Martha Stewart's Favorite Dessert Is A Zesty Meringue-Topped Classic

Martha Stewart has created a lot of desserts over the course of her career, so when she talks about her favorites of the bunch, her fans pay attention. But is there a best-of-the-best, in her opinion? We may never know, though she sure seems smitten with her own Mile-High Lemon Pie, which has served as an inspiration for several of her other desserts. Her recipe consists of an all-butter pie dough that is blind-baked and cooled. Then, a lemon curd filling goes into the pie shell, followed by an impressive amount of meringue. Once fully assembled, the sky-scraping pie gets broiled for a couple of minutes, just until the whipped egg white meringue begins to toast and brown, similar to how a baked Alaska is finished.

Stewart's recipe isn't necessarily the best for novice bakers to jump right into, since it involves a number of steps and methods that even seasoned bakers may not have mastered. Aside from the homemade pie dough, making the lemon curd requires constant whisking, then tempering in egg yolks, then slowly cooking the entire mixture. At this point, the lemon juice and a full two tablespoons of lemon zest are added, which give the pie its signature citrus punch. Her meringue is made in the Swiss style, meaning the egg whites and sugar are combined and then heated in a double boiler and finally, whipped to stiff peaks. The broiling step requires a keen eye because we all know how quickly a broiled item can turn from browned to charred. With some practice and by following the recipe closely, determined bakers can pull it off and will be rewarded with an exceptionally tart and delicious treat.

Martha Stewart actually has another version of lemon pie that is similar to her Mile-High version but looks a bit simpler to pull off. In her upside-down lemon meringue pie, she makes a simple meringue that doesn't need to be heated and uses the sweetened egg white mixture as the crust. Stewart spreads the meringue in a pie dish and bakes it until it's lightly browned. Inside this shell, she places her tart lemon curd, which has whipped cream folded into it, making it creamy and silky. Once this is chilled, she tops the pie with more freshly whipped cream.

When describing her recipe for lemon meringue cupcakes on Facebook, Stewart mentioned that the recipe was, indeed, inspired by her Mile-High Lemon Pie, which she calls one of her signature desserts. She makes a cake batter using lots of lemon zest and juice and divides it into cupcake tins. She then places a dollop of her lemon curd on top of each cake, followed by her 7-Minute Frosting, which is similar to meringue. A similar and larger version of these cupcakes can be found in Stewart's lemon meringue sheet cake.