Recipe: Crisco Lemon Meringue Pie and Single Crust Pie Shell (1948)

LEMON MERINGUE PIE
(Crisco, 1948)

1 Crisco (9-inch) baked shell (recipe follows)
FOR THE FILLING:
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups water
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
FOR THE MERINGUE:
3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

Combine sugar, salt, flour and cornstarch, with one-half cup water.

Heat remaining water and add. Cook over hot water or low heat until thickened and clear (about 20 minutes).

Beat egg yolks, add a little of hot mixture to them and return to first mixture, stirring constantly. When thick, remove from heat (about 5 minutes).

Stir in butter, lemon juice, and rind. Pour into baked shell and cool.

When filling is cool, top with meringue made by beating egg whites with sugar until stiff enough to hold in peaks.

Brown in a slow oven (325 degrees F) about 15 minutes.

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CRISCO SINGLE CRUST PIE SHELL - 9-INCH

1/2 cup Crisco
1 1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water

Sift flour and salt into bowl. Take out 1/4 cup flour. Cut Crisco (with knives, fork, or a blender) into remaining flour until the pieces are the size of small peas.

Mix 3 tablespoons water with flour to form paste. Add flour paste to the Crisco-flour mixture. Mix and shape into a ball. Place the pastry on a pastry canvas or a board which has been dusted with about one tablespoon of flour. Roll the dough with short, light, strokes rolling from the center to the edges keeping it circular in shape. It should be about 12 inches in diameter.

Place in pie plate, trim edges with scissors 1/2 inch beyond the edge of the pie plate. Fold the edge under and flute with the fingers or a fork. Prick small holes generously over the bottom and sides of the pastry.

Bake in a hot oven (425 degrees F) for 12 to 15 minutes, or until brown.

TIP: All of our single crust pie recipes call for nine-inch pie plates. If you want to use a smaller plate, you can use the leftover pastry baked in strips or rounds, sprinkled with grated cheese or cinnamon and sugar, and served with salads.

Makes 1 (9-inch) pie
From: Recipelink.com
Source: Recipe booklet: New Recipes for Good Eating (Crisco), The Procter & Gamble Company, 1948 Edition

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Hi again Jacqueline,

I think we're getting closer! I found the 1948 Crisco cook booklet - New Recipes for Good Eating in my collection of vintage booklets and recipe pamphlets and this is the recipe from that book, which is different from the current version. I scanned the cover and included it here just for fun.

As you can see by comparing them, 1948 version uses less sugar in the filling and meringue and adds flour to the filling with less butter. The meringue is also uses just egg whites and sugar in the 1948 recipe.

I'm going to be on the lookout for more versions of this recipe that Crisco may have offered over the years and hope that anyone else interested will do the same and post the recipes here.

Betsy at Recipelink.com