The Best Lemon Pie Filling Recipe - Our Wabi Sabi Life (2024)

FAQs

What is the liquid at the bottom of the lemon meringue pie? ›

What is the best way to prevent having liquid at the bottom of a lemon meringue pie? Don't over bake your meringue! Overbaking causes the egg whites to shrink and squeeze out small droplets of moisture. Always make sure to check on your pie at the minimum baking time.

A lemon pie may become watery when put in the oven to brown the meringue, if it is left in the oven too long; or it may water because the filling was not sufficiently cooked before putting into the pastry shell, or it may be from an insufficiency of flour being used in making the filling.

You make it with egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, and zest, and fortify it with cornstarch so the filling holds its shape when you cut the pie. READ MORE: What happens when the lemon filling fails to set properly? A runny filling, no fun!

Very often flour or cornstarch is used, but in certain instances tapioca, arrowroot and potato starch can also help achieve the desired consistency. Tapioca starch is preferable for products that will be frozen because it will not break down when thawed. We like tapioca in blueberry, cherry or peach pies.

The watery layer between the meringue and the filling (weeping) is usually caused by undercooking.

If your pie filling is runny, add in one additional tablespoon of cornstarch to the lemon filling, and stir over medium heat. It should thicken in 1 to 2 minutes.

It's an easy pitfall because fruit releases a lot of liquid when it bakes. Thickeners you mix into the filling, like cornstarch, soak up a lot of the liquid, but sometimes not all of it. Plus, as it bakes, the crust itself releases moisture in the form of steam. Often, blind-baking solves this problem.

Final answer: Lemon juice is added to lemon pie filling after the starch has thickened the water to preserve the right texture. The acid in the lemon juice can break down the starch-water gel, thinning the mixture.

Experiment with different thickeners

If you usually use flour to thicken your apple pie and it's not doing the job, try something different: cornstarch, tapioca, and arrowroot are other established fruit pie thickeners. For more on specific thickeners and how to use them, see our Pie Filling Thickeners Guide.

If your lemon tart is runny, the mostly likely cause is not cooking the filling long enough. It should be nicely thickened when you pull it off the stove.

How do you firm up pie filling? ›

All-purpose flour is an easy solution, as you're sure to have it in your pantry. Since it's lower in starch, you'll use more of it than you would higher-starch thickeners. Quick-cooking tapioca makes filling bright and clear, but also gives it a stippled and somewhat sticky texture.

Refrigeration makes meringue weep more quickly, so let the pie stand at room temperature in a draft-free spot before serving it. After a few hours, however, it will need to be refrigerated. ''If the meringue is cooked before being added to the pie, it will be more stable and less likely to weep.

Lemon meringue pie is not one to wait patiently to be eaten. The longer the pie sits, the more moisture is inclined to accumulate. We recommend that you make it the day you plan to eat it.

While commercial pie thickeners aid the naturally occurring pectin in your fruit filling, pectin from the added lemon, lime, or orange solidifies your pie's interior. Don't worry about the citrus fruit overpowering the flavor of your pie. Once baked, this citrus-infused dessert has a subtle yet well-rounded flavor.

There is no need to add lemon juice to prevent discoloration when baking with apples. It won't hurt the filling to have the lemon juice in there, but tossing the apples in juice isn't necessarily benefiting the dessert, either.

Lemons contain a natural compound called hesperidin that may lower blood sugar levels, decreasing your risk of diabetes. In addition, the citric acid in lemons slows the conversion of starch to sugar, helping reduce blood sugar spikes and aiding in weight management.