Meyer Lemon Pie
Let me tell you about this unusual pie. When I first saw it the name caught my eye because I’m a lemon addict. And, if they’re Meyer lemons color me OD’d. I can never get enough of tart tasting food. It’s almost like Lay’s potato chips…you can’t have just one. In this case, I can’t have just one lemon.
I checked all over the web for recipes that listed this pie, who’s original name is Meyer Lemon Shaker Pie, and they all read the same…which told me not to mess with it because it was already perfection. However, I ended up making a couple of adjustments because of my gut feeling and lack of room in my freezer.
As I got the pie crust rolled out and in the pie plate I discovered that my pie plate was too large for my freezer. I had to tilt it on its edge. Not a problem while its empty but once the filling’s in I would have a disaster on my hands.
So, the adjustments to the recipe started. First, I made sure that the rolled out pie crusts were solidly frozen before moving on with the rest of the recipe.
Second, I decided to add two tablespoons of corn starch to the egg mixture before adding it to the lemons. I needed for the filling to have body since I knew I wouldn’t be able to freeze it the required 15 minutes prior to baking.
Side Note: Meyer lemons are generally thin-skinned. The ones I bought for this recipe surprisingly had thicker skins. I zested three of the lemons and put the zest in the bowl for the sliced lemons. I then cut away the outer peel from the lemons so there wouldn’t be a lot of bitter white pith in the pie. It worked well.
This is my version of Meyer Lemon Pie.
5-6 Meyer lemons
2 cups sugar or Stevia
1 teaspoon salt
Basic pie crust, enough to two layers
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs
2 Tbls. corn starch
Milk
Sugar or Stevia for top
Sea Salt for top, optional
Slice the lemons as thin as you can get them. Use a mandolin if you have one. Pick out any seeds and toss with the sugar and salt and set aside.
Heat oven to 450°F. Grease a 9″ pie dish or tart pan. (This is optional. I found that the pie crust didn’t even begin to stick to the pan.)
Roll out half the dough into a circle between two pieces of wax paper. Peel off the top layer of wax paper. Place your pie dish upside down on the pie dough round, and carefully flip the pan and dough over. Peel away the wax paper on that side and carefully press the dough into the pan. Using a knife or shears, trim away the extra dough so that there is a half-inch of dough above the lip of the pan. Tuck under and roll this extra dough, and pinch tight to the side of the pan. Put in the freezer to chill.
Roll out the rest of dough between two pieces of wax paper and put in the freezer to chill.
Beat the eggs , along with the cornstarch, until smooth. Stir the mixture into the lemons with the vanilla. Remove the chilled pie crust in pie dish from the freezer and pour in the lemon mixture.
Place the other pie crust round on top of the filled pie dish and trim to fit. Pinch to seal the edges and cut a few slits on the top to let out steam. Brush with milk and sprinkle a thin layer of sugar or Stevia on top. Add a sprinkling of sea salt is using. The salt gives a nice counterpoint to the sweet and tart taste of the lemons and sugar.
Bake the pie on the lowest rack for 15 minutes at 450°F. Turn the heat down to 375°F and move the pie to the center rack. Bake for another 30 minutes or until the crust is golden. If the crust edges begin browning too much cover with parchment.
Let cool completely before eating. Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream if you want to take it to another level.
This came out of the oven looking beautifully browned and I was counting the minutes until it cooled. I know the original recipe said that you can eat it after letting it cool 30 minutes but I needed for it to completely cool so I could see how the cornstarch affected the filling.
The end result was wonderful. The pie filling holds up well even through the next day. So, in the end…the final freezing didn’t matter…because of the cornstarch.
Makes one 9″ double crust pie