“The Magic of Lemon Drops” on Hallmark Channel was in fact such a magical movie to watch! The delicious ‘lemon drop pie’ was a key component in this movie. Especially the lemon drops, which possessed the power to allow you to live one day in an alternate reality and given the choice to choose which reality you would like to make permanent! I especially loved the scene where the main character, Lolly, is baking a lemon drop pie with her mother, who had actually passed in reality. It was a very special scene. The three secret ingredients they stated in the pie was “Meyer lemons, European butter, and lemon balm”. And of course garnished with lemon drops. So that’s what I made!
Ingredients:
-Frozen pie crust dough
For filling:
-1 1/4 cup sugar
-1/3 cup cornstarch
-2 tablespoons flour
-1 1/2 cups water
-5 egg yolks
-1/4 cups European butter
-1/4 cups juice from 2-3 Meyer lemons
-About 5 leaves of fresh lemon balm (chopped)
For Meringue topping:
-3 egg whites
-1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
-1/2 teaspoon vanilla
-1/4 cup sugar
-Lemon drop candies and lemon zest for garnish
Directions:
In a pie dish, take your thawed out pie dough and place in dish, crimping the edges. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Let it cool.
In a small pot, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, flour, salt, and water. Stirring gently and every minute over low/medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, stir continuously for a minute and then remove from the heat.
In a separate bowl , whisk your egg yolks, then very slowly add a very small amount (around 1/4 cup) of the hot mixture into the eggs. Whisk briskly! Then slowly add THAT mixture into the pot with the rest of the hot sugar mixture and stir continuously over low/medium heat until it has thickened. Remove from heat, and add butter and lemon juice until fully incorporated.
Pour into the cooled pie crust and let it sit while making the meringue.
To make the meringue, in an electric mixer, beat egg whites, cream of tarter and vanilla until it’s frothy and starts to thicken up. With the mixer still on high, slowly add sugar a little bit at a time. You will see the meringue start to turn white, and thicken. Once you see stiff peaks form, its done!
Spread all over the top of cooled lemon filling and create small peaks with back of spoon.
Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes until the top of the meringue has browned peaks.
Let cool and then place in fridge overnight. Garnish with lemon drop candies and lemon zest. Enjoy!