Crustless lemon meringue pie

Pure deliciousness...

I love how no matter how long you know someone, new quirks can shine through. Better yet, when they’re ones you share. Last weekend, Camille and I were both (or, more precisely, each) about to order a slice of lemon meringue pie that sounded beyond decadent. From a mandarin orange sauce to a shortbread crust, there was a lot going on with this pie. So you can’t imagine how happy/relieved I was when Camille very tactfully asked the server whether there was, still, an actual meringue topping–as opposed to an artistic drizzle or something–on said pie. I’d had exactly the same worry. (Note: The meringue was there in force. And it was great.)

I was planning on posting this recipe regardless, but now knowing that we’ve got two hard-core meringue fans in the house, I’m considering it my duty. What follows is a riff on lemon meringue pie–with meringue in lieu of crust. Courtesy of Kerstin, my mother’s best friend since high school, it’s the best dessert I’ve had all summer. The fact that it’s incredibly easy (and healthy, since the lemon curd’s more of a spread than a filling) doesn’t hurt either!

Kerstin’s Crustless Lemon Meringue Pie

Meringue Crust serves 4-ish (Note: for the pie in the photo, we doubled the recipe. Also, as a point of reference: If you’ve had a pavlova, this is pretty much the same sort of thing.)
3 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
3/4 cup sugar

1) Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy. Slowly beat in the sugar, until the meringue is stiff and glossy.
2) To make individual pies, scoop onto a cookie sheet (I always like to cover mine with brown parchment paper to make the meringues easier to remove) and form into small bowls. For a whole pie, drop the entire contents on the sheet and shape with the back of a spoon. To make your shapes more even, you can trace plates or tea saucers onto the parchment.
3) Place in oven and bake approximately an hour (I’d check on it at 45/50 min just to be safe). The outside should be dry and hardened, but the inside still gooey. When done, shut the oven off, open it a crack, and let the meringue cool before removing. (Note from Kerstin: This recipe is very forgiving–if the meringue looks to be to dark just open the oven for a while. If you take it out and, after it’s firmed up for an hour or so, you decide it’s too soft in the middle, you can absolutely put it back in the over for a while. You can make the bottom days or weeks beforehand; though don’t freeze it.)

Lemon Curd serves 4-plus (Note: this recipe will make a whole lot more than you need.)
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 cup lemon juice

1) Place the egg yolks in a bowl and set aside.
2) Mix the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils. Let boil and continue to stir 1 minute.
3) Mix at least half the hot mixture gradually into the bowl with the egg yolks. Then, pour that mixture back into the pan, and boil and stir for about 1 minute.
4) Remove the mixture from heat; stir in butter, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Cool to room temperature. Just before serving spread into meringue shells. This is the kind of recipe where a little goes a long way. I’m a fan of doing a very thin layer. You’ll still get a ton of flavor–the lemon is amazing at bringing out the other dessert components, too–without a lot of fat.

Serving Suggestions

This is one of those recipes that pretty much looks and tastes great no matter what you do to it. A big plus for me. We used bananas, peaches, and strawberries on ours. Lots of them. The recipe itself calls for dark chocolate, which I bet would be amazing drizzled on there. Also good to know: You can cut some major corners if you’re in a rush. Both meringue cups/bottoms and lemon curd can be bought ready made.