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Ingredients
- Pie filling:
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed (about 6-8 lemons)*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
- 1/4 cup cold water
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
- Whipping cream to top the pie
- 1 graham cracker or Cornflake Crust (recipe below)
- Corn Flake Crust:
- 1 1/2 crushed cornflakes (about 3 cups to start); I put mine through the food processor
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup (about 5 1/3 tablespoons) butter, melted
Preparation
Step 1
Beat egg yolks. Add to them ½ cup sugar, lemon juice, and salt, stirring to fully combine.
In a non-aluminum double boiler, or in a non-aluminum metal bowl placed over a saucepan of boiling water, cook the egg-sugar-lemon juice until it thickens to a custard-like consistency; stirring constantly.
As the mixture becomes almost thickened, in a separate bowl combine the gelatin and cold water. Stir to combine and set aside.
When egg-sugar-lemon juice mixture has thickened add the gelatin. Stir to combine. Add grated lemon rind. Allow to cool.
Beat egg whites while gradually adding ½ cup sugar. Beat until stiff. Note: my egg whites were not what I’d think of as classic ‘stiff egg whites’ when done. They were more like a thick marshmallow cream consistency. That may be our altitude but it worked fine in the pie.
When the filling has cooled and is thick (but not completely firm), fold in egg whites to fully combine. Pour into a completed pie crust and cool until firm in the refrigerator. Top with whipping cream and serve.
A tip: I ended up making the pie twice not having had experience making this type of pie. I found the custard cooled slowly to a point then seemed to instantaneously gel, making chunks when mixing with the egg whites. The second time I made it I quickly made the egg white mixture which took a very long time to thicken I suspect due to the sugar and my altitude. As the egg whites were finishing up the custard began to fully harden. I set the bowl back on the hot water in the sauce pan to soften it, whisked it to break it up and make it more fluid knowing it would harden again. When I ‘folded’ in the egg whites I ended up using a whisk again as the two were not blending perfectly. The mixture became softer but everything hardened perfectly once in the pie crust and chilled for a bit in the refrigerator.
Corn flake crust:
Mix all ingredients and press into a 9 inch pie pan (I used a regular, not deep dish, pie pan). Chill before using. I put mine in the freezer.