🍋 Lemon Meringue Pie (Classic, Creamy & Fluffy)
A lemon meringue pie has three layers:
🥧 crisp crust + 🍋 tangy lemon filling + ☁️ fluffy meringue topping
🧾 Ingredients
🥧 Crust
- 1 pie crust (store-bought or homemade)
🍋 Lemon filling
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 3 egg yolks (save whites for meringue)
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp butter
☁️ Meringue topping
- 3 egg whites
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (or a few drops lemon juice)
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
🍳 Instructions
1. Bake the crust
- Pre-bake pie crust at 180°C (350°F) for 10–12 minutes
- Let it cool
2. Make lemon filling
- In a pot, mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and water
- Cook until thick and bubbling
- In a bowl, whisk egg yolks
- Slowly add hot mixture into yolks (temper them)
- Return to pot and cook 1–2 minutes
- Add lemon juice, zest, and butter
- Pour into crust
3. Make meringue
- Beat egg whites + cream of tartar until soft peaks form
- Slowly add sugar while beating
- Add vanilla
- Beat until glossy stiff peaks form
4. Assemble & bake
- Spread meringue over hot filling (seal edges to crust)
- Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10–12 minutes until golden on top
🍰 Tips for success
- Spread meringue while filling is still hot (prevents shrinking)
- Don’t underbake meringue or it may weep (get watery)
- Fresh lemon juice = best flavor
😋 Result
Bright, tangy lemon custard with a light, sweet toasted topping and flaky crust.
If you want, I can also show you:
- ⚡ a quick 10-minute version
- 🍋 a no-bake lemon pie
- or 🧁 mini lemon meringue cups
