Lemon Meringue Pie

My version is based on a recipe from the Harrowsmith Cookbook.

This book was edited by a friend of Andreas' and mine, the deservedly famous Canadian author, Merilyn Simonds. If you google this recipe, you can see how popular it is, as are many of the recipes in this cookbook. Over the years, based on personal taste, I have made a couple of changes to the original. I leave out the butter suggested in the original, and reduce the 1 cup of sugar to 2/3rds.Here is my version:

Custard:

2/3 cup sugar
6 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoons salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup lemon juice
lemon rind (all of the rind from one lemon)

Combine first 3 ingredients in the top of a double boiler. Add milk slowly while stirring. Cook and stir until thick, about 15 minutes. Cover and cook 10 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Beat egg yolks in a separate bowl and add half cup of the above mixture. Then stir this all into above mixture. Cook over boiling water 5-6 minutes, stirring. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, lemon juice and lemon rind. Cool this custard, stirring about every 10 minutes. When cool, pour into 9-inch cooked pie shell.

Meringue:

3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff but not dry. Beat in the sugar 1/2 teaspoon at a time. Beat the vanilla in. Put on to pie all the way out to the crust. Bake at 350 degrees 12-15 minutes until delicately brown on top.