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Lemon Meringue Pie 24 - thumbnail image

Smooth And Creamy Baked Lemon Meringue Pie

My perfectly set Baked Lemon Meringue Pie has a perfectly set lemon custard, a mountain of fluffy toasted meringue all incased in a butter tart shell!
Author: Nick Makrides
4.54 from 15 votes
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Prep 30 minutes
Cook 40 minutes
Total 4 hours 30 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12
Calories 337 kcal

Ingredients

  • 1 Sweet Tart Crust or Butter Pie Crust, can by a 10-inch store bought tart crust as well

Lemon Filling

  • 225 g caster sugar superfine sugar
  • 40 g all-purpose flour plain flour
  • 4 large eggs 55g each
  • 4 egg yolks from large eggs
  • 485 g heavy cream whipping cream
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 4 lemons zested
  • 250 g lemon juice freshly juiced (see notes)

Swiss Meringue

  • 210 g egg whites room temperature (use 4 from filling)
  • 1/8 tsp cream of tartar
  • 7 g vanilla extract
  • 250 g caster sugar superfine sugar

Instructions
 

Tart Crust

  • For this recipe I made my Sweet Tart Crust recipe. You’ll need to blind bake it for 15 minutes before adding the filling for further baking. I also used a larger tart tin to make this tart than what I originally used in that recipe because I wanted more filling in my pie. The tart tin I used was 21cm / 8-inches wide and 5.5cm / 2.5-inches high.

Lemon Filling

  • Preheat a fan-forced oven to 120C / 250F (140C / 285F for no fan).
  • Combine dry ingredients - Add the caster sugar and flour to a small mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  • Whisk eggs and cream - To a separate medium sized mixing bowl, add the eggs and egg yolks and whisk lightly. Add the whipping cream and vanilla extract and whisk until well combined. Add the sugar and flour mixture and whisk to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and place the mixture in the fridge for 20 minutes to rest. This is a really important step as it will give the air in the mixture time to rise to the top so you can take it off before baking which will prevent cracking.
  • Zest your lemons - To a separate medium sized mixing bowl zest your lemons.
  • Juice your lemons - Juice your lemons and run through a small sieve into a jug to get rid of any lemon pulp and small seeds. Set aside.
  • Skim bubbles off egg mixture - Use a spoon to carefully skim as much of the frothy bubble mixture off the top of your egg and cream mixture. Discard the bubbles.
  • Sieve egg mixture - Run the egg mixture through a sieve into the bowl with the lemon zest. Use a spatula to gently mix together.
  • Finish the filling - Add the lemon juice into the egg mixture (only right before you’re ready to bake) and use the spatula to mix until smooth. You want to mix quickly but gently to prevent the lemon from curdling the cream. It may look curdled at first but keep mixing, it will come together.
  • Bake - Pour the filling into the tart shell. If there are any bubbles on top of the filling once poured in you can get rid of these using a kitchen torch. Very slowly and carefully transfer the tart to the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 50 - 55 minutes. Do not open the oven door until about the 48 minute mark to check if it’s done.
  • How to check your tart is baked - Gently tap the tray with your hand (use an oven mitt if you need) and if there’s a slightly jiggle in the center of the filling, it’s finished baking.
  • Cool down [IMPORTANT!] - Once baked, keep the tart in the oven and allow to cool with the door slightly ajar for two hours. Take out of the oven and bring to room temperature then chill in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

Swiss Meringue

  • Prepare the double boiler - Fill a large pot 1/3 the way with water and bring to a gentle boil. Place a heat proof bowl on top making sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the water. Turn the heat down to low medium.
  • Whisk egg whites and sugar - Add the egg whites, caster sugar, cream of tartar and vanilla extract to the bowl. Gently whisk your egg white and sugar mixture for about 3–4 minutes on medium high speed, or until the sugar is completely dissolved and you reach 72C / 160F on a candy thermometer.
  • How to check your meringue is ready to whip - run some of the mixture between two fingers. If you can’t feel the sugar granules, then it’s time to take it off the heat.
  • Whip meringue - Use an electric hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment to whip for 4–5 minutes until thick and glossy.

Finishing the tart

  • Add the meringue on top of the baked and cooled tart as soon as you’ve made it. Use a spoon to spread around into swirls. Use a kitchen torch to toast, or leave as is. Both look fine. Placing it under a broiler or oven grill does not work for this recipe.

Notes

Tart - To make this Lemon tart you will need to bake my crisp and buttery Sweet Tart Crust. 
Lemons
  • Lemon Juice - for this recipe you must use fresh lemons. You cannot use long-life lemon juice. The flavor is dead on arrival. 250g of lemon juice is a lot of lemon juice but it’s a lemon meringue pie. Lemons are the star of the show. It’s a lot of lemons to juice too. About 11 small lemons.
  • Lemon Zest - In addition to the lemon juice, the lemon zest adds loads of lemon flavor in the filling. Wash and dry your lemons really well before using a zester to zest your lemons. Some stores polish their lemons with wax and you don’t want that in your pie filling.
Why did my lemon filling crack?
This can happen for 3 reasons.
  1. Overbaked - The pie was overbaked. Bake only until the center of the filling has a very slight wobble.
  2. Cooled too quickly - allow to cool in the oven for 1 hour with the door slightly ajar. I use a wooden spoon jammed in the door to keep it open.
  3. Bubbles - if there are bubbles or froth from whisking the eggs left on top of the tart when it goes in the oven, those can cause the filling to crack as it cools. During my testing I found that leaving them on, would be one of the reasons why it cracked. Make sure you let your cream and egg mixture rest in the fridge, then skim off the froth/bubbles before adding the lemon juice. It’s a super important step!
How to fix cracked lemon filling
Add a little lemon curd to a piping bag and use a spoon to evenly spread over the cracks. You’re going to cover the cracks up with the meringue anyway so nobody will see them.
Don’t stretch the dough! - When you unroll the dough back into the tart tin, you must lift the dough to let it fall to the bottom of the tart tin instead of stretching. If you stretch the dough, it will shrink as it bakes and become uneven around the top.
Baking Beads - You can use dried chickpeas or rice instead of actual ceramic baking beads which can be expensive. Simply fill them as you would baking beads then once you’re finished with them, let them cool completely in a bowl before placing back in a container or zip lock bag.
For the meringue - This meringue is gently cooked to However, like all recipes that use eggs in this manner, they are not safe for pregnant people. I also recommend using fresh eggs for this recipe and not carton egg whites.
Storing the tart - This tart crust can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container for up to three days.
Storing the finished Lemon Meringue Pie - This pie can be stored in an airtight container for up to three days before it begins sweating. Please note: the tart shell will begin to soften after about a day as it soaks in the moisture from the filling.
Nutrition - is an approximate and does not include the tart crust which is a separate recipe. Nutrition is based on per slice. This serves 8-10 people.
A note on measurements - this recipe is offered in weight measurements. This is in an effort to offer the most accurate way to get the best results. Cup measurements simply aren’t accurate enough for a recipe that needs precision and cup sizes differ depending on where you are in the world. Here is where you can learn more about how to measure ingredients using digital kitchen scales!

Nutrition

Calories:337kcal | Carbohydrates:14g | Protein:7g | Fat:18g | Saturated Fat:10g | Polyunsaturated Fat:1g | Monounsaturated Fat:5g | Cholesterol:173mg | Sodium:68mg | Potassium:235mg | Fiber:1g | Sugar:8g | Vitamin A:776IU | Vitamin C:27mg | Calcium:60mg | Iron:1mg
Keyword Lemon, Meringue, Pie
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