Old Fashioned Lemon Meringue Pie

This lemon meringue pie trades the standard granulated sugar for fructose in the filling and a fructose-and-sugar-substitute combo in the meringue, which lowers the pie’s glycemic impact significantly compared to a traditional version. Fructose is sweeter than sucrose by volume, so ¾ cup does the work of about 1 cup of regular sugar in the filling, and the meringue gets only 2 tablespoons of fructose plus 2 tablespoons of sugar substitute for stability and sweetness without spiking blood sugar as much.

Fresh lemon juice and a teaspoon of dried lemon peel give the filling its characteristic pucker. The cornstarch slurry trick, where you combine cornstarch with cold water before adding it to a hot mixture, prevents the lumps that direct cornstarch addition would create. Tempering the egg yolks (mixing them with the lemon juice, then stirring slowly into the hot filling) keeps them from scrambling. Pour into a pre-baked shell and top with the cream-of-tartar-stabilized meringue.

Pro Tips

• Don’t substitute pure artificial sweetener for the fructose in the filling. The fructose has bulk that contributes to the texture; non-nutritive sweeteners alone produce a thin, watery filling.
• Spread the meringue right to the crust edge so it seals against the rim. This stops shrinking and weeping during baking.
• Beat the egg whites with cream of tartar before adding any sweetener. Cream of tartar stabilizes the foam.
• Cool the pie at least 2 hours before slicing. Warm filling never holds a clean wedge.

Variations

• Use Stevia or monk fruit blend in place of the fructose for an even lower glycemic version.
• Swap lime juice and lime zest for the lemon for a lime meringue pie using the same method.
• Add a tablespoon of grated orange zest to the filling for a more complex citrus profile.