My Aunt Irene was not my aunt; she was my mom’s best friend. She and my Uncle Ray introduced my mother to my dad about three years after my biological dad passed away. We went to church with them and that is where they were introduced. Aunt Irene and Uncle Ray had been friends with my dad and his first wife before her death several years earlier. They believe mom and dad would make a great couple and that dad would make a great step-dad, and they were correct. They both cared deeply for my biological dad and I have many pictures of my parents holding me as an infant at their large antebellum-style home.
Each year on Christmas eve they had the huge Christmas party for all the people they knew who had nowhere else to go – we always went to this party even though we had plenty of places to be. This is my favorite picture of my parents on one of those Christmas eves.
This is me, mom and Aunt Irene. Mom never looks at the camera on purpose.
This is Uncle Ray and me in front of the Christmas tree one year.
This is Aunt Irene with her beloved roses. She grew what seemed to be hundreds of different big beautiful sweet smelling roses. She taught me that the lighter the color of flower, the stronger the scent.
Aunt Irene made at least a dozen different pies and cakes for this feast but my favorite was always the lemon meringue. It was homemade, not too sweet, not too tart, and not bitter……don’t you just hate a bitter lemon pie? It was also served at Easter. She also had this wonderful cake that I ate a piece of every year until I found out it was a prune cake……….yuk! Never had another bite. I hope someday I will find that recipe too because I’m not repulsed by prunes anymore.
I found this recipe in my Nana’s cookbook written in my Aunt Irene’s handwriting. I was so thrilled that when I bought all those expensive Meyer lemons I knew this was one recipe I HAD to make. Everyone enjoyed it including Rocket who ate one entire piece by himself. Let’s get crackin’ on this recipe so you can make it too.
Aunt Irene’s Old Fashioned Lemon Meringue Pie
Ingredients:
¼ Cup fresh squeezed lemon juice and “some” zest – 2 lemons should do it and about a Tablespoon of zest.
1 Cup plus 6 Tablespoons Sugar divided
2 level Tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 level Tablespoons Cornstarch
1 ½ Cups water
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small cubes
4 eggs separated into 4 yolks and 4 egg whites
1 nine inch pie crust, baked.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
In a saucepan whisk together 1 Cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt.
Stir in water, lemon juice, zest and butter stirring until all comes to a boil.
Beat eggs and set aside in a glass bowl (no metal for some reason).
Whisk about ½ cup of heated lemon filling into eggs allowing the eggs to come to temperature.
Add eggs and lemon filling back into saucepan.
Continue stirring, bring to a boil again and allow to thicken.
Pour filling into baked pie shells.
Beat egg whites until foamy adding 6 Tablespoons of sugar slowly.
Continue beating until stiff white peaks form.
Spread meringue over top of pie, sealing edges of pie with meringue.
Bake in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes or until meringue is golden brown.
You will love this pie just like we do!
This looks exactly the way a home-baked lemon meringue pie should look. Love all of the pictures and particularly like the apron your aunt is wearing in the picture with the roses.
Lillian
Thank you Lillian! She had several aprons just like it in different materials that she hung on the back of the kitchen door.
Kelli, one question when does the butter go in. I made 5 pies and when I was done I noticed my butter was still sitting on the counter. I read the recipe again and didn’t see anything about adding the butter. Anyway they are perfectly delicious and when I make them again I won’t add the butter.
Oh my goodness Jane – thank you so much for bringing that to my attention! I have edited the recipe. You put the butter in when you first put the lemon juice and zest in – at the very beginning of the recipe. I’m so glad you enjoyed the pie and thanks for letting me know you made it! I hope you enjoy them for years to come!
We’ll believe me it was perfect without the butter. I made five of them and everyone said they were delicious!
I’m so pleased – I can’t believe you made 5 pies today!
So glad you posted this one (and all the others, too!) – it’s really hard to find a decent lemon meringue pie recipe and it’s always been one of my faves. Love you, Cuz!
Love you back! This one, if you ever had Aunt Irene’s, is a great one! Bet cha’ that baby girl would love it too!
I don’t many of my relatives as they all live over seas! You are so lucky to have those memories, those pictures and the pie recipes!!! Lemon meringue just happens to be my favorite!
They are great memories – I would find a reason to go overseas and visit my relatives! 🙂
Lemon desserts are my favorite, and this looks especially good! I love your backstory and the old photographs, too!
Thank you!
Precious family photos, Kelli, and that pie! It’s just fabulous! Lemon meringue was my favorite pie as a child and that carried over into my favorite lemon-filled doughnut, when pie wasn’t available. I honestly don’t remember the last time I baked one though. It’s been too long!
Thank you Stacy! I think you need to make one then…don’t you?
I do too! I’ll be with the girls the last week of March – that would be a great time because I know they will love it.
OMG great minds think alike, I just made a lemon meringue for my dad 😀
Your recipe looks incredible, I am jealous!! You are an amazing baker, that white meringue looks perfect!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thank you CCU! I bet your dad loved it – our entire family gobbled up that pie like there was no tomorrow! 🙂 I watched over that meringue like a hawk to make sure I didn’t burn it or something crazy like that.
I love your stories…and this pie? What’s not to love. I am intrigued by that prune cake! LOL
It was really good and I will have to help mom go through her cookbooks to see if its in there. If I ever find it – I will make it!
Can’t wait to try it my grandma always made homemade lemon pies. Still miss date and nut. cakes..Can’t seem to find recipes for that.
Hi Linda! Thanks for dropping by – I miss another cake my Aunt Irene made called Black Walnut cake – so I miss those too! My mom said she thought she had the Prune Cake and the BW cake – she would look for them! Please come again – I think you will like the pie!
Thank you for sharing your memories and the wonderful photos, Kelli. I’d have been thrilled to find a handwritten recipe too! Your pie looks delicious and comforting, just like a perfect lemon meringue pie should be.
Thanks – I had to promise to make another this coming weekend – it was a hit here!
oh wow, your pictures remind me so much of our family during that time! Your Lemon Meringue Pie looks delicious, I love Lemon Meringue Pie 🙂
Did you see my recent post, Hot Fudge Cake?
Have a great weekend!
Michael
http://michaelswoodcraft.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/hot-fudge-sauce-chocolate-cake-and-ice-cream/
Haven’t made Lemon Meringue pie in forever, this brought back a lot of memories. I miss those days, maybe because iife was slower (especially for us as kids!), but the Christmas tree caught my eye! My Mom had a similar one, a lot smaller! We we also get this small real tree also, but the aluminum one is the one I remember most. I can get lost in old photos, I have also saved some old recipes that my Aunt Sally wrote out for my Mom, I may never make them, but it’s the handwritten letters that serve as memories…Well, I will have to make pie one day soon here…I’m more into baking muffins, pound cake and anything pumpkin! Thanks for the recipe and trip down memory lane.
You are so welcome Alaine! Thank you for dropping by and please – do come back as I often share photos from my past as most of my recipes come from there.
Do you let the filling cool before putting in pie shell.
Just a little – maybe 5 minutes but otherwise it’s fine. Thanks for asking Betty!