26 November 2012




I promised you guys to show you the other pies I made a couple of weeks ago so here's the second one: a lemon meringue pie. Ever since I saw this pie for the first time in my Hummingbird Bakery cookbook, I knew I wanted to make it. And I knew it would be spectacular. So when we had visitors a couple of weeks ago, I thought it was a great occasion to make this pie. For the first time. Not the best idea I ever had.



This pie failed for more than one reason:
  • The recipe calls for 8 lemons. EIGHT lemons. Every sane human being would've known that amount is waaaay too much for a good pie. I didn't. And I'm not even a fan of lemons.
  • I had never made meringue before, let alone Italian meringue. Whereas, unexpectedly, I encountered no difficulties whatsoever while making the meringue (with some help from my sister!), the problems started when I took the pie out of the oven. Apparently, baked meringue soaks up all nearby liquids. As a result, the lemon filling started melting. Not a pretty sight. 

Since this pie was kind of a failure, I won't give you the recipe. Why am I telling you this, then?
Well, I did learn a couple of things from it. It's okay to bake new things when you have visitors, but leave ambitious pies like this one alone. Even the best baker sometimes fails: learn from it, and don't give up. And lastly, don't entirely trust unknown recipes: the author may love an extremely sour pie but 8 lemons are not everyones cup of tea. Try and alter recipes until they are to your liking.

Now, let's take a look at the pictures!
Making Italian meringue for the first time... So proud this worked out!

The pie, before I put it in the oven. Look at how crispy the crust looks!

The pie a few hours after baking. The meringue was melting off, the crust doesn't look crispy anymore. 

The inside: a sticky and runny mess.

4 comments:

  1. Ik moet je bekennen dat ik ook al 100 mislukte taarten heb gebakken.. altijd jammer! Maar dat komt waarschijnlijk omdat ik alles niet zo heel nauwkeurig afmeet, terwijl dat bij bakken juist moet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. that meringue looks HUUUGE ('huge' is the best kind of meringue in my opinion)--and I think it still looks pretty close to how I'd imagine it should! x

    ReplyDelete
  3. ik zou er toch nog van eten, hij ziet er niet ZO slecht uit! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. ik heb het hummingbird bakery boek ook. en idd die 8 citroenen gebruikt. hij was zoo zuur. en ook daardoor de binnenkant heel waterig/sponzig. ik vond hem verder wel lekker, alleen veeels te zuur! dus ik ga toch voor een poging 2 met minder citroenen haha

    ReplyDelete