Mile-High Lemon Meringue Pie
By America's Test KitchenPublished on July 2, 2013
Yield
Serves 8 to 10
Ingredients
Lemon Filling
1 ¼ cups (8¾ ounces/248 grams) sugar 1 cup lemon juice (6 lemons)½ cup water ¼ cup (1 ounce/28 grams) cornstarch ¼ teaspoon table salt 8 large egg yolks (reserve 4 whites for meringue)2 tablespoons grated lemon zest 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces and softenedItalian Meringue
½ cup water 1 cup (7 ounces/198 grams) sugar 4 large egg whites (reserved from filling)Pinch table salt ½ teaspoon cream of tartar ½ teaspoon vanilla extractBefore You Begin
If using a handheld mixer, you will need a very large, deep bowl and should move the beaters vigorously in step 3 to avoid underbeating the egg whites. When making the filling and the meringue, it’s important to move quickly, so be sure to prep all ingredients before you begin. This pie is best served right after cooling the meringue for 1 hour as it can start to weep if it sits too long.
Instructions
- Whisk sugar, lemon juice, water, cornstarch, and salt together in large nonreactive saucepan until cornstarch is dissolved. Cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until mixture is translucent and slightly thickened, 7 to 8 minutes. Whisk in egg yolks, lemon zest, and butter and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture registers 180 degrees in multiple places and is thick enough to coat back of spoon, 1 to 2 minutes. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer into pie shell (pressing on solids with rubber spatula to extract as much curd as possible). Place plastic wrap directly on surface of filling and refrigerate until set and well chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- FOR THE ITALIAN MERINGUE: About 1½ hours before serving, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine water and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to vigorous boil over medium-high heat. Once syrup comes to rolling boil, cook 4 to 6 minutes (mixture will become slightly thickened and syrupy and should register about 240 degrees). Remove from heat and set aside while beating whites.
- With electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl at medium-low speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Add salt and cream of tartar and beat, gradually increasing speed to medium-high, until whites hold soft peaks, about 2 minutes. With mixer running, slowly pour hot syrup into whites (avoid pouring syrup onto whisk or it will splash). Add vanilla and beat until meringue has cooled and becomes very thick and shiny, 5 to 9 minutes.
- Using rubber spatula, mound meringue over filling, making sure meringue touches edges of crust. Use spatula to create peaks all over meringue. Bake until peaks turn golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Serve immediately.
for the lemon filling
Yield
Serves 8 to 10Ingredients
Lemon Filling
Italian Meringue
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Lemon Filling
Italian Meringue
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Lemon Filling
Italian Meringue
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
UPDATE: This recipe has been slightly reformulated to be more failproof since its initial publication. The revision you see here was published in October of 2023. We wanted our Mile-High Lemon Meringue Pie recipe to produce a tall and fluffy topping, so we made the meringue with a hot sugar syrup, and added a bit of cream of tartar to the egg whites before we beat them. This ensured that the meringue was cooked through and stable enough to be piled high on top of the filling. For our Mile-High Lemon Meringue Pie’s bright citrus flavor, we flavored the filling with lemon zest and lemon juice, then strained the filling to remove the zest. If left in the filling, the zest would mar the texture of our recipe’s silky smooth filling.
Before You Begin
If using a handheld mixer, you will need a very large, deep bowl and should move the beaters vigorously in step 3 to avoid underbeating the egg whites. When making the filling and the meringue, it’s important to move quickly, so be sure to prep all ingredients before you begin. This pie is best served right after cooling the meringue for 1 hour as it can start to weep if it sits too long.
Instructions
- Whisk sugar, lemon juice, water, cornstarch, and salt together in large nonreactive saucepan until cornstarch is dissolved. Cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until mixture is translucent and slightly thickened, 7 to 8 minutes. Whisk in egg yolks, lemon zest, and butter and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture registers 180 degrees in multiple places and is thick enough to coat back of spoon, 1 to 2 minutes. Strain mixture through fine-mesh strainer into pie shell (pressing on solids with rubber spatula to extract as much curd as possible). Place plastic wrap directly on surface of filling and refrigerate until set and well chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours.
- FOR THE ITALIAN MERINGUE: About 1½ hours before serving, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine water and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to vigorous boil over medium-high heat. Once syrup comes to rolling boil, cook 4 to 6 minutes (mixture will become slightly thickened and syrupy and should register about 240 degrees). Remove from heat and set aside while beating whites.
- With electric mixer, beat whites in large bowl at medium-low speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Add salt and cream of tartar and beat, gradually increasing speed to medium-high, until whites hold soft peaks, about 2 minutes. With mixer running, slowly pour hot syrup into whites (avoid pouring syrup onto whisk or it will splash). Add vanilla and beat until meringue has cooled and becomes very thick and shiny, 5 to 9 minutes.
- Using rubber spatula, mound meringue over filling, making sure meringue touches edges of crust. Use spatula to create peaks all over meringue. Bake until peaks turn golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely, about 1 hour. Serve immediately.
for the lemon filling
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