bob hope's lemon meringue pie

Today was a great day to make a pie! As you know, here southern California, winter is citrus season.  

My lemon tree is just covered in fruit right now. I’ve been using them a lot and sharing with friends and family, and today, I decided to try a recipe that I’ve been saving for quite a while.

This recipe for Bob Hope’s Lemon pie is out of one of my favorite vintage cookbooks, Dinah Shore’s Celebrity Cookbook. It’s pretty easy to make, and all I really needed was a good mixer to beat the eggs just right. There's not that much baking involved. 

I happened to have an extra pie crust in my freezer, so I baked it golden brown in preparation for the filling. I mixed the filling ingredients with the mixer really well and then put the mixture in a sauce pan to cook over medium heat. 

I whisked this mixture on and off for about ten minutes, which is a little longer than the recipe states. I wanted it to thicken up and become bright yellow, which it did thanks to the egg yolks, lemon juice and lemon zest. Now it was ready to go into the crust.

Next I whipped the egg whites with sugar to create the meringue. This was really easy to do with my Kitchen Aid mixer, which did all the work for me! The next step was to pour the meringue over the pie filling, and spread it evenly. I used the back of a spoon to create peaks in the meringue. It already looks amazing at this point!

I put the pie under the broiler, under a watchful eye for no more than a couple of minutes, just to brown the top nicely. Then I baked it at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes or so. The aroma is divine!   

And guess what? It passed the taste test here in our house. Everyone loved it! So here's the recipe, in case you're in the mood to try it too. I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of meringue pies, but, when it's home made like this one, WOW - it's so good!!  

I will definitely be making this pie again very soon! 

Thanks, Bob!

ciao! fabiana