By Kevin Williams
Lemon pies are a staple in Amish homes this time of year. Winter has disappeared into the rearview mirror and summer is in full swing. There's a tendency to want lighter, fruitier desserts to celebrate the season.
A silky, delicious lemon pie is the perfect cool, refreshing sweet treat on a sweltering summer day. Think of lemonade in a pie crust.
Mrs. Miller's Prize-Winning Lemon Pie is a any amazingly refreshing summer treat.
Related Recipes: Homemade Lemon Bars,
Molasses Cookies with Lemon Frosting, and Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Frosting.
This is a lemon meringue pie, but for those of you who don’t care for meringue or just don’t to go through the trouble of making it, this pie would be superb as a stand-alone lemon without the meringue. That said, this was Rachel’s first crack at making meringue and she did a superb job. So don’t get intimidated by the meringue.
And, wow, meringue is really something that can either make or break a pie like this. I've tasted some meringue that just seemed flavorless and pointless and just hovered on top of the filling like a lifeless blanket. A good meringue will adhere to the sweetness below and you bite into a pie and get a burst of, say, butterscotch blanketed by a cool, light, fluffy meringue...when the meringue just lifelessly lays on top...no...the meringue and filling have to dance together like Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire (wow, I feel ancient having just said/wrote that).
Whipping that meringue into shape!
I like using an egg separator....
Use the freshest lemons you can find, if you have access to a lemon tree, use those lemons!
The pie before the meringue is added, doesn't it look refreshing?
Citrus fruits are usually stocked in Amish bulk food stores on a season basis: lemons, oranges, limes, and grapefruit and all of those are favorites with Amish cooks. The Amish in southern parts of the United States: Beeville, Texas and Pinecraft, Florida have citrus trees growing in their yards so they can literally go out their doors and pick the fruit they want and need for an extra fresh taste. For Amish up north these fruits are more seasonal staples.
So break out your lemons and give this a a try!
- 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
- 1 1 /4 cups sugar
- 1 /4 cup lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of grated lemon rind
- 3 eggs, separated
- 1½ cups of boiling water
- 1 - 9" baked pie shell
- Combine sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and lemon rind.
- Beat egg yolks; add to cornstarch mixture, gradually adding boiling water.
- Heat to boiling over direct heat and then boil gently in 4 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Pour into a pie shell.
- Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry.
- Gradually beat in 6 tablespoons of sugar.
- Spread meringue over top of pie.
- Bake in a hot over for 4 - 5 minutes at 425 or until browned. Cool and serve.
Carolyn
Thank you Keven. I have been craving lemon meringue lately, but just have not pulled the recipe out of my recipe files. Now i have no excuse. I will definitely use this one. YUM.