Pucker up for lemon pie variations

We hear from Everett cook Zoaunne LeRoy, “Regarding the lemon thing for Colleen Steelquist of Lynnwood, I don’t know what lemon angel pie or lemon lush might be, but I have a recipe for a lemon favorite my mother used to make.

“It is in ‘The Joys of Jell-O’ published by General Foods Corp. a long time ago, looks like about the 1940s. I bought this spiral-bound paper book at an antique store.”

Zee adds, “This makes 24 servings, which is a whole lot of servings, but I could sit and eat the whole thing. It’s easy to make half of the recipe, though. I add more lemon rind.”

And Doreen Spencer up there in Sedro-Woolley writes, “Perhaps Colleen Steelquist would be interested in my angel pie recipe, which was given to me by a friend over 50 years ago. My recipe is somewhat different from the one requested, but it is a delicious dessert.”

Lemon crumb dessert

2packages (3 ounces each) or 1 package (6 ounces) lemon gelatin

11/2cups sugar

1/4teaspoon salt

2cups boiling water

11/2teaspoons grated lemon rind

2/3cup lemon juice

31/3cups (2 cans, 12 ounces each) evaporated milk, undiluted, chilled

2/3cup butter or margarine, melted

4cups vanilla wafer or graham cracker crumbs

In large mixing bowl, dissolve gelatin, sugar and salt in boiling water. Add lemon rind and lemon juice and chill until very thick.

Meanwhile, in mixing bowl, mix together the butter or margarine and wafer or cracker crumbs and press firmly into two 7-by-11-inch pans or 9-inch square pans or four 8-inch pie pans, reserving about 1/3 cup crumb mixture for garnish.

Add evaporated milk to thick gelatin mixture and whip until fluffy; spoon into pans and sprinkle with the reserved crumbs. Chill until firm.

Makes 24 servings.

Lemon angel pie

Meringue:

3egg whites

1cup sugar, divided

1/8teaspoon salt

1/2teaspoon vanilla

1teaspoon cider vinegar

Butter and flour for coating/dusting pie plate

Filling:

4egg yolks, beaten

1/2cup sugar

Juice and rind of 1 lemon

1tablespoon flour

1/2cup water

1cup whipping cream

1teaspoon vanilla

For the meringue, in mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Beat in 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add salt and vanilla and beat well. Beat in remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add vinegar and beat thoroughly.

Butter a 10-inch glass pie plate and coat with flour. Shake off excess flour. Pile meringue in pie plate, higher in the center than around edge. Bake at 275 degrees for 1 hour. Let cool in oven, with the door open.

For the filling, in double boiler, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and rind, flour and water; cook, whisking, until thick. Remove from heat and cool thoroughly.

When the meringue shell and filling are cold, whip cream and fold in the vanilla. To assemble the pie, spread half of the whipped cream in the meringue shell. Top with the lemon filling, then top with the remaining whipped cream. Chill several hours before serving.

Store leftover pie in the refrigerator.

Makes one 10-inch pie.

The next Forum will appear in Wednesday’s Food section.