follow my posting direclty above yours that address the problem.

Maggie
11/22/2006 01:48 PM

Hi every year I make lemon meringue pie. and evry year I have the same problem. The meringue shrinks and the pie is watery. What can I do/

Rose
11/19/2006 09:57 AM

in my recipe in the pie and pastry bible i make an italian meringue which cooks the deep layer of meringue all the way through unlike merely browning the outside so they don't water out. it also helps to apply them when the filling is still hot.

Marsha Needy
11/18/2006 10:48 PM

What can you do to keep meringue pies from weeping? Lemon meringue is my favorite but everytime I make one the weeping is awful. Thanks!

Rose
11/14/2006 07:48 AM

sylvia if you are indeed bringing the mixture to a full boil and allowing it to boil for 30 seconds, then try increasing the egg yolks. these days egg yolks are often much smaller than before. i tried one of my recipes calling for 6 yolks and needed to use 9 to get to the same weight/volume.

sylvia
11/13/2006 09:22 PM

I too have had trouble with lemon pies lately. When I lived in Yuma, Az, about 100 ft above sea level - no problem. Even in Chino Valley. AZ at 4800 ft no problem. But here in Eastern AZ at 6800 ft, I can't get the cornstarch to thicken at all. Last year we went to Ruidosa, NM about 7500 ft and tried 3 lemon pies - none thickened. Help!

Rose
08/26/2006 02:28 PM

this has happened to me even at sea level so i know how disappointing it is. i learned that the mixture has to come to a full boil and continue cooking for a bout 30 seconds or the cornstarch will not thicken the filling sufficiently. at high altitude boiling will take place at a lower temperature so perhaps the cornstarch isn't swelling enough. i have written to my friend and colleague susan purdy in the hopes that she will post a comment as she has written the book on high altitude baking!

Sallye
08/26/2006 10:26 AM

i am from southwest Louisiana and my daughter has bragged about my lemon meringue pie to her Marine friends in Arizona, so much so that on a recent trip to see her she insisted I make it for them. Using my tried and true recipe in Arizona proved to be an embarrassing failure. The filling never thickened and the merguine wasn't as stiff but it was okey. My failure earned the new name of Lemon Pie soup.
I realize now that the higher altitude and total lack of humidity had something to do with it, but don't know how to fix it. Please help, my daughter would like to make pies for her friends but my recipe will have to be adjusted or a new one found to work in her area. Thank you

Rose
05/31/2006 07:56 PM

a speck of yolk or grease in the egg whites will keep them from foaming or achieving any sort of volume.
adding sugar at the beginning is thought to weight down the whites and keep them from aerating as well so would decrease the volume.

jane
05/31/2006 07:48 PM

hi, i have a few questions relating to the meringue in a lemon meringue pie.
1. what is the importance of carefully seperating the eggs?
2.why should the beaters and bowl be absoloutely clean?
3.what are the advantages of adding sugar at soft peak rather than at the begining?
please write back
p.s its for one of my assignments at school and having so much trouble on answering these questions...
please help
thanks jane

Rose
04/27/2006 06:21 PM

they're from catamount glass in vermont but i now have THE ideal container for melting chocolate. it's a silicone bowl from lékué and i'm sure it will be carried very soon if not immediately by fante's in phila. you can use it as a double boiler or in the microwave and the terrific thing is that it doesn't retain the heat so the chocolate doesn't continue cooking once removed from the heat source. it's part of the mirage line, indigo in color, and colapses down to a flat disc for easy storage. it's my favorite new piece of equipment this year!

Josh
04/27/2006 04:47 PM

Hi Rose,

Speaking of double boilers, where did you get that professional-looking all glass double boiler you used when you taped Baking Magic for PBS? And what size was it? You melted chocolate in it on the show. It looked like something right out of a science lab. I'd like to get one.

Thanks for your help.

Josh

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