Lemon Meringue Pie

makes one 9-inch pie

• one 9-inch unbaked pie shell

  Filling

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 2/3 cups cold water
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
• 1/3 cup lemon juice

  Meringue

• 3 egg whites at room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 5 Tablespoons sugar

Prepare and bake the pie shell. Cool completely.

In a medium saucepan combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Mix well. Slowly pour in the cold water and stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until the mixture boils. Allow to boil for about 1 minute while you stir constantly. Then remove from heat.

In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks. Very gradually add the beaten eggs yolks to the hot mixture. Cook over low heat while stirring constantly until mixture boils. Continue to stir constantly while the mixture boils for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in butter, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Allow the mixture to cool for 15 minutes and then pour the mixture into the baked pie shell.

Set the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. In a deep bowl, beat the egg whites, cream of tarter, and vanilla at medium speed for about one minute until soft peaks form. Add the sugar one Tablespoon at a time, beating the mixture at high speed until the mixture is glossy and high stiff peaks have formed. Spoon the mixture onto the hot filling and be careful to spread the meringue to the edge of the crust to seal it to the crust. Use a knife to swirl the meringue into peaks. Bake at350 degrees until meringue is light brown, about 12 to 14 minutes. cool on a rack and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours to cause the filling to firm. Refrigerate until time to serve.