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…or how to dent your ego in one easy step.
I’ve been baking Lemon Meringue Pies (hereafter abbreviated to LMP) since the age of seven, so when LMP was announced as the January challenge for the Daring Bakers–hosted by Canadian Baker, Jen–I was slightly… underwhelmed.
“How on earth could LMP be challenging,” I thought to myself, smugly.
Dave suggested that perhaps the challenge in this instance would be in following the recipe exactly and not making any adjustments, even those I would normally do to rescue things. If things went wrong, which of course they wouldn’t. Because, you know, I’ve been making these things since I was seven.
See my ego?
I have to admit that I started to get worried when reports of weepy meringue and runny filling–or sauce, as one poster described it–started to pour in on the Daring Bakers private blog. So I took a closer look at the recipe.
Oh dear.
Now I could see why people were having so much trouble with the filling.
The ingredients for the lemon filling were absolutely standard, but the proportions and the techniques used were different to what I’ve previously used.
Pouring a dry mixture of cornflour (cornstarch) and sugar into hot water really didn’t sit well with me. Apart from the distinct possibility of lumps forming, the cornflour was added at the beginning of the cooking process for the filling and was then subsequently heated to boiling point twice. And all that heating means lots of stirring to prevent lumps, and cornflour doesn’t particularly like being stirred.
The other thing with cornflour is that it loses its thickening properties when heated too high and for too long. I never, ever bring it to a boil, and yet… if I was following the recipe as I promised I would when I signed up to become a Daring Baker, I had to boil the damn filling.
Sure enough, I had problems. Despite the huge amount of cornflour, the mixture never got really, really thick. And given how temperamental cornflour is, I didn’t want to cook it for even longer or more aggressively. When I added the egg yolks, I expected the mixture to finally thicken up properly… but it didn’t. And when I finished it off with butter–thickened slightly–and lemon juice–got thinner and thinner despite adding it ultra-slowly–I knew it was a disaster.
I should probably have just started again, but I chose to be optimistic. Perhaps I hadn’t cooked the filling for long enough and it would firm up more after a trip through the oven and then the fridge?
Yeah, right.
A really, really good lemon meringue pie should have a thick, slicable filling. It shouldn’t be completely set and firm like a Key Lime Pie, but neither should it slither out from under the meringue and cover your plate. Instead, it should generously concede to wobble ever-so-slightly and perhaps bulge at the edges once the slice has made its perilous journey to your plate. (I should point out that I only ever eat LMP cold. A hot LMP is heresy, as far as I’m concerned.)
This… this… lemon sauce does not correspond in any way, shape or form with my idea of the perfect lemon meringue pie. Frankly, it was pretty disastrous.
To give you some idea of just how runny the filling was, when I cut into the pie there was an immediate whoosh as filling spurted out and proceeded to run all over the worktop and dribble onto the floor. After staring in horror for a few seconds, I hurriedly put the collar back on the tart tin and shoved a plate underneath to catch the drips. I knew it would be runny, but I never expected it to be quite so bad!
The worst thing was that I’d promised Dave’s mum the finished pie as it’s her absolute favourite dessert ever. I wound up making a very embarrassed phone call and promised to make her one–using my own recipe–with a proper filling rather than sauce.
Despite the problems I encountered with the filling, quite a few other DBers reported back that their pies turned out amazingly well with properly set fillings, so the recipe isn’t totally flawed. Just highly variable.
If the pie had tasted amazing, then I could have forgiven the runny filling, but it just didn’t taste that great to be honest. You would think that it would be exquisitely tart with the massive amount of lemon juice needed, but it was just sweet and vaguely lemony. Now, since I used five organic, unwaxed lemons, I was a little peeved about this.
The crust was nice and short, but somehow managed to lack flavour. Left to my own devices I would probably have added some vanilla seeds and a little bit more salt to bring out the sweetness of the pastry.
No complaints about the meringue. I really liked the addition of vanilla and will probably add it into my own LMP recipe. I didn’t have any problems at all with the meringue weeping; the only weeping in our household came from me as I stood helplessly watching lemon sauce cascade over the worktop.
So, after my first Daring Bakers challenge, I stand before you all, humbled and shame-faced, but still very excited to be a DBer. I wonder what next month’s challenge will be?
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Like you, I was quite disappointed by this LMP… Anyway, you did the best you could (like us all) and you pie looks good whatsoever!
Cheers,
Rosa
Oh dear, what a shame you ended up with lemon sauce instead of curd. Your meringue topping looks amazing though, I love how you have pulled it into peaks. I too consider lemon meringue pie as a classic from my childhood.
Well, welcome to the Daring Bakers
I promise not all challenges are like this 
You did a great job trying and your meringue looks great!
