Lemon Cake Pie
Oh, heavens to Betsy, this is some good pie! Lemon cake pie has a sweet lemon curd on the bottom, with a cake-like meringue on top. If you look closely at the photo above you can see a thin line of the cake layer. It’s light and sweet–perfect for Spring. I found this recipe in an old cookbook I bought at an antique shop in the Catskill Mountains. It’s written by a former actress, Mary Hosford. In it she details her family’s most cherished recipes and recounts the stories that are connected to them. It was a simpler life back then. I am certain, when I was in my twenties, that I would not have appreciated the simplicity of those “olden times”, but now that I’m a mom nearing my 40s I find myself using expressions like “heavens to Betsy”.
Lemon cake pie really is delicious and pretty easy to make. Here’s how I did it. First I processed together the sugar and lemon zest. According to the famed pastry chef Sherry Yard, this brings out the oil in the lemon zest resulting in a more lemony taste.
Then in a large bowl, I mixed the sugar/zest mixture with the melted butter . I added the flour, salt, and lemon juice. I whisked two egg yolks with milk and stirred that into my lemony mixture also. Finally, in a separate bowl I beat two egg whites to the soft peak stage, and folded it into my mixture.
I poured the filling into my pie shell (I used this pie pastry recipe- just cut the recipe in half), and baked it in a 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes.
Allow the pie to cool completely before slicing it up.
- Pie pastry (enough for a one-crust pie)
- 1 cup (199 g) Sugar
- 1 TBS Lemon Zest
- 3 TBS (42 g) Unsalted Butter, melted
- 3 TBS (28 g) All-Purpose Flour
- a pinch of Salt
- 1/4 cup (59 ml) Fresh Lemon Juice
- 2 Large Eggs, separated
- 1 cup (250 ml) Milk
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie pastry, and gently place it in a pie plate. Trim the edges, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Place a large baking sheet in the oven and preheat it to 375 degrees F.
- In a food processor, pulse the sugar and lemon zest until combined. Then put the sugar/lemon mixture in large bowl. Melt the butter, and mix with the sugar/lemon zest mixture. Add the flour, salt, and lemon juice, and stir until combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks and milk. Pour it into the sugar/lemon/flour mixture. Stir to combined.
- In a separate bowl, and with an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Gently fold in the egg whites into the lemon/sugar/flour mixture.
- Pour filling into the chilled pie shell, and flute the edges.
- Place the pie on the hot baking sheet and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until center isn't jiggly. Cool on a wire rack for 2 hours.
- Wrap pie in plastic wrap and refrigerate.
- Rolling pin
- Food processor
- Hand held electric mixer
- pie plate
- grater
