Lemon Meringue Pie and a Happy New Year

posted on December 31, 2009 in Gourmet Unbound, dessert, jam/preserves, recipes, winter with 1 Comment

I am sitting here, in a friend’s apartment in Berlin with snow falling outside and fireworks going off, thinking of an appropriate way to sum up the past year. It was hard, it was a struggle, it was difficult and heartbreaking on so many levels for so many different people. In a year of hardship there were also a lot of wonderful things that happened: I started grad school and found a career that I truly love, my boyfriend completed his Masters degree and created a beautiful thesis project and, perhaps best of all, my grandmother survived her hip replacement and a heart attack and is up and walking and laughing again. It only feels appropriate to end this year with something tart, and a little sweet, and hope that next year (and the next decade) will be a better.

Lemon Meringue Pie

I had bought some Meyer lemons in the week before my break, with the full intention of making lemon curd. Of course, between one thing and another the curd was never made and the lemons were left unzested and unjuiced. Because Meyer lemons are so lovely (and so expensive) I did what anyone else would do, I packed them into my carry-on luggage and carried them to California. Yes indeed, to California where citrus fruit is plentiful and there are at least three trees on my parents’ block that are overladen with lemons. Ah well.

Lemon Curd
Adapted from Gourment, January and April 2001

Zest of three lemons (a heaping tablespoon)
1 cup lemon juice
scant 1-1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
16 tbsp unsalted butter

Whisk together lemon zest, juice, sugar and eggs in a medium saucepan. Stir in butter and cook over low heat, whisking frequently, until the curd has thickened enough to hold the marks of the whisk and bubbles begin to appear on the surface, about 6 minutes. Strain into a bowl through a fine mesh sieve. Cover surface of curd with plastic wrap and let chill.

Meringue

3 egg whites
pinch of cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar

Whisk together the egg whites and cream of tarter until foamy. Slowly whisk in the sugar and continue beating until whites are glossy and form stiff peaks.

Preheat oven to 400º F.

Pour the curd into a cooled, baked 9″ pie shell. Heap the meringue on top, making sure to seal the edges. Use the back of the spoon to swirl the meringue and form peaks. Place in the oven and bake 8-10 minutes until the meringue is golden. Chill until ready to serve. Watch it disappear.