Lemon Meringue Pie

meringue pie slice on stack of white plates with fork beside on white napkin with lemon slices and meringue pie behind.

Sweet, citrus-y, silky, and oh so delicious. There's no better summer/springtime treat than this Lemon Meringue Pie. Especially one that you never have to worry about weeping meringue! SO. GOOD.

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 1

Cook Time: 35

Servings: slices

Calories: 410kcal

Ingredients

Pie

1 10-inch pie crust fully baked
6 large egg yolks room temperature
½ cup cornstarch
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups water
½ cup fresh lemon juice strained
2½ Tablespoons salted butter room temperature
2¾ teaspoons lemon zest

Meringue

6 large egg whites
2 cups granulated sugar
½ cup water

Instructions

Pie

Mix egg yolks and cornstarch together. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat sugar, water, and lemon juice until hot but not boiling.
Pour a small amount of hot sugar mixture into egg yolk mixture.
Stir until combined completely.
Repeat until about half of sugar mixture is used.
Pour into remaining sugar mixture.
Mix well.
Heat, while stirring, over low to medium-low heat, until thickened, translucent, and holding its shape, about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat.
Strain through a mesh sieve.
Stir in butter and lemon zest.
Continue stirring until butter melts.
Pour into prepared pie shell.

Meringue

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg whites to stiff peaks.
In a small saucepan, heat and stir sugar and water until sugar melts.
Brush down sides with a pastry brush dipped in water.
Cook over medium heat to 246℉-250℉/119℃-121℃.
With mixer running, stream sugar syrup into egg whites.
Continue beating until completely cooled, about 15-20 minutes.

Assembly

Spoon meringue onto cooled pie.
Spread to edges.
Swirl into desired pattern.
Use a kitchen torch to brown top.

Notes

You can use a homemade or store-bought crust for this recipe.
Room temperature is about 70℉/21℃.
The corn starch and egg yolk mixture is VERY thick and can be hard to stir. We recommend using a rubber spatula and folding the two ingredients together until smooth and well combined.
Be sure to continually stir the egg yolk and cornstarch mixture when pouring in the hot lemon syrup.
When cooking the custard, it should take about 10-15 minutes to thicken.
Try to get the filling as level as you can when adding it to the crust.
Do not over cook the sugar syrup for the meringue! Anywhere between 246℉-250℉/119℃-121℃ is the perfect temperature.
Slowly stream the sugar syrup into the egg whites. You don't want to wind up with scrambled egg whites!
It's best to use a blow torch to toast the meringue.

Nutrition