1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
3 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
9 inch baked pie shell
Pie Meringue (recipe below)
Heat oven to 400*. Mix sugar and cornstarch in saucepan. Stir in water gradually. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir at least half of the hot mixture gradually into egg yolks. Blend into hot mixture in saucepan. Boil and stir 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and food coloring. Pour into baked pie shell.
Spoon meringue onto hot pie filling; spread over filling, carefully sealing meringue to edge of crust to prevent shrinking or weeping. Bake until delicate brown, about 10 minutes. Cool away from draft. Refrigerate any remaining pie.
6 servings: 480 calories per serving
Meringue
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
6 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 Tbsp at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Do not underbeat. Beat in vanilla.
(You can also make a LIME Meringue pie by decreasing cornstartch to 1/3 cup and omit butter. Substitue lime zest and 1/4 lime juice...and add green food coloring instead of yellow)
