Easily made anytime of the year, but especially loved in summer, a lemon pie with a tall meringue is a perfectly bright and tangy dessert.
By Liz Berg
Lemon meringue pie is a classic dessert that everyone loves.
In this recipe, the whole pie is baked for nearly a half hour so the meringue is perfectly cooked. Instead of just broiling it, as some recipes prefer, this method prevents you from eating undercooked egg whites. And though I just used four egg whites, you have the option of making a “Mile High” lemon meringue pie by increasing your whites to six. But my whites whipped up to perfection and made a gorgeous cloud atop the sweet-tart lemon filling.
So if you’re looking for the perfect lemon meringue pie recipe, I’ve got you covered! This is the perfect dessert any time of year. Go ahead and treat the lemon lovers in your life to one marvelous pie!
Are you a lemon lover? Then next you must make a Meyer Lemon Tart, a Lemon Cheesecake, or even an elegant Lemon Croquembouche.
PrintSky High Lemon Meringue Pie
- Yield: 6 to 8 servings 1x
Description
Easily made anytime of the year, but especially loved in summer, a lemon pie with a tall meringue is a perfectly bright and tangy dessert.
Ingredients
- 1 baked 9 inch pastry shell
For lemon filling:
- 1½ cups sugar
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 4 egg yolks (save the whites for the meringue!)
- 1¾ cups water
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice (from 3–4 lemons)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
For meringue:
- 4–6 egg whites, at room temperature
- ½–3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar (depending on number of egg whites used)
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325º.
- Combine first three ingredients in saucepan; set aside.
- Combine yolks, water and juice, and stir into sugar mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly till mixture boils and thickens. Boil one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and zest. Pour into pastry shell.
- Beat whites and cream of tartar on high speed with electric mixer until foamy. Gradually add sugar, one tablespoon at a time, until stiff peaks form and sugar is dissolved…about 2-4 minutes. Add vanilla and beat well.
- Spread meringue over hot filling, making sure meringue covers all filling. Bake for 25-28 minutes.
- Category: Dessert, Baking
We Europeans should be very thankful for alternative metric weights and measurements!
I’m so glad, Natalie! My husband loves it, too!
I made this for my husband today. It came out perfectly. He’s eating it right now and loving it. It’s also the first time I’ve made it and the pastry hasn’t gone soggy and it sliced perfectly. Thanks!
Hi, Tina,
Did you use 4 or 6 egg whites? Adding the extra two will give you a fluffier, mile-high meringue. And I wonder if your oven runs a little hot. I’ve made this recipe a number of times and was always able to bake the meringue for at least 20+ minutes at 325º. Hope you enjoy it despite it not being picture perfect!
Lemon Meringue is my favorite pie. I have never tried to make one from scratch before today. My grandmother always made the best so I thought any attempt would be futile. But today I got brave and tried this recipe. I allowed all the eggs and the lemons to come to room temp. (I bake breads so this is not new to me) I preheated my oven and began. Everything went smoothly. UNTIL. . . When I put the pie in the oven the meringue began to brown very quickly. I googled ways to keep it from browning as it had 20more mins to go so I knew it wouldn’t be good by the time 25 mins had passed. I did not find any help that would save me now so I let it bake. I took it out 6 mins early having only baked for 19 mins total. I don’t know how it will taste yet as it is cooling now, but it does not look good. the meringue is very very brown and it is NOT “mile high” I used a little over 1/2 tsp of Cream of Tarter and it looked good as I beat it and when I put it on. It wasn’t as high as this picture. What did I do wrong? I have always been a pretty good baker but this made me feel defeated.