Making Lemon Pie with my Aunt

My Aunt Minin holding the gorgeous Lemon Pie she baked.

Sorry Titi, you know it's true... 

She may not be able to make a decent Arroz Blanco, but she can bake a mean Pie.

My Aunt is one of those people who can produce the most amazing, magazine-looking desserts with no effort. On the other side, I'm a terrible baker. Those genes were not handed down to me.

I burn breads, and cookies end up with a cake-like texture. Not good.

 

   

Today I tried to recreate the recipe. It was good, not great. 

Considering that I only had brown sugar (which resulted in a beige colored Meringue) and I added way to much corn starch to the lemon curd, it was still good. 

 

She always gets her recipes from old books. 

The photos are from day she baked the Pie, not from the Pie I baked.

for the crust

• 1.5 cups of All-Purpose Flour (I used flour for making bread)
• 1/2 cup Vegetable Shortening 
• 3 tbsp very cold Water

-Mix the flour and shortening in a bowl (using your hands). You'll get a grainy dough.

-Start adding the water a tablespoon at a time, until you have a uniform dough. 

-Roll out with a rolling pin into a 12 inch circle. Place it in the bottom of your baking dish. Put it in the freezer while the oven heats up. 

-Bring the oven to 350 degrees and bake the dough for 15-20 minutes (until golden). Reserve.

for the custard

• 1.5 cups of Water
• 6 tbsp of fresh squeezed Lemon Juice
• the zest of one Lemon
• 1 cup of Sugar
• 1/4 cup Corn Starch
• 4 Egg Yolks
• 2 tbsp Butter

-Whisk everything in a sauce pan. Cook over low heat until thick. Check if you need to add more corn starch, the custard should not be watery. 

-Pour over the crust. Set aside.

for the meringue

• 4 Egg Whites (room temperature)
• 8 tbsp Sugar

-Beat the egg whites for 2 minutes, until they formed into a white froth. Add the sugar.

-Beat at high speed until the mixture is thick and glossy (about 5 minutes).

-Spoon over the custard.

-Bake for 10 minutes at 300 degrees.