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chas045

Lemon Meringue Pie Filling Failure?

chas045
9 years ago

When I was a young man, I liked to make fruit pies and then tried a Lemon Meringue Pie that was a failure for multiple reasons including that the filling didn't set well. It took more than 30 years to try again but for the last decade I have made many successful LMPs. However, today I had another filling that appeared to get thick but then semi-liquified. As it got cold it gave slight possibility that it would solidify so I completed it. I have not cut into it yet, and fortunately its presentation will not be needed. Unfortunately DW has come down with the flu and we won't be attending the family dinner.

Anyway: does anyone know the most likely reason for the failure. I admit I was somewhat careless and could have done a better job of mixing things well and in order. The recipe below is from Joy of Cooking: BTW I was using Lime, as often before.

1.5 C Sugar
6 T Cornstarch
0.25 t Salt
0.5 C Water (cold) and mix. (I didn't get it completely smooth & added the Lime Juice to help in mixing.
0.5 C Lemon (Lime) Juice
3 Egg Yolks
2 T Butter
1.5 C Boiling Water
Stir and heat to boiling and reduce heat, cook one min more.

I had heat fairly low and stirred as I kept passing the stove while performing other adjacent tasks, but wasn't as attentive as sometimes. The low heat appeared to keep me out of trouble and the filling suddenly began strong thickening and I did continue ~a minute, but a little later, as it cooled, it unjelled. I did see some white solid stuff that could be small pieces of coagulated egg or uncooked cornstarch but certainly not a major proportion of either ingredient.

Thoughts?

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