Berries for Baby!

Hi from California! What is Sarah doing in California? Well, the Baking Sisters have some very exciting news - Rebecca had a baby boy last week! He was a month early but the little dude just couldn't wait to see the world and all the sweet things it has to offer. Today, in what my brother-in-law refers to as "catered surgery," he had his bris, or circumcision, which inducts him into the covenant of the Jewish people. Not much fun for the little guy, or really for anyone who doesn't want to watch an old Jew take a scalpel to an eight-day-old's genitals. But you gotta do what you gotta do, and now he is healing nicely. Plus, he got a name! His English name is Leo Evan, and his Hebrew name is Leor Chaim. And he is super-cute! 

Since a bris is a Jewish event, of course there has to be a lot of eating. And since this is California, said eating should involve fruit (especially since Adam doesn't like chocolate)! And since this is the Baking Sisters, that fruit should be in pie form! Newly minted big brother Simon and I went through Rebecca's cookbooks and picked out some recipes with enticing-looking pictures, and we settled on a berry pie from David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert. Yesterday Simon and his relatives went to the Culver City Farmers' Market, and we bought the most delicious berries imaginable. It seemed almost a waste to put them in a pie, but into a pie they would go. 

And they definitely paid off! The pie went so fast, and it was not even runny, which is often a peril with fruit pies. It was so simple to throw together, plus it not too sweet, which was good for a 9 a.m. event. You can put in whatever kind of fruit you fancy (I substituted one cup of raspberries for blackberries, though that was mostly because these were the best blackberries I've ever eaten and I wanted to eat them raw.) The fruit was bright and amazingly flavorful; I really think it made a big difference! 


Mixed Berry Pie
from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz (pg. 80)


Pie dough (recipe can be found here)


2 cups hulled and sliced strawberries
2 cups blueberries
2 cups blackberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons tapioca flour or cornstarch 
1 tablespoon lemon juice or kirsch


1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon whole milk or cream
1 tablespoon coarse crystal or granulated sugar


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.


Lightly flour a work surface and roll out one disk of dough into a 14-inch circle. Drape it into a 9-inch pie plate. Trim away the excess dough, leaving a slight overhang. 


In a large bowl, gently mix the berries with the 1/2 cup of sugar, tapioca flour or cornstarch, and lemon juice or kirsch. Transfer the berry mixture to the dough-lined plate and distribute in an even layer.


Roll out the second dough disk into a 14-inch circle. Moisten the exposed edges of the dough in the pie plate with water, then drape the second dough circle over the top. Working all the way around the pie, tuck the upper edges under the lower dough edges and crimp to seal.


In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and milk or cream. Brush the top crust generously with the egg wash and sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon of sugar. Pierce the top crust with a paring knife in six places.


Bake until the top crust is browned and the filling juices are thick and bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes. If the crust is browning too quickly, loosely drap a sheet of aluminum foil over the top during baking.


Let the pie cool for about 1 hour before serving.

Happy Birthday America: Some July 4th Ideas

In case you were looking for some yummy treats for a 4th of July party tomorrow or any celebration that involves red, white and blue...


Red White and Blue Cupcakes

Red White and Blue Fruit Tart

A few red velvet things that could be made red white and blue with the addition of blueberries or blue sanding sugar...


Red Velvet Cupcakes (could also be done with blue cupcake wrappers to complete the look)

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

And the ever popular all American pie...
Blueberry pie

Blackberry pie

And finally strawberry shortcake, which you could turn into strawberry/blueberry shortcake

Baked Sunday Mornings: Peanut Butter Chocolate Cream Pie

On the outside, this looks like this week's Baked Sunday Mornings assignment, Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie, but on the inside it is NOT!  As readers of this blog may know, I really do not enjoy bananas.  However, I wanted to bake this week because I haven't made any of the most recent selections.  I went back and forth between making this as is and pawning it off on people or adapting it so that it was something I wanted to eat.  In the end, I decided that it is always good to to want to eat what I bake, and I adapted this pie and brought it to our end of the year staff meeting at school.  It was a big hit!

I did a couple of things differently than the recipe called for.  For the crust, I didn't bother with the food processor.  I just crushed up the vanilla wafters with a rolling pin, mixed in the melted butter and mixed it with the sugar.  It turned out fine -- just like a graham cracker crust.

