Monday, January 28, 2008

Daring Baker's Meringue Lemon Pie

Lemon Meringue tartelets


Not being able to complete last month’s challenge, it felt like ages since my last Daring Baker’s Challenge. This time, Jen form Canadian Baker is our host and she had chosen the Classical Lemon Meringue pie for this Month’s challenge.

I believe I’ve mentioned before how my darling can’t stand the tart flavor of the lemon and that I have to add extra sugar to my lemon tarts to suit his taste. This time, not wanting to add the extra calories to my hips and thighs, and with the gorgeous lemons I’ve found at Whole Foods the other day, I’ve decided to use Meyer Lemons for my lemon meringue Pie. Meyer Lemons are believed to be a cross between real lemons and Mandarin Oranges. They are smaller in size and rounder than a lemon. They also have a light orange color when ripe. They are sweeter and less acidic than the lemons (Eureka and Lisbon) commonly found in the US, this is why I had to reduce the amount of sugar in the filling. Sssweet! Or should I say: Less Sssweet!


Lemon Meringue Tartelet


The Lemon meringue pie that I regularly make is my mother’s recipe. What differs it from the DB’s one is that my mother’s recipe uses fewer eggs for the filling, no butter and no cornstarch too. When making the filling, although the appearance of the lemon curd was gorgeous and smooth, it took a lot of time to thicken, past boiling point.

The crust was hard to work with at first, and I had to add some extra flour to stop it from sticking. And while the dough was able to hold the filling perfectly out of the pan, it wasn’t as flaky as I like it to be.
The meringue on the other hand was my favorite part: not too sweet and not too egg tasting.


Lemon Meringue Tartelette


Overall it was a fairly easy challenge, a little time consuming but I would have to say that my mother’s recipe remains my favorite by far.

You can check out the detailed recipe here. Thank you Jen for this lemony Challenge, and be sure to visit my fellow Daring Baker’s for more mouthwatering creations.

37 comments:

Anonymous said...

congratulations for this lovely pie :) You didn't tell us if Darling loved it ? ;) even with less sugar ;)
I also prefer the recipe I use to cook but this one was quite funny to make

David T. Macknet said...

Beautiful! And I'd agree, that meyer lemons would make it sweeter ... and probably less acidic? And that the crust was a pain.

Your crust looks marvelous, though!

Dolores said...

I love your golden-brown crust, even if it did cause you a bit of grief in the making. You'll have to share your mother's recipe with us (assuming it's not a family "trade secret).

Deborah said...

It sounds like it worked perfectly for you! It looks wonderful!

Brilynn said...

I've never used meyer lemons before, they sound lovely though!

Anonymous said...

Warda - les tartlettes au citron is on my to-do list. I think using Meyer lemons is great since it's not as tart and you can use less sugar. But, I mean, who's counting calories when it comes to lemon tart - right? :)
A+

creampuff said...

It's so pretty! I love how browned your meringue is!

breadchick said...

Bet the meyer lemons were wonderful. Glad you to see you back at Daring Bakers!

Sabra said...

Pretty approach to the meringue. Looks like you did not worry about sealing it to the edge.

glamah16 said...

I used Meyer lemons as well. Maybe thats why I prefered this LMP over ones I have had in the past.

Shayne said...

I think all the lemon meringue pie recipe that I have ever tried had cornstartch and every lemon curd recipe never has. I am not sure why that is.

I love how so many people have memories of their Mothers with the challenge.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful presentation as usual, and the use of meyer lemons and less sugar sounds perfect to me.

Inne said...

Such cute tartlets! I've never had Meyer lemons (don't think you can buy them here) but they sure sound delicious.

Anonymous said...

Dommage que l'on aie pas de Meyer Lemons par ici, j'en entends tellement parler sur les blogs US !! Tes tartelettes sont très belles !

Renee said...

Meyer lemons...mmmmm. Your tart looks delicious, congratulations on yet another challenge!

Anonymous said...

Lovely pie! And of course your mum's recipe is better ;)

Cheryl said...

