What’s impressive but familiar, refreshing but not austere—plus, you get to set the whole thing (almost) on fire? This towering lemon meringue pie recipe from Chris Morocco. Developed to rival the turkey during the “sugar course” (as former BA editor Sarah Jampel dubbed it) on Thanksgiving day, this lemon meringue pie is a showstopper any day of the year.
It starts with the exceptionally flaky pie crust, which comes from a technique of squishing ½-inch chunks of butter and a sugar mixture between your fingers, and later cutting the dough into four pieces, stacking them on top of each other, and rolling it all out again (a kind of low-key lamination). Note: This recipe makes enough pie dough for two single-crust pies. You can reduce the amounts by half, but why not make the second disk and pop it into the freezer? It will hold for a month and you can use it to make Chris’s chocolate pudding pie down the line.
Make sure to budget your time with this recipe, and consider breaking up the work up over a few days. The lemon curd pie filling will need to chill in the prebaked pie shell for at least two hours before serving, but it will hold for up to three days. When you’re ready to turn those egg whites into the final meringue topping touch, don’t look for soft peaks but rather medium ones that you can swirl or pipe and singe at the end. While a broiler will work, this recipe is an excellent excuse to buy a kitchen torch.
