This raspberry meringue pie has a silky smooth raspberry curd filling topped with a tower of Italian meringue - all on the flakiest, butter pie crust. The raspberry curd filling is luscious, tangy and absolutely PACKED with raspberry flavor! There's a thick layer of filling to help balance the mile-high sweet and fluffy meringue on top.
It's like a lemon meringue pie but full of berry flavor! Tangy, sweet, and zesty. If you don't want any lemon flavor, you can leave out the lemon zest.
I've updated this recipe originally posted in 2021 with more photos, tips, and so that you won't have any leftover egg yolks or whites.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Raspberry: There is so much creamy and tangy raspberry curd filling. Absolutely packed with raspberry flavor! I love using frozen raspberries.
- Mile high meringue: Topped with a huge cloud of stable Italian meringue, this one is for the meringue lovers.
- Flaky all butter crust: If you choose to go with a homemade pie crust - this recipe goes through everything you need to do to create a flaky, crunchy, stunning crust that won't get soggy.
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'll still turn out amazing! Keep the lemon juice, you need it for the acidity and flavor complexity in this raspberry meringue pie.
📝 Key ingredients
Read through for all the tips you will need for success!
Full steps and ingredients in recipe card below.
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: This keeps the pie crust extra cold, giving you a perfect tender and flaky crust.
Vinegar: This will help prevent gluten formation and give the crust extra flavor, balancing the richness in the butter. I like to use apple cider vinegar. Instead, you could use white vinegar or lemon juice.
Raspberries: you can use fresh or frozen raspberries. I prefer using frozen because they're more affordable and accessible all year round. 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 flavor. The zest is added for a bit of lemony zing. If you don’t like lemon flavor, omit the zest only. The Italian meringue also uses lemon juice to help stabilize the egg whites - in lieu of cream of tartar.
Egg whites: For the meringue, you're going to need the leftover egg whites from the filling. Day old egg whites work really well for this - store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
👩🍳 How to make raspberry meringue pie
Pie crust step by step
Step 1: Cut the butter into small, ¼" cubes. Place them on a plate and freeze for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the ice water and vinegar in a separate cup.
In a food processor or a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Mix well with a whisk or a spoon.
Step 2: Cut in the frozen butter with a knife or by pulsing the food processor. You can use the tips of your fingertips to work in the butter, work quickly to not melt the butter. You want larger pea sized pieces of butter with smaller breadcrumb sized pieces.
Step 3: Gradually, add the ice water mixture tablespoon by tablespoon into the flour and butter mixture, mixing just until a dough forms. There should still be some dry pieces - it shouldn't be too wet.
Step 4: As soon as a dough forms, flatten and fold it two times to create layers. This will help incorporate any dry bits of dough.
Shape into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Step 5: Remove the dough from fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about ⅛ -¼ inch thick.
Transfer into an ungreased pie plate and help the crust fall into the plate without stretching the dough. Trim any excess dough (if any), 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.
Step 6: Place the pie crust in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill again. Preheat oven to 365°F (185°C).
Place a piece of parchment paper into the chilled crust and pour pie weights or dry, raw beans into the parchment paper. This is to weigh the pie crust down as it bakes. Bake on top of a larger baking sheet for 25 minutes.
Step 7: Remove the pie crust from the oven and very carefully transfer the parchment paper with beans into a heat safe bowl to cool.
While the crust is still hot, brush 1 whisked egg white (reserve the yolk for the filling) from the raspberry curd all over the crust, avoiding the top edge.
Step 8: Poke the bottom of the crust with a fork and place it back into oven to bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. If the edges are browning too quickly, tent some aluminum foil all along the edges, leaving the middle exposed.
You can start on the filling while it bakes.
Raspberry curd pie filling step by step
Step 1: In a heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk the cornstarch and granulated sugar to get rid of any lumps.
Step 2: Add the leftover egg yolk from the crust into the saucepan. Crack one whole egg right into the saucepan as well.
You're also going to need to separate the yolks and whites from 6 eggs. Place the whites into a separate container, making sure that no pieces of egg yolk get into the whites. Cover the whites and place them in the fridge for the meringue.
Add the 6 egg yolks into the saucepan.
Whisk the egg and sugar mixture by hand briefly, until all the yolks are broken up.
Step 3: Add the raspberries, lemon juice, and lemon zest into the egg mixture.
Heat on medium heat, stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn.
Step 4: Heat until it comes to a simmer and thickens, for about 10 minutes. It will become a thick porridge-like texture.
Once thickened, add the butter and whisk to combine on low heat.
