Lemon Meringue Pie

From: 100 Favorite Brand Name Recipes cookbook

Ingredients:

Crust (make your own or buy pre-made like I did!)

Filling:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups hot water
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Meringue:
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
4 egg whites
3/4 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

For filling, combine sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt in medium saucepan. Add hot water gradually, stirring constantly. Cook and stir on medium heat until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Reduce heat to low. Cook and stir constantly 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

Add about one third of hot mixture slowly to egg yolks. Mix well. Return mixture to saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil on medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low. Cook and stir 4 minutes. Remove from heat.

Stir in butter and lemon peel. Add lemon juice slowly. Mix well. Spoon into baked pie crust.

For meringue, combine 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, and 1/2 cup cold water in small saucepan. Stir until cornstarch dissolves. Cook and stir on medium heat until mixture is clear. Cool.

Combine egg whites and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at high speed of electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat in remaining 6 Tbsp sugar, 1 Tbsp at a time. Beat well after each addition. Combine meringue with cornstarch mixture and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Spread over filling, covering completely and sealing to edge of pie.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until meringue is golden. Cool to room temperature before serving.

Verdict:
This was a great recipe! I won't say it was easy. It was simple but very time consuming. I will say that I did not realize until I was just typing this up that I completely left out the lemon juice! Kind of the most important ingredient!! Funny, though, neither myself nor my parents noticed this!

Also, based on my personal experience (i.e. failure), do not whip your egg whites in a plastic bowl. I have done soft/firm peaks many times in my life and I kept failing at this yesterday. I couldn't figure out why until I read online that plastic bowls have too much oil residue on them and will keep eggs from beating properly. Learn from my mistake!