First of all, the vanilla bean giveaway. There were 20 entrants, total. Entrant #5 is the lucky winner. Susan Meier, email me your mailing address and I'll get these vanilla beans into the mail right away! lili.mounce@gmail.com
Now on to today's post.
Even with a fairly complete baking cabinet, I, too, run out of just the thing I need, and right when I need it.
For my husband's birthday, last month, I had wanted to make a Lemon Meringue Pie, as he has told me that was his favorite growing up. But I was seriously low on corn starch, and cream of tartar is expensive, so I try to use it sparingly. So, my quest was to find a way or recipe to make this favorite pie without corn starch or cream of tartar.
That's when I scoured my older cookbooks (1950s-era) and found a recipe for Old-time Lemon Pie. It called for flour as the thickener in the lemon custard and in the meringue, instead of cream of tartar to stabilize the egg whites, it called for lemon juice. Perfect!
The basic guideline for substituting all-purpose flour for cornstarch is to use twice as much flour as the cornstarch called for in the recipe. Also, it should take half as long for flour to thicken, in a sauce, than corn starch.
An FYI, 1 cup of liquid requires 1 tablespoon of corn starch, or 2 tablespoons of flour, to thicken to a sauce or gravy.
But back to the Lemon Meringue Pie. I made it the old-timey way, and it came out wonderfully creamy. If there is a difference, between one made with corn starch and one made with flour, I'd say the cornstarch version is slightly firmer, and the flour version is slightly creamier. But it's so close, a casual diner would not be able to tell the difference.
As for adding an acid to egg whites before whipping, here's a good explanation of how the acid stabilizes the egg white. Basically, to get the fluffiest meringue topping that actually holds its volume, you need to add something acidic to the egg whites, such as vinegar, lemon juice or cream of tartar.
To make a meringue topping using 3 egg whites -- use 3/8th teaspoon cream of tartar, or, 1/2 teaspoon white vinegar, or 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
Needing an old-time recipe for Lemon Meringue Pie? Here's the one I used just last month. It has more tang and less sweetness than other recipes that I've used. A good, old-time, lemon flavor.
Old-time Lemon Pie
ingredients:
1 pre-baked pie crust
filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups water
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 egg yolks, beaten
meringue:
3 egg whites
1 teaspoon lemon juice
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
Combine sugar, flour, salt in a saucepan. Use a whisk to mix in water and lemon juice. Over medium heat, bring to a boil. Cook, stirring constantly, until thick (about 3 minutes).
Remove from heat. Stir a couple of spoonfuls of hot mixture into beaten egg yolks. Repeat. Add egg yolks to remaining hot mixture. Return to medium heat, bring to a boil, stirring, and cook 1 minute.
Remove from heat. Pour into cooled, baked pie shell.
Beat egg whites with 1 teaspoon lemon juice, until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Spread over lemon curd pie filling, sealing to edges.
Bake in preheated oven, 350 degrees F, for 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool before slicing pie.
Recalling this pie makes me want another one. I may just make a lemon pie for our Memorial Day cook-out. Do you have any plans for your Memorial Day celebration?
The lesson learned here is sometimes the old ways work out best, and save us money. I think of all the things I've been inspired to try because I read about them in an historical fiction novel, from baking bread, to making pickles and sourdough. I think there's a bit of homesteader in all of us.
