Meringue Clouds

In case you're a lemon lover like me, here's another great lemon recipe! This is a very traditional Lemon Meringue Pie recipe. It's the first time I've ever made it, even though it's one of my favorite desserts. I love making meringue; it's like making little puffy clouds! :) Plus, I love the way it looks when it browns on top of the pie in little tufts! So cute! 

Lemon Meringue Pie (recipe courtesy Allrecipes.com)


Ingredients (for 1 pie):


1 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water
2 lemons, juiced and zested
2 Tbsp butter
4 egg yolks, beaten
1- 9 inch pie crust, baked
4 egg whites
6 Tbsp granulated sugar


Directions:


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick.

3. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.

4. To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust. 

5. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

***Some tips for making the fluffiest meringue:
When making meringue, you want it to form "stiff peaks" which means it will look like this when you invert your wire whisk:

How cute it that?! It's a little cloud! Also, to make the meringue stand up in little tufts on your pie, just press a spatula into the meringue and lift up on an angle before baking. Repeat this technique all over the pie.