So, life handed you a bag of lemons…
You could freeze ‘em ’til they’re hard and throw ‘em back but that’s just mean (and quite possibly a felony). Or you could make pie.
When life hands you lemons, make pie! That should be the Daring Bakers‘ official motto for January! Jen at The Canadian Baker is hosting this month’s challenge, Lemon Meringue Pie.
I. Love. Meringue. Love, love, love it.
It brings warm & fuzzy memories of working in my parents’ bakery. Watching Mom do the meringues was watching an artist in action. She would reach into the bowl of the Hobart, scoop out a huge mound of meringue, and slap it on to each pie. Then she spun the pie in her other hand, working quickly, yet deliberately, to form the “hair” on the meringue - meringue spikes with ends that fell into perfect loops. Into the oven and then into the customers’ boxes the pies went.
I’m fascinated with multi-step desserts. They’re time consuming, sure, but what else is a girl to do on Sunday afternoons now that football season is over? (Please don’t say laundry.) To make a lemon meringue pie DB-style, you gotta make the pastry crust, make the custard filling, make the meringue. Everything but grow the lemons 
Meringue can be a challenge. It can shrink and pull back from the crust, it could get icky and weepy if you decide to admire the pie rather than eat it, and it can catch flame if you forget about it under the broiler.
I rather enjoyed the recipe. The filling set nicely and the pies were devoured as soon as they came out of the oven (and had their pictures taken, of course). The only decision I had to make was how to style the meringue - spikey loops, simple and low, or sky-high swirly mounds… as you can see, I made no decisions. The only real thing I had problems with was this post… “Publish” and “Preview” are too close together on my layout so my reveal nearly sneaked out a couple of hours early.
How did the other Daring Bakers style their meringues? Check out the blogroll and see for yourself! For the recipe, head on over to Jen’s.
See y’all next month!
January 28th, 2008 at 2:41 am
They look great.
January 28th, 2008 at 6:14 am
These look very nice, I am sure they were delicious! Great job!
January 28th, 2008 at 7:43 am
Nice tart!
January 28th, 2008 at 7:59 am
They look awesome! I love that you were able to make so many different meringue patterns, the spikey loops are my favorite.
January 28th, 2008 at 8:21 am
they look great!
January 28th, 2008 at 8:29 am
I love lemon meringue pie too and this recipe was delicious.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Love the swirls! Oh so beautiful!
January 28th, 2008 at 11:02 am
they look great and have perfect spikeyness!
January 28th, 2008 at 11:36 am
I love the piping!
January 28th, 2008 at 11:41 am
Looks great! Love your pictures.
January 28th, 2008 at 11:55 am
“Everything but grow the lemons.” Haha! I was all bragging up doing everything from scratch with my kid and she gets all smart alecky on me and says- “geesh mom- you act like you grew the lemons and pooped out the eggs yourself.” Those kids- but I guess that’s why God invented duct tape.
Really beautiful pics- congrats on some gorgeous lemon meringue tarts!
January 28th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I love the high topping. It’s like the meringue is reaching for the sky.
January 28th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
They look so perfect!!!
January 28th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
I also love multi-step desserts….maybe thats why I’m not a big cookie baker????
January 28th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Lovely!!!
January 28th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Look beautiful and I love your photography.
January 28th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Great looking meringue! Nice photos!
January 28th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
your tartelettes are beautiful! great job!
January 28th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
They look beautiful! The piping and browning is perfect.
January 28th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
OMGOSH! Those are BEAUTIFUL! I wish I was as talented with Meringue, mine never looks that awesome. hehe
January 28th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
I love the texture of your meringues. Lots of whimsy!
January 29th, 2008 at 12:20 am
I am so-ooooo with you on this one Shawnda. Meringues are MUCH more fun than laundry. Gorgeous job with January’s challenge.
January 29th, 2008 at 12:24 am
They look great! Well done
January 29th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Your meringues are beautiful! I bet they taste as good as they look.
January 29th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Your tarts look wonderful!
January 29th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
WOW- When life hands you lemons you make some STUNNING lil’tarts!!! They look FANTASTIC, great job :O)
January 30th, 2008 at 6:34 am
those little pies have beautiful “hairstyles!”
January 30th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Looks Good!
January 30th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Beautiful!!!
January 31st, 2008 at 7:52 pm
I had the same problem with the preview and post buttons. I had to hurry up and take it off the site the night before. These are awesome little creations, I love the way your meringue browned.
January 31st, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Very cute
Are those black tart pans?
February 1st, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Thanks, guys!
Lisa - Yes, those tart pans are black. They were a Christmas present from my mother- and father-in-law.
February 2nd, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I think your tarts are great! Think that I must get some tart pans, because this would be a wonderful pie to do in tiny portions.
February 5th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I just LOVE all the little tartlettes I am seeing out there. See you next month for the next DB challenge
February 7th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Those little pies are a thing of beauty!
February 29th, 2008 at 8:00 am
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