I first ran across this strawberry lemonade pie from Martha Stewart magazine. It looked so good I had to try it but since I’ve started making it, I’ve realized a couple of tricks to getting it to turn out just right. I’ll let you in on those today.
I posted recently about how full our lemon tree is this year so a few weeks ago it seemed like the right time for strawberry lemonade pie again! I love the freshness of spring and it is so captured in this recipe. This would be good for an Easter brunch if you need a recipe.
Ingredients:
For the Crust
- Vegetable oil cooking spray
- 9 to 10 graham crackers, broken into pieces
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Coarse salt
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
(alternatively you could use a premade graham cracker pie crust)
For the Filling
- 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
- 2/3 cup strained fresh lemon juice (from 4 lemons)
- 2 large egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue), plus 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- Coarse salt
For the topping
- 12 ounces strawberries, sliced (2 cups)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 3 large egg whites, room temperature (2 reserved from filling)
Directions:
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Make the crust: Coat a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. Pulse crackers in a food processor until finely ground; measure 1 1/3 cups, and discard excess. Pulse cracker crumbs, sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in food processor to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixture is moist and holds together when pressed between 2 fingers.
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Press crust evenly into bottom and up sides of pie plate using the bottom of a dry measuring cup. (Make sure the sides and rim of the crust are firmly pressed so they don’t crumble when pie gets cut.) Freeze for 30 minutes.
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Bake crust until firm and turning darker around edges, 10 to 11 minutes. Remove from oven, and reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
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Meanwhile, make the filling: Whisk together condensed milk, lemon juice, egg yolks and egg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
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Pour filling into warm piecrust. Bake until center is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
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Make the topping: Sprinkle berries with 2 tablespoons sugar and the lemon juice. Let stand for 30 minutes.
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Meanwhile, heat egg whites and remaining 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar in the heatproof bowl of a mixer set over a pan of simmering water until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to mixer, and whisk on high speed until medium peaks form, 8 to 9 minutes.
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Strain berries and then spoon berries over pie. Spoon meringue over top. Place pie under broiler, with rack in lowest position, until meringue is just browned.
I have found, making this pie a few times, the topping mixture tends to be too much liquid for the pie. Usually the strawberries already contain enough juice for the pie so I like to strain the berries out of the lemon juice prior to pouring them on top of the pie. I also like to refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving, it’s much better when chilled.
I hope you try this pie soon, its one of my favorites!
Ooh looks delicious. Easter is coming up and I want to bring a new dish. This would be perfect! Thanks Amy! You are too cool!