I have been making pies for better than 65 years and just now found a great recipe for Meringue. It was on the Cooking Club web site.
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| Isn't this a pretty piece of Pie |
Meringue pie topping, should be tall, golden brown and stay that way! (and I have made lots, different recipes, etc, trying for a topping that would stay soft and not fall when refrigerated or become rubbery) This did! Who knew that putting a cornstarch slurry in with the egg whites would make this happen. From now on, this is the recipe I will use. It is not a bit hard to make, the recipe did call for some lemon juice in the meringue as it was on a lemon pie. I chose to omit this as I wanted to see how it would work without for use on pies that are not citrus. I am sure it would enhance the flavor of a citrus pie, but it was fine without it. Next time I am going to add about a ½ teaspoon of vanilla. The cornstarch and water is added warm to the foamy egg whites. The cornstarch and water thickened quite a lot and I was worried about adding it, but it beat in just fine. I am guessing you would not want it too hot, just warm. Do be sure your pie filling is hot. Meringue needs to cook from the bottom also. A slow oven lets it cook as well as brown. Torches work to brown but they do not cook the meringue and so that type need to be eaten right away.
If you are a fan of Meringue topped pies I hope you will try this.
MERINGUE
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 egg whites
Dash salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 egg whites
Dash salt
1/2 cup sugar
To make meringue, in small saucepan, combine 1/3 cup water and 1 tablespoon cornstarch; mix well. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil 30 seconds, stirring constantly, cover to keep warm.
In large bowl, combine egg whites, and dash salt; beat at medium-low speed until egg whites are frothy. Increase speed to medium; beat until egg whites hold a soft peak. With mixer running, slowly add 1/2 cup sugar; spoon in warm cornstarch mixture. Increase speed to medium-high; beat until mixture is glossy and egg whites hold a stiff peak.
Spoon half of meringue evenly over hot filling, making sure meringue covers all filling and touches crust on all edges. Spoon remaining meringue onto pie and spread evenly. Add decorative swirls with back of spoon.
Bake 15 to 18 minutes at 350°F or until meringue is dry to the touch and light brown.
*This was just excellent the next day after being in the refrigerator overnight. I saved a piece to try it as that will usually toughen a meringue on a pie. Great recipe!
Oh, YEAH! I got this same recipe from some little old ladies in Copan, OK, and it is THE BEST. Apparently it is an old recipe, guarded as women did back in the 30's and 40's and only shared with best friends. My mother made TERRIBLE meringue in comparison to this one.
ReplyDeleteYes Ilene, Isn't this a great recipe. I had never heard of it before. And yes I can remember ladies not telling you what the recipe was.
ReplyDeleteEveryone had their only special dish.
My mom always made really good meringue. If I knew I'd be visiting her, I'd ask for lemon meringue pie. :-) I'll have to try this since I don't know if I have my mom's recipe.
ReplyDeleteWhat temperature did you bake the meringue at please? I am now hankering for a lemon meringue pie! And, I have 2 bags of beautiful fresh lemons plus pastry disks made up and in the freezer. Heading to the kitchen soon I'd say! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks for catching that Diane. I might have to come to your house for pie, LOL. The temp is 350° for 15 to 18 minutes
ReplyDeleteI got this lemon meringue pie recipe years ago from Ann Landers' column. It was her speciality and by far the best lemon meringue pie I have ever tasted.
ReplyDeleteMy first pie I ever made at 16 was a banana cream pie. Wouldn’t recommend starting with that! The meringue was the hardest but came out well. 55 yrs later still making pies w meringue but I live in the mountains and the air is dry. Adding the cornstarch slurry is brilliant. I tried an earlier recipe that had the cornstarch slurry but you had to add it after it totally cooled. It really gave the meringue a curdled look. Adding it warm and a bit of it at a time made all the difference. Best meringue ever!
ReplyDeleteWonderful! That slurry method made Myrna the dessert queen for everyone who was on her "dessert friend" list; neighbors, coworkers, church friends, her tax guy, lawyer, etc., and of course relatives...lucky me!
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