Lemon Meringue Pie - what did I do wrong??

[saykotaking]

I need help! I made a lemon meringue pie and the flavor is perfect. But the consistancy of the pie is liquid. I followed the recipe to a T. I don't know what I did wrong. The recipe I pulled from foodnetwork.com

Here it is...
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Lemon Filling:
4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell
1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows


Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.

Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.



Meringue Topping:
4 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar
2 tablespoons sugar

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.

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The only thing I can think of is that I let the cornstarch mixture cook longer while I whipped up the topping.

Please let me know what I did wrong. I hate cooking sometimes because I seem to mess up all my recipes. Please help!

Thanks
Deborah

[Suzanne]

Maybe you did let the cornstarch mixture cook too long; if that was the case, it definitely can lose its holding power.

But in any case, PLEASE DON'T HATE COOKING. Cooking should be fun, and even if things don't go as planned, you can still usually eat the results Just tell them it's a cutting-edge, deconstructed lemon meringue pie!

We ALL have our disasters, and we learn from them. Courage, and keep cooking!

[ED BUCHANAN]

[try Adding The Lemon Juice When You Bring First Mixtre To A Boil. As Adding It Later, Acid In Lemon Could Break Down The Starch Mixture If Not Incorporated Into It At The Beginning.
Chef Ed