Hello from TINA KASHIAN! Tomorrow is March 14 and National Pi Day for the well-known mathematical sign Pi, also written as π or 3.14. March 14 was selected because it matches the sign 3.14. It also happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday.
My daughter’s math teacher is celebrating Pi day both today and tomorrow. Of course, they have to bring in a pie. We made lemon meringue. Second to baklava, it’s my favorite dessert. I love the tartness of the lemon and the sweetness of the meringue. I was never bold enough to try to make this pie myself and usually ordered a slice at a local diner. But when I wrote “Mistletoe, Moussaka and Murder” my sleuth’s friend is a baker who prepares this pie. And when the baker is suspected of murder, it’s more than friendship at stake…it’s lemon meringue pie.
Ingredients
For the lemon pie
1 cup sugar
¼ cup flour
4–5 tablespoons cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 cups water
3 eggs, separate yolks from whites and keep both
1 tablespoon butter
¼ cup lemon juice
Grated rind of 1 lemon
Pastry pie shell
For the meringue
3 egg whites (reserved from above)
⅛ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons of sugar
Directions
Combine the sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt and mix. Gradually add the water, stir, and cook the ingredients over low heat until the mixture gently boils. It should thicken and become smooth.
Gradually add beaten egg yolks, constantly stir, and cook over low heat for three minutes. Beat in butter, lemon juice and lemon rind. Allow to cool on stove top.
Pour custard into the pie shell and cool in refrigerator.
For the meringue, it’s easiest to use an electric mixer. Beat the egg whites with the salt in a small bowl until light and frothy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat at high speed until mixture will stand in peaks, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and beat in the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Gently add to the pie filling.
Cover the cooled pie
filling with the meringue until it touches the edges of the pastry to prevent
the meringue from shrinking. Bake in 425 degree oven for five minutes. Cool and
then refrigerate until cold before serving. Enjoy!
Do you like lemon meringue pie? What is your favorite pie? Please share!
My lemon meringue pie is featured in "Mistletoe, Moussaka and Murder"
Not
even her impending nuptials can keep Lucy Berberian, manager of her
family-owned Kebab Kitchen, from the Jersey Shore’s annual Polar Bear Plunge.
But her dive into the icy ocean is especially chilling when she finds a fellow
swimmer doing the dead man’s float—for real . . .
Who would kill a man in cold blood during Ocean Crest, New Jersey’s most
popular winter event? When Lucy learns the victim is Deacon Spooner, the
reception hall owner who turned up his nose—and his price—at her wedding plans,
she can’t help wondering who wouldn’t kill the pompous caterer . . .
Perhaps the culprit is the wedding cake baker whose career Deacon nearly
destroyed? Or the angry bride whose reception he ruined? With her maid of
honor, Katie, busily planning Lucy’s wedding without her, Lucy will have to get
to the bottom of this cold-hearted business in time for Kebab Kitchen’s
mouthwatering Christmas celebration—and before her hometown’s holiday spirit
washes out to sea . . .
Recipes included!
Tina Kashian writes the Kebab Kitchen Mediterranean mystery series, and her first book, Hummus and Homicide, spent six weeks on the B&N bestseller list. Tina is an attorney and a mechanical engineer whose love of reading for pleasure helped her get through years of academia. Tina spent her childhood summers at the Jersey shore building sandcastles, boogie boarding, and riding the boardwalk Ferris wheel. She also grew up in the restaurant business, as her Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years. Tina still lives in New Jersey with her supportive husband and two daughters.
You can also connect with Tina at:
Website: www.tinakashian.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TinaKashianAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TinaKashian1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tinakashian/
