How is it that I had never made a lemon meringue pie before now? In fact, I’m not even sure I’d ever actually eaten lemon meringue pie before I made this half-size one – which is surprising, because lemon things are second only to chocolate things on my dessert hierarchy. I’ve eaten many a lemon curd tart, but not a lemon meringue pie. What is the difference, you might ask? Well, according to me, the differences are:

• A lemon curd tart has a sweet shortcrust pastry (like a shortbread cookie), whereas a lemon meringue tart uses a blind-baked flaky pie shell. It should be noted that this particular blind-baked pie shell was the best I’ve ever made, owing to a few tips courtesy of Stella Parks, aka BraveTart: the first being her low-and-slow blind-baking method using sugar as a pie weight, and the second being the use of bleached all purpose flour, which has a more predictable profile of starch to protein than unbleached all purpose flour and results in a more tender and flaky pastry. (I have been an unbleached flour user for as long as I’ve been buying flour because the alternative sounds scary and chemical-laden… but once I read about the difference and about the bleaching process (which doesn’t actually use bleach), I realized that it’s not scary, it’s just chemistry, which is what successful baking relies on.)

• A lemon curd tart is filled with lemon curd (go figure) made with lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and sometimes butter. A lemon meringue pie is filled with lemon pie filling, which is essentially a lemon curd mixed with water to lighten it and thickened with cornstarch to give it a more pudding-like texture.

• A lemon curd tart is sometimes (and sometimes not) topped with a dollop or swirl of torched meringue. A lemon meringue pie is topped with a billowing tower of meringue (it’s right there in the name, after all) and then is baked in the oven until the outside of the meringue is golden and crisp.

This lemon meringue pie right here was excellent – flaky pastry, lightly set bright lemon filling, and a cloud of toasted marshmallow on top – but it was also dang sweet. Nate and I ate our slices with a glass of water on the side to help offset the sugar rush that followed, but it was well worth it. I think when all is said and done, I prefer a good lemon curd tart over a lemon meringue pie for its extra lemon-y pucker and and slightly more restrained sweetness, but I’d make and eat this lemon meringue pie again without any convincing!

Mini Mile-High Lemon Meringue Pie

Adapted from BraveTart by Stella Parks. This is half of the original recipe to make one 7″ pie, perfect for 2 people to enjoy over the course of a few days. Click here for a printable PDF of the recipe.

Pastry Shell

Roll out 1/4 of a batch of your favourite pie crust recipe (ie, half of what you would use for a 9″ single crust pie) to fit a 7″ pie plate, about 1/8″ thick. Line your pie plate, trim the edges to a 1″ overhang, then fold the edges under and crimp them firmly. Prick the pastry all over with a form and freeze until completely firm, about 20 minutes.

Line the frozen pie crust with foil, folding the excess over the edge of the pastry to protect it. Fill with granulated sugar (which will toast in the oven and can be used in the rest of this recipe just like regular granulated sugar) and plate the pie plate on a metal baking sheet.

Bake in a preheated 375˚F (350˚F convection) oven for about 50 minutes, until the pastry is fully set and golden brown at the edges (it may still look a little wet on the bottom and sides).

Carefully lift out the foil containing the sugar and set aside for the sugar to cool fully. Continue baking the pastry for another 10 minutes, until the bottom and sides are dry and golden brown. Cool the pastry to room temperature before continuing.

Lemon Pie Filling

In a saucepan, whisk together:

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp (6 oz) granulated sugar (use the toasted sugar from baking the crust)

pinch kosher salt

2 tbsp cornstarch

4 large egg yolks (about 2.5 oz – save the egg whites for the meringue)

1 1/2 tbsp grated lemon zest

1/2 cup (4 oz) freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup + 2 tbsp (9 oz) water

Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, whisking gently the whole time, for about 5 minutes, until it is steaming hot and reaches 135˚F on a thermometer. Turn up the heat to medium and continue cooking for a few more minutes, until the mixture thickens into a pudding-like consistency. Continue cooking until it starts to bubble, and cook/whisk for a full 2 minutes once this happens (this will make sure it thickens completely).

Remove the filling from the heat and press it through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl to remove the lemon zest and any lumps of cooked egg.

Scrape the filling into the baked pastry crust and let cool for about 30 minutes at room temperature, until a skin forms on top. At this point you can continue with the meringue, or cover the pie in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours for before continuing.

Marshmallow Meringue

In the metal bowl of a stand mixer, combine:

4 large egg whites (about 4 oz)

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp granulated white sugar (again, use the toasted stuff)

pinch kosher salt

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

seeds from 1/2 a vanilla bean

Place a saucepan with about 1 1/2 inches of water in it over medium-low to medium heat and one the water starts steaming, place the bowl over top, taking care that the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Stir and scrape the egg white mixture constantly with a flexible heat-proof spatula, and heat it until the mixture reaches 175˚F on a thermometer – this should take about 10 minutes, so just turn up the heat a bit if it is taking longer.

Once the egg whites reach temperature, transfer the bowl to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip the egg whites on high speed until they are thick, glossy, and quadrupled in volume. Use immediately.

Pie Assembly

Adjust the oven rack to the lower third of the oven, and preheat it to 375˚F (350˚F convection).

With a spatula, scoop the Marshmallow Meringue on top of the lemon filling in the pastry shell, spreading it all the way to the edges (make sure it actually touches the pastry at the edges so that it doesn’t shrink later).

Use the back of the spatula to make swoops and spikes in the meringue, leaving it piled high in the middle.

Place the pie on a wire rack on a baking sheet, and bake in the preheated 375˚F (350˚F convection) oven for about 20 minutes, until the surface of the meringue is light gold with slightly darker tips.

Cool for 1 hour at room temperature then lightly cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold (the filling should be 60˚F on a thermometer), which will probably take a few hours.

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Cut into slices to serve. Keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 1 week, loosely covered in plastic wrap.