Lemon Meringue Pie - what did I do wrong??

[saykotaking]

I need help! I made a lemon meringue pie and the flavor is perfect. But the consistancy of the pie is liquid. I followed the recipe to a T. I don't know what I did wrong. The recipe I pulled from foodnetwork.com
Here it is...
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Lemon Filling:
4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell
1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.
Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:
4 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar
2 tablespoons sugar
Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.
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The only thing I can think of is that I let the cornstarch mixture cook longer while I whipped up the topping.
Please let me know what I did wrong. I hate cooking sometimes because I seem to mess up all my recipes. Please help!
Thanks
Deborah

 

[Alix]

Wow. Not sure at all what went wrong there. Hope someone else can help you. But welcome aboard and don't get discouraged, even the best cooks have booboos now and again.

 

[Andy M.]

Thiis looks like Alton Brown's recipe from Good Eats. Lots of people had problems with this recipe. You have to cook the filling more tha 1 minute to get it to thicken. Try five minutes.

Don't be discouraged. Sometimes the recipe is at fault, not you.

 

[saykotaking]

Yes it was his recipe. And I cooked it long. Probably about 7-8 min total. Just cause I was trying to keep it warm while I was making meringue

 

[Gretchen]

Could be several things. Not enough cornstarch. Cooking it too long. from
Cornstarch thickens when it comes to the simmer. It isn't better cooked longer.
This gives me another reason not to like Alton Brown

From Cook's Thesaurus:

Like other starch thickeners, cornstarch should be mixed into a slurry with an equal amount of cold water before it's added to the hot liquid you're trying to thicken. You then need to simmer the liquid, stirring constantly, for a minute or so until it thickens. Cornstarch doesn't stand up to freezing or prolonged cooking, and it doesn't thicken well when mixed with acidic liquids.

 

[Alix]

Here is a thread with several good recipes on it. They are tried and true. Give one of them a go for your next effort. I bet you will have success.

 

[pdswife]

Here's my favorite lemon pie recipe.

1 (14 oz) can of Eagle brand sweetened condensed Milk
1/2 cup Lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind or 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
2 eggs separated
1 8 inch prepared graham cracker or baked pie crust
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 tablespoons sugar


Preheat oven to 325
In medium bowl mix condensed milk, lemon juice, lemon rind and egg yolks. Stir until mixture thickens.

Pour into CHILLED grahm crust ( I just stick mine in the freezer for 10 minutes.) or cooled baked pie crust.

In another bowl beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar until fluffy. Use high speed until the soft peaks begin to form. Add sugar a little at a time.. continute beating using medium speed. Beat for at least 4 minutes..sugar should be fully dissolved and the peaks should be shinny and stiff.

Spread the Meringue over the lemon pie. Be sure to spread all the way to the edges.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the meringue is toasty brown. Cool and then enjoy.

I sometimes add an extra egg white to the meringue and an extra pinch of cream of tartar. I love the meringue part.. more is always better.

 

[saykotaking]

thanks all for your comments... I'll try again.

 

[cristal]

From the looks of the recipe, it might be that there is not enough cornstarch added to first mixture to thicken the filling properly. I'd use another recipe...

 

[Swann]

Yes it was his recipe. And I cooked it long. Probably about 7-8 min total. Just cause I was trying to keep it warm while I was making meringue

I think that you over cooked the filling. Cornstarch will break down when cooked too long.