Lemon Rub Pie Recipes

MEYER LEMON & BLUEBERRY PIE

Steps:

• In the work bowl of a food processor, place flour, sugar, and salt; pulse until combined. Add cold butter, pulsing until mixture is crumbly. Add buttermilk, 1 tablespoon (15 grams) at a time, just until a dough forms. Turn out dough, and shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Let dough stand at room temperature until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate, pressing into bottom and up sides. Prick bottom of dough with a fork. Trim excess dough to ½ inch beyond edge of plate. Fold in edges.
• Create a fluted crust by using the thumb and forefinger on one hand as spacers, and pushing the dough in with the other thumb. Freeze for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).
• Top dough with a piece of parchment paper, letting ends extend over edges of plate. Add pie weights.
• Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully remove paper and weights. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
• Spoon room temperature Blueberry Jam into prepared crust. Refrigerate for at least 35 minutes. Top with Meyer Lemon Curd, smoothing with an off set spatula. Garnish with Glazed Blueberries, if desired.
• In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, ¼ cup (60 grams) water, pectin, gelatin, lemon juice, and salt. Add blueberries, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, whisking constantly, until smooth, about 5 minutes.
• Transfer blueberry mixture to a medium bowl, and place in a larger bowl filled with ice. Let cool in ice bath, whisking occasionally, until jam has thickened and reached room temperature.
• In a medium saucepan, rub together sugar and zest with fingertips. Whisk in cornstarch and salt. Add lemon juice and ½ cup (120 grams) water, whisking until smooth. Whisk in egg yolks and gelatin. Cook over medium-high heat until thickened, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in butter.
• Line a rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Pour curd onto prepared pan, and press another piece of plastic wrap directly onto surface of curd. Place pan on a wire rack, and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until chilled.

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter or fork until you see pea-sized chunks of butter remaining.
• Gradually add in cold water, stirring each time until you can press it together. Form it into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or freeze for 30 minutes until chilled.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Roll out pie crust dough to fit a 9" pie plate.
• Press into the pie plate and over the sides. Trim the edges and crimp or leave as desired. Poke the bottom and the sides with a fork all over to help prevent puffing (or use pie weights if you have them).
• Bake for 10-12 minutes until light golden brown. Set aside while you make the filling.
• In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, water, corn starch, egg yolks, lemon juice and lemon zest.
• Cook over medium to medium-high high, whisking constantly, until thickened. It will be thick, slightly thicker than pudding, when warm. This can take 10-15 minutes, but don't rush it. Once thickened, remove from heat and stir in butter.
• Pour hot filling into the pie crust, set aside and make the meringue.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• In a small saucepan, whisk together the water and corn starch. Cook over medium heat until thickened and clear. Set aside but keep warm.
• In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites, vanilla and salt until soft peaks form.
• Gradually add in the sugar, beating until stiff glossy peaks form.
• Gradually add in the warm corn starch mixture, beating constantly, until completely incorporated and meringue is light and fluffy and holds stiff peaks.
• Spread meringue onto hot pie filling (it's important that the filling is still hot!) and spread right to the edge of the pie crust. The meringue must touch the edges all the way around.
• Bake at 375°F just until the tops of the meringue are light golden brown -- don't overbake.
• Let rest on the counter on a wire rack for 1-2 hours, then refrigerate for 5-6 hours until chilled, or overnight.
• Slice and serve.

VEGAN LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• I highly recommend reducing the aquafaba for the meringue topping to thicken it as you want it to have a similar viscosity to egg whites. If your aquafaba is already thick, you can skip the following step and use half the amount listed in the recipe (118g).
• Add the aquafaba to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow it to simmer until it has reduced to half a cup in volume. After 5 minutes of simmering, check the volume by pouring the liquid into a measuring cup. If there's more than half a cup of liquid continue to simmer until it reduces to the required half cup. Pour the reduced aquafaba into a jar and refrigerate. This can be done the night before or at least one hour in advance of making this recipe.
• In your food processor, combine the flour, vegan butter, caster sugar, salt, and soy milk until the ingredients stick together to form a ball of dough. Wrap the dough in cling film or place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180°C (356°F). Lightly grease the base and sides of a round 9" tart tin with some oil or vegan butter, if desired you can also line the base with parchment paper.
• Using a rolling pin, roll out the chilled dough so that it is an inch or so larger than the circumference of the tart tin. Use the rolling pin to carefully lift the pastry over the tin and use your fingers to gently ease the pastry into the side of the tin. Use a knife to cut around the edges if needed and try to get the sides as even and smooth as possible. Pierce several holes into the base of the pastry using a fork.
• Take a sheet of parchment paper and cut it into a circle slightly larger than the tart. Rest it on top of the pastry and fill the base with dried beans, rice, lentils or baking beads. Blind bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the beans/baking beads and bake for another 20 minutes. Place the tin on a cooling rack and cool to room temperature.
• In a small bowl, mix together the cornflour, agar-agar powder, and ¼ cup of the soy milk to form a paste. Set aside.
• Add the vegan butter to a saucepan and melt over medium heat. Add in the remaining soy milk, lemon juice, lemon zest, and caster sugar and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cornflour mix to the saucepan and simmer for another 3 minutes, whilst whisking.
• Remove from the heat and pass through a fine-mesh sieve. Allow it to cool slightly for 5 minutes. Whisk the lemon curd well and pour it into the cooled tart shell. Transfer to the fridge to chill and set for at least 4 hours.
• Meanwhile, prepare the vegan Italian meringue topping.
• Transfer the Italian meringue into a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle and pipe peaks on top of the pie. Before serving, use a blowtorch to lightly toast and brown the top of the meringue.
• Store this vegan meringue pie in an airtight container in the fridge. For best results, the meringue topping will hold in the fridge for up to 2 days. As another option, you can prepare the rest of the recipe a few days in advance and top with the meringue on the day of serving.

LEMON RUB PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Have all the ingredients at room temperature before you begin.
• Cream the sugar and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes (see Know-how, page 315). Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well and scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add the lemon zest and juice, water, cornmeal, and salt and stir to mix.
• Place the egg whites in a separate large bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and frothy. Increase the speed to high and beat to soft peaks, about 2 minutes more. Gently fold the whites into the yolk mixture.
• Pour the filling into the unbaked pie shell, place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake for 10 minutes.
• Reduce the temperature to 300°F and bake for another 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling sets around the edges but still jiggles in the center when lightly shaken.
• Remove pie from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour before serving; the pie will firm up completely, or "set," as it cools. Serve at room temperature.
• Cornmeal Crust
• Stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, lemon zest, nutmeg, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, cream, and vanilla.
• Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or two knives in a crosscutting motion until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Work quickly so the butter remains cool and doesn't melt into the flour. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a fork just until the dough clumps together and is moist enough to pat together. Do not mix any more than necessary.
• Turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and, with lightly floured hands, form into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or for up to 3 days, until firm.
• Check the pie recipe for special rolling instructions. To prepare a basic pie shell, remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit for about 10 minutes. Place on a lightly floured work surface. Dust a rolling pin with flour and roll the dough between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick. Fold the dough in half or gently roll it onto the rolling pin and lift it over the pie pan. Press the dough lightly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Trim the excess dough, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of dough draped over the pan. Roll the extra dough under itself to form a rim around the edge of the pan. Crimp the rim of dough with your fingers or press with the tines of a fork. Prick the bottom of the crust two or three times with a fork to create small holes.
• Cover the crust with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 3 days, before proceeding with a recipe or partially or fully prebaking the crust (see Know-how, page 345).
• Freestyle Lemon Blackberry Tart
• Prepare 1 recipe Cornmeal Crust (preceding recipe), prebake (see Know-how, page 345), and let cool. Cut the crust into slices or wedges and, just before serving, top each with a dollop of lemon curd, a sprinkling of blackberries and blueberries, and a spoonful of soft lightly sweetened whipped cream or Buttermilk Crème Fraîche (page 320).