Mile-High Lemon Meringue Pie with Foolproof Pie Crust Recipe - Gemma’s Bigger Bolder Baking (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep the crust from getting soggy in a lemon meringue pie? ›

Blind Bake

The most common way to ward off a soggy pie crust is by a process called blind baking. Blind baking means you pre-bake the crust (sometimes covered with parchment or foil and weighed down with pie weights to prevent the crust from bubbling up) so that it sets and crisps up before you add any wet filling.

You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie. you should probably get: Pie weights are super helpful to have for pre-baking.

What is the best way to prevent having liquid at the bottom of a lemon meringue pie? Don't over bake your meringue! Overbaking causes the egg whites to shrink and squeeze out small droplets of moisture. Always make sure to check on your pie at the minimum baking time.

Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.

One of my very favorite kitchen tricks is to brush a bottom pie crust with an egg white wash before filling. This keeps the filling from seeping into the crust and creating a soggy bottom. I like to avoid soggy bottoms at all costs. Egg white and water is also perfect for sealing edges, like when making a pie.

The beads form faster if the weather is humid or if the pie is chilled. A tiny bit of cornstarch (such as in the recipe here) whipped with the sugar into the meringue traps some of this moisture and reduces beading.

If you are pre-baking a store-bought frozen packaged crust, I recommend following the directions on the package for how to pre-bake that particular crust. Most instructions will have you defrost the crust, prick the bottom of the crust all over with the tines of a fork, and bake at 375°F to 450°F for 10 to 12 minutes.

With docking, the holes allow steam to escape, so the crust should stay flat against the baking dish when it isn't held down by pie weights or a filling. Otherwise the crust can puff up, not only impacting appearance but also leaving you with less space for whatever filling you have planned.

The key is to avoid the typical apple pie pitfalls — a soggy crust and waterlogged filling — by blind baking the crust and boiling down the juices before filling the pie. These steps add a bit of extra time but ensure a crisp and flaky crust and a cider-flavored filling that's not the least bit watery.

The watery layer between the meringue and the filling (weeping) is usually caused by undercooking. This is where it is important to put your meringue onto hot filling so it can begin cooking right away.

Why does my lemon meringue pie taste eggy? ›

It is quite unusual for a meringue to have an "eggy" flavour and unfortunately this is usually an indication that the eggs are slightly stale.

The longer the pie sits, the more moisture is inclined to accumulate. We recommend that you make it the day you plan to eat it. A homemade lemon meringue pie is becoming a rare treat. We're delighted you're still making them!

Meringue pies will ''weep'' water because of the interaction between the filling and the whipped meringue. If one or the other is overcooked, water beads will form and weep. Egg whites can also weep if they are over-beaten or are from old eggs.

Some experts will tell you to par-cook apples before filling a pie by pouring boiling water over cut apples and soaking them for 10 minutes. Others say to roast them to reduce water content. Still, others say to let cut apples sit for 30-40 minutes to drain natural juices.

Often, blind-baking solves this problem. If you're making a single crust custard-filled pie, like a pumpkin pie, bake the pie dough first before adding filling to allow some of the moisture in the crust to evaporate. You can also totally blind-bake fruit pies.

The trick is to store the baked, cooled meringues in the freezer, where the dry, cold air prevents them from attracting moisture and losing their crispness. This means you can make plain meringue cookies anytime, yes, but you'll also have so many other desserts waiting at your fingertips.