This raspberry meringue pie has a silky smooth raspberry curd topped with a tower of Italian meringue. All on the flakiest all butter pie crust. The raspberry curd filling is incredible - luscious, tangy, PACKED with raspberry flavour and super creamy! If you love lemon meringue pie and raspberries, then this one is for you.
This recipe only has a hint of lemon and you can reduce that as well if you're not a fan of lemon. Just leave out the zest in the filling and it will still turn out amazing! Keep the lemon juice, you need it for the acidity and flavour complexity in this raspberry meringue pie.
The filling
The filling is based on my luscious raspberry curd recipe, with a bit of added cornstarch so that the pie comes out in one piece. When I developed the recipe, I tried just adding more egg yolks instead of cornstarch to thicken the curd enough for a pie. No matter how many egg yolks I added, it just wouldn’t be enough - unless I added an obscene amount of egg yolks. So corn starch came to the rescue and the resulting texture was perfect. You can substitute all purpose flour for corn starch and get similar results. The corn starch helps give the raspberry meringue pie the perfect sliceable texture.
Anyways, the filling is velvety smooth, rich, and soooo flavorful. It’s like decadent concentrated raspberry goodness! If you like raspberries, then you will be obsessed - I promise!
I also use a raspberry curd filling in my lemon raspberry cake recipe.
The crust
The crust that I used in this recipe is my tried and proven flaky pie crust that stays crunchy with the help of a bit of egg white brushed over. It creates a barrier between the curd and the crust, keeping the filling from seeping into the crust. You can definitely use a store bought crust to save some time! Just follow the blind baking instructions that I have here in this recipe.
I like to use a food processor with the blade attachment to make the dough very quickly. But sometimes when I’m just not up for taking it out, I use a pastry cutter which works just great! Before I had all of that fancy equipment I used a knife on a giant cutting board to cut my butter into my flour. Whatever works for you! The key is to have the butter as cold as possible when cutting it in and to work quickly. You want the butter pieces to be the size of peas with smaller breadcrumbs so that is what you’re looking out for.
I like to add a touch of vinegar into my pie crusts mainly for flavour. It balances out the raspberry meringue pie crust’s extremely rich and buttery favour, making it even more delicious. It also helps to reduce gluten formation in the crust making it even more tender.
The meringue
This raspberry meringue pie is topped off with a heaping mountain of Italian meringue. I prefer Italian meringue for pies rather than regular meringue because it is just so much more stable. And you don’t have to worry about raw egg whites since they get cooked by the sugar syrup! If you’re in a pinch you can always make regular meringue. Just make sure that you top it off right before serving, keep it cool and store it in your refrigerator for up to 24 hours. If you’re worried about the raw whites you can use pasteurized egg whites.
Italian meringue is actually fairly easy to make with a candy thermometer. Essentially you are making a sugar syrup on the stove while the egg whites whip up to medium soft peaks. Using a candy thermometer is the easiest since you don’t have to manually check if the sugar syrup is ready. You then gradually pour the sugar syrup into the bowl of egg whites, beating the eggs continuously.
Of course this process is easiest if you have a stand mixer but you could get by with an electric hand mixer.
If you don’t have a candy or instant read thermometer, you can test if the sugar syrup is up to temp by dropping it into a cup full of ice water. If the drop of sugar makes a soft and squishy ball, then it’s ready to go.
To finish off the meringue, I prefer to use a kitchen torch. It’s so satisfying to watch the meringue brown, I can watch it all day! If you don’t have a torch you can put it under the broiler in the oven. Watch it very closely and rotate it a few times - it can burn very quickly. Or you don’t even have to brown the meringue at all if you don’t want to!
Make ahead
This raspberry meringue pie has a lot of steps and components to it, I admit. To make it easier on you, I have an acceptable timeline of how early in advance you can make each component:
The crust: you can make the crust the day before you bake it. It needs to rest in the fridge before rolling, crimping, and baking so overnight will work great! You can also bake the crust and refrigerate it a whole day ahead of assembly. Once I even froze the baked crust for a week. Definitely get the pie crust done ahead of time!
The filling: You can make the filling and fill the pie the day before. The filling needs to set and firm up well so that it can slice - it needs about 6 hours for that. The egg whites will store well in the fridge overnight and should still whip up well the next day.
