Lemon Meringue - Pass the Extinguisher

As a wedding shower gift, my new company gave Andy and I one of those KitchenAid stand mixers. Its amazing! (What color you ask? Ice which is like a sea green). So I had to test it out of course and I thought why not a lemon meringue pie! I'd never made one before and to think of it I have never actually eaten one. So I got on CookingLight.com and found a recipe.

I used the mixer to make the meringue and it was the easiest thing ever. In a matter of seconds I had fluffy white clouds of meringue in my mixing bowl. So I spread the meringue over the smooth lemony filling. It was gorgeous: peaks of white like waves. All it needed was those nice browned edges so I popped it into the broiler which was preheated. I put the microwave timer on for a minute per the instructions. After that minute passed, I checked on the pie and to my horror the top of the pie was burned and some of those beautiful white peaks were actually on fire! My clouds had been turned into ashes! I was horrified. I took the pie out and blew out the tiny flames.

What could I do? With a fork in hand, I started peeling off the burnt crust of meringue that was on top. Luckily it was pretty easy and beneath was still a good layer of pretty tasty meringue. Once I had finished, I used my mini torch (used for such delicacies as creme brulee) and began the restoration process. I browned the meringue and then sprinkled lemon zest over it for garnish.

So now was the taste test. I grabbed Andy and Carl (Andy's brother) to be my guinea pigs. We all had a piece and to my delight it was delicious. I forgot to let the filling set after baking so the lemon filling was not as set as I would have liked it to be, but I put it in the fridge afterwards and it solidified beautifully.

So be weary of the hot gates of the broiler. I do not use it very often so am not a connoisseur of its high heat prowess, but now I'll know better for the next meringue pie!

Below is the recipe I used from CookingLight.com. I love how CookingLight.com tells you the nutrition information for each of the recipes they have. This recipe uses a lot of fat free ingredients which was perfect for the weight watching we are doing before the wedding!

Ingredients

Crust:
1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 8 cookie sheets)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, melted
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

Filling:
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 (6-ounce) carton lemon fat-free yogurt (such as Yoplait)
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoons water

Meringue:
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325°.

To prepare crust, combine first 4 ingredients in a bowl; toss with a fork until moist. Press into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 325° for 15 minutes or until lightly browned; cool on a wire rack.

To prepare filling, combine lemon rind and next 3 ingredients (rind through yogurt) in a medium bowl, and set aside. Sprinkle gelatin over 3 tablespoons water in a small microwave-safe bowl; let stand 1 minute. Microwave at HIGH 15 seconds, stirring until gelatin dissolves. Stir gelatin mixture thoroughly into yogurt mixture. Spoon filling into prepared crust. Press plastic wrap onto surface of filling; chill 1 hour or until almost firm.

To prepare the meringue, combine 2/3 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until candy thermometer registers 240°. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar at high speed of a mixer until foamy. Pour hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over egg white mixture, beating at high speed until stiff peaks form. Remove the plastic wrap from filling. Spread meringue evenly over filling, sealing to edge of crust.

Preheat broiler.

Broil meringue for 1 minute or until lightly browned, and cool on wire rack. Chill until set.

Yield

9 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 293(9% from fat); FAT 2.9g (sat 1.1g,mono 0.9g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 6.8g; CHOLESTEROL 9mg; CALCIUM 141mg; SODIUM 178mg; FIBER 0.1g; IRON 0.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 59.9g

Pumpkin Pie

I got this recipe from Foodnetwork.com. It is one of Paula Deen's recipes so you know its gonna be rich and definitely not low fat! Her recipe calls for adding melted butter towards the end of the mixing process but I added it at the beginning with the cream cheese and liked the way it turned out. I made this pie this weekend for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner with my future in laws. My fiance's brother who is a big pie fan thought it was really good.

1 - 8 oz package of cream cheese
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks
1 cup half and half
1/2 stick butter, softened (room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 piece of pre-made pie dough
whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place 1 piece of pre-made pie dough down into a (9-inch) pie pan and press down along the bottom and all sides. Pinch and crimp the edges together to make a pretty pattern. Put the pie shell back into the freezer for 1 hour to firm up. Fit a piece of aluminum foil to cover the inside of the shell completely. Fill the shell up to the edges with pie weights or dried beans (about 2 pounds) and place it in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the foil and pie weights and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is dried out and beginning to color.

For the filling, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer. Add the pumpkin and beat until combined. Add the sugar and salt, and beat until combined. Add the eggs mixed with the yolks, half-and-half, and melted butter, and beat until combined. Finally, add the vanilla, cinnamon, and beat until incorporated.

Pour the filling into the warm prepared pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until the center is set. Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temperature. Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream.

Apple Pie

I think I got this recipe off of AllRecipe.com a long time ago but its been so long I can't remember. When I studied abroad in England, I attended Lancaster University, a school about 3 hours north of London. My flatmates and I got together and made a Thanksgiving feast for our friends and so I wanted to make pie and this was the recipe I used.

6-7 Granny smith apples, sliced
2 pie crusts (I have not delved into dough making so I buy the pre-made ones from the store)

Place crust in pie dish and press down firmly so it covers dish. Layer apples in dish. Slice other pie crust into strips about 1/2 inch wide. Using these strips create lattice top; it may sound complicated but its not so bad. You just line every other strip across your pie top vertically. Then with the strips remaining you weave them over and under horizontally across the vertical ones. Pinch edges so that strip ends are connected to the rest of the edges of the pie crust.

The following ingredients are for the sauce:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1/3 cup of butter (unsalted)
1 tablespoon of flour
1/3 cup of water

In a small pot on low heat, add all ingredients and mix till combined. It should have a consistency of a thick a sauce, like syrup. Once combined, take off heat and pour into pie. The sauce should be able to enter the pie between the lattice top and any sauce that gets onto the crust will make a lovely glaze look. Bake for about 35 minutes; crust should be golden brown.