My main adaptation was to change the banana pudding into chocolate pudding.  Instead of the vanilla bean and the bananas, I used 1/3 cup of cocoa powder.  The pudding was a little lumpy before it was set, but it was smooth once we ate it.  I made the peanut butter topping as written and the whole combination was terrific.  It was almost totally gobbled up at the meeting, but I tried to take a picture of what it looked like with the different layers.  Not my most successful photo, but you get the idea.  You can see the unmodified recipe here and also check out what other bakers created.

Birthday (Key) Lime Pie

As I may have mentioned before, we have a tradition of celebrating birthdays in our office with yummy treats.  Usually a few days before, I ask the birthday person what they would like, and then I make it.  No problem.  However, one of my office-mates had a birthday last week (during Passover) and I was away.  Upon my return, I agreed to make this pie, but I was a little nervous about pulling it off because I knew there were a number of late evenings in front of me.

I should not have worried.  This pie was a snap to make.  Crush some graham crackers, mix with a little bit of sugar and butter (or buy a pre-made graham cracker crust -- I won't tell) and bake for about 15 minutes.  Then, juice some key limes (or limes in this case, because I could not find key times) and mix them with a can of sweetened condensed milk, lime zest and egg yolks, pour into the crust and bake.  Easy as pie (sorry).

I topped this pie with some very lightly sweetened whipped cream, which I think is necessary to cut the tartness a little bit.  It was delicious.  Everyone in the office raved about it and it was hard to keep them away from the last slice so I could bring some home to my husband.

You can find the recipe here, on Martha Stewart's website.  I made it just as it was.

BAKED Sunday Mornings: Blackberry Pie

This week's sweet from Baked Sunday Mornings was Blackberry pie.  Unlike some of the other things that we have made from Baked Explorations, this pie was a true classic -- some berries tossed with sugar, flour and some lemon juice and zest baked inside a double crust pie.  I didn't make my own crust (no time), so this pie was super easy to throw together.  I used blackberries that I bought at Trader Joe's because the recipe called for 7 cups and I could not spend that kind of money on farmer's market berries.  However, you could not tell at all.  The pie was delicious -- a great balance of tart and sweet.  The only problem I had with it is that the juice dripped out everywhere as it was baking (yes, I had a baking sheet under it) and while I was carrying it.  Any suggestions to make that not happen to pies?  Even with that, this pie was enjoyed by all.  I brought it to a picnic and it was gobbled up.

My Greatest Creation: Chocolate Covered Pretzel Ice Cream Cake

Last year, for my friend Amy's birthday, I created a delicious ice cream brownie concoction that won me rave reviews for excellent cake inventing. So when I volunteered to make Amy's cake again this year, I felt that I had to raise the bar-- especially because by her next birthday, she'll be married and living in Boston, far away from me. I decided to take the winning elements of last year's cake, and mix in something that everyone loves-- the chocolate covered pretzel.


This cake is actually really easy to make, but it seems deceptively fancy because of all of the elements. It starts with a crust made of pretzels, which both adds a little bit of salt to the pie, and has the added bonus of not getting soggy. While I would recommend cutting pieces of this cake on the smaller side because it's so rich (I used low fat ice cream and it was still super intense), don't be surprised if your guests come back for more.


Chocolate Covered Pretzel Ice Cream Pie:


2 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
3 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 cup (give or take) hot fudge
1 1.5 quart container of vanilla ice cream
15 oz chocolate covered pretzels (I recommend Nestle Flips)
Caramel sauce to garnish


You can find the recipe for the pretzel crust here.


Make the crust in a 9 or 10 inch pie pan. Before it cools, pour a layer of store-bought hot fudge over the crust. Then put it in the freezer and allow it to set.


Before you take the crust out of the freezer, allow the ice cream to soften. Grind up about 2/3 of the chocolate covered pretzels and mix them up with the ice cream until they are evenly distributed. Spread the ice cream evenly over the crust.


