Hi everyone! This is my first post. I am really really excited! It is very sunny outside right now, and my lemon tree is full of them , so I thought why not baking something using those great lemons!

So, how did I come up with this recipe? First of all, my mom used to bake a lot when I was a kid, she was the kind of mom who loved to bake and cook everything from scratch, so I guess somehow I got the baking “feeling” from her and I remember that she baked pies specially in summer time.

I will tell you a secret, which isn’t really a secret. When I was young and I liked a guy, I always baked a lemon meringue pie for him, so if you are reading this and I made a pie for you, now you know why I did it! My husband can’t complain about this either, because I baked him one when we were dating and I keep making pies every year.

This recipe has a crust made with vanilla wafers and the filling is a mixture of lemon juice and condense milk.

Ingredients

For the crust

• 2 cups of crushed vanilla cookies (graham or nilla or animal crackers). I like my crust to be thick so sometimes I use 2 1/2 cups.
• 6-8 tablespoons of unsalted butter (melted)
• 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar

For the filling

• 1 can condensed milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• ½ cup lemon juice

For the meringue

• 4 egg whites room temperature
• 5 tablespoons granulated sugar (or more, it depents how sweet you want the meringue to be)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Procedure

Preheat oven to 350°F

1.-Make the crust by stirring together the cookie crumbs, melted butter and granulated sugar. Press into the bottom  and sides of your pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Let it cool.

2.-While the crust is baking, make the filling. Whisk together condense milk, lemon juice, yolks and lemon zest.

3.-Once the crust is done, let it cool for 10 min and then  pour the filling evenly over the crust. Bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges start to brown and the top looks solid.

4.-To Make Meringue: In a large bowl, whip egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy (about 2 minutes).Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust. You can use two forks to make peaks with the meringue.

5.-Bake in preheated oven for 7-10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

I use a kitchen torch to give the meringue a more toasty color. If you have a torch, you are welcome to use it too.

Enjoy… and don’t forget to share this pie with someone you like!