Lemon Meringue Pie is one of those desserts that looks

amazingly stunning and the taste completely matches up to the appearance! A

good pie will have a beautiful crust, golden brown and delicious, a sweet yet

tart lemon filling bursting with lemon flavor and a fluffy light meringue on

top. These three layers contrast and yet complement each other in the best

possible way. With all this said in favor of this dessert, the reality is that

most pies out there don’t live up to the high expectations we have of them and

leave us feeling disappointed. The crust is soggy, the filling too sweet or too

tart and the meringue is often watery and weepy especially in humid weather.

And it will be at a time like this that I turn to Pam

Anderson because I know that for all the difficult and easy recipes out there,

she has a solution to make them perfect and turn out right every single time.

And a good read through her book “Perfect Recipe” is like the aha moment you’ve

always been waiting for. Pam explains and simplifies so much ….. how to make

sure the crust is perfect, how to make the best filling – sweet and tart at the

same time. And most of all she gives her tips and techniques to stop the

meringue from turning watery or weep. I am always thankful for her recipes and

tips because I can think of many many foods and recipes that I love and I would

not have been able to make or enjoy them once I moved out of North America.

This is one of those fantastic recipes and even though it seems a bit daunting,

I invite you to try it out. The sheer pleasure of taking a slice of something

so wonderful will be worth it.

In addition to lots of tips on getting this recipe right,

I learnt a new way of making a pie crust which has changed the way I look at

pie crusts – it is absolutely brilliant. The crust is rolled in crushed graham

cracker crumbs. I cannot find graham crackers in India so I just use digestive

biscuits and they work just as well. This step alone makes a remarkable difference

to the crust. It promotes browning and crisps the crust nicely, complements the

lemon of the filling and prevents the pie crust from shrinking. A few other

tricks are putting hot filling into hot crust before topping it with the

meringue. Beating a cornstarch mixture into the meringue not only prevents

beading but also keeps the meringue from shrinking.

Ingredients:

Graham Cracker Coated Pie Shell

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

½ tsp salt

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter cut into ¼ inch

pieces and frozen

4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, frozen

½ cup graham cracker/digestive biscuits crumbs

Lemon Filling

1 cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

1/8 tsp salt

6 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon zest from 1 lemon

½ cup juice from 2-3 lemons

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Meringue Topping

1 tablespoon cornstarch

¼ tsp cream of tartar

½ cup sugar

4 large egg whites

Method:

1. Pie Shell: Mix flour, sugar, salt in a food processor

fitted with a steel blade. Scatter butter pieces all over this, tossing to coat

the butter with a little flour. Cut butter into flour with five 1 second

pulses. Add shortening, continue cutting in until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal

with butter bits about the size of small peas, about 4 more 1 second pulses.

Turn mixture into medium bowl.

2. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons ice water over mixture. Using a

rubber spatula, fold water into flour mixture. Press down on dough mixture with

broad side of spatula until dough sticks together, adding upto 1 tablespoon

more ice water if necessary. Shape dough into a ball with your hands, then

flatten into a 4 inch wide disk. Dust lightly with flour, wrap in plastic and

refrigerate at least 30 minutes before rolling.

3. Generously sprinkle an 18 inch work surface with 2

tablespoons graham cracker/digestive biscuits crumbs. Remove dough from

wrapping, place disk in center of crumbs. Scatter a few more crumbs over disk

top. Roll dough from center to edges into a 9 inch disk, rotating dough a quarter

turn after each stroke and sprinkling additional crumbs underneath and on top

to coat dough heavily. Flip dough and continue to roll, but not rotate, to a 13

inch disk, just under 1/8 inch thick.

4. Fold dough in quarters, place dough point in center of

a 9 inch ovenproof pie pan. Unfold dough to cover pan completely with excess

dough draped over pan lip. Lift edge of dough with one hand and press dough

into bottom of pan with other hand; repeat process around circumference of pan

to ensure that dough fits properly in pan and is not stretched in any way. Trim

dough to ½ inch beyond lip all around. Tuck overhanging dough back under itself

so folded edge is flush with lip of pan; press to seal. Flute dough by pressing

thumb and Index finger about ½ inch apart against outside edge, then use index

finger or knuckle of other hand to poke a dent on inside edge through space

created by other fingers. Repeat fluting around perimeter of pie shell.

5. Refrigerate dough until firm, about 30 minutes; prick

shell at ½ inch intervals. Press a doubled 12 inch square of aluminum foil inside

pie shell. Prick again to keep dough from ballooning during baking. Freeze pie

shell while oven is pre-heating.

6. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and preheat oven

to 375F. Bake shell, checking occasionally to make sure it is not ballooning,

pricking it if necessary, until shell is firmly set, about 15 minutes. Remove

foil and continue to bake until shell is crisp and brown, about 10 minutes

more.

7. Lemon Filling: Whisk sugar, cornstarch and salt

together in a large non reactive saucepan. Add egg yolks, then immediately but

gradually whisk in 1 1/2 cups of water. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium

heat, whisking occasionally at beginning and more frequently as mixture begins

to thicken 8 to 10 minutes. Whisk in zest, then lemon juice and finally butter.

Bring mixture to a good simmer, whisking constantly; simmer for 1 minute.

Remove from heat, place plastic wrap directly on surface of filling to keep hot