LEMON ICEBOX PIE

July 12, 2010

I was born and raised below the Mason-Dixon line, which means I have very pointed opinions about very particular things: a woman’s toenails should always be painted, thank-you notes should be handwritten and on personalized stationery, buttermilk and nothing else should be used where biscuits, pancakes, and cornbread are concerned, and clucking your tongue and adding “Bless his/her heart!” to the end of any piece of gossip keeps it from actually being gossip.


Since the first of the month, I’ve been hanging with my mama here in Memphis, my hometown, repository of my nostalgia, much of which is food-related.  As the days roll by, I feel my jaw loosen to accommodate my ever-more-pronounced accent, vowels trailing long and lazy.  I love the South, and I’m proud to be from here, proud to inherit the way we do things around here, even if they seem nutty to everyone else.

Part of what it means to be a good Southern woman is of course related to kitchen prowess: peas, greens, cornbread, pecan pie, and the like.  I’ve recently noticed a little throw-back kitsch to Southern favorites at higher-end restaurants, including a proliferation of lemon icebox pie on dessert menus.  Fine by me, except that most of the versions I’ve tried have been sorely disappointing—too sweet and/or no meringue.  Sigh.  It became necessary for me to figure out how to make my own.

A lemon icebox pie must have meringue!  THAT IS HOW WE ROLL DOWN HERE. What else is there to do with the egg whites leftover from making the filling?  Please.  This pie is not hard to make but it’s so good you might slap yo’ mama.  Or at least that’s what we say down here, anyway.

LEMON ICEBOX PIE

The measurements here are generous, since I used such a large pan.  You’ll see that my crust is thick, as are both the lemon & meringue layers—I love to fill up my giant spring form pan.

If you only have smaller pie pans (8 inches, say) available, you could certainly make two pies from the ingredients listed here, though they might not be as tall.  Personally, I don’t think this pie needs anything extra, but if you want to fancy it up, you could cook some blueberries with a little water & sugar until they burst and give up their juices.  Cool, then spoon over slices.

for the crust:

2 ½ cups vanilla wafers
½ cup pecans
6 T butter

oven: 325˚
pan: 10-inch spring form pan or pie pan, greased

Process all the ingredients together in the bowl of a food processor, until the crumbs are coated with butter.  Alternately, you can put the dry ingredients in a Ziploc bag & beat the heck out of them with a rolling pin or frying pan (very therapeutic), then blend in the butter with your fingers.

Press the crust into the bottom of the pan, smoothing it with the bottom of a glass or measuring cup.  Set aside while you make the filling.

for the filling:

6 egg yolks (save the whites!)
2 cans sweetened condensed milk
¾ cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Beat the yolks & condensed milk together at medium speed until the mixture thickens.  Turn the mixer down to low and add the juice.  Pour the filling into the crust, then clean the mixer bowl for the final step.

for the meringue:

4-6 egg whites (depending on how high your pan is)
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp. cream of tarter

Using the balloon whisk attachment or an actual whisk & some really impressive arm strength, beat the whites at high speed until they froth and foam.  Be patient.  After a few minutes, they will begin to form soft peaks—add in the cream of tarter.  Continue beating until the meringue has grown considerably, then lower the speed and sprinkle in the sugar a little at a time.

Once the meringue has formed stiff, glossy peaks, fish it out of the bowl & smooth it over the lemon layer.  Bake the pie for 20-25 minutes, or until the meringue has browned at the top.

Cool completely on a wire rack before transferring into the fridge.  As the name indicates, you’ll need to let the pie chill in the “icebox” for at least 4-6 hours before serving, or you can make it the night before you plan on serving.

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15 Comments »

  1. Yes. Ma’am.

    This was my grandmother’s signature dessert. Come to think of it, it was her only dessert.

    Comment by Courtney — July 13, 2010 @ 12:08 am

  2. Oh man. It’s 8 a.m. here, and you’ve got me craving pie for breakfast. This looks fabulous. I’ve never been a huge fan of merengue or of cooking in springform pans (a few watery cheesecake debacles in my past), but you’ve got me convinced that I need to make this.