Drizzle caramel across the top of the cake. Add extra chocolate covered pretzels around the edges to decorate. Return pie to the freezer and allow it to set before serving.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is Bustin' Out All Over

Hooray, here comes spring! Buds are bustin' out of bushes, the sheep aren't sleepin' any more, and my Maw is gettin' kittenish with Pap. If you know what I'm referencing, watch this. (Actually, watch it even if you don't know what I'm referencing, because it's wonderful.) When it's pretty here in Cambridge, it's gorgeous. Unfortunately, most of the time the weather is the same as it was in January. But we had one week of really stunning weather. And you know what that means - picnic time! And what could be more appropriate for a summer-anticipating picnic than pie? And what could be more appropriate for a summer-anticipating pie than strawberry rhubarb?

This is a wonderful, very simple recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie. Unfortunately, I misread it and only put in 3 teaspoons of cornstarch instead of 3 tablespoons, so my pie was more like delicious strawberry rhubarb mess. The other change I made was only stringing half the rhubarb. There's really no need, unless the presence of strings offends you somehow, but I definitely think maintaining the color of the rhubarb is worth a few strings here and there. Then you can have a pie that's as pretty as it is tasty at your next picnic!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
(from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman, by way of Rebecca):

5 cups of strawberries and rhubarb

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch allspice or nutmeg

2 pie crusts

2 tablespoons butter

String the rhubarb and cut into 1 inch pieces. Toss fruit with sugar, salt, cornstarch and spices. Put the mixture into one of the pie crusts and dot with butter. Put the top crust on.

Refrigerate the pie while you preheat the over to 425. Brush top of pie lightly with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Cut vent holes to allow steam to escape. Bake for 10 minutes.

Reduce heat to 350 and bake another 40-50 minutes or until golden brown. Do not underbake.

How I Got On This Blog: White Chocolate Cheesecake

As I've said before, I am not nearly as fancy of a baker as my sisters. I lack a lot of their equipment, and also their patience. That is not to say, though, that I lack their drive to find the most delicious creations. I just look in different places-- and this time, my quest was successful, and now I am here and writing for all of you.

The White Chocolate Cheesecake is an excellent example of the search for a dessert that is both very easy and intensely delicious. I first encountered this pie at my friend Rachel's house, where she assured me that it was best not to ask what was in it until after I had tried it. That turned out to be great advice, because it sounds gross but tastes amazing. It's also incredibly easy to make, and actually involves no cooking or baking at all. However, you wouldn't know it from the taste. In fact, my friend Josh assures me that I will be his best friend forever, if only I continue to make him this pie.

A couple of notes on the recipe. It can be found here, but I usually make a few modifications. First, I have never been able to find white chocolate pudding mix, but I use vanilla pudding and it's just as delicious. Also, for the garnish, I usually use mini chocolate chips instead of chocolate curls. Finally, the crust gets soggy if you let the filling sit in it for too long, so I recommend making the transfer an hour or so before eating it, so it has time to set but stays crunchy.

But I Would Be Proud to Partake of Your Pecan Pie

Now, I am not a fan of pecan pie.  As has been well documented on this blog, we are not fans of nuts.  However, for Hanukkah, a member of my synagogue gave me a big bag of pecans in their shells.  First, we had to look them up on the internet because we were not sure what they were.  Have you even seen pecans in a shell?  You can see them here.  My husband and I made a deal -- I would make the pie if he would shell the nuts.  Given how easy pecan pie is to make, I clearly got the better end of the deal.

Those nuts sat around for many months and finally we decided that, with Passover coming, we would make the pie.  It helped that we had guests who could also help with the eating so my husband did not have to eat an entire pie.  Also, we had a pie crust in the freezer, which eliminated one very labor intensive step.  I am afraid of pie crust, but more on that some other time.  

The nuts were really annoying to shell, so if you are going to make this, I would recommend getting pecans already out of their shells.  This pie is super easy to make and delicious (if you like pecan pie) -- I ended up having a tiny taste.  The reports were that it was not too sweet and had good flavor.

You can find the recipe here.  We did not use espresso or chocolate (husband does not like chocolate -- the crazy man), but we did use cinnamon.   

Non-baking question -- where is the quote from the title of this post from?  Bonus points if you know!

