Smooth And Creamy Baked Lemon Meringue Pie

You’re going to love everything about my Smooth And Creamy Baked Lemon Meringue Pie! The filling packs a lemon flavor punch without being overly sour, it’s soft and creamy and the meringue on top is cloud like and lightly toasted to perfection!

This recipe was originally posted on January 23, 2023. The recipe was re-worked and updated on July 13, 2024.

Hey team! Coming in today with my NEW Lemon Meringue Pie recipe. Actually, this post is more like a comprehensive guide on how to make the most deliciously creamy Lemon Meringue Pie you’ll ever have.

When I re-developed the recipe, I specifically focused on improving the filling and took inspiration from my Baked Lemon Tart Recipe. Through 9 rounds of testing, I successfully developed a lemon custard filling that is gently baked, which means it comes out super soft without falling apart and melts in your mouth. Flavor wise, the filling is packed full of fresh lemons and lemon zest but isn’t overly sour, and a reduction in sugar means it’s not as sweet as other lemon meringue pie recipes.

The vanilla infused meringue on top is gently cooked as well which results in a more stable, cloud like texture that doesn’t melt when added to the baked pie. In fact it’s my Marshmallow Meringue Frosting recipe which I use  on top of my Passionfruit Meringue Pie. You won’t want to use another meringue recipe once you try this!

To make this pie I used my crispy and buttery Home Made Flaky Sweet French Tart Crust which is easy to make. I love that it stays crisp, even after it’s been filled.

Craving more lemon desserts?

have loads of fresh lemon desserts on the site! In fact, this pie is based on my Fresh Baked Lemon Tart recipe which was funnily enough inspired by my Easy Lemon Bars! They all use loads of fresh lemon flavor.

Let’s talk Lemons!

This recipe is strong in lemon flavor without being overly sour and I use a tone of lemon zest from the skin to get all that lemon flavor. By the way, this recipe uses A LOT of lemons, but it’s totally worth the effort of squeezing lemons because it’s that good! Here’s what to consider when buying and using lemons to get the best tasting pie filling:

• Buy organic – for best flavor results, organic is the way to go. If you have a neighbor with a lemon tree, they’ll likely be happy to offload them to you!
• Wash your lemons! – some store-bought lemons, especially non-organic ones, can be coated in wax to make them appear shiny. Wash them under warm water and dry them before zesting.
• Don’t use long life lemon juice – it’s dead on arrival and lacks any real flavor. ALWAYS use fresh for best results!

How to make a buttery, flaky Tart Crust

I love the tart crust for this recipe. It’s buttery, flaky and crisp. And it stays crisp even after the filling has been added. I have a step-by-step recipe on the blog that gives you all my tips and tricks on how to make a Sweet Tart Crust but here’s a quick run down of the steps involved.

• Make the tart dough by mixing the dry ingredients before adding the butter and pulsing until it looks crumbly. I used a food processor to make it, but I’ve also included instructions on how to make Tart Crust By Hand in the post. Then, add the egg and vanilla extract and pulse until it comes together as small dough clumps.
• Wrap it in plastic and chill it in the fridge for at least an hour before rolling out. For this recipe I used a deep tart tin. Mine was 21cm / 8-inches wide and 5.5cm / 2.5-inches high.

• Once you’ve formed the tart, chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes and dock it using a fork. This will prevent the crust from puffing up as it bakes.
• Cover the bottom and sides with scrunched up baking paper and then fill with baking beads, dried beans (I used chickpeas) or even rice. This will weigh the crust down on the first bake. Bake for 20 minutes.

• Carefully lift the beads out of the tart by holding the corners of the baking paper. Place the beads into a container to cool. Bake for a final 15 minutes.

TIP: when placing the dough into the tart tin, lift the edges up and let them fall into the bottom of the tart tin instead of stretching it to fit otherwise the shell will shrink as it bakes.

You’ll love this smooth creamy lemon filling

The lemon filling is baked which results in a perfectly set, soft and creamy lemon custard that you can slice through with ease. Honestly, it just melts in your mouth.

Here’s how to make it!

