Hey there Honey's and New-Bees!

Spring has sprung here in Vancouver and I’m so excited to shed my winter clothes, put away my slow cooker and start whipping up some of my favorite springtime meals!

To celebrate the arrival of the warmer weather my romeo and I are pulling out the patio set (well balcony set), grilling dinner on the BBQ and topping off the evening with a slice of Lemon Meringue Pie 😋.

If you’ve never made Lemon Meringue Pie before don’t worry, it’s pretty straight forward and easy to make, all you need is a couple of lemons and some ingredients you probably already have on hand in your pantry, and if you don’t have those ingredients it’s a good excuse to go out and buy them since they’re pretty essential and you probably should have them in your kitchen anyway.

Last summer my romeo and I bought an abundance of raspberries and still have a bunch leftover in our freezer, so I decided to put little twist on my pie and added a layer of raspberry between the crust and lemon curd. The little extra step takes very little time and really adds a whole new dimension to the pie, but if raspberries aren’t available feel free to get creative and substitute them for any other berry or just leave them out all together.

Lemon Meringue Pie is an awesome springtime/summertime treats, it’s vibrant, delicious and just fun to eat. I really hope you enjoy the recipe below whether you add the raspberries or not! Also if you do decide to get creative and use other type of berries please let me know in the comment section how your pie turned out!!!

Happy Baking!

To make your raspberry layer, coat 1 cup of raspberries with 1 tbsp of cornstarch and cook the berries in a small sauce pan on medium heat .
The raspberries will start to breakdown pretty quickly, so make sure to stir constantly so you don’t burn them. Also don’t fret if the berries are pretty runny at first, keep stirring for a few more minutes as the cornstarch works its magic and thicken the berry liquid.

Once your berries reach a thick, jam-like texture, remove them from the heat and using a pastry brush evenly coat  the bottom of your pie crust with the berry mix then set it aside for later.

Now that your raspberry layer is out of the way, let’s start on making your lemon curd!

First thing you want to do is juice 2 whole lemons and grate the rinds (which is lemon zest) in a small bowl. Lemon zest is a powerhouse of flavour so please DO NOT skip this step, otherwise you’ll  lose out on a tone of flavor.

Once your lemon mix is ready, set it aside and combine all your dry ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Let the pan warm up for a couple of minutes, making sure to stir the dry ingredients so they don’t burn, then gradually add your lemon juice, water, and butter. Continue to stir until the liquid comes to a boil, then remove the pan from heat and add your egg yolks.

Before adding your egg yolks, you’ll need to “temper” them so that you don’t end up with scrambled egg chunks in your lemon curd (I’ve learned this the hard way).

To do this all you need to do is take about 1/4 cup of lemon curd and whisk it into your egg yolks (in a separate bowl). Once the yolks are nicely beaten and slightly warmed up, whisk them into the sauce pan with the other ingredients.

The lemon curd will start to thicken up pretty quickly and once it does all you need to do is  pour it into your pie crust and let it sit while you whip up your meringue.

Before you start your meringue there are two very important steps you need to keep in mind. The first is to make sure your egg whites are at room temperature, which will help ensure your meringue is fluffy and voluminous. Secondly, wipe down your bowl with the leftover lemon you squeezed. The acid from the lemon will help stabilize your meringue but more importantly will help get rid of any grease or oil residue that may be lingering on your bowl which will prevent your meringue for gaining volume.

So once you’ve wiped your bowl down, add your room temperature egg whites and beat them until they start to foam up, then gradually add  your icing sugar and your vanilla extract. Increase your whipping speed, and continue to beat until meringue has formed “stiff peaks” (making sure not to over-whip).

Top your pie with the meringue, making sure to cover the edges and place your pie in oven for 10-15 minutes or until meringue has browned slightly.

Let pie cool at room temperature for 2 hours then refrigerate for another 2 hours before serving!

ENJOY!