A Pi Day Treat: Momofuku's Crack Pie

Want to hear a sad story? They don't have Pi Day in England, and all because of the stupid way they write dates. Instead of today being 3.14, it's 14.3. Since there are only 12 months in the year, that means that they can never experience the true nerdy delicious glory that is Pi Day. Luckily, they've got me!

This pie, called "Crack Pie" because it's so good it's like crack, comes from the restaurant Momofuku in New York. Admittedly, I made it a while ago, but I wanted to save blogging about it for this very special occasion. My friend Phileda picked it out. She is a lot of fun to cook and bake with because both of her parents are chefs, so she is very good at improvising and not freaking out when something goes wrong. And a lot of things went wrong, mostly thanks to my not realizing that there were two pages of recipe and not buying all the necessary ingredients. But thanks to Phileda's cool head and ingenuity, we perservered. And the pie was soooo good! Unbelievably rich (not surprising if you look at the ingredients), so I could only eat a little slice. Still, me, Phileda and our two other friends finished off almost the entire pie that very night. If you are looking for an amazing Pi Day treat and you have a table full of very hungry people (or just four 20-year-old girls who can eat like nobody's business), this is the pie for you!

Momofuku's Crack Pie
From the LA Times Web site

Servings: Makes 2 pies (6 to 8 servings each)

Note: Adapted from Momofuku. This pie calls for 2 (10-inch) pie tins. You can substitute 9-inch pie tins, but note that the pies will require additional baking time, about 5 minutes, due to the increased thickness of the filling.

Cookie for crust

2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (3 ounces) flour

Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking powder

Scant 1/8 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter

1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar

3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar

1 egg

Scant 1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) rolled oats

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.

5. With the mixer running, beat in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the oats until incorporated.

6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.

Crust

Crumbled cookie for crust

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 1/2 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). Divide the crust between 2 (10-inch) pie tins. Press the crust into each shell to form a thin, even layer along the bottom and sides of the tins. Set the prepared crusts aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling

1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces) sugar

3/4 cup plus a scant 3 tablespoons (7 ounces) light brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup plus 1 teaspoon (3/4 ounce) milk powder

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted

8 egg yolks

2 prepared crusts

Powdered sugar, garnish

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.

3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.

4. Divide the filling evenly between the 2 prepared pie shells. Blogger's note: Don't be worried if the filling is really liquid-y. It will congeal, but it took us a lot longer than 15 minutes. Although we were using 9-inch pie pans, so that might be it.

5. Bake the pies, one at a time, for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown (similar to a pecan pie), about 10 minutes. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.

6. Refrigerate the cooled pies until well chilled. The pies are meant to be served cold, and the filling will be gooey. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie

Before we begin this post, I would like to welcome our sister Rachel to our blog, and put forth a potential new name for our blog (courtesy of my friend Ben): "Baking with the Matriarchs."

Okay, on to business. Big news (that's also old news, but I don't think I've ever mentioned it on the blog) - I, Sarah, will spending the next semester in Cambridge, England. This is very exciting. It is also faintly worrisome, since on top of all the other things I have to be anxious about, I don't know if I'll have access to an oven! Oh no! According to the lady in charge of logistics, "Your accommodation will have a small, shared kitchen or 'gyp' room in which you can prepare small meals (there are cooking restrictions)." What this means is an enigma, chock-full of intrigue and British slang such as "'gyp' room." Mysterious!

In any case, as any Harry Potter reader knows, British people eat weird food like pumpkin pasties, black pudding and something called "spotted dick." Before I depart to this strange land, I was thinking about some uniquely American dishes, and nothing is more American than apple pie. Plus, my suitemates and I make pie at least once a year (usually on Pi Day, which I don't think they have in Britain since they write the date as 14.3 instead of 3.14), so why should this year be an exception? We always make the same pie. The recipe comes from my suitemate/love of my life, Emily Li, and it is the simplest, most fool-proof and yet most delicious pie in the universe - probably because it's filled with looooove. One time that we made it, we did not have a single correct ingredient, and yet it was still the best pie we had ever made...UNTIL NOW.

We do some variations, especially for the filling. For instance, sometimes we use pears; we usually throw in whatever spices we have around (in this case, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice) plus brown sugar - they balance each other out very nicely. We mostly make a lattice top covered in cinnamon sugar, except last year for Pi Day when we made 3.14 slits in it and used chocolate chips to make a "Pi" sign. Basically, we are dorks.

