Pie in the sky - non-dairy lemon meringue pie - Recipe Redux - includes recipes

Vegetarian Times, Feb, 1996 by Ken Charney

My family loves my lemon meringue pie--I've been making it for 20 years. But five years ago I became a vegetarian, and I learned a lot about where the food we eat comes from and the many abuses inherent m the average American way of eating. I always buy eggs from free-range hens, but would like to move away from even using those. I'd also like to reduce the amount of fat and cholesterol in the recipe, and in my diet in general. Hope you can help me--my college-age daughter always likes to have a lemon meringue pie waiting for her when she comes home for vacations!

MY MISSION WAS CLEAR but daunting on this assignment. Eggs are an integral part of lemon meringue pie, necessary to thicken the creamy, tart filling, and the primary ingredient in the pie's crowning glory, a fluffy white meringue. Could they be successfully eliminated, or at least cut back?

After much testing, I have good news and more good news. The first piece of good news is that I have developed a more healthful lemon meringue pie, using natural ingredients such as canola oil, fruit-juice concentrate, kudzu and agar-agar. Egg whites, however, are still used for the meringue. And while the finished product is not as rich as the original, it's still tasty and definitely better for you.

The other piece of good news is that if you're strictly vegan, you can still enjoy your pie, as long as you are willing to make some adjustments when it comes to your expectations for an eggless meringue topping.

But first, let's take a closer look at the elements that make up a lemon meringue pie: the crust; the lemon filling or pudding; and the meringue topping. The crust from the reader's recipe calls for shortening, something I consider "fake" food,' in that it can stay on the shelf indefinitely without going bad.

The traditional lemon pudding contains sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks, margarine, lemon juice and zest. While admittedly quite delicious, the sugar content is rather high and the egg yolks pack more fat than I'd like. As for the meringue topping, it's made from a lot of egg whites and a lot of sugar. This was going to be one tough assignment.

For the crust, I eliminated shortening by using a combination of canola oil and apple juice. You can substitute a store-bought pie shell for this recipe, but every time I took a bite of this pie using all of my own ingredients, I felt a lot better knowing I wasn't eating refined white sugar, hydrogenated shortening additives and preservatives.

For the lemon filling, I replaced lemon juice, egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and margarine with a more healthful pudding made of natural-style frozen lemonade concentrate, natural sweeteners, agar-agar powder and kudzu. I chose not to use cornstarch as a thickener because it is highly refined and would only thicken the filling, not set it. I also chose not to use arrowroot as a thickener as it lacks the gelling ability of kudzu. Gelatin, of course, was out as a thickener because it contains animal products.

For the meringue topping, I reduced the number of egg whites used for a 9-inch pie from six to five, and reduced the sugar as well. For the vegan version, I found that Egg Replacer, a starchy eggless powder available at health food markets, whipped up into nice white frothy peaks that closely resemble meringue.

Although the Egg Replacer package calls for beating in gelatin as a stabilizer, I left it out and still had good results, as long as the Egg Replacer meringue is not baked. My recommendation is to whip it up just before serving and to spoon it on the pie at the last minute.

I also tested a margarine-based dessert topping from a vegan cookbook, but it was too oily. So in my more healthful version of lemon meringue pie, the egg whites remain, albeit with less sugar, and the Egg Replacer topping will do for vegans.

When it comes to preparing the new healthful version of lemon meringue pie, there is only one difference in the basic technique. Because agar-agar is used as a thickener rather than eggs, the crust and filling cannot be baked again to finish off the meringue. Reheating the agar-agar-thickened pudding causes it to break down. Instead, the meringue must be browned separately on a cookie sheet and then placed on top of the finished pudding and crust. The vegan version of the pie is not baked either because the Egg Replacer meringue deflates after coming out of the oven.

Lemon Meringue Pie After Redux

Crust:

1 cup unbleached white flour 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour 1/4 tsp. salt 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 4 Tbs. canola oil 5 to 6 Tbs. apple juice, chilled

Lemon filling:

12-oz. container frozen natural-style lemonade 4 cups water 2 Tbs. kudzu (see glossary) 1 Tbs. agar-agar powder (see glossary) 5 Tbs. lemon juice 2 tsp. grated lemon zest 4 to 5 Tbs. turbinado sugar (see glossary) or granulated sugar cane juice (see glossary) 1/4 tsp. lemon extract

Meringue topping: 5 large egg whites 5 Tbs. sugar (see note)

CRUST: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flours, salt and baking powder. Add oil; mix lightly with a spatula until oil is absorbed. Add apple juice; mix again to form a ball. Knead gently 1 minute, or until smooth. Flatten dough into a disk shape, cover with plastic film and chill 20 to 30 minutes.