Normally the challenges are something you really don’t make everyday. I have found my affiliation with the DB’s greatly rewarding and I am sure you will too after a few more ‘runs’ at it
Wow, and it looked so pretty. What a shame. I’ve de-lurked to ask you to post your fool proof recipe, cause I too adore LMP!
I had no problem with the filling, but I do not like the taste of the crust and the Meringue so much.
Perhaps you should not have cut the LMP when still hot?
Interesting that many experienced pie-bakers had trouble with this, while some of the neophytes didn’t (unfortunately I was not one of them). Anyway, welcome to the Daring Bakers!
Rosa–I’m still really intriegued by all the different experiences the DBers had with the same recipe. I now have much more respect for the recipe testing process!! Thanks for your compliment!
Katie–thanks! I must admit that I was particularly pleased with the meringue.
Lewis–Oh, don’t get me wrong, I still greatly enjoyed the challenge. My baker’s pride is just slightly dented! Thanks for the welcome
Lunasa–I’ll probably make another LMP in February, maybe for Valentines. So check back in a few weeks!
Zorra–that’s the thing! I let the pie go cold and even chilled it before I dared to attempt cutting it. I should just have started making the filling again from scratch rather than trying to persevere with it.
Susan–that’s a very astute observation. I wonder if it’s a case that we knew too much and were too wary/timid as a result?
Welcome to the DBs! I think a lot of us had problems with the curd setting, but still enjoyed the taste. Good Job!
thats too bad.. and its so strange i did boil my cornflour twice and it was very thick.. infact at one point i was scared i would never be able to spread it, if it came to that
but i turned out fine and i actually cut the lemon juice to half coz i didnt want it so tarty!
Ohhh… can I ever relate to this story! I had similar issues with my pie.
Ah well… onward to the February challenge!
Welcome to the DBers.
This recipe seemed to cause a lot of problems for a lot of people. At least you weren’t alone. I have no idea how mine turned out right, but everything did go wrong along the way
I had the same reaction to the recipe, the lemon curd was not going to work that way, I thought. So I mixed it all cold and then heated it up. Even though I shouldn’t have, I needed to follow my LMP instincts!!
Ouch. Same thing that happened to you, happened to me. My filling didn’t thicken either and in the end, I ended up with like a lemon sauce.
I had a lot of problems with this challenge, so I feel your pain.
Nonetheless, you pie looks very pretty and your meringue looks gorgeous!
Great job. Looks great!
Iisha
Well my first thought upon seeing the beginning of your entry was- Damn! That’s some mighty fine looking meringue. It just looks so pillowy and beautiful!
As for the filling- I pretty much thought my hand was gonna fall off from whisking (I feared the lumps more than pissing off the cornstarch) and kept everything low med the entire time. I have seen everything from success with the meringue but not the filling to vice versa and complaints on it being too sweet to those of it being too tart. I only needed 3 meyer lemons to come up with the right amount of juice so maybe we should just blame our lemons?!
Welcome to the Daring Bakers. I’m sorry to hear that you got lemon sauce… It’s intriging to read all different experiences even though everyone are following the same recipe.
Your pie looks beautiful. Too bad about the yucky filling. I had the same problem. Lemon Meringue Soup. I’m so impressed that you would know how to fix it!
Despite the runny filling, yours is perhaps the prettiest LMP (lovely browned meringue) I’ve seen so far!
I had lemon meringue soup as well. My first instinct was that the lemon curd had wept, but when I researched the web everything said it was the meringue that had wept. I’m with you – it was the curd!
I loved the taste though, so I may have to see what I can do to save this recipe.
Isn’t it crazy how the same recipe can yield such different results for everyone? I’m glad you liked the meringue, though. It’s beautiful!
Your pie is beautiful. I think it’s really interesting too that some of us had super thick filling and a surprising number of people had lemon soup.
sorry you didn’t get the results you were hoping for. But let’s look on the bright side, great merigue and lots of fun!!! That’s not too bad.
Ooh, yes, we both had runny filling! Please do share your recipe as my husband loves a good LMP! Welcome to the Daring Bakers!
Ahh, yes, those very words were said in my house too. Alas, I suffered the same fate but the pie eats just the same.
Welcome to the DBakers! Glad you had fun still although the LMP wasn’t that great to you. Lookinf forward to our next challenge!
Well really you only had a filling problem. And given your past experience and your knowledge of cooking with cornflour the failure seems unexplainable. But anyway, your uncut pie is beautiful. Mine was wobbly at first because we had guests and needed to get on with eating. But the next day, after a day in the refrigerator it was nice and solid. Good luck on your next DB project. I’ll bet you do great.
