Daring Bakers - Lemon Meringue Pie ~ 檸檬蛋白派

This is my debut post for Daring Bakers, a community make up of 400+ food bloggers/baking enthusiasts all over the globe. I first heard about DB from Mandy of Fresh from the oven, then Cookworm, then Dessert First. It is great to know that there are so many people out there who share the same passion for baking as me. Click here to learn more Daring Bakers. I have been looking forward to my first post since the day I was put on the roster! When I learnt that we are making lemon meringue pie for the January challenge, I got the blues. Our host for this month is Janet of Canadian Baker, whom has chosen Lemon Meringue Pie as the challenge. You see, I have never baked a pie in my life @_@ (not even those pre-bake one). To prepare myself for this, I’ve been reading the recipe rigorously before so that I won’t fumble when I bake it!


Since I have never baked a pie, I figured that I should follow the recipe to the teeth to avoid failure. I suspect that a novice will pass on this recipe because it involves 3 steps: crust, filling and meringue, all make from scratch! I admitted that I almost want to give up but my competitive nature won’t compromise. Now, I can say I did it! Though I didn’t make the best looking or the tastiest pie but I completed the challenge! The recipe called for a 10 inch pie plate but I only have an 8 inch so I made a few tartlets with the excess. Other than I never baked a pie, I have never tasted a lemon meringue pie (I am not really fond of pastry with fillings because it has loads of sugar.)! I think my pie tastes like a lemon pie but it is kind of runny and not set. I think I removed the filling from heat too soon. The filling is too tart & sweet (is this possible?!) for my taste but the meringue is perfect! It tastes like marshmallow! The crust is so yummy and flaky! I can just eat it by itself! My feedback about this challenge: it was not hard to make but kind of time consuming because of all that chilling time! I think Sunday afternoon would be the ideal time to make this!

You should go see my fellow Daring Bakers’ lemon meringue pies too. Just click here.

Lemon Meringue Pie
("Wanda's Pie in the Sky" by Wanda Beaver)
Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:
3/4 cup (180mL) cold unsalted butter; cut into 1/2 inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups (475mL) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (60mL) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp (1.2mL) salt
1/3 cup (80mL) ice water

For the Filling:
2 cups (475mL) water
1 cup (240mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120mL) cornstarch
5 egg yolks, beaten
1/4 cup (60mL) butter
3/4 cup (180mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15mL) lemon zest
1 tsp (5mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:
5 egg whites, room temperature
1/2 tsp (2.5mL) cream of tartar
1/4 tsp (1.2mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2.5mL) vanilla extract
3/4 cup (180mL) granulated sugar


To Make the Crust:
Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of 1/8 inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2cm). Decorate the edge. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.


To Make the Filling:
Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated. Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

To Make the Meringue:
Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

Free-Style Lemon Tartlets
("Ripe for Dessert" by David Lebovitz)

Prepare the recipe as above but complete the following steps:

To roll out tartlet dough, slice the dough into 6 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll each circle of dough into a 5 inch disk. Stack the disks, separated by pieces of plastic wrap, on a plate, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To bake the dough, position rack in oven to the centre of oven and preheat to 350ºF (180ºC). Place the disks of dough, evenly spaced, on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely.

To finish tartlets, first place oven rack in the upper third of the oven and increase heat to 425ºF. Divide the lemon filling equally among the disks, mounding it in the centre and leaving a 1-inch border all the way around. Spoon the meringue decoratively over each tartlet, right to the edges, in dramatic swirling peaks.

Return tartlets to oven and bake for about 5 minutes, until the meringue is golden brown.


這可是我烤的第一個派哦﹗如果你有常來這裡就知道我愛做冰涼甜點﹐沒必要根本不想用到烤箱。但我居然加入了Daring Bakers﹐一個不斷壯大的baking狂熱者團體。這個團體每個月都會有挑戰﹐主題由不同的host題出﹐用同一個食譜﹐在同一天發佈在自家的blog。我只能說我不知道哪兒來的勇氣去接受每月的挑戰﹗連我自己也很意外。太衝動了 >___< 但是既然已經說要接受挑戰﹐那就衝吧~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

