Beehive Lemon Meringue Pie

Don't you just love it when you stumble across something so beautiful it actually takes your breath away? I was reading Jess's blog,  pen n' paperflowers and found an interview she did with Janet Hill, an artist from Canada. I looked at her paintings on Etsy and instantly fell in love. I'm not ashamed to say I spent well over an hour just looking at paintings and reading Janet's blog, laughing out loud at times. Her art is amazing. It's chic, wistful & nostalgic all at the same time. I'm looking forward to buying a few pieces of her work. The Night Owl is my favorite.  Check out her Etsy shop here.

On Sunday, Christmas was already put away and I was wishing winter would go away too. I decided to add a taste of summer to the day and fixed a lemon pie. I guess I really was thinking about summer {and bees???} because I decided to try doing the meringue in a beehive design. The pie tasted great, but I definitely needed more meringue to accomplish the look I was after. And a robin egg blue pie plate instead of red. So I'll be trying this again soon.

Beehive Lemon Meringue Pie
1 deep dish pie crust, baked
Lemon Curd (Ina Garten)
4 lemons, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt

Remove the zest of the lemons with a vegetable peeler or zester, being careful to avoid the white pith. Squeeze the lemons to make 1/2 cup of juice and set the juice aside. Put the zest in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the sugar and process for 2 to 3 minutes, until the zest is very finely minced. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar and lemon zest. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then add the lemon juice and salt. Mix until combined.

Pour the mixture into a 2-quart saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. The lemon curd will thicken at about 175 degrees, or just below a simmer. Remove from the heat.

Fill pie shell with warm lemon curd and allow to set at room temperature.

Meringue
4 egg whites
1/3 cup sugar

Beat egg whites until frothy. Slowly stream in sugar, whipping until stiff peaks form. Transfer meringue to pastry bag. Pipe onto pie, being sure to seal edges. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven until meringue is golden brown.