Lemon Meringue Pie

This Lemon Meringue Pie is LONG overdue!

I teased you about it on my insta stories a few weeks ago and I think you’ve earned this recipe :)

You GUYS!!!! Listen Read very carefully… this is the BEST lemon pie you’re EVER going to make!

Let’s start and end with the fact that the lemon curd filling is naturally sweetened, ie zero sugar. The crust has no sugar or sweetener to begin with – super simple and delicious. The meringue has sugar but I couldn’t get around that one. I tried honey and yuck – didn’t like the taste and to be honest, it didn’t even keep its shape – fell flat almost instantly.

I made this pie for my mother’s birthday (love you mama!) and she LOVED it. That’s right. And not because she’s my mom which automatically means she loves everything I make. FYI, she’s actually one of my toughest food critics. So the fact that she loved it is telling you something.

We finished this pie in under 10 minutes!

This DELICIOUS Lemon Meringue Pie is free from:

• dairy

• egg

• peanut

• tree nuts

• soy

• fish/shellfish

• mustard

• sesame

• GUILT

You can also make this gluten-free by swapping the all-purpose flour for a GF flour blend like Bob’s Red Mill 1:1. I’m only recommending this brand because I’ve used it in the past to make this pie crust and it did a pretty good job. So there you go! Use that and now you have a top allergy free pie, my friends!!

This is definitely cause for celebration, so make this Lemon Meringue Pie and enjoy every last crumb!

And the secret behind that golden-yellow color?

Palm oil! Sustainably sourced of course. But how amazing and rich is this ‘yolk’ yellow color you get just by adding a spoonful to the lemon filling.

I’ve been using palm oil for a while and love it so much. It’s a great source of good fats, plus it’s a stunning bright orange which means a ton of beta carotene (also very good). Now, I know palm oil isn’t a staple food item in most homes, so use coconut oil instead. You’ll get a pale yellow lemon filling which is equally as beautiful and it won’t affect the taste.

A lesson on starches

The first pie I made, I used cornstarch. Result: perfectly thickened and stable with a more matte appearance to the lemon filling.

The second pie I made, I ran out of cornstarch so I used a mixture of tapioca starch and arrowroot starch. Result: beautiful glossy appearance, although it took a much longer time to completely set. And the texture reminded me of (don’t get grossed out) slime. It was stretchy. Not necessarily a bad thing but definitely something to be mindful of.

I learned that grain starches (such as corn) are more powerful at thickening and setting than root starches (tapioca/arrowroot etc). That’s why the first pie set quickly and firmly while the second pie took longer to set and was ‘stretchy’ (not as firm).

The third pie (this recipe) combined the best of both pies and I decided to use a combination of starches to see if what I hypothesized would happen. It did the trick! The cornstarch gave the lemon curd filling the firmness I wanted while the tapioca provided that bit of shine and made it a bit smoother-tasting on the palate. Third time’s a charm thank goodness ;)

If you only have one starch at home, that’s perfectly fine and your pie will come out looking and tasting perfect. If I were you, I’d pick cornstarch for this pie just for its firmness. If you can’t have cornstarch because of allergies, no sweat! Use another starch with confidence :)

This meringue topping is amazing!!

Look at that beautiful swirl. Working with chickpea brine, aka aquafaba (AF), is so much fun! One of the things I’ve gotten pretty good at making with it is meringue :)  Check out these delicious Pink Pavlova Cookies filled with fudge that I made not too long ago. Honestly really, very, yummy!

This liquid is awesome!!!

Speaking of which, I’m going to attempt making the ever trendy number/letter cake for a special event coming up and I’ll be using AF yet again! Stay tuned for that pic… and I might even share the recipe (if it’s a success obvi) :)

If you don’t own a torch, you’re missing out!

Any excuse to use that torch! Watching the meringue change its structure and turn into that gorgeous caramel-y burnt confection is amazing. If you don’t have a torch, then just leave the meringue as is. I’ve seen some bloggers instruct to bake the pie in the oven to get that look. But since I haven’t done that, I don’t want to tell you to do the same.

By all means, you can try to place the pie under a low broil but please please please keep your eye on it to avoid burning the meringue. And you may want to cover the whole pie with meringue so that the filling doesn’t cook (if that makes sense). You want to just cook the meringue and NOT the lemon curd filling.

If you end up trying the oven thing, let me and the rest of the readers know how it turned out! TIA :)

What else?

This pie will yield 8 generous servings. But you can totally turn it into 10 slices. Which means you get more pie. I know it’s technically the same amount of pie but it’s like you’re getting more…. I’ll stop now.

Oh almost forgot!! This pie is pretty much NO BAKE! Well, aside from the crust (which you’ll have to bake, sorry!), the rest is easy peasy lemon squeezy!! Pun intended :D

As always, if you try this or any of my recipes on NDNC make sure to rate and comment and let me know how you liked it. Your feedback means so much! And don’t forget to take pics of your creations and share them with me on my social media pages insta & FB and of course, always on here!

Until next time, happy pie making! xx