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

FAQs

What is lemon pie filling made of? ›

A lemon pie filling is the base for a lemon meringue pie. 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.

The cause? While the meringue cooks on top when it is put into a hot oven, there isn't sufficient time for the meringue to cook on the bottom. The solution? Rather than cooling the filling, reheat it quickly after you add the egg yolks, so it gets steaming hot.

Jello Lemon Pie Filling Discontinued | TikTok. Lemon pie!

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.

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.

Some say that scattering small bits of butter over a fruit filling keeps the juices from bubbling over in the same way that adding a bit of fat to simmering jam keeps it from foaming up in the preserving pan. The theory is that the fat disrupts the formation of bubbles on the surface of the viscous fruit mixture.

If your lemon curd hasn't thickened, it may not have been heated enough. It can take up to 30 minutes of constant stirring to cook lemon curd, especially if it's a large batch.

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.

With Jell-O salads becoming less popular, the brand looked for its next hit. But it had a problem: With the increase in women entering the workforce, families weren't sitting down for as many meals and eating dessert like they once did. And new, ready-to-eat foods were hitting the market that were more convenient.

How do you keep pie filling from being runny? ›

Partially pre-cook the filling to evaporate its excess juice. Experiment with different thickeners beyond flour — we love Instant ClearJel. Vent the pie's top crust so steam from the juice can escape. For even better evaporation, try a lattice crust or crumb crust.

Jell-O's popularity declined in the 1970s and 1980s, as Americans became more health-conscious and sophisticated in their culinary tastes. Jell-O also faced competition from other desserts and snacks that were more convenient and appealing to children.

Some common techniques are to include natural lemon juice, lemon zest, or even lemon pulp to add or boost lemon flavor. Other options for adding lemon into your flavor profile include the use of natural and artificial flavors.

2: Lemon Zest

When you want whatever you're making to sparkle with bright lemony flavor, zest is the answer. It's less tart than juice as the essential oils in the skin are much more powerful for imparting flavor. It's a particularly handy ingredient for times when you don't want to add more liquid.

Fruit, sugar, cornstarch, acid, extras. These are the only things you need to remember to turn out a perfect pie filling.

Adding the butter after the cooked eggs, juice and sugar have cooled significantly is what sets lemon cream apart from lemon curd, in which everything is cooked together. The flavor is quite similar, but the textures of the two couldn't be less alike.

While curd resembles pudding or custard, the difference lies in the way it's thickened. Custards and puddings rely on cornstarch, milk and cream, while eggs are the primary thickener for curd, making it lighter and brighter.

If you cannot find Clear Jel, another option is to can the pie filling without any thickener and then thicken it with tapioca or cornstarch before putting it into the pie shell.