Step 5: Strain the raspberry curd through a mesh sieve or cheesecloth to remove the seeds. Work in batches to make it easier. This will take about 10 minutes but it's so worth it for a smooth, seedless, creamy filling.
Step 6: Transfer the warm filling into the cooked and cooled pie crust, smoothing the top over.
Press a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper right onto the top of the curd so that it doesn’t form a film.
Refrigerate until completely cooled and set, about 2-4 hours. Don't freeze it because the filling won't set when frozen due to the cornstarch.
Italian meringue step by step
Meringue serving tip: You can make and top the meringue up to 6-8 hours before serving. Refrigerate without covering until you're ready to slice and serve.
Step 1: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water and stir. Use a pastry brush moistened with water to brush down any sugar crystals off the sides of the bowl. Insert a candy thermometer into the saucepan.
Let it come to a simmer on low heat. Once the sugar dissolves, stop stirring. Bring it to soft ball stage, 235°F (115°C). While the sugar syrup is heating up - work on the next step.
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.
Step 2: While the sugar is getting to temperature, beat the egg whites and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice with the whisk attachment (in a stand mixer is ideal) until medium peaks form.
Step 3: Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the side of the bowl with the mixer running on high speed. Add the vanilla extract and salt while the mixer is still running.
Keep the mixer on high speed, whisking until the egg whites increase in volume and the bowl comes to room temperature.
Step 4: 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.
Step 5: 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 so that it doesn't burn, and rotate frequently.
Step 6: Slice and serve immediately or store uncovered in the fridge for up to 8 hours before serving.
Italian meringue is quite stable, but it can weep a little moisture while it's stored for longer. That doesn't mean that it isn't good to eat anymore!
🥄 Make ahead and storage
Store the leftover raspberry pie in a cake carrier, refrigerated, for up to 3 days. I like pressing a piece of parchment paper over the cut sides because it prevents the filling from oozing out as it sits. This pie doesn't freeze well because it has cornstarch in the filling. If frozen, the filling might lose its structure.
This raspberry meringue pie has a lot of steps and components to it, I admit. But it's so worth it!! To make it easier on you, I have a 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. It definitely makes it easier to 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 unwhipped egg whites will store well in the fridge overnight and should still whip up well the next day.
🍓 More on raspberry curd filling
The filling is based on my raspberry curd recipe, with a bit of added cornstarch so that the pie is perfectly sliceable. 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 a ridiculous amount of egg yolks. Corn starch came to the rescue and the resulting texture was perfect. You can substitute potato starch or all purpose flour for corn starch and get similar results.
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.
🥧 More on Italian meringue pie topping
This raspberry meringue pie is topped off with a heaping mountain of Italian meringue. I prefer Italian meringue for pies because it's a lot more stable than regular meringue. Especially with pies that are piled with loads of meringue like this mile-high pie - you really want it to be as stable as possible.
With Italian meringue, 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 only store it in your refrigerator for up to 24 hours. If you’re worried about the raw whites you can use pasteurized egg whites.
Alternatively, if you prefer a swiss meringue, you can follow the directions in my lemon meringue pie cookies on how to make swiss meringue topping.
📖 Recipe FAQs
There are a couple of reasons why this could have happened. Don't overwork the crust - handle it as little as possible when you make it. Make a thick border that holds over the edge of the pie plate. 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 because it needs to whip for about 10-15 minutes.
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 or container, and that 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.
I don't 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 always make and fill the pie with the raspberry curd filling the day before and have no problem making Italian meringue the next day. Make sure they are refrigerated in a clean, airtight container, and there aren't any bits of egg yolks in there.
🍋 More Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
Raspberry Meringue Pie with Mile High Meringue
Equipment
- 9" round pie plate
Ingredients
Pie Crust (optionally, use a premade pie crust)
- ½ cup unsalted butter if using salted, omit salt
- ½ cup ice water
- ½ tablespoon vinegar apple cider and white vinegar work great
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour (150g)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 egg white whisked (reserve the yolk for the filling)
Raspberry Curd Pie Filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoons corn starch
- 6 large egg yolks save egg whites for meringue
- 1 large egg whole
- 21 oz raspberries (600g) fresh or frozen
- 2 lemons zested
- ¼ cup lemon juice freshly squeezed (from the zested lemons)
- 1 cup unsalted butter if using salted, omit salt
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Italian Meringue
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 5 tablespoons water
- 6 large egg whites reserved, from the filling
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice reserved, from squeezed lemons
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
Pie Crust (optionally, use a premade pie crust)
- Cut the butter into small, ¼" cubes. Place them on a plate and freeze for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the ice water and vinegar in a separate cup.½ cup unsalted butter, ½ cup ice water, ½ tablespoon vinegar
- In a food processor or a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Mix well with a whisk or a spoon.1 ¼ cup all purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Cut the butter into the flour mixture with a knife or by pulsing the food processor. You want larger pea sized pieces of butter with smaller breadcrumbs.
