Lemon-Orange Meringue Pie

I have to admit- I'm not typically a very good pie baker but I did pretty good with this one. I am planning on taking it to my family's Easter dinner. Ok, it's not totally from scratch; I use a Pillsbury Pie crust. The filling and meringue, though, are my own. The filling is derived from an old Southern recipe for Ambrosia cake. The filling on this cake makes a perfect pie filling.

Filling Recipe:

1 cup sugar

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c orange juice

1/4 c lemon juice

1/2 c water

3 egg yolks , beaten

1 tbsp grated orange peel

Mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a sauce pan. With medium heat, add both juices and water, stirring constantly until it bubbles and thickens. Temper the eggs by adding a little bit of the hot mixture into the eggs. Add egg mixture into pan and boil slowly for 1 minute. Add orange zest.

Prebake the pie crust,making sure to dock the dough before it bakes. 350 for 11 minutes.

Add filling into pie crust.

Meringue:

4 egg whites or 3/4 cup prepared egg whites

2 tbsp sugar

pinch cream of tartar

Whip the meringue until it forms firm peaks-about 10-15 minutes. Pour on top of filling and bake for 6 minutes at 325.

Chemistry of Meringues:

Meringues ( or egg foams) come from the whites of eggs. Egg whites contain four proteins: ovalbumin, conalbumin, globulin, and lysozyme. Proteins form tough networks of tissue- that's why they build muscle in animals. These protein networks are not as stable as we would like in baking. They form and they break apart again- kind of like playing the block game "Jinga". The lower the pH of these proteins, the more stablilized they are. Low pH means the environment is acidic. By adding cream of tartar ( mixture of tartaric acid and cornstarch ), the pH is lowered and your meringue will stay put. Any acid will lower the pH ( vinegar, citric fruit juice) but these acids can make your meringue taste sour. Cream of tartar powder has no noticeable taste in the meringue.