How to Make Old-Fashioned Lemon Cream Pie

Lemon Cream Pie is delicious

A lemon cream pie can be thrown together entirely with instant or premade ingredients, but even undiscerning palates can tell the difference between a store-bought lemon pudding and a lemon custard that's been perfected over decades of family dinners and holiday gatherings. This recipe lets you off the hook a little with a premade crust, allowing you to concentrate on creating a luscious homemade filling.

Things You'll Need

• Baked pastry shell or graham cracker crust
• 2 tbsp. cornstarch
• 3/4 cup sugar
• Double boiler or two pans that stack
• 1 cup boiling water
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp. butter
• Grated rind from 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Pinch of salt
• Cool Whip topping or meringue (2 egg whites and 2 tbsp. sugar)

Instructions

1. Pre-bake a frozen pastry shell or graham cracker crust according to the directions on the package. Let it cool while you make the pie filling.

2. Combine 2 tbsp. cornstarch and 3/4 cup of sugar. Add 1 cup boiling water slowly, stirring constantly. Cook the mixture in a double boiler, stirring constantly until thick and smooth. If you don't have a double boiler you can use two pans that stack together, with hot water in the bottom and the mixture on top.

3. Add two slightly beaten egg yolks --- save the egg whites for the meringue if you are making it --- 1 tbsp. butter, the rind from half a lemon, 1/4 cup lemon juice and a pinch of salt to the cornstarch-and-sugar mixture. Cook the mixture an additional two minutes. Mix in 1 tsp. vanilla and remove the custard from the stove.

4. Pour the mixture into the baked pastry shell. Cover the custard with Cool Whip topping or a homemade meringue.

   Make a meringue by combining two egg whites and 2 tbsp. sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until the egg whites form stiff peaks. Spread the meringue over the pie, put the pie in the oven and cook it at 325 degrees for 10 minutes, or until the meringue just starts to brown.

References

• "The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook"; Good Housekeeping; 2001