Lemon Meringue Pie

After a long month's baking, we're tackling one of my favorite pies today: Lemon Meringue.

I learned how to bake this pie from my mother, who baked it frequently for my father--an ardent fan of lemon meringue. So much so in fact, that he jokes about ranking prospective brides based on their ability to execute the pie well.

Unfortunately, my mother made something we Humbles call "Lemon Meringue Pool". Tasty but structurally… well, a disaster (sorry mom). When served, the filling would be slack and form a puddle on the plate. Hence the name. I'd post photos of lemon meringue pool, but to save mom face I'll post a quick doodle of a sad pie that appears to have wet himself.

You get the idea.

The Art of Patience

I know what everyone is thinking: Ms. Humble, due to being in her final month of pregnancy, is taking it easy with the baking and blogging. Actually, this isn't quite the case.

I've been engaged in some serious marathon baking and research trying to perfect a single dessert that has thwarted multiple generations of Humbles. This dessert is my ultimate baking nemesis (cue dramatic music here).

I've put weeks of work into this post. Including O-Chem level break downs and silly illustrations (like the confusing little doodle above) and of course, lots and lots of taste tests. 

Note to Ms. Humble's OB: If my gestational blood sugar is shot, well this is why.

The end is in sight though, so bear with me. I have two weeks (from Monday, woohoo!) before this baby is here and I'm going to finish my last few rounds of baking and photographing. 

Patience, I will update the blog soon! Who knows, it could be my magnum opus....

For me?! Thank you!

Look at what I've just been handed by Mother Humble, fresh from her flight across the Atlantic. A gorgeous box of Ladurée Macarons.

What do you think... chill and slice up some of the world's best macarons? Give the macaron fanatic bakers out there a good visual idea of how these are done when they're done just right.

Who is interested? :)

Or, I could just eat them. Immediately.

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Photos are ready! Cut them all up and not a gap to be found. Perfectly executed (didn't expect anything less). This is actually my first batch of professional macarons where I could not find even one gap or hollow when subjected to the Global knife test.

I'm going to post a few of the photos in full-res, that way any obsessive baker types can click them and get a better idea of the texture of matured macs (though a couple of these were a hair on the dry side for my own tastes). There are relatively few photos of actual matured macarons on the blog. I usually photograph them the same day I bake them, so this should be helpful.

Top left: Vanilla, Top right: Raspberry, Middle Right: Salted Caramel, Bottom Right: Rose

Salted Caramel & Rose

Raspberry & Vanilla

Pretty darn perfect, don't you think?

Enjoy the photos, I'm going to go enjoy the cookies now.