But back to this pie. I am quite certain that it's the best one we ever made. Even though none of us were very hungry, Emily, Devon and I ended up eating about a third of the pie by ourselves. Both the crust and the filling are totally rich and satisfying. It's incredible that something so simple could come out tasting so good. I have no idea where it came from, but it is surely a keeper

Emily's Apple Pie

For the pie:
1.5 cups of flour
2 sticks of cold butter
6 tablespoons of warm water

For the filling:
5 apples (we used Macintosh - you can also include pears)
1/3 cups flour
Brown sugar, to taste
Whatever spices you feel like using (we used cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg)
1 tsp. of lemon juice
Cinnamon sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the butter into the flour using your fingers until some are the size of crumbs and some are the size of peas. Add the water and mix with a fork until it comes together. Divide the dough in half - there's no need to chill it. Take one half and press into the pie pan.

Peel, core and slice the apples. Toss the pieces in the flour, sugar and spices and dump them into the pie. Use the other half of the dough to create a lattice, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake until the apples are soft and the pie is golden-brown, about 35-40 minutes.

A Father's Day Blueberry Pie

Our dad is awesome. He is an excellent dad. We learned many of our cooking and baking skills from him. However, it is always hard to buy a father's day card and/or present for him because he doesn't really drink beer, never plays golf and can only rarely be seen on the couch watching TV (although on the couch sleeping/pretending to read is a different story). Despite these troubles, we know that he loves blueberries, so making a blueberry pie was a no-brainer.

Confession time -- I ran out of time and so used pre-made pie crusts. They were good, although I know the pie would have been better if I made the crust. However, I did roll out the top so that I could seal the two crusts together well.

Second confession -- the picture is terrible since we ate the pie soon after I baked it and it was such a hit that there was very little left to photograph. Sorry!

Anyway, we made the filling from Dorie's Double Crusted Blueberry Pie and it was AWESOME. The only thing is that we had a lot of leftover flour/sugar/lemon mixture after pouring the filling into the pie, which we left out so that it would not overflow. It turned out great.

Here is the recipe:
2 ½ pints fresh blueberries
1 cup of sugar, or a little more, to taste, plus more for dusting
½ cup all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
Coarsely grated zest of ½ lemon
Squirt of fresh lemon juice, or a little more, to taste
¼ cup dry bread crumbs (you can use packaged unseasoned crumbs)

1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp of water, for egg wash
Sugar, for dusting

Getting Ready: Butter a 9-inch pie plate (Dorie uses a standard Pyrex pie plate).

Working on a well-floured surface (or between wax paper or plastic wrap), roll out one piece of the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 – inch. Fit the dough onto the buttered pie plate and trim the edges to a ½ inch overhang. Roll the other piece of dough into a 1/8 inch thick circle and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Cover both the circle and the pie plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you pre-heat the oven and prepare the filling.

Getting Ready to Bake: Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Put the berries in a large bowl and gently stir in the sugar, flour, salt, zest and juice; let sit for about 5 minutes. Taste the filling and add more sugar and/or lemon juice, if needed.

Remove the pie shell and top crust from the refrigerator. Sprinkle an even layer of the breadcrumbs over the bottom of the shell. Give the filling a last stir and turn it into the crust.

Using your fingertips, moisten the rim of the bottom crust with a little cold water. Center the top crust over the filling and gently press the top crust against the bottom. Either fold the overhang from the top crust under the bottom crust and crimp the edges attractively or press the top crust against the bottom crust and trim the overhang from both crusts even with the rim of the pie plate. If you’ve pressed and trimmed the crust, use the tines of a fork to press the two crusts together securely. Using a small, sharp knife, cut 4 slits in the top crust crust and cut a circle out of the center, then lift the plate onto the baking sheet. (If you have time, refrigerate the pie for about 30 minutes. The pie can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months. Glaze and sugar it before you put it in the over and add at least 15 minutes to the baking time).

Brush the top crust with the egg wash, then sprinkle the crust with a little sugar, just to give it sparkle.