因為害怕自己會做不來﹐從一月主題公佈後就天天看那食譜一次。剛看還給它嚇倒﹐因為食譜好長噢﹗光看就覺得需要一天的時間才行。不瞞你說﹐真的有想過放棄。可我很好勝…嗚嗚嗚…這性子害我不淺…嗚嗚嗚…就說這個檸檬蛋白派﹐除了沒做過﹐我也沒吃過﹗我都並不愛吃過甜的東西特別是有餡料的pastry ﹐因為我有超強的健康意識。蛋糕是看它漂亮才吃的﹐而且是和朋友分著吃。那我只好硬著頭皮拼了@__@ ﹗

我花了一整天﹐毀了廚房﹐才烤好我生平的第一個派。我想我的派算是成功的。應該算美味的。就說派皮好酥﹐每一口都充滿奶油香。檸檬餡料對我來說﹐有點過酸及過甜。但是配清甜的蛋白糖霜﹐就剛剛好。而且蛋白糖霜吃起來口感像棉花糖…yummy*Q*

有空就去其他Daring Bakers的家去看看他們的檸檬蛋白派吧﹗一定比我的好的說~


檸檬蛋白派
10吋派盤1個

派皮
¾ 杯 (180ml) 切成小方塊的冷凍奶油/牛油
2杯 (475ml) 中筋麵粉 (all-purpose)
¼ 杯 (60ml) 砂糖
¼ 茶匙 (1.2ml) 鹽
1/3 杯 (80ml) 冰水

餡料
2杯 (475ml) 水
1杯 (240ml) 砂糖
½ 杯 (120ml) 粟粉/玉米粉
¼ 杯 (60ml) 奶油/牛油
¾ 杯 (180ml) 濾過的檸檬汁
1 茶匙 (5ml) 香草精
1大匙檸檬皮絲
5 個雞蛋黃

蛋白糖霜
5 個雞蛋白（室溫)
½ 茶匙 (2.5ml) 塔塔粉
¼ 茶匙 (1.2ml) 鹽
½ 茶匙 (2.5ml) 香草精
¾ 杯 (180ml) 砂糖

製作派皮：
把麵粉、糖、鹽及奶油混合放入食物處理器，拌至呈粗糙麵包屑狀後，加入冰水，稍待30秒，再次攪拌至團狀。不要過度攪拌。將麵團放在撒上麵粉的工作台上，揉至軟滑，輕壓成圓片，蓋上保鮮膜，放進冰箱冷藏至少20分鐘至完全冰涼。

取出麵團(如果麵團過硬，放室溫稍微回軟)，放在撒上麵粉的pastry板上，將麵團桿成比派盤大2吋(12吋)厚1/8吋的圓形薄片，用桿麵棒把麵皮捲起，鋪進派盤裡，壓實盤底及盤壁。單手拿起派盤，沿著派盤邊緣把突出的派皮用刀子漂亮地切下一圈。随意裝飾派盤邊緣多餘的派皮或用叉子在派皮邊緣壓出紋路。蓋上保鮮膜，放進冰箱冷藏30分鐘。

烤箱預熱至350℉（180℃）。在派皮鋪上烘焙用紙（牛油紙），加入pie weights 或乾豆至半滿。放入烤箱烤25分鐘。取去烘焙用紙及乾豆，繼續烤15分鐘或至派皮呈金黃色，放涼。

製作餡料：
將水裝進小鍋裡，開中火煮沸，離火。待涼5分鐘。砂糖、粟粉攪拌均勻後，逐漸地拌入熱水裡，拌勻。以中火加熱，不斷輕輕攪拌，煮至變濃稠湯汁。取1杯湯汁拌入打發過的蛋汁裡﹐要一邊注入一邊不停的攪拌至混合，再加進鍋裡。持續不時的攪拌湯汁至煮沸，熄火。拌入奶油至融化混合，再加入檸檬汁、檸檬皮絲及香草精，拌勻。將餡料倒入放涼的派盤裡，用匙背滑平餡料表面，在餡料表面鋪上保鮮膜以防它薄膜產生，放涼。

製作蛋白糖霜：
烤箱預熱至375℉（190℃）。將蛋白、他他粉、鹽及香草精，打至柔軟發泡狀態。小量地加進砂糖，繼續仔細打發至濃稠有光澤，出現尖角為止。將蛋白糖霜倒在檸檬餡料上至完全覆蓋餡料，以免餡料過分受熱而散開。放進烤箱烤15 - 20分鐘至糖霜呈金黃色。烤好後要在鋼架放涼。