Tuesday, August 25, 2009

TWD: Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie


Hi folks, for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe, Linda of Tender Crumb decided on Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie.

I'm afraid this post is going to be brief. Today brought the first day of school, and with it, a wake-up time about 3 hours earlier than my normal, lazy summer wake-up. I am tie-ard!

But let me recap the pie, before I head upstairs and pass out.


I used home-made vanilla sugar for both the filling and the meringue. What's vanilla sugar, you ask? Simple, you take a vanilla bean (in my case a past it's prime turning-hard bean), split it in two (or three or four) to expose the inside and mix with some sugar. Stir occasionally. You can replenish the sugar and/or vanilla beans as needed. Note that you'll need to strain your sugar before using to remove any vanilla bean pieces.


My filling and meringue were flecked with vanilla bean seeds. I'm not sure if you can see them but they're there. That's the vanilla sugar!


(Have you ever tried to take a picture of yourself piping meringue? It's not easy, I discovered.)


I've always wanted to do spikey meringue like that. I first saw it in one of Sherry Yard's cookbooks (I think hers was even taller).

My oven is still conked out, but I was able to use the toaster oven... although it's a bit of an adventure to use since the temperature knob is broken off and it only heats up to 400-plus degrees now.


Anyway, I really liked this tart. It was, in fact, quite tart but not overwhelmingly so. I made a half batch and only used one lime's worth of zest. I didn't have any fresh ginger, so I used ground... 1/4 tsp for a half batch. If I were to make this the same way again, I might cut back on the ginger just a smidge so it plays more of a back-up role. As for the butter in the filling, I just used a little (maybe a tablespoon) because this recipe is similar to The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart we made long ago, and I didn't care for all of the butter in that filling. I like butter and I like lemon meringue pie, but not together.

Oh, and I forgot to add that I used Dorie's Sweet Tart Dough with nuts, and used ground pistachios. I think this is going to be my new go-to tart crust. I just love it.

Oh, and I also forgot to add that I only used egg yolks, since I just happened to have the right amount from another recipe I made. That's why my filling is more yellow-ish colored.

OK, somehow this post didn't end up as short and sweet as I'd planned (but probably more poorly written and disjointed), but now it's time to sign off. (Oh, sweet, soft bed, I'm headed your way...)

Until next week!

28 comments:

Romaine of www.salad-in-a-jar.com said...

Thanks for the tip about the sweet tart dough. I'm impressed with your meringue--and browned in a toaster oven? WOW! You are good.

Julia @ Mélanger said...

Fantastic! I just made some tart dough with pistachio and it was amazing. The smell as the shells baked just filled the house. Great work with the piping - I so could not do that AND take a photo at the same time.

chocolatechic said...

Gorgeous tart!

Mary Ann said...

Stunning- I love what you did with the meringue. I have made the sweet tart dough with pistachios before and it is amazing.
I love that you left out alot of the butter too.

vibi said...

WOW! The meringue work is amazing Jacque! ...and I love seeing the tartlets in your toaster-oven! LOL

Genius idea... wish I had one.

grace said...

your pointed peaks of meringue are quite attractive! i don’t particularly go for such lemony things, but it’s undeniably beautiful. :)

Nichicakes said...

Cute little tarts!

Carrie's Classics said...

Those look amazing! Beautifully done and fantastic pictures. I might have to make some this week when my in-laws come over. I also love that you refused to let your broken oven stop you.

Megan said...

Yes, the school schedule is turning out to be quite an adjustment, isn't it?

I'm already on my second double espresso......

Anonymous said...

I love the way you piped the meringue. Your pies look great!

Katrina said...

Great looking meringue peaks on your tarts! Love it. This was a bit tart for me and I even used less lime juice. Oh well, I made the best of it and turned it in to ice cream! Hey, I've done that before. ;)
Really looks great, browning and all.

Maria said...

Wow, those are beautiful!

isa said...

Wow! Lovely tartlets!
I love your piping.

Anonymous said...

Your tall meringue looks great! I'm impressed that you were able to brown it in the toaster oven. I think I would have had a fire if I tried that!

Anonymous said...

Looks delicious!
Wishing I was able to make the pie now...

Bunny said...

You always decorate everything so pretty, I love the first picture of the pie, it gorgeous!

CB said...

I love your piped peaks of meringue! I know exactly what you mean about taking pictures and piping at the same time. I think us bloggers are multi-talented! Love the pie-lettes. Next time I'm totally using my tart pans instead. Love those ridges. Great job!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought

Bella Baker said...

Your pies look AWESOME!!! I need to get on top of baking vanilla sugar! And I love how you piped the meringue!!!

Teanna said...

I hope you had a good sleep! Your topping is gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Oh my, your meringue peaks are amazing. Mine are small waves lapping on the shore compared to your towering whitecaps!

Rachel said...

love the meringue - I'd never thought about piping it!

I actually couldn't taste my ginger but that may be because I had too much lime zest. Glad it was a hit.

"E" Street said...

Beautiful! The tall meringue peaks are amazing!

Cakelaw said...

I love, love, love your high meringue peaks! And the use of vanilla bean sugar was also inspired. I am with you - this pie was devine.

margot said...

Beautiful, I was wondering how to pipe meringue. I bought some curiously inexpensive vanilla beans recently, and they are in fact past their prime; now I know what to do with them!

The Food Librarian said...

When I saw your meringue, I thought...Sherry Yard! Yours is even more beautiful!! :)

Linda said...

Beautiful presentation with the spikey meringue. So pretty!! Also love that you used vanilla sugar. I need to try that the next time.

Jacque, thanks for baking along with me this week!

Linda

Sihan said...

oh yeh! I did the pistachio crust before.. so good. and i simply love those tall spikes on yours. hair raising! haha.

Unknown said...

I love your spiked meringue!! It didn't even weep! Congratulations!!!