A Love Story & A Pie

Pie? So many wonderful pies! Who doesn't love pie? The end!

My spin on an individual lemon cream pie. Makes me swoon! Recipe below.

No. No! That's not the story. Of course, we all love pie, especially if it's our favourite. A friend once told me that her mother had baked everyone's favorite pie for a holiday dinner. That's a whole lot of love, folks! And it's a heaping big amount of love, even with a relatively small family.

My love story is about Dewey and a pumpkin meringue pie. Sound strange? That's what I thought, too, but Dewey's mother loved a meringue, so she put it on her pumpkin pies also. Meringue is not my favorite pie topping. For me, it's the whipped cream! But this is me choosing to show Dewey how much I love him by presenting him with a true, old-fashioned pumpkin pie every Thanksgiving. No puree out of a can, just a lightly sweetened custardy pie baked with roasted pumpkin...topped with the thing that makes his heart skip a beat, a pillowy toasted meringue. This is my recipe for the pumpkin pie.

I love Dewey, yes, but I want to show a little tenderness to myself, too. Self-love is important, so my pie is a creamy lemon filling topped with whipped cream and a generous sprinkling of toasted almonds. Of course, I never want to leave Dewey behind, and he likes lemon cream pie too... Dilemma? Maybe not. Valentine's Day is coming up, so I may just go a little wild and do something dangerous. Maybe individual lemon cream pies, some with meringue and some with whipped cream.

Individual lemon cream pies...or piettes?

Living dangerously with pie! I'm thinking that my gluten-free lifestyle friends need love, too! So some of the pies have a graham cracker crust, and some are crustless. Some are in ramekins while others pose for the camera in fine china teacups. Some have whipped cream and toasted almonds, while others shine with a tutu-like toasted meringue topping. Now THIS checks all the boxes. Here's my Lemon cream pie recipe in printable format.

You can go wild, too, and customize this recipe. You have so many options! Put all of the filling in a pie crust and top it with cream or with a fancy meringue. Serve it in pretty teacups or wine glasses. Pile a few raspberries or sliced strawberries next to your pie. Hey, you can even top the pie with the fruit before finishing it off with meringue or cream. It's up to you, but try to resist using whipped topping, please. This is something special, and we can take the 3 to 5 minutes it takes to whip cream. Just this once. Go ahead and make it all-the-way special. I believe in you!

Credit where credit is due. The amazing and gorgeous Zoe Francois is the baker who has led the way with off-the-charts meringue styling and is the person who inspired me to play around with meringue in my kitchen, too. 

And, just because it's a love story, here's me and my love.