• Whisk the eggs and egg yolks together before adding the cream and vanilla. To a separate small bowl add the flour and sugar and whisk to combine. Then add that to the egg mixture and whisk in.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 20 minutes. This will allow the frothy bubbles in the mixture to come up to the top. Use a spoon to carefully skim them off the top, discarding this mixture.

• Zest the lemons into a medium sized mixing bowl and juice the lemons (it’s a lot of lemons!). Run through a sieve to get rid of pulp and any seeds. You’ll get a smoother lemon filling.
• Pour the egg mixture through a sieve into the bowl with the lemon zest and stir using a spatula. Not a whisk. Then add the lemon juice and stir using the spatula until well combined.

• Pour the mixture into the prepared tart shell. If there are any bubbles, you can pop them using a kitchen torch.
• Bake for 50-55 minutes or until the center is jiggly. Once baked, allow the tart to cool in the oven with the door ajar for 2 hours before taking out to cool to room temperature. Chill in the fridge for 4 hours.

HELP! My lemon filling cracked! To fix the cracks fill them with lemon curd and smooth over with a spoon or spatula. You’ll be covering this with meringue anyway, so nobody will see the cracks!

My Secret to an ultra smooth, fluffy meringue topping

I love this meringue recipe because it’s so fluffy and lighter than air. More importantly, it’s not a weak meringue that will begin to melt easily and that’s because it’s stabilised in two ways:

1. I added cream of tartar which is an acidic powder often used to help stabilize meringues like my Classic Pavlova recipe. You can use a couple drops of vinegar or fresh lemon juice as a substitute.
2. The meringue is gently cooked over a double boiler which results in a stronger and thicker meringue that lasts longer after it’s been made.

• Once you’ve added your eggs, sugar, vanilla and cream of Tatar into your heatproof bowl, gently whisk them until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 72C / 160F on a candy thermometer.
• Pop them into a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or into a bwol and use electric beaters to whisk for 4-5 minutes on medium high speed or until thick and glossy. I found medium high speed is enough to get the meringue whipped up properly. High speed can risk it overwhipping which will make the meringue grainy.

How long will the meringue last before it melts?

The Swiss meringue will last for about 6 hours on top of the cooled tart before it begins to weep. That’s a lot longer than most other recipes. Weeping is when the acid in the lemon filling begins to eat away at the sugar in the meringue and it melts it into a liquid. I’ve actually put the finished tart into the fridge overnight and it’s held it’s shape with some minor weeping. The finished pie should always be kept in the fridge until ready to serve. Especially if it’s a warm day.

Are the eggs safe to eat raw?

The eggs in this meringue are gently cooked to 72C / 160F which means they’re not raw.

To toast the meringue!

I used a kitchen torch to toast the meringue on top. This is the only way I tested the recipe. I have tried broiling this meringue under an oven grill and it doesn’t work well. Toasting the meringue adds a little bit of color and some toasty flavor. If you don’t have a kitchen torch, I’ve heard some people use a kitchen gas lighter, but I’ve never done that and I don’t even know if that’s safe.

How to fix cracks in your baked lemon filling!

During my 9 rounds of testing, one of the issues I had at about test #6 was cracks in the lemon filling. At test #6 I realized there were too many eggs in the recipe so I fixed that. But there were 3 other reasons this was happening.

1. Overbaked – The lemon filling was overbaked. Bake only until the center of the filling has a very slight wobble. For this pie it’s about 50-55 minutes.
2. Cooled too quickly – allow to cool in the oven for 2 hours with the door slightly ajar. I use a wooden spoon jammed in the door to keep it open. Once it’s cooled, take it out and let it cool to room temperature before chilling in the fridge.
3. Bubbles – if there are bubbles or froth on top of the pie, they can cause an uneven top which can encourage cracking. Make sure you let your cream and egg mixture rest in the fridge, then skim off the froth/bubbles using a spoon before adding the lemon juice. It’s a super important step!

If you follow the recipe exactly as it’s written, the tart shouldn’t crack. But sometimes in life, we get cracks.

To fix the cracks

Simply fill with some lemon curd. I have a great recipe for Lemon Curd on the site, or you can do what I did and just buy a small jar, because you won’t need much. I added mine to a piping bag, filled in the cracks and then smoothed it over with an offset spatula. You’ll be covering this with meringue so nobody will see the cracks. But if you don’t fill the cracks in, the meringue will go into the cracks when you add it on top which will make them obvious as you slice it up and serve it.