The meringue should be made the day of but it can last up to 48 hours in the fridge. The meringue may weep beads of water as it stands and it won’t have crisp peaks.
FAQ
There are a couple of reasons why this could have happened. Do not overwork the crust - handle it as little as possible when you make it. Make a thick border so that it helps to hold up the crust. Make sure that you chill the crust right before placing it into the oven. Lastly, push the beans right up against the edges when blind baking the crust.
You can the meringue without a stand mixer but it is much harder.
If you don’t have a candy or instant read thermometer, you can test if the sugar syrup is up to temp by dropping it into a cup full of ice water, If the drop of sugar makes a soft and squishy ball, then it’s ready to go.
To make sure your meringue whips to stiff peaks, there are a couple of steps. When separating the yolks and whites, make sure that they go into a clean bowl and none of the yolks get into the whites. The bowl and whisk need to be oil free and completely clean (wipe them down with some lemon juice or vinegar). Lastly, make sure that your sugar syrup is at the right temperature.
The added lemon juice helps to prevent crystallization. To prevent it further, brush down the sides of the saucepan with water, don’t stir the syrup once it simmers, and make sure the saucepan iis fully clean and dry before starting.
I do not recommend using less sugar for the meringue because you need all of that sugar content to stabilize and cook the egg whites. With less sugar, the whites might not get up to temperature and not be fully cooked. The meringue won’t be as stable.
I used day old whites for my meringue no problem. I made the raspberry curd filling the day before and had no problem making Italian meringue from day old egg whites. Make sure they are refrigerated in an airtight container. I would not use two day old egg whites because they might not have enough structure to beat to stiff peaks.
I have never had any problem with using cane sugar in Italian meringue. Just substitute it equally and you should be good! The lemon juice acts as a preventative if you’re worried about it crystallizing.
Key Ingredients:
Full recipe and ingredients are in recipe card below. Continue reading for all the tips, tricks, and substitutions.
All purpose flour: Make sure you weigh your flour before using it for most accurate results. If you don’t have a scale, you can measure it properly with a measuring cup: fluff up the flour with a spoon before spooning it into your measuring cup. Scrape the excess flour off without packing it in.
Butter: Make sure you use real butter. You can use salted butter too, just omit the salt in the crust recipe. For it to be extra cold I like to cut it into small cubes (about ½” or 1 cm), spread them out on a plate and freezing for about 10 minutes.
Ice water: Use really cold water to keep the crust extra cold. I recommend adding ice to keep it extra cold.
Vinegar: This will help prevent gluten formation and give the crust extra flavour, balancing the richness in the butter. I like to use apple cider vinegar. You can also use white vinegar or lemon juice.
Raspberries: you can use fresh or frozen raspberries. If frozen, add them directly into the saucepan without defrosting.
Egg yolks: this recipe calls for 10 egg yolks which is a lot! You will use most of the whites in the Italian meringue and some will be brushed over the pie crust. The yolks will give the curd its silky smooth texture, thickness, and richness.
Cornstarch: egg yolks alone aren’t enough to thicken the curd for a sliceable pie (trust me I tried…). To thicken it some more I used a little bit of cornstarch. It doesn’t affect the taste and it still remains perfectly smooth - just thicker. You can use all purpose flour instead for similar results.
Lemons: This recipe calls for both the lemon juice and zest. You need the lemon juice to give the curd a bit more complexity and really drive that raspberry flavour. The zest is added in at the very end for a bit of lemoney zing. If you don’t like lemon flavour, omit the zest only. The Italian meringue also uses lemon juice. I use freshly squeezed and strained lemon juice. You’re going to put half directly into the egg whites and half into the sugar syrup. This will prevent the syrup from crystallizing and keep the whites stable.
Egg whites: I used the leftover egg whites from the egg yolks that went into the curd. Day old egg whites work as long as they are in a clean and dry airtight container, stored in the fridge.
Lemon juice: I use freshly squeezed and strained lemon juice. You’re going to put half directly into the egg whites and half into the sugar syrup. This will prevent the syrup from crystallizing and keep the whites stable.
Check out some of my other recipes:
Happy baking! xx
Did you make this recipe? I would love for you to leave a review and to hear what you think in the comments!