Bake the pie for 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F, and bake the pie for another 30 minutes or so (total baking time is about an hour) or until the crust is a beautiful golden brown and the filling is bubbling up through the slits. If the crust seems to be browning too quickly, make a loose foil tent for the pie.

Transfer the pie to a rack and let it cool and settle for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Lemon Meringue Shabbos

So we had halibut this Shabbos, which was nice because it meant we could make a dessert without the onerous constrains of pareveosity. However, there was the onerous constraint of Rebecca's freak husband, who hates chocolate, of the fact that we couldn't have cake because we had just eaten an entire strawberry shortcake at Baby Simon's first birthday party (more on that later), and of Sarah, who decided that she really really wanted to make meringues. So dessert could possibly be dairy, have meringue and not be chocolate or a cake? Why, lemon meringue pie, of course!

This pie comes courtesy of Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts, which seems to be out of print, but if you are a novice baker (or even if you aren't) it's a really great book, because she gives incredibly detailed instructions for every recipe, and it also has a lot of tips and tricks to make anyone handier around the kitchen.

Despite all this hand-holding, I still managed to mess up the crust. It just wasn't coming together properly, and that combined with the lack of pie weights made for a very...interesting crust. So the next time I make this pie, I will probably use a different recipe. However, I would like you all to know that as of today, the Baking Sisters are proud owners of pie weights! And silicone mats! Hooray for Zabars!

As for the actual pie, it came out quite well, though everyone else seemed to like it better than I did. I think that's because I prefer a thinner, harder layer of meringue (this one was quite voluminous), but that's easy to fix based on your preference. I thought the sweetness of the meringue was not too sweet and the tartness of the lemon filling was not too tart, and that they balanced out really well. Also, on a superficial note, this pie is really pretty; even if like me you aren't particularly adept at making meringue all swirly and professional-looking, this is a crowd-pleaser that elicits oohs and aahs when you bring it out. Just be sure to store it in a safe place without any wind before you serve it (we used the bottom oven, because the top oven was still hot from the baking). Since the book is out of print, here is the lemon meringue recipe, from page 164:

Filling
1 9-inch baked pie shell
Finely grated rind of 3 lemons
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
4 egg yolks (save the whites for the meringues)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1.5 cups sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1.5 cups warm tap water
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the rind and juice and set aside. Place the yolks in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
Place the cornstarch, sugar and salt in a heavy 2-quart saucepan and stir to mix. Gradually add the water, stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth. Place over medium heat and stir gently and constantly until the mixture comes to a low boil. Boil gently, stirring with the rubber spatula, for 1.5 minutes. (Blogger's note: Don't be alarmed if your mixture looks like particularly gloopy rubber cement at this point. That's supposed to happen.) Add the butter and stir briefly to melt.
Remove from the heat. Add a few large spoonfuls of the hot cornstarch mixture to the yolks, stirring well to mix thoroughly. Then pour the yolk mixture into the cornstarch mixture, stirring gently. Also stir in the lemon rind and juice.
Return to moderate heat and stir gently until the mixture comes to a boil again. Boil, stirring gently, for 1 minute. Immediately pour the hot mixture into the pie crust and begin to make the meringue. (The filling should not be completely cool when you cover it with the meringue.)

Meringue
4 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Place the whites, salt and cream of tartar in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat at high speed until the whites hold a soft point when the beaters are raised. Reduce the speed to moderate and gradually add the sugar, adding 2 tablespoons at a time and beating about 20 seconds between additions. Then increase the speed to high again and beat only until the mixture holds a firm point when the beaters are raised — it should be stiff but do not overbeat.
It is essential that the meringue touch the crust all around the plate or the meringue will shrink away from the crust when it is baked, so use two spoons to pick up gobs of meringue and seal the crust all around. Then gradually place the rest of the meringue over the center, and smooth and swirl as you like. (Blogger's note: I tried to make mine all swirly but in retrospect I think it would have looked even nicer if I had just left the meringue the way it was. The two-spoons methods leaves very attractive-looking peaks that needn't be messed with.)
Bake the pie immediately but only until the meringue is lightly colored on the peaks — it will take 7 to 9 minutes.
This pie can be refrigerated, or not, but the filling becomes firmer when refirgerated.