How do you make a classic Lemon Meringue Pie even better? Add a little lemon thyme. It’s optional, but it has a distinct citrus flavor that adds an extra hint of lemon flavor, and serves as a beautiful garnish.
This lemon meringue pie recipe is sponsored by Diamond Crystal Salt.
All opinions are my own.
Why I Use Diamond Crystal Salt
Having worked in restaurant kitchens for most of my adult life, I’ve always reached for Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt Flakes. There just isn’t anything else that compares.
Now they’ve developed a fine kosher salt just for baking, and I’m obsessed. Diamond Crystal Baking Salt has the same clean flavor I’ve always loved, with no additives, just pure, natural salt, which perfectly balances the flavors in all my sweets.
The finely ground salt also dissolves into the recipe 3x faster. I love that, especially for my beloved meringue, which needs the salt to balance the sugar but can weep if the crystals haven’t fully dissolved before whipping. Now it delivers the flavor and bendability!
Lemon Meringue Pie Tips
I think Lemon Meringue Pie may be the most perfectly balanced dessert of all time. The tart lemon filling is a great match for the sweetness of an ethereal mile-high pile of meringue topping. Add the freshness of lemon thyme to the meringue and you’ll elevate the taste into one that is summery and sophisticated. I like the rich flavor of the graham cracker crust but feel free to go with the more traditional pastry dough crust.
- The lemon thyme is optional, and you’ll have a more classic pie without it, but I recommend giving it a try at least once!
- It’s best to eat this pie right away to maintain the quality of the meringue, but leftovers in the refrigerator are still nice the next day.
- You can use my favorite kitchen tool, a blow torch, to toast the top of the meringue!
- Use a thin knife dipped in hot water to cleanly slice the pie.
A Note About Swiss Meringue
You may notice that this version of Swiss Meringue has slightly less sugar than the one that appears in my book, Zoë Bakes Cakes. The higher ratio of egg whites makes for a lighter texture, which I think is nice on the lemon filling. This delicate-textured version doesn’t hold up quite as long as the one from my book, so it is crucial that you fully chill the filling before adding the meringue to the pie. It will hold up without weeping for several hours but is best served the day you make it, although the leftovers the next day are still lovely (if there are any).
Ingredients
Crust
- 9 whole (140g) graham crackers
- 5 tbsp (70g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/3 cup (67g) brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/4 tsp Baking Salt – Diamond Crystal Salt Co. Fine Kosher Baking Salt
Lemon Filling
- 1 1/2 cups (350ml) water
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 3 Tbsp corn starch
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1/4 tsp Baking Salt – Diamond Crystal Salt Co. Fine Kosher Baking Salt
- 4 Tbsp (57g) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup (177ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
Meringue with Lemon Thyme
- 6 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups (300g) sugar
- 1/8 tsp Baking Salt – Diamond Crystal Salt Co. Fine Kosher Baking Salt
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon thyme leaves optional
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- In a food processor, grind the graham crackers, butter, brown sugar, and Baking Salt together until it is fine crumbs.
- Dump it into a 9-Inch (23cm) Pie Dish and press the mixture into an even crust. Use the bottom of a glass to press firm.
- Bake for about 10 minutes, until set and toasted. Allow to cool.
Lemon Filling
- In a large, heavy saucepan, whisk together the water, sugar, corn starch, yolks, and Baking Salt. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils for 2 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter until incorporated, then whisk in the lemon juice.
- Strain the lemon mixture into a bowl and stir in the zest.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell and bake for 10 minutes.
- Allow the pie to cool to room temperature on a cooling rack. Place in the refrigerate and chill for at least 1 1/2 hours or overnight. If refrigerating overnight, cover the pie filling with plastic wrap once it is fully chilled.
Meringue
- Once the pie is fully chilled, in a large metal bowl whisk to combine the sugar and egg whites. The mixture will be very thick and grainy.
- Put 1 inch / 2.5cm of water in the bottom of a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat. Place the bowl with the egg mixture over the simmering water and stir the mixture with a rubber spatula until the sugar is completely melted. Brush down the sides of the bowl with the spatula to make sure all the sugar is melted. Feel the mixture between your fingers to check for graininess. Once all the sugar has melted and the mixture is smooth, the syrup is hot enough (140°F / 60°C) to be safe to consume.
- Pour the heated mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the Baking Salt, and beat on medium-high speed until the egg foam is light, fluffy, glossy, and the bowl feels just about room temperature.
- Remove from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to gently stir in the lemon thyme leaves. Gently spoon the meringue over the chilled lemon filling. Using a metal decorating spatula, spread the meringue to the edges of the crust, being sure to cover all of the filling, and create decorative swirls in the meringue as you go.
- Use a blow torch to toast the meringue and serve. The meringue can be spread over the pie and toasted a few hours before serving and stored, uncovered in the refrigerator. Use a sharp knife dipped in hot water to slice into the pie.
Hi! I’m kind of desperate, this link used to be for the Lemon Meringue Pie with Brown Sugar Meringue and now I can’t find that recipe anywhere! It was my go-to for lemon curd AND I used that meringue recipe for everything! Where has it gone! It had detailed pictures of how to make everything and I LOVED IT. It was a 5 egg recipe and I think an Italian meringue…. please help!
Hi! Since this is an older recipe, it’s been redirected to the new one. But you can find it on the web archive. Here’s what I found: https://web.archive.org/web/20230326095912/https://www.zoebakes.com/2009/06/18/a-mile-high-lemon-brown-sugar-meringue-pie/
I hope this helps!
I have made this cake already 3 times but seams to resist 🙁
Same as above, my filling is too liquid. It got ticker when cooking but waiting the 2 minutes boiling made it liquid again. Should I turn it off when it gets thicker? it was already too liquid when put in the oven.
For the meringue this time i used the thermometer. When I checked (seemed all melted) the temperature was more than 60 degrees. Should i check the temperature while cooking it and stop when its 60? Then I use a proper whipping machine (before i used a hand one). It looks very glossy and sticks to the whisker but when i put it on a pastry bag and after in the pie, its also quite liquid and goes down. Should i mix it for longer time or is it that i did it for too long? or maybe should have put more speed?
Sorry I really want to make this pie properly but never works!
Hi Cristina,
It is important to boil the filling for the full 2 minutes to cook the corn starch fully or it will be grainy and the liquid may seperate. If the filling isn’t setting in the oven after 10 minutes, you may need more time. Every oven is different and yours may run a little low.
For the meringue, make sure your sugar is fully melted and there is no grain anymore. If you are stirring the entire time it won’t cook the eggs. Use the most powerful mixer you have to get the full volume in the meringue. It may just need more time in the mixer. If your kitchen is humid, the meringue will start to wilt, so keep that in mind if you live in a place that’s humid.
Thanks, Zoë
This tastes amazing, but I’m trying to figure out what I did wrong. The lemon filling was soupy.. when I put it back in the over after I filled the crust, I had turned off the oven, but left it in for extra time. Any suggestions for what I could have done wrong? I checked the ingredients and they were all correct.
Thanks Zoe!
Hi Niki, It may have been because the oven was turned off. The filling will also not set completely if it didn’t come to a rapid boil for a full two minutes to cook out the starch and then finish setting in the oven. The chilling is also how it fully sets up.