You may notice that there is something missing from my pie. I'll give you a hint, it's one of the title elements. Did the parentheses give it away?
Oh, meringue... You were supposed to be on my pie. I had visions of you in huge, smooth, golden peaks. Alas, it was not meant to be...
The problems started when I was making my meringue while trying to feed/watch a 10 month old and a 2 3/4 year old at 8:00 this morning while making an omelette. Needless to say, things did not go well. I over-whipped my meringue, and it just wouldn't make huge, smooth peaks. I tried anyway, and hoped that a minute under the broiler would magically transform it into something beautiful, golden. Hmmm... As soon as the first pie went into the broiler (I made 2/3 of a recipe in 2 mini pie dishes) I was beckoned by my older son into the living room - did I mention he was sick with a cold? No sooner did I attend to him than I smelled something burning. Pie number 1 had black meringue, looking no better coming out of the broiler than it did going in. The second one didn't get quite as singed, though it still wasn't pretty. I think it would have been slightly improved by using a torch, but I don't have one, so I opted for removing the meringue altogether and smoothing the top of the cream and digging in.
I went with a graham cracker crust made from homemade graham crackers. Wow. Let me say it again. Wow. A little too much trouble to do on a regular occasion, but I still had some dough from a couple of weeks ago.
Oh and the pie? Double wow. Twice. I love it. Smooth, creamy, tart, just sweet enough. Citrus dessert perfection.
Some of the other bakers had trouble getting their cream to temp in a reasonable amount of time, but mine went pretty quick - about 10 minutes.
I wish the ginger flavor was a little more pronounced, so if I make it again, I'll use more. I'm a ginger fiend. Also, I used half the butter called for - a suggestion made by other TWDers. It was a lot of fun to make, and fairly easy, so I'm sure I'll be making it again. One day. Perhaps I won't be making an omelette, keeping my baby from bonking his head, taking care of a sick toddler, etc.. and my meringue will not be over-whipped, and I'll buy a torch and finally achieve my golden peaks.
Linda of Tender Crumb chose this fabulous pie. See hers - meringue included - and get the recipe on her blog.
I have to give you huge to kudos for multitasking with the kiddies and this recipe! Wasn't the cream out of this world? I'm with you on the ginger...next time, i'm going to double the amount.
ReplyDeleteThanks for baking along with me this week!
it looks so yum! i agree that broiling the meringue was not the thing to do! i just cut off the burnt tops and ate it without the lovely golden curls...sad, but still tasty!
ReplyDeleteglad you finally got to try this delicious pie!
I'm glad you were able to save it and enjoy it! It looks great, and what a nice dish!
ReplyDeleteOh boy- I'm having deja vu reading this... Things do get interesting when cooking and trying to take care of little ones! And since when do kids get sick in the summer?! In the past two weeks, everyone in our house has had the stomach flu and now my three year old daughter has a cold.
ReplyDeleteAnd your pie still looks delicious- I'm not a big fan of meringue so it looks perfect to me!
Your pie looks delicious - love the photos!
ReplyDelete