Luscious Lemon Meringue Pie

Hello there my fellow lemon lovers,

So the past two weeks life has given me some lemons (or Costco) and you know when life gives you lemons you grab a zester and BAKE! I started out thinking about how lemonade is the epitome of a summer time refresher tangy and sweet all in one. Then it changed to lemons in general are summer in itself. So I went over to Costco bought a huge bag of lemons and dragged out the cookbooks. First thing that came to mind as I started into the books was pie, a Lemon Meringue pie to be specific. I had to make the hard life decision of either mini pies (in my mini pie maker) or a regular pie. I will not bore you with my long pro con list which includes my undying love for anything mini and tell you that I ended up with a regular pie.

            First step to any pie is the crust. The crust I made for this pie is a little bit different only in the way of rolling it out. So, you make just like any pie crust with the food processor throw it in the fridge for about 20 minutes while you gather up some more ingredients. I spent this time grating and juicing lemons, along with cracking and separating the egg yolks. Also crushing up graham crackers for the crust. After the 20 min has passed take out you crust and graham cracker crumbs. Instead of rolling out the piecrust onto flour you are going to roll it out on the graham cracker crumbs. Trust me this is better than any piecrust you can imagine. Once it is rolled out the size of your chosen pie dish, place it in there and give it a pretty edge. Also take a fork and poke the bottom a few times. Next take some aluminum foil and cover the whole crust. Now for pie weights I used some rice, but you can use marbles, beans, or actual pie weights whatever you have around. Put the piecrust in a 375-degree oven for about 25-30 minutes. After 25-30 minutes take the pie weights out, and keep it in the oven for 10 more minutes to make it nice and golden brown.

            While the piecrust is cooling grab a medium size skillet. Combine together the water, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Bring those ingredients to a simmer whisking constantly. When the mixture starts to turn translucent add in the egg yolks two at a time, still whisking constantly. Lastly add in the lemon juice, zest, and butter. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the filling into the crust. Put a sheet of plastic wrap directly on to the filling, and refrigerate it for 2 hours.

            In the mean time take an hour nap or do some yoga. After that come back and get ready for some meringue time! If you read my Macaroon post you will have already done this. Now meringue is very temperamental and can turn into soup. First you need to start your sugar syrup by adding the sugar and water together in a pot. Turn it on high heat, put a candy thermometer, and leave it alone. Once the temperature reaches about 200 degrees, start you egg whites and cream of tartar. When the syrup reaches about 235 degrees, the egg whites should be at soft peaks. Slowly add the syrup into the whites. Whip the mixture until it has slightly cooled, and is shiny soft peaks.

            Grab you beautiful pie out of the fridge and your cooled meringue. Top the pie with the meringue and lightly smooth it over the whole pie. Then grab a spoon and add some cool texture with the back if you would like. Put the pie in a 400-degree oven for about 6 minutes until it is golden brown. 

Lastly cut yourself a big slice and ENJOY!

Later Lemon Lovers 

Cassidy 

Pie Dough

1 1/4 cup Flour

1 Tbsp Sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp shortening(chilled)

5 Tbsp Butter (Chilled)

4-6 Tbsp Ice Water

Filling

1 1/2 cups Cold Water

1 cup Sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

6 egg yolks

1 Tbsp Lemon Zest

1/2 cup lemon juice

2 Tbsp unsalted Butter 

Meringue 

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup water

3 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

Easy Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

Good Evening (or morning?)

This summer has both been extremely long and relaxing, and at the same time short and hectic. Even with these conflicting feeling it has no doubt been hot, and hard to be in the kitchen. There is no doubt this is why most people tend to bake more in the fall/winter. When being next to the hot oven is cozy and comforting, instead of sweaty and irritating. The heat usually doesn’t affect me very easily, but when my weekly baking came around it really hit me (hard in the gut). There was a part of me (the part that usually wins) that told me not to do it, and nobody will know. This is why I frequently find myself in the middle of projects from 3 years ago(ask me about a hook rug) and frequently starting new endeavors. So as I thought about my starting record versus my finishing record I made myself keep going(Yay me!).

            I was recently studying abroad in Ireland, and of course had to bring home a little bit of the Irish baking. Which surprise was a cookbook to add to my collection? This is where I chose to make my hot summer day recipe. The recipe I chose was a one-bowl banana chocolate chip cake. That way I was in the hot kitchen as little time as possible, but still have a beautiful product to show you guys (who ever you might be).

            I won’t spend an unnecessary amount of words telling you which ingredients to put in first. It really does not matter. The only thing you need to do is measure everything correctly, and make sure your butter is nice and soft. Other than that you can just about dump all the ingredients in the mixer bowl, and mix it all up.

            Once it was a beautiful batter I poured it into a bunt pan, but you can use any pan you would like (get crazy). The times will vary depending upon your choice of pan. The oven temp should be ____, and if you used a bunt pan like I did it should take about an hour to bake.

            While that is in the oven I made an easy cream cheese icing. Which just has cream cheese, powdered sugar, and some milk. The more milk you add the thinner it will become. I made mine pretty thin for esthetic purposes over my bunt cake. You can put the icing on however you may desire, and you are done! YAY!

Sweet Dreams (literally)

Cassidy

3 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 Bananas (mashed)
1 cup softened butter
1/4 cup cream
1 3/4 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips(optional)