Lemon meringue pie bites have a crunchy meringue ‘nest’ filled with lemon curd. The perfect treat for a baby shower or birthday! Gluten-free & just 4 ingredients required!
I’m finally coming to grips with this fact, and am finally starting to look forward to autumn. I am going back to work near the end of September, and although life is going to get CA-RAY-ZY then, I think it will be good for me to spend some time with other adults. And it will be good for Kai to be around other kids.
Things I’m looking forward to in autumn: Kai’s 1st birthday party, apples, soups, wearing leggings, butternut squash, changing leaves, warm drinks, not having to water my garden, and anything sage…so much to look forward to!
One thing has been bothering me, though, just this one thing and then I can finally move on from summer: there has been a serious lack of lemon meringue pie in my life this summer. I played around with key lime…um…LOTS, but no lemon meringue pie. It’s just not right. Lemon meringue pie bites to the rescue!
Lemon Meringue Pie Bites
Prep Time:30 mins
Cook Time:1 hr 30 mins
Total Time:2 hrs
Lemon meringue pie bites have a crunchy meringue ‘nest’ filled with lemon curd. The perfect treat for a baby shower or birthday! Gluten-free & just 4 ingredients required!
Ingredients
Meringue Nests
- ▢4 egg whites (from large eggs; at room temperature)
- ▢½ tsp cream of tartar
- ▢1 cup granulated sugar
Lemon Meringue Pie Bites
- ▢2 cups of lemon curd (see below for recipe recommendation)
Instructions
Meringue Nests
- Pre-heat oven to 300°F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or baking mats, set aside.
- In a clean, dry stand mixer bowl, beat eggs on high until they become frothy and form soft peaks {that slowly sink back into the bowl; takes around one minute}.
- Add the cream of tartar, then begin adding the sugar by the tablespoon, while continuing to beat on high. Go slowly; this part may take 5-10 minutes of continuous beating/adding sugar. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to get all sugar.
- When mixture has formed stiff peaks {see photo of stand whisk above if you are wondering what a stiff peak looks like}, fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton number 21 tip.
- Going slowly, pipe a 3-5 cm circle on the parchment-lined baking sheets. Without lifting the tip, do the second and third layers around the outside of the circle, forming a mini nest.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 300°F, then reduce heat to 250°F and bake for 10-20 more, until meringues are hard and *slightly* golden. Turn oven off, open oven door slightly, and allow to cool for one hour in the oven.
Lemon Meringue Pie Bites
- Spoon lemon curd into the ‘nest’ and serve immediately.
- Nests and lemon curd can be stored separately for several days.
Tips:
If you can’t find lemon curd in the grocery store, I recommend Ina’s Lemon Curd Recipe
Here are some tips for it:
- don’t freak out when your curd looks…um…curdled. Keep heating/stirring it and it will become smooth
- Ina recommends to heat the curd over low, but mine never got to 170°F on the low setting; I eventually raised the heat to medium and finally got my curd to temperature/thickened.