- Gradually, add the ice water mixture tablespoon by tablespoon into the flour and butter mixture, mixing just until a dough forms. There should still be some dry pieces - it shouldn't be too wet.
- As soon as a dough forms, flatten and fold it two times to create layers. This will help incorporate any dry bits of dough. Shape into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove the dough from fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about ⅛ -¼ inch thick.
- Transfer into an ungreased pie plate and help the crust fall into the plate without stretching the dough. Trim any excess dough (if any), 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 365°F (185°C).
- Place a piece of parchment paper into the chilled crust and pour pie weights or dry, raw beans into the parchment paper. This is to weigh the pie crust down as it bakes. Bake on top of a larger baking sheet for 25 minutes.
- Remove the pie crust from the oven and very carefully transfer the parchment paper with beans into a heat safe bowl to cool. While the crust is still hot, brush 1 whisked egg white (reserve the yolk for the filling) from the raspberry curd all over the crust, avoiding the top edge.1 egg white
- Poke the bottom of the crust with a fork and place it back into oven to bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. If the edges are browning too quickly, tent some aluminum foil all along the edges, leaving the middle exposed.You can start on the filling while it bakes.
Raspberry Curd Pie Filling
- In a heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk the cornstarch and granulated sugar to get rid of any lumps.1 cup granulated sugar, 6 tablespoons corn starch
- Separate the yolks and whites from 6 eggs. Place the whites into a separate container, making sure that no pieces of egg yolk get into the whites. Cover the whites and place them in the fridge for the meringue.6 large egg yolks
- Add the 6 egg yolks into the saucepan. Add the leftover egg yolk from the crust into the saucepan. Crack one whole egg right into the saucepan as well.Whisk the egg and sugar mixture by hand briefly, until all the yolks are broken up.1 large egg
- Add the raspberries, lemon juice, and lemon zest into the egg mixture. Heat on medium-low heat, stirring constantly so that it doesn't burn.21 oz raspberries, 2 lemons, ¼ cup lemon juice
- Heat until it comes to a simmer and thickens, for about 10 minutes. It will become a thick porridge-like texture. Once thickened, add the butter and salt, and whisk to combine on low heat.1 cup unsalted butter, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- Strain the raspberry curd through a mesh sieve or cheesecloth to remove the seeds. Work in batches to make it easier. This will take about 10 minutes but it's so worth it for a smooth, seedless, creamy filling.
- Transfer the warm filling into the cooked and cooled pie crust, smoothing the top over. Press a piece of plastic wrap or parchment paper right onto the top of the curd so that it doesn’t form a film. Refrigerate until completely cooled and set, about 2-4 hours. Don't freeze it because the filling won't set when frozen due to the cornstarch.
Italian Meringue
- In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water and stir. Use a pastry brush moistened with water to brush down any sugar crystals off the sides of the bowl. Insert a candy thermometer into the saucepan.1 ½ cups granulated sugar, 5 tablespoons water
- Let it come to a simmer on low heat. Once the sugar dissolves, stop stirring. Bring it to soft ball stage, 235°F (115°C). While the sugar syrup is heating up - work on the next step. 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.
- While the sugar is getting to temperature, beat the egg whites and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice with the whisk attachment (in a stand mixer is ideal) until medium peaks form.6 large egg whites, 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the side of the bowl with the mixer running on high speed. Add the vanilla extract and salt while the mixer is still running. Keep the mixer on high speed, whisking until the egg whites increase in volume and the bowl comes to room temperature.1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 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 so that it doesn't burn, and rotate frequently.
- Slice and serve immediately or store uncovered in the fridge for up to 8 hours before serving. Italian meringue is quite stable, but it can weep a little moisture while it's stored for longer. That doesn't mean that it isn't good to eat anymore!
Astrid
Hi Mary
Thanks for this recipe!
Question: do you need all of the ice water for the pie crust? Or can it be a lot less?
Best regards from Switzerland
Mary
You don't need all of the ice water, I added about half. You need to add a tablespoon at a time until you can press it together in a ball. Sometimes you're going to need more, sometimes less so it's best to just add it in a tablespoon at a time and see how much you'll need.
Tasnim
looks so good! can other berries such as blackberries or strawberries be substituted for the raspberries?
Mary
Different berries have different moisture content and acidity so the recipe would have to be adjusted by quite a bit! I wouldn't recommend it for