Lime Angel Pie

After I got home from my friends, and put my daughter down to sleep, I decided to make my second pie of the day, Lime Angel Pie. Hmm, Friday night for the apres 30 set with young children.

"The most frequently printed of all the pie recipes in sectional cookbooks of the last 60 years."wrote Mr. Beard. Interesting comment; as for me in 2005, I have never heard of an Angel pie.

SHELL

• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 t cream of tartar
• 1 c sugar

FILLING

• 4 egg yloks
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 cup lemon / lime juice
• 2 T grated rind

• 1 cup of heavy cream whipped.

You make the meringue and then bake it for an hour in a 300 degree oven. Before you put the meringue in the pie plate, grease it with some Pam or oil. Mr. Beard said to heat up the pie plate in the oven and then dribble some oil and wipe it out. I did all this, and the meringue still stuck. The recipe also said to beat the whites to form stiff peaks. And, begin adding the sugar after the cream of tartar and gradually after soft peaks have begun forming To be honest, I couldn't really remember what egg white stiff peaks looked like. I contemplated calling my mother, but decided just to wing it. It was around midnight. After you bake it for an hour (and be sure NOT to open the oven or it will fall) leave the oven door slightly ajar and turn off the oven to let it cool for 30min.

Meanwhile you can make the custard. I chose to use key limes, you can use regular limes (and do half lemon to temper the astringency) or lemons, just double the amount of rind with the lemons. Prep was interesting. If you have ever worked with key limes you will understand what I mean. Grating the rind was nearly impossible, as the little slippery nubules kept slipping out of my hands. And the skin is so thin that it took around 10 limes to get 1 T of rind, and a good portion of that was likely knuckle skin. Then I tried to juice them on my electric citrus juicer. They kept trying to escape so I ended up just squeezing them beneath my fingers.

Add all the remaining ingredients together (except the whipping cream), beat lightly and then cook over a double boiler until it thickens. I don't have a double boiler. Does anyone? I just put a metal bowl over a saucepan filled with boiling water. Then chill to thicken. By this point it was about 1:30am. I was getting tired, but perservered. Then whip the cream fairly stiffly. The meringue will have sunken in the middle by this point. Spread half the cream over bottom then put a layer of the custard, then the remaining cream. I also put a dollop of the custard on top to give it some color. Otherwise it looked really beige. Then it is suppose to chill overnight, but I think it could've been served right away.

By 2am I was exhausted but finished.

The next day I plied the pie off on my mother-in-law (and caterer by trade)but kept a piece for my soon returning husband. She was having my daughter over in the evening to play with her cousins, and to allow me a little RnR with some friends. Thank god, or I might have made another pie.

But I stole a small bite at that point. I understand why it is called Angel. It is super light and airy and it really just melts away in your mouth. The key limes made it special. But I might have prefered the custard folded in with the cream (one option from Beard). It was good but sweet, I think I prefer my pies more substantial.

My M-I-L tried the lemon slice when she came over. She liked it; in fact could barely put it down. "Sophisticated," she said. That was the clear winner. The Angel was just fluff.