Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Lemon Meringue Cups



My husband loves lemon meringue pie. I do, too, but for the past few years my pie crusts have been dismal. I have no idea what changed since I use the same recipe as I always have. But now, I try to avoid making them. Instead I came up with the idea of making the filling and  meringue in a ramekin, without the crust.



I made these for Valentine's Day dinner last night and I'll be using this idea again. On top of the lemon filling I spooned a bit of strawberry sauce to add some red colour. 


I used four 4-oz ramekins. The recipe filled them well. I found it quite a lot to eat, and next time, I'd use six 4-oz ramekins and not fill them entirely.


Lemon Meringue Cups


Lemon Filling:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup water
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 Tablespoons butter 
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
4 Tablespoons strawberry preserves


Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix sugar and cornstarch in medium saucepan. Whisk in the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Gradually stir in 1/2 to 1/3 of the mixture into the beaten egg yolks, whisking all the while. Return mixture to saucepan, whisk all together and boil and stir one minute. Remove from heat, stir in the lemon juice and butter. Pour into four (or six) 4 oz oven proof ramekins or custard cups. Gently spoon the strawberry preserves on top of the lemon. 


Heap meringue (recipe follows) onto filling, taking care to spread meringue right to the edges of the cup. This will prevent it from shrinking or weeping as it cools. 


Bake about 10 minutes or until a delicate brown. I found there was quite a lot of meringue and baked them for 15 minutes, watching carefully the last few minutes to ensure they didn't burn.


Meringue:
2 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla


Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. Beat in sugar, 1 Tablespoon at a time; continue beating until stiff and glossy. Beat in vanilla. 



10 comments:

Brenda @ Its A Beautiful Life said...

Funny thing how often our lives coincide with someone else out there. In this case, it was about thinking I'd like to make a lemon merigue pie minus the pastry.... and here you have done it and have even shared a recipe!

How serendipitous, fortuitous, crazy fun.......


Looks yum yum!

Mickey said...

Those look delicious! Love the addition of strawberry sauce :)
mickey

Patricia @ ButterYum said...

Yummo, and perfect size for portion control.

Rettabug said...

How PRETTY these look, Lorrie! (so is your new avatar photo!)

I LOVE lemon in any way, shape or form so I'd be all over these. They look fabulous on your gorgeous red & white plates.

I recently had my smocking group over & made lemon tarts...will post them soon...but I cheated & used pre-made crusts. LOL

Hugs,
Rett

imquilternity said...

My husband loves lemon meringue too and I've just never made it for him yet. You've given me inspiration though and I think I'll be using your recipe soon! Thanks for sharing.

The Natural Ingredient said...

My husband will love this recipe. He is a big lemon meringue fan and will like the addition of strawberry.

Thank you for joining my site. I like yours as well and am your newest follower

Nancy

happy in KY said...

I made your lemon meringue recipe (minus the jam) but put it in one bowl instead of individual cups. It was delicious and set up really nice.
~Elaine

Penny said...

These look absolutely beautiful with or without the crust.

Unknown said...

These look scrumptious.

thefisherlady said...

these look like a great idea... I don't always have time for pastry!