Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Pie Crust: Preheat oven to 425°; in a food processor pulse the flour, sugar and salt just to mix; add the butter and shortening and pulse just until coarse crumbs form; add the lemon juice and water and pulse just until moist crumbs form.
  2. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and form a disk; wrap tightly and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.
  3. On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough out to a 12"-13" diameter circle; fold dough in half and gently lift it, transferring it to a 9" pie plate; gently fit the dough into the plate and trim the edge with a 1/4" overhang.
  4. Gently fold the overhang under and crimp the new edge all way'round; prick the dough, including the sides and corner, with a fork to prevent the crust from bubbling while baking; refrigerate 15 minutes or until crust is rechilled.
  5. Bake 10-13 minutes or until bottom of crust is lightly browned; cool on wire rack; when cool, sprinkle with graham cracker crumbs.
  6. Filling: Combine cornstarch, cake flour, salt and sugar in a saucepan; over medium heat, gradually add water, stirring; continue to cook and stir until mixture boils, about 4 minutes.
  7. Remove from heat and temper egg yolks by gradually adding small amounts of cooked mixture; when eggs are thoroughly warmed, add back to cooked mixture; cook, stirring, another 5 minutes over low heat.
  8. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice, lemon rind and butter; stir until well combined and smooth; lay plastic wrap on surface and set aside while making meringue.
  9. Meringue: Preheat oven to 325°; in a small saucepan over medium heat, bring water and cornstarch to a boil, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and turns clear; set aside and let cool.
  10. With an electric mixer, break up egg whites on low speed; when bubbly increase speed and beat until they begin to turn white; beat in cream of tartar and vanilla; add sugar gradually and beat to soft peaks; add reserved cornstarch mixture a bit at a time; beat just to stiff peaks.
  11. Finish: Pour warm filling into cooled crust (sprinkled with graham cracker crumbs), and top with room temperature meringue; completely seal filling with meringue, making sure meringue touches the crust all the way'round; pile meringue to a high mound in center of pie; bake for 20 minutes, until meringue is evenly golden brown; cool completely on wire rack before cutting.