Lemon Meringue Pie

Alton Brown

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2003

Show: Good EatsEpisode: I Pie

Picture of Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe 4 Videos | Photo: Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe
Rated 4 stars out of 5
  • Rate This Recipe
  • Read 315 Reviews
Total Time:
2 hr 42 min
Prep
30 min
Inactive
2 hr 0 min
Cook
12 min
Yield:
6 to 8 servings
Level:
Intermediate
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Ingredients

Lemon Filling:

  • 4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 1/3 cups sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
  • 1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell
  • 1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Directions

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.

Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:

  • 4 egg whites
  • 1 pinch cream of tartar
  • 2 tablespoons sugar

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.

Yield: topping for 1 (9-inch) pie

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Newest Ratings and Reviews

Read all 315 reviews

  • on January 24, 2012

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    I have to say one thing, use half a cup of cornstarch and NOT a third otherwise you will get lemon soup and not lemon meringue! Took me three tries of this recipe to work this one out!

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  • on January 20, 2012

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    Great recipe with great flavor. I read a lot of reviews before making this pie and was concerned about the filling being soupy, but in the good eats book Alton addresses the soup issues and tweaks the recipe a tad: start by whisking the starch sugar and salt in a saucepan, then add lemon juice, zest, water and butter and then follow the rest of the directions step by step, and make sure you let the pie cool 4-6 hours so it can set. Enjoy!

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  • on January 19, 2012

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    The lemon flavor is perfect, just the right amount of tartness. But I too had issues with it being much too runny. I have an older recipe I used which resulted in a perfectly firm custard. I'll use that. This one is heading to the garbage.

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