Baking Project

The classic American dessert.. well, I’ve made this a couple of weeks ago, but had no time to post it here. The recipe is long ! Since time is on my side now, here’s the recipe. I think every mom should try to bake a lemon meringue pie at least once. It is so yummy (and very impressive-looking !). And it is not that difficult to make. If you are planning to serve this for a function, make it ahead of time, coz the filling needs a few hours to set. Maybe make the pie in the morning to serve it for dinner.

METHOD :

To make the filling, beat the egg yolk. Set aside. Mix the sugar, cornflour and water in a pan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens and boils for about one minute.

Remove from heat. Now the tricky part.. do not add the whole mixture directly into the egg yolk (or you would end-up with scramble eggs). Take one spoonful at the time, gradually stirring it into the egg yolk. Pour the whole thing back into the pan and let it boil for another minute. Remove from heat. Add the butter, lemon juice, zest and the extracts.

In the mean time, prepare the meringue. This is easy. Just beat the egg whites at high speed, add the salt. Then drizzle the sugar a little at a time. Beat until you get stiff peaks.

To assemble, take the pie crust, pour in the filling and top with the meringue.

Bake for about 15 minutes at 400F or 205C, till you see the meringue turn a little brownish. Cool completely on a wire rack for a few hours. Then it will be easier to cut. Keep the balance in the fridge.

I left my lemon meringue pie on our dinner table and discovered these sugar drops on the surface of the meringue in the morning. It baffles me, and I’m guessing, it must be some sort of condensation, or something due to the humid weather. The drops do look pretty actually, the pie was still good to eat, no harm done.

While still on the subject of lemon, I am patiently waiting for my lemon tree to grow..

I think it’ll take years to bear some fruits like in the picture above. Hmm.. my lemon tree is still a baby.

I’ve seen a lemon tree at my aunt’s house, full with fruits. Yes, you can grow them in our weather, if the condition is right.

Anyway, Selamat berbuka puasa and hope you’ll try making this great Lemon pie.

This is my apple pie recipe, I have made apple pies many times using this recipe and my family loved it. This recipe is enough to feed 10 hungry tummies.
PASTRY FOR 2 CRUST PIE :
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 shortening (for flakiness)
1/2 cup cold margerine or butter
4 to 6 tablespoon iced water

FILLING :
Apples, cut into slices (I use 4 apples, any type)
1/2 cup or less sugar,
3 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 tablespoon margerine or butter, pinch of cinnamon (if you like)

METHOD :

To make the crust, mix flour and salt. Cut in or grate the shortening and margerine into the flour. Mix until it looks like a coarse crumb.

Sprinkle the ice water a tablespoon at a time until dough is just moist to shape into a ball.
Separate dough into 2 balls, 1 larger for the base and 1 for the top crust. Wrap in sandwich plastic and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
After that, take out and roll to fit your pie pan.
Preheat the oven. Prepare apple filling. Mix apples with sugar, flour and pinch of cinnamon.

Spoon over the filling in the base crust. Put little dots of margerine.
Cover with top crust. Make any decorative edges or if you’re lazy, just press with fork all the way round. Don’t forget to poke some holes on the top crust to let the steam out. Brush with egg yolk for that extra shine. Bake about 50 minutes. If the top browns too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Apple pie is good on its own, with vanilla ice cream or whip cream. Enjoy.