Ooops! Running filling, huh? I thought I was going to end up with that, but it ended up decent. But the meringue looks fabulous. And I’m sure it tasted delicious
Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear. Yup, that looks a disaster. As Tanna at Half cup Kitchen said, everyone seems to have had a problem with one of the 3 parts of the recipe and totally different takes on the taste of the parts. Who knew a simple recipe could be so variable!
Nemmie–Thanks for the welcome! It looks like the filling went to two extremes–really runny or really solid. Strange how one recipe spawned such variation!
Aamena–Well, I’m glad your filling turned out okay! Surprisingly, I didn’t think it was particularly tart, despite using the full amount of lemon juice.
Michelle–Yes, I’m putting this one behind me and looking forward to February!
Nicole–Congratulations on your pie turning out okay!
LEsley–I should have followed my instincts, too! Glad your turned out okay.
Tarah–Thanks for the compliments on the meringue
Seems like a lot of us had lemon sauce, which is such a shame since the pie took quite a bit of effort.
Iisha–Thanks!
Tempered Woman–We could indeed blame the lemons! I know that acid affects the setting of cornflour, so I guess a very tart lemon could generate lemon sauce….
Sorry to hear about your experience. I can imagine since you can make these in your sleep that it must have been frustrating. Your swirly meringue is lovely!
I’m sorry about your lemon “sauce”. You definitely were not the only one who had trouble with this recipe!
I agree, the meringue was the best part!
You know I thought the same thing before I started this challenge … I’d still eat your pie!
What a shame. I know how frustrating it can be when a recipe doesn’t work. Maybe next month’s challenge will go smoother for ya.
Thanks for all your lovely comments, everyone!
Dagmar–This seems to have been the most variable recipe that the DBers have tackled so far. I’m also enjoying reading everyone’s reports about it.
Lynn–Thank-you!
Melanie–Awww, thanks! I do love a nice browned meringue
Erin–Sorry to hear that you had soup, too. Hopefully your next attempt will turn out a bit more… solid
Deborah–The meringue was defintely the best part of this pie forme. Thanks for the compliment!
Mary–Thanks!!
KJ–Oh, it was definitely lots of fun. My pride just got dinged a little
Andrea–I will definitely get around to blogging my own lemon meringue pie recipe!
Kim–Alas, my pie ended up going into the bin. I just didn’t enjoy the taste of the filling and there’s only so much meringue I can eat without feeling slightly sick!
Cherry–I just saw the next challenge and I’m really excited! Now I just have to figure out when I’ll have time to do it
Molly–Thanks! You’re right that it really only was a filling problem. I guess 2/3 isn’t bad, right?
Kaykat–It wasn’t just running, it was sprinting! I should have entered it in an athletics meet
Annemarie–I think the variable results are the most interesting thing about this recipe.
kellypea–I was quite frustrated at the time, but I an laugh about it now
Ivonne–Thanks!
Barbara–Thanks, I’m definitely looking forward to the Feb challenge
Oh that’s too bad! I wonder if there are just so many different variables in the types of cornstarch/flour we all used to have such wildly different results!
Angela, I’m so sorry it was a disaster. I too find that the most challenging thing about being a DBer is NOT changing the recipe. Welcome anyway, and I hope the next challenge goes better for you.
Thanks for the advice on cornflour! My pie ran around the place as well, I added almonds to my pastry and reduce the sugar slightly as I love tart LMP. I am sorry you didn’t like it but welcome to the DBers!
I’m sorry your first foray into the world of the daring bakers didn’t work out better for you… but I’m glad that you participated and provided your honest assessment. And I’m glad you’re part of the group.
I was just doing some research about meringue and came across this site. Last night I made a lemon meringue pie for the first time by Anna Olson. Although there was cornstarch in the filling, there was no adding it to something hot. The lemon filling turned out wonderfully! You might want to check her recipe out on Foodtv.ca. However, I had what looked like a beautiful meringue but once it was cooked it started to weep and did deflate a bit but no-one noticed today at work and they all said it was the best one they ever had (so they say). I just found out that you are not supposed to refrigerate it, bake it too long, or spoon it on a cold filling. Who knew? Also, any fat at all will ruin it so absolutely no specs of yellow. I learn something every day. What’s the next challenge then? Oh and, if my lemon filling was great and your meringue is obviously beautiful, maybe we should combine the recipe.
hello! I am 25 years old and love to bake. My mom loves lemon meringue and so I was making one for our bible study. I use the food network version. I can out like lemon sauce b/c we cooked the filling too long and whisked it too harshly
You have to be patient with thisa LMP. I have made it a few times before and this was the first time I messed up!I also use a cup of lemon juice instead of 3/4 and add more egg whites for a bigger meringue!