Perfect Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter 
• 0.3 cup cornstarch 
• 0.3 teaspoon cream of tartar 
• 1  deep dish pie crust frozen pillsbury® pet ritz®
• 5  eggs separated
• 1  juice of lemon 
• 3 tablespoons optional: lemon grated
• 1 Dash salt 
• 1.8 cups sugar 
• 1.5 cups water boiling

Equipment

• bowl
• oven
• whisk
• hand mixer
• microwave

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400°F.
2. Let crust thaw 10 minutes.
3. Bake on oven rack 11 to 14 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool.
4. In large microwavable glass bowl, mix egg yolks, 1 1/2 cups of the sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice and cornstarch with whisk.
5. Add ¼ cup of boiling water into the mixture using whisk to combine.
6. Add an additional ¼ cup of boiling water.
7. Add the remaining boiling water to the mixture.
8. Microwave on High 4 minutes; stir with whisk. Microwave on High an additional 2 minutes; stir. Continue microwaving at 2-minute intervals at a time until lemon mixture is thickened, about 8 minutes. Stir in butter.
9. Reduce oven temperature to 325°F. In a medium glass bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with electric mixer on high speed until soft peaks form. Slowly beat in remaining ¼ cups sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until stiff peaks form and mixture is glossy. Spoon egg white mixture onto pie filling.
10. Spread over filling, carefully sealing meringue to edge of crust to prevent shrinking.
11. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until the meringue is golden brown and temperature in center of meringue reaches 160°F.. Cool away from draft 2 hours. Refrigerate cooled pie until serving. Store covered in refrigerator.