A Little Lemony Goodness

My parents made a quick trip to California recently.

They stayed with my brother and his wife for the duration of their visit.

My brother has a Meyer lemon tree and an orange tree in his yard.

He shares the bounty of those trees with us whenever he can.

Sometimes he will bring the lemons and oranges when they come to visit,

or he will send them home with someone who comes to visit.

I got a nice bag full of lemons and oranges.

We have been eating the oranges for breakfast and snacks and they are so good! 

The lemons have been waiting for me to "do something" with them.

Like make lemon pie, which is my husbands favorite!

So on Sunday, I  got all artsy-fartsy in the kitchen and made Meyer Lemon Pie Sliders!

Oh Yes!

They are easy to make and so, so good! 

 (Just a side note: I use farm fresh eggs and that is why the filling is a bright yellow color. The yolks in farm fresh eggs are darker yellow to orange in color and make the filling a more vibrant color)

I started by making a traditional pie crust recipe.

You can use any recipe you so desire or you could buy some little pre-made mini crusts or you can use the recipe below.

Single Pie Crust Recipe

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup shortening

3 to 5 Tblsp very cold water

Add flour, salt and shortening to a bowl. Using a fork or a pastry blender, mix shortening into flour mixture until it resembles small peas.

Add water, one tablespoon at a time, just until dough comes together in a soft ball. 

Turn the dough out on a floured board or counter-top.

Roll out until you have a 9 to 10 inch circle.

Cut large circles out of the large circle using a large glass or in my case, I used a large round plastic container to cut with. You will end up with 6 to 9 smaller circles. (I had to roll my dough out twice to get 9.)

Take the smaller circles and place inside a large muffin tin (the kind you use to make giant muffins with)

Press into the tin, prick holes in the bottom and up the sides.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until the mini crusts are light golden in color.

Remove to a rack to cool.

For the filling you can make your own or buy pre-made filling. 

Meyer Lemon Pie Filling

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup corn starch

1 1/2 cups cold water

3 egg yolks, slightly beaten

grated peel of 1 lemon (use a micro-plain to do this)

1/4 cup Meyer lemon juice (2 lemons squeezed well should yield this or a bit more. If you can't find Meyer lemons, just use regular lemons.)

1 Tblsp butter

In a medium saucepan combine sugar and corn starch. Stir in water until smooth. Stir in egg yolks. Turn on burner to medium/low heat. (I use a heat between 5 and 6 on my stove)

Stirring constantly, bring to boil over medium/low heat; when mixture comes to a gentle boil, stir and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon peel, lemon juice and butter. Spoon hot filling into the cooled mini pie shells. 

Meringue topping

eggs whites (left over from separating the yolks )

1/3 cup sugar.

In a bowl beat the egg whites until foamy, slowly add sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. 

Top the mini pies with meringue and seal to the edge. Make little mini peaks in the meringue to make them look "fancy". 

Place all of the mini pies on a baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until meringue is lightly toasted.

Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Store left over mini pie sliders in the fridge on a plate covered with plastic wrap. You can place a toothpick in the middle of the pies to help keep the plastic wrap from sticking to the meringue. 

Eat!

And most of all...

Enjoy!