Share your creation on Instagram and tag @flouringkitchen
Raspberry Meringue Pie with Mile High Meringue
Equipment
- 9" round pie crust
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour (150g)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup butter cubed and frozen
- ½ cup ice water
- ½ tablespoon vinegar apple cider and white vinegar work great
- 1 egg white whisked
Filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoon corn starch or all purpose flour
- 10 egg yolks
- 21 oz raspberries (600g) fresh or frozen
- 2 lemons zested and juiced
- 1 cup butter
Italian Meringue
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon lemon juice divided
- 2 tablespoon water
- 6 large egg whites (180g)
Instructions
Crust
- In a food processor or a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Mix well.1 ¼ cup all purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Cut in the butter with a knife or by pulsing the food processor. You want larger pea sized pieces of butter with smaller breadcrumbs.½ cup butter
- Mix together ice water and apple cider vinegar. Gradually add water tablespoon by tablespoon into the flour and butter mixture, mixing until a dough forms.½ cup ice water, ½ tablespoon vinegar
- As soon as a dough forms turn onto a lightly floured surface. Flatten and fold two times to create layers.
- Shape into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. You can make the curd while it chills.
- Remove the dough from fridge and roll out on a lightly floured surface to ⅛” or 3mm thick.
- Transfer into a pie plate and help the crust fall into the plate without stretching the dough. Trim the excess dough, leaving a 1” or 2.5 cm overhang.
- Tuck the overhang under the dough to create a crust and crimp the crust with your fingers or a fork.
- Place the pie crust in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill again. Preheat oven to 185°C (365°F).
- Place a piece of parchment paper into the chilled crust and pour pie weights or baking beans (see notes for options) into the parchment paper. Bake on top of a larger cookie sheet for 25 minutes.
- Remove pie crust from oven and very carefully transfer the parchment paper with beans into a heat safe bowl to cool.
- Brush 2 tablespoon of leftover egg whites from the raspberry curd all over the crust, avoiding the top edge.1 egg white
- Dock the crust with a fork and place back into oven to bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. If the edges are browning too much, tent some aluminum foil all along the edges, leaving the middle exposed.
Filling
- Combine the In a heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk the cornstarch and granulated sugar to get rid of any lumps. Add the yolks and whisk until the sugar just starts to dissolve and it becomes a little lighter in colour.1 cup granulated sugar, 4 tablespoon corn starch, 10 egg yolks
- Add the raspberries, lemon juice, and butter into the egg yolks and heat on medium-low heat, stirring constantly.21 oz raspberries, 2 lemons, 1 cup butter
- Heat until it comes to a simmer and thickens, for about 10 minutes. Keep stirring so it doesn’t burn.
- Strain the raspberry curd through a mesh sieve or cheesecloth to remove the seeds. Add the lemon zest for more lemon flavour into the strained curd and stir.2 lemons
- Transfer the curd into the baked pie crust and press a piece of plastic wrap onto the top so that it doesn’t form a film.
- Refrigerate until cooled completely, 4-6 hours.
Italian Meringue
- You can make and top the meringue up to a few hours before serving. Refrigerate without covering until you slice and serve.
- In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, and water. Let it come to a simmer, brushing down the sides and stirring constantly. Once the sugar dissolves, stop stirring. Bring it to soft ball stage (235°F, 115°C).1 ½ cup granulated sugar, 2 teaspoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoon water
- While the sugar is getting to temperature, beat the egg whites and remaining 1 teaspoon of lemon juice with the whisk attachment (stand mixer is ideal) until medium-stiff peaks form.6 large egg whites, 2 teaspoon lemon juice
- Slowly pour the sugar syrup into the side of the bowl with the mixer running on high speed.
- Keep the mixer on until the egg whites increase in volume and come to room temperature.
- Spread the meringue over the chilled and filled pie, starting with a thin layer, spreading it all the way to the crust, sealing in the filling. Pile the rest on top and make swoops with a spoon or spatula.
- Use a kitchen torch to toast the mountain of meringue. You can also use the broil function in your oven. Keep a close eye on it at all times and rotate frequently. Serve immediately or store uncovered in the fridge for a few hours before serving.
Did you make this recipe? Let me know!