Tips and Tricks For Recipe Success!

• Measure out using kitchen scales – measuring ingredients out by weight and not cups is the best way to get consistent results every time! I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales!
• When forming the tart, don’t stretch the dough into the tin. Let it fall in naturally and press gently to form into the bottom and sides. I have more tips on how to make the Sweet Tart recipe on the blog.
• When baking the tart it’s important to dock it using a fork. This just means pricking it with holes to let steam escape as it bakes which will prevent it from puffing up as it bakes.
• When making the lemon filling, don’t skip any of the steps in the recipe card below and follow them carefully to make sure you don’t get any cracks. If it cracks, guess what? It still tastes amazing and it’ll be covered with meringue.
• When making the meringue, use caster sugar, also known as superfine sugar, to ensure it melts into the mixture before whipping. That way your meringue will be nice and smooth.

You can make this with less filling. Here’s how!

This pie is based on my Baked Lemon Tart recipe. Both the Tart Crust recipe and filling in this recipe are the same as that recipe, the only difference is that this recipe (measurements at the bottom of the post) are increased to make the filling deeper. I wanted more filling in this pie. If you don’t have the same sized tart tin that I used for this pie or want a shorter pie with less filling, you can use the Lemon Tart Recipe and use the meringue from this recipe to add on top.

Frequently Asked Questions about making Lemon Meringue Pie

What does it taste like?

Lemon meringue pie is a mixture of buttery crispy pie crust with a sweet and sour lemon filling custard with mounds of fluffy marshmallow like meringue that’s toasted.

How to store lemon meringue pie leftovers?

Store the finished pie in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 24 hours. After 24 hours the meringue will begin to weep and melt.

Can I bake the meringue to toast it?

Not for this recipe. If you place it in a hot oven or under the oven grill / broiler you risk warming up the filling which could cause it to melt and collapse.

Does Lemon Meringue Pie need to be kept refrigerated?

Yes! This pie has a lot of dairy and eggs in it and so it should be kept chilled in the fridge. Once the topping has been added it can be left out of the fridge for up to 30 minutes before serving. But I would recommend keeping it in the fridge, especially if it’s a warm day.

Why did my lemon filling crack after cooling?

This can happen if your lemon filling cooled down too quickly, if there were bubbles on top of the tart when it was baking or if the pie was overbaked. Make sure you follow the steps in the recipe card below carefully.

Can it be frozen?

This lemon meringue pie can’t be frozen.

Can I make this pie ahead of time?

You can make the sweet tart crust up to 5 days in advance and the baked pie with the filling up to two days in advance and then make and add the meringue on top before serving.

Why is my meringue grainy?

This can happen for several reasons

• The sugar didn’t dissolve – if the sugar didn’t dissolve, the meringue can become grainy. To prevent this ensure the sugar is dissolved in the egg whites by rubbing some between two fingers. If you can’t feel any grains, they’ve dissolved into the egg whites properly.
• The meringue was over-heated – if the meringue is overheated when dissolving the sugar over the double boiler then it can cook and scramble the egg whites causing the meringue to whip up grainy. Make sure the bottom of your bowl isn’t touching the water in the bowl.
• The meringue was overwhipped – if you over-aerate the meringue, it will become grainy. Whip on medium high speed for 4-5 minutes or until it’s thick and glossy.

Why won’t my meringue whip up properly?

This usually happens if there was a trace of fat or egg yolks in the egg whites. Make sure you don’t get any yolks in the whites when separating them. Also, wipe your mixing bowl with some white vinegar to ensure there are no traces of fat in the bowl before whipping.

Why is this recipe in grams and not cups?

The short answer is accuracy! It is far easier, more accurate and you get more consistent results when you measure ingredients by weight, especially in dessert and bread baking! I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales!

If you loved this recipe, check these out!

• Fluffy Lemon Mallow Slice – Delicious, fluffy bars with lemon cheesecake center.
• Lemon Tart – Simple, much shorter cousin of this recipe!
• Try this! Lemon Meringue Cheesecake – Gorgeous baked cheesecake inspired by this dessert!
• Lemon Sponge Cake – A gorgeous lemony sponge cake!

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