This Lemon Cranberry Meringue Pie Recipe is quite the showstopper, not to mention delicious! 3 layers of sweet and tart goodness make this pie everyone’s new favorite. Although there are a few steps, the actual cooking part is pretty easy and totally worth it.

As usual, I was flipping through my magazines for inspiration and landed on the Martha Stewart Lemon Cranberry Meringue photo. I knew I had to make this pie!! Lemon is at the top of my favorites list after making my first batch of Meyer Lemon Curd. Now I try to find any excuse to use it in my cooking or baking. So, this recipe is inspired by Martha Stewart. I used Meyer lemons instead of regular, but, of course, both work just fine.

This recipe has quite a few steps so read through the whole thing at least once before starting. You can use a store-bought crust or make your own. I made my own but I am still working on my pie crust game.

I made this pie for Thanksgiving so I made the crust and filling the day before and left in the fridge until the next day. Then, I made the meringue and left the finished pie in the fridge until ready to eat. The leftovers were still good, but this pie is definitely at it’s best the day you make it.

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Meyer Lemon Cranberry Meringue Pie

Course Dessert

Keyword cranberry recipe, lemon cranberry pie, lemon dessert recipe, lemon pie, meringue pie, meyer lemon pie, thanksgiving pie, thanksgiving recipe

Ingredients

Meyer Lemon Pudding

• 1⅓ cup sugar
• ⅓ cup cornstarch
• ½ tsp salt
• 4 large egg yolks (whites are needed for meringue so don't toss!)
• 2 tsp meyer lemon zest
• 1⅓ cup water
• ¾ cup meyer lemon juice
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

Cranberry Gelee Filling

• 12 oz cranberries, rinsed (1 bag)
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 pinch salt
• ¾ cup water

Meringue

• 5 egg whites, room temp
• ¾ cups sugar
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Crust

• Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare basic pie crust ahead of time (or buy it) and make sure it is nice and cold before rolling out and placing in pan. I used a regular 9-inch pie pan or you could use a deep tart pan.
• Roll out crust dough pretty thin and ensure it's big enough to fill your pan. Layout over pan and press lightly into all sides. Cut off excess dough so that you just have a nice flat side (no fancy crust decoration needed, trust me).
• Place parchment paper and pie weights on top of the crust and bake for 25 minutes.
• move weights and parchment paper and continue baking for 10-15 minutes longer until nice and brown. Remove and cool completely.

Meyer Lemon Pudding

• Place sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan and whisk together. Add egg yolks, lemon zest and water and whisk until nice and smooth.
• Turn on heat to med-high and continue whisking until the mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and do not stop whisking!
• Remove from heat and whisk in lemon juice and butter pieces until everything is melted and beautifully smooth. Tired of whisking yet?
  
• Pour lemon pudding into prepared and cooled crust and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.
  

Cranberry Gelee

• Place cranberries, sugar, cornstarch, salt, and water in a saucepan. Turn on heat to med-high and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and smash up cranberries a little as you are stirring the mixture.
  
• Pour mixture into a fine-mesh sieve and gently press through. Discard solids.
  
• Pour cranberry gelee over the chilled lemon pudding to make your next layer. Gently spread all the way to the edges using a spatula.
  
• Place back in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. As mentioned, you can let your pie set lightly covered overnight in the fridge and prepare the meringue the next day.

Meringue

• In the bowl from your mixer, add egg whites and sugar and whisk together. (you can also use a regular bowl if you are going to whip your meringue with a hand mixer).
• Place the bowl over a pan with boiling water, but make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water, creating a double boiler effect. Whisk the egg whites and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is hot.
• Remove from heat and place bowl in mixer stand. Whisk on low speed until foamy.
• Add cream of tartar and vanilla and increase speed to medium-high. Whisk until you have nice stiff peaks and the meringue is glossy. This takes about 7-8 minutes.
• Place meringue on top of the pie, starting in the middle and spreading out lightly and evenly, leaving a gap before the edge of pan to create a border.
• Using your kitchen torch (and being very careful) slowly brown the meringue all over until you get your desired look.