Lemon Sponge Pie
Notes
• The zest of a lemon is the yellow part of the peel —avoid the inner white peel, which is bitter. You can simply grate it with a fine grater or use a special zesting tool, available for a few dollars from a kitchen supply store.
• You can use an electric mixer or simply a good wire whip to beat the egg whites. If you do it by hand (which is actually faster), lift up from the bottom to beat in air. The egg whites are said to be at soft mounds when a whip or spoon lifted from them leaves a noticeable mound; at soft peaks when it leaves a peak that falls over at the top; and at stiff peaks when it leaves a peak that does not fall over at the top. Be careful not to go beyond this stage, or the egg whites will begin to lose some of their ability to hold air and the result may be flat.
While recipes for Shaker lemon pie are fairly
common and lemon meringue is ubiquitous, I have not seen a pie like this
outside of Pennsylvania. As it bakes, the filling separates into two layers:
the bottom layer is a sort of lemon custard, and the top layer is something
akin to a light sponge cake.
This is my adaptation of my great-aunt Anna
Mertz's recipe, which I found, strangely enough, in a church cookbook
that I inherited from my grandmother. I had made the pie twice before
I saw the name of the contributor. My only changes were to increase the
lemons and to decrease the temperature of the oven.
INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, separated
4 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
juice and grated zest of 2 lemons
1-1/2 cups milk
dough for a single pie crust
EQUIPMENT
9-inch pie plate
electric mixer or a wooden spoon and patience
2 large mixing bowls
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until fluffy. It will be difficult to cream 2 tablespoons of butter in an electric mixer, so your best bet may be to use a wooden spoon for the first part, stirring, mashing, and fluffing hard for half a minute to a minute. Add the sugar and mix well. Then add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating each in thoroughly before adding the next. Continue beating until light and fluffy. Stir in the flour and salt and combine well. Then stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, and milk.
2. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks (see note). Fold them gently into the mixture. The egg whites will have a tendency to float; this is fine.
3. Pour the mixture into a prepared 9-inch pie shell. Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is browned and the filling is set.
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