Your crust is just picture perfect. I did not have such a good time with that part. I love that you used Meyer lemons too.

Jenny said...

Ah so that's what the difference is between a regular lemon and a meyer lemon! How cool!
Your pies look lovely!

Anonymous said...

Love Meyer lemons. Good job :)

Warda said...

- Marion, thanks! He said they are a bit sweet. I surrender!

- Davimack, they are less acidic indeed and I love alos the deep yellow color that it gives to the lemon curd.

- Dolores, thank you. I thought I've over-baked it a little bit. As for my mother's recipe, I owuld have to ask her permission;)

- Deborah, thanks a lot.

- Brilynn, you should really try them!

- Christine, I am not a calorie-counting, especially when it comes to dessert. But when it screams too much sugar it tends to turn me down. So you've never made tarte au citron before?

- Ivonne, thank you very much.

- Breadchick, thanks alot. They are marvelous!

- Skrockodile, it doesn't matter to me. I like to see what's underneath.

- Pipinthecity, thank you very much.

- Inne, too bad you can't get them. They are much better than lemons.

- Anne, c'est vraiment domage!je n'en avais jamais entendu parler avant! Peut etre qu'il faudrait planter un arbe dans ton jardin!

- Nan, thanks a lot!

- Linda, thanks. It is indeed still my favorite.

- Cheryl, It wasn't easy to roll it out though! Thanks a lot!

- Quellia, thank you very much. And now you know!

- Maryann, thank you very much!

Warda said...

Sorry! I fogot to answer to Shayne and Glamah. Special one just for you too:

- Glamah, Great minds think alike ;) And yours looked beautiful!

- Shayne, I've never noticed that! But you're right!It's great that you are building new memories with Z and L as well! I will have to wait for DD to grow up a little bit for this!

Krimo said...

Great blog, Warda.
Your lemon meringue pie looks delicious!

Chris said...

Your tarts look lovely! I have seen several DBers use Meyers. I have never had them. I need to get on the ball!

Dharm said...

Lovely, just lovely! I'm still trying to figure out what Meyer lemons are. Over here in Malaysia, they are just called Lemons...!! Great job on the challenge!

cookworm said...

Nice job on the challenge! Meyer lemons sound like a good way to mix things up a bit. I too would reduce the sugar next time.

Helene said...

Beautiful job! I bet Meyer lemons were great in the curd!

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

Your meringue looks like a beautiful mountain range! This must have been delicious with the Meyer lemons.

Warda said...

- Krimo, thank you very much! Glad you like it. And congrats on your succesfull restaurants. All the best!

- Chris, thank you. Once you will try them you will never wanna use a regular lemon again.

- Dharm, thanks a lot. They are a little smaller than lemon and sweeter in taste. But you have so much more in Malaysia ;)

- Cookworm, thanks! Reducing sugar never hurts.

- Helene, thank you very much. You know what I'm talking about with the meyer lemon bounty that Marie send you :)

- Lydia, thank you very much. I was having fun with the pipping bag. Meyer lemons do add a sweeter note to the curd.

Andrea said...

I would love to try a LMP made with Meyer lemons, but I can't find them here so I'll have to enjoy yours virtually. It looks lovely!

Elle said...

Pretty tarts and you used Meyer lemons, too. They do make a nice filling!

Patricia Scarpin said...

Stunning, Warda - as everything you make. :)

MyKitchenInHalfCups said...

Love the look of your pie Rose.

Unknown said...

All of you who used Meyer lemons have given me a serious craving....

Love your little meringue volcanoes.

Unknown said...

All of you who used Meyer lemons have given me a serious craving....

Love your little meringue volcanoes.

Lis said...

Such a sweet lil pie! Your golden crust is giving me some major cravings right now! :)

Well done, sweetie.. as always!

xoxo

Unknown said...

Great job. Your pictures are beautiful! Glad you were able to participate.

Mer said...

I like your pie. Good job. I also really like your header for the blog. Very nice. Did you create it yourself?