Aunt Jimmys Butterscotch Meringue Pie Recipes

Steps:

• In a saucepan melt butter and add brown sugar. Stir until the mixture bubbles up and looks slightly browner. Add milk to sugar stir to combine well. Whisk in egg yolks with flour and salt. Stir in remaining milk to mixture. When the sugar mixture becomes hot, slowly stir in the egg and flour mixture. Cook over medium heat until the pudding boils up. Turn the heat very low and stir and cook 1 or 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour cooled butterscotch into pre-baked piecrust. Top the pie with meringue. Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven 15 to 18 minutes until lightly browned.
• For the Crumb Crust: Put the metal chopping blade in place in the food processor beaker. Add the flour, frozen butter, and salt to the beaker. Process for 8 to 10 seconds, turning on and off, until the butter is cut into the flour and the mixture forms very small, flaky granules. Add the lemon juice and eggs to the beaker and process until a ball of dough forms on top of the blades, about 15 seconds. The dough should be damp but not sticky. If it seems too soft, sprinkle with 1 to 2 tablespoons flour and process for an additional 5 to 6 seconds, until well combined. If it feels too dry, sprinkle with a few drops of water and process to blend well. Wrap the ball of dough in waxed paper, plastic wrap, or foil and chill until firm but still malleable.
• For the Meringue: Whip egg whites together with sugar until the peaks are soft. Rolling out the pastry. When the pastry is chilled and firm but still malleable, it is ready to be rolled out. Roll out on a cool surface as possible; a marble slab is ideal. Baking Shell -Blind Baking: Lay the roll out pastry dough into the pan, and line the shell with foil or waxed paper, weight it down with raw rice or beans and bake it in a preheated 425 degree oven for 14 to 16 minutes, until the bottom is set and the edges lightly browned. After the initial baking, remove the shell from the oven, remove the lining and brush the bottom with beaten egg yolk, and return to the oven for 2 minutes. This seals the bottom and prevents a soggy crust. Top the pie with the meringue and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until the meringue is lightly brown.

Steps:

• Prepare the crust: On a lightly floured surface, and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll pie dough into a 12-inch circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer to a 9-inch pie pan (not deep dish); fold the edges over and crimp them together. Prick crust all over with a fork and chill in freezer for 30 minutes until frozen. (Cover with plastic if freezing for longer than a few hours. Well wrapped, it will last in the freezer for up to a month.)
• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line chilled crust with foil, fill with pie weights or dried rice, then bake for 12 minutes. Remove foil, lower oven temperature to 350 degrees, and bake until pale golden, 10 to 16 minutes longer. Transfer to a rack to cool while you prepare the filling. (Leave the oven on if baking the pie immediately.)
• In a heavy saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, egg and sugar. Stir in the orange and lemon juices, zest and salt. Add pieces of butter and cook, whisking constantly, over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens enough to coat a spoon, about 7 to 9 minutes. An instant-read thermometer should register 180 degrees. Inspect the filling: If you think there are any coagulated bits of egg, strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl.
• Pour filling into pie crust and return to the oven to bake until filling is set (it should jiggle only slightly in the center), about 18 to 40 minutes. (Pies prepared in glass and ceramic dishes can take much longer to bake than those prepared in metal dishes. Don't give up: The curd will eventually set.) Remove pie from oven and increase oven temperature to 400 degrees for baking the meringue.
• As the filling bakes, make the meringue: Fill a medium pot with 1 inch of water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Using a large metal bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and salt. Set the bowl with the egg white mixture into the pot above the water, and whisk constantly by hand until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm (160 degrees on an instant thermometer) and has thickened and lightened in color, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat.
• Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-low speed and gradually increase speed to high, until mixture is thick, fluffy and stiff peaks form, about 5 to 8 minutes. Be careful not to overbeat.
• Spread the meringue over the hot filling, making sure it meets the edges of the crust. Using a knife or spatula, swirl in a design if you like, and bake until lightly browned, about 8 to 12 minutes.
• Allow to cool completely and top with more orange zest before serving.