Lavender Lemon Meringue Pie

Lavender can be such a great addition to baked goods, and I think it combines particularly well with lemon. When working with lavender, you'll want to use it sparingly. It's a very powerful flavor.  There are two ways to incorporate lavender into baked goods. One is to grind it and the other is to infuse liquid with it. In this recipe, we'll be grinding it, and I'll walk you through the entire process if this is your first time working with lavender too! I promise it won't be your last!

INGREDIENTS

For the crust of this pie, you can certainly use a pre-bought pie crust, or make a standard pie crust. But my preference for this pie is to make a crumb crust with Lemon Oreos and some ground lavender. Melted butter holds the crumb together to form the crust.

The filling is a custard-like texture made by heating egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and water, and then stirring in butter, lavender, and lemon juice.

Lastly, the pie is topped with meringue, which is made by combining egg whites and sugar to create a light, fluffy, stable whipped topping. If you have cream of tartar, you can also use that here to help with stability.

HOW TO MAKE LAVENDER LEMON MERINGUE PIE

You'll start by making the crust. You'll want to turn your Oreos into crumbs. If you have a food processor, that's the easiest way, but if you don't, put them in a sturdy gallon-size zip-top bag and use a rolling pin, meat tenderizer, or some other similar item and hammer away! Mix with the sugar and melted butter, and then press into a pie dish. Start by pressing the crumbs up the side, then evenly distribute the crumbs along the bottom. You'll bake the crust a bit before adding the filling. While the crust is cooling, you'll make the filling.

To make the filling, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and water in a saucepan. Heat this mixture stirring constantly until it starts to boil.  It will get thick and glossy and when it boils it will have little pops of air on the surface of the mixture. Let it boil for 1-2 minutes while continuing to stir. You'll then want to pour a bit of the hot mixture (about a half cup should be good) into the egg yolks. You do this because you need to heat eggs up gradually, and if you add the egg yolks directly to the boiling mixture, it will heat them too fast and you'll end up with scrambled eggs! By adding some of the hot mixture into the yolks first, that starts to heat them up, and then you can pour the egg yolk mixture back into the pan with the rest of the mixture.  Return it to heat and let it boil for another 2-3 minutes, still stirring! Lastly, you'll remove it from the heat and stir in the butter, lemon, and lavender. Once the butter is melted and the liquids have combined, it's ready to pour into the crust! You'll notice the mixture from the pan and the liquid you add will look separate in the pot when you first pour in the lemon juice, so keep on stirring till that's all combined into one mixture!

The last step is the meringue.  Meringue is just egg whites whipped until they are full of air.  I usually do this with a stand mixer, but you can also use a hand mixer, and it can also be done by hand, but that takes some dedication!! You also add sugar into the meringue to stabilize, and I add a bit of cream of tartar for a little extra protection.

Top the pie with the meringue and bake! The top of the meringue will get nice and toasty, and the filling inside will set, leaving you with a beautiful slice of pie!

How to store and serve Lavender Lemon Meringue Pie

I would store this pie in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve. It is a pie that serves best cold.  You can also make it in advance and freeze it, just let it defrost an hour or two before serving. It's difficult to cover this pie because of the meringue topping so I would suggest not making it more than a couple days ahead of time at most.

Should I refrigerate Lavender Lemon Meringue Pie?

Yes, the pie needs to cool and then chill before serving. It can certainly sit out for a bit, but ultimately should be stored in the fridge

How do you keep meringue from deflating?

The sugar should be added slowly so as not to weigh down the meringue - if you plop the full half cup in at one time, it could be too heavy for the egg whites, so slow and steady is key! Also, I know it's sometimes desired to scale back on sugar to be healthy or tone down the sweetness, but this is not the recipe for that! The sugar is what stabilizes the meringue so you need to use it! If you're looking for healthy or low sugar recipes, that's a different blog! I also like to add a bit of cream of tartar. It also helps with stabilization and is a good back-up to help ensure your egg whites stiffen.

How do you keep meringue pie from getting soggy or watery?

Pies that get a watery layer between the filling and the meringue are said to be weeping. To avoid weeping, you should be sure you're spreading the meringue on the pie while the filling is still hot which will help cook  the bottom of the meringue to prevent weeping. You should also cool your pie on the counter before refrigerating to chill. Never put the hot pie straight into the fridge! Unfortunately egg whites always tend to be finicky so sometimes humid weather is the cause of weeping - pick a nice, dry day to bake this if you can!

Pin this recipe for later:

📖 Recipe

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Lavender Lemon Meringue Pie

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Servings: 9 pie

Ingredients

Lavender Lemon Crust

• 2 cups lemon oreo crumbs about 20 cookies
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon ground lavender
• 6 tablespoons butter melted

Lavender Lemon Filling

• 3 egg yolks save the whites for the meringue!
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• ⅓ cup cornstarch
• 1 ½ cups water
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon ground lavender
• ½ cup lemon juice

Meringue Topping

• 3 egg whites double for sky high meringue!
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar double for sky-high meringue!
• ¼ cup sugar double for sky-high meringue!

Instructions

Lavender Lemon Crust

• Preheat oven to 350 F.
• Combine all crust ingredients except butter.
• Stir in melted butter until dry ingredients are completely moistened.
• Press the crust into a greased 9" pie pan, spreading the crust over the bottom of the pan and up the sides.
• Bake for 5 minutes, then remove from oven and cool.

Lavender Lemon Filling

• Turn the oven up to 400 F.
• Place egg yolks in a small bowl.
• Combine sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan.
• Add water and heat over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture boils. Mixture will start to look clear and glossy, and will feel a bit thicker.
• Continue stirring while the mixture boils for one minute.
• Pour approximately half the sugar/cornstarch mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks and stir till combined.
• Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with remaining sugar/cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly over medium heat for an additional two minutes. Mixture will still be boiling.
• Remove from heat and mix in the butter, lavender, and lemon juice until butter is melted.
• Pour mixture into cooled pie crust.

Meringue Topping

• Beat egg whites and cream of tartar on high speed until foamy.
• Slowly and gradually add in the sugar, while continuing to beat at a high speed until the mixture becomes stiff and glossy. The topping is done when you can pull a beater out (when the mixer is off!) and the mixture holds a stiff peak.
• Cover the top of the pie with the meringue spreading it all the way to the edges of the pie pan.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes. The meringue will appear toasted. Allow the pie to cool, then refrigerate. The pie should be served cold.

Did you try this recipe?  Review and comment below, and share a photo on Instagram and tag @flourdeliz!

Looking for other meringue pie recipes? Check these out:

Margarita Meringue Pie
Mocha Meringue Pie

Looking for other lavender lemon recipes? Check these out:

Lemon Lavender Marshmallows

This post was updated in April 2021 with new photos and additional information about the recipe.