Mile High Toasted Meringue Recipes

MILE HIGH MERINGUE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the cornstarch, 3 tablespoons sugar, salt, lemon juice and water.
• Bring to a slow boil over medium heat and stir until clear and thick.
• Set aside and cool completely.
• In a large bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
• Gradually add cooled cornstarch mixture, beating until mixture thickens.
• Gradually add 6 tablespoons sugar, beating until soft peaks form, approximately 5 to 8 minutes.
• Spoon the prepared meringue over your favorite pie and bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

MILE HIGH TOASTED MERINGUE

Steps:

• Beat egg whites with baking powder until stiff.
• Add sugar and blend well.
• Cover pie with mixture, making sure to seal the filling to edge of crust or pie will weep. Brown in oven about 15 minutes.

MILE-HIGH MERINGUE TOPPING

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until foamy. Gradually add granulated sugar. Increase speed and whisk until meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks. Whisk in vanilla until just combined.

MILE-HIGH LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• If using a hand-held mixer, you will need a very deep bowl, and should move the beaters vigorously when beating the egg whites for the meringue, to avoid underbeating the egg whites. This pie is best on the day it's made.
• FOR THE FILLING: Whisk sugar, lemon juice, water, cornstarch, and salt together in a large nonreactive saucepan until cornstarch is dissolved. Bring to simmer over medium heat. Whisk in yolks until comined. Stir in zest and butter. Bring to simmer and stir constantly until mixture is thick enough to coat back of spoon, about 2 minutes. Strain through fine-mesh strainer into pie shell and scrape filling off underside of strainer. Place wrap directly on surface of filling and refrigerate until set and well chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• FOR THE MERINGUE: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400°F Combine water and sugar in small saucepan. Bring to vigorous boil over medium-high heat. Once syrup comes to rolling boil, cook 4 minutes (mixture will become slightly thickened and syrupy). Remove from heat and set aside while beating whites.
• With electric mixer, beat in large bowl, at medium-low speed until frothy, about 1 minutes. Add salt and cream of tartar, and beat , gradually increasing sped to medium-high, until whites hold soft peaks, about 2 minutes. With mixer runnin, slowly pour hot syrup into whites (avoid pouring syrup onto whisk or it will splash). Add vanilla and beat until meringue has cooled and becomes very thick.
• Using rubber spatula, mound meringue over filling, making sure meringue touches edges of crust. Use spatula to create peaks all over meringue. Bake until peaks turn golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer to wire rack, and cool to room temerature.

PAULA DEEN'S MILE-HIGH MERINGUE RECIPE - (3.9/5)

Steps:

• Separate a cold egg by transferring the yolk between the broken halves and letting the white drip into a small bowl. Transfer the white into a metal or glass mixing bowl. Separate the next egg over the small bowl as well-not over the mixing bowl. This way, if some of the yolk gets in the white, then you have lost only one egg. Let egg whites come to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Beat the egg whites at the mixer's top speed until the mixture looks like sea form on a beach. Add cream of tartar to the foam to help stabilize the meringue. Keep beating egg whites at high speed until they reach soft peaks. When you lift the beaters from the beaten egg whites, the peaks will stand up straight and then fall over. Add the sugar gradually, about a tablespoon at a time, all while beating at a high speed. When you lift the beaters, the meringue pulls into pointy peaks that stay that way. At this stage, add the vanilla, and beat just long enough to mix it in. Using the back of a spoon, spread the meringue over a hot pie filling, first spreading around the rim of the pie and then filling in the center. Use the spoon to smooth the meringue. Make sure to seal the edges by spreading the meringue to the edges of the pastry. Use the back of the spoon to pull the meringue up into peaks all over the pie. Put the pie in the oven, do not let it sit. Use this basic meringue recipe for any pie. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Bake the pie with meringue topping for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Let pie cool before slices and serving.

MILE-HIGH MERINGUE TOPPING

Steps:

• With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Gradually add sugar. Increase speed and whisk until meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks. Whisk in vanilla.
• Spoon meringue onto surface of the pie until it reaches the crust, then use an offset spatula to create a swirling pattern.
• If desired, use a kitchen torch to toast the meringue, moving flame back and forth until evenly browned. Or brown the meringue under the broiler, but keep an eye on it-a minute or two is all you need.

MILE-HIGH MERINGUE PIE RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• Pie crust: Whisk together the flour and salt. Add the shortening, working it in until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Add the butter to the flour mixture, and work it in roughly with your fingers, a pastry cutter, or a mixer. Don't be too thorough; the mixture should be very uneven, with big chunks of butter in among the smaller ones. Add 2 tablespoons of water, and toss to combine. Toss with enough additional water to make a chunky mixture. It should barely hold together when you squeeze a handful, though the remainder may look quite dry. Scoop the mixture out onto a piece of parchment or waxed paper, and flatten it out a bit. Take a spray bottle of water, and spritz the dry parts with the water. Using the parchment or waxed paper, fold the dough over on itself - first from one side, then from the other. You'll find that the dry crumbs are becoming incorporated with the cohesive dough. If there are still dry areas, spritz them with additional water, and fold the dough in on itself again. Keep folding and gathering until just a few dry crumbs remain unincorporated; this should only take a few folds. For a visual demonstration of this technique, see Pie, Any Way You Slice It. IMPORTANT NOTE: Instead of doing the spray bottle thing (too much hassle, as I've tried it before) I used my food processor by adding the shortening and pulsing until crumbly. I then added the butter (cut into small chunks) and the ice water and pulse a few times until the dough was "shaggy". I dumped the dough onto plastic wrap and molded into a round disk and refrigerated for at least 30 minutes. When you're "ready to roll," remove the dough from the fridge. If the dough has been refrigerated longer than 30 minutes, let it rest at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before rolling, to allow the butter to soften up a bit. Roll the dough to the size needed (about 12" for a 9" pie). Place it in a pie pan, and refrigerate it while you prepare your filling. Fill and bake as directed in your recipe. Blind bake the pie crust: To bake an unfilled pie crust, preheat the oven to 400°F. Line the chilled crust with foil or parchment paper, and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the crust for 20 minutes. Remove it from the oven, and gently remove foil or parchment with the weights or beans. Return the crust to the oven for 10 to 20 more minutes, until it's golden brown all over. If the edges of the crust start becoming too brown, cover them with a pie shield, or strips of aluminum foil. Remove the crust from the oven and cool completely before adding the filling. To make the filling: Mix the sugar, Instant ClearJel (or cornstarch), and salt together in a saucepan. Add the eggs and whisk well, then whisk in the juice. Heat the mixture over medium heat until it's very hot; it may come to a boil, or it may just "seethe" a bit, like it's trying to boil and not quite making it. Let it boil or seethe for 30 seconds. Stir in the butter, stirring until it melts, then pour the mixture into the baked pie shell. Rub a piece of butter over the surface to prevent a skin from forming (I didn't find this necessary. I gently pressed plastic wrap over the filling). Cover with plastic wrap, and chill for several hours before topping with the meringue. To make the meringue: Preheat your oven to 375°F with the oven rack in the lowest position. Whisk the meringue powder and water together, then beat until foamy. Add the salt, sugar and vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until the meringue is thick and shiny. Beat in the marshmallow. To finish the pie: Remove the pie from the refrigerator. Top it with the meringue, using a spatula to form peaks. Bake the pie for 18 to 22 minutes, or until the meringue has browned. Remove it from the oven, cool it, and refrigerate until serving. Store the pie, loosely covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days.