    Comment by Lesley — August 13, 2010 @ 8:16 am

  3. Can I use an electric hand held mixer for the meringue?

    Comment by Cindy — October 4, 2011 @ 9:00 pm

  4. Cindy–absolutely! I actually really like a hand-held mixer for meringue, because you can tilt the bowl to get better access to the egg whites.

    Comment by Blue Jean Gourmet — October 5, 2011 @ 9:16 am

  5. Thank you so much for this recipe. My southern grandmother made a lemon icebox pie to die for and sadly her handwritten recipes have vanished. Just reading your notes and recipe feel just like a hug from gramma. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

    Comment by Deanna — December 10, 2011 @ 12:45 pm

  6. Lemon Meringue is my husband’s favorite, so this is a “must try” this week for me. It looks delicious! I’ve never made a pie in a springform pan, but keeping my fingers crossed :)

    Comment by Ann S — December 11, 2011 @ 9:51 am

  7. Should the lemon filling on the crust be cooked for a while in oven prior to topping with meringue? I am concerned that the 20-25 minutes of baking with the meringue will be a bit too long for meringue. Usually meringues bake for about 10 minutes. Any tips on this.

    Comment by m.m. — December 12, 2011 @ 7:35 am

  8. Deanna–you don’t know how glad I am to hear this! thank YOU.

    Ann S–I hope your husband enjoys the pie. Let me know how it goes.

    M.M.–I did not pre-cook the lemon filling. Since I had a large amount of meringue, the timing worked for me. Also, the oven is not as hot as it often is when browning meringue for a shorter amount of time.

    Comment by Blue Jean Gourmet — December 14, 2011 @ 11:08 am

  9. i made this today after studying a long time on it. it came out perfect. i did not have cream of tartar, so i did not use it. still the merengue came up high. do you only take it out of the pan before serving?
    thanks for an easy and delish looking recipe.
    Merry Xmas to you all

    Comment by jude jam — December 25, 2011 @ 7:45 am

  10. Love this… my go to dessert. Will say Ritz rock the crust. The salt sings to the sugar in the Condensed milk… Just sayn’ THX!

    Comment by paige — January 26, 2012 @ 6:58 pm

  11. I made this Lemon Ice-Box pie yesterday for our monthly church potluck and it turned out exactly like the above picture. Needless to say, it was the first dessert to go; everybody dearly loved it. I will make it again and again. I thought the meringue might stick to the pan and look bad but I was careful to not shove the meringue all the way to the edge of the pan. It was beautiful and served a lot of people. The pecans in the crust absolutely made this pie sooooo good.

    Comment by Gail — February 13, 2012 @ 11:26 am

  12. I made this last weekend…so easy, so delicious and I am making it for Easter weekend again. I rarely remake recipes just because I prefer to try new recipes every time, but I will be keeping this recipe to reuse!

    Comment by Tlynne — April 6, 2012 @ 8:18 am

  13. jude jam–glad to hear it worked out well for you!

    paige–wouldn’t have thought of Ritz in the crust, but that makes perfect sense.

    Gail-I’m so glad you made this, and it makes me happy to know that it was so well received at your potluck.

    Tlynne–what a great idea to serve it at Easter! thank you for the kind words.

    Comment by Blue Jean Gourmet — April 10, 2012 @ 5:20 pm

  14. Just finished letting my pie cool on the counter and could see liquid below the meringue :( – I was able to tilt the pan over the sink and pour most of it off before putting it in the fridge. It does look absolutely gorgeous and I’m hoping it’s good later. I followed the instructions and measurements exactly. Has this happened before?

    Comment by JJ — June 17, 2012 @ 3:04 pm

  15. hi JJ–I’m sorry to hear about this! No, it has not happened to me, nor have I heard about this problem from other blog commenters. My best guess is that the lemon mixture was not fully incorporated when poured into the pie crust. Perhaps it might be worth it to mix a bit of cornstarch into the lemon juice next time, just to be safe?

    Comment by Blue Jean Gourmet — June 21, 2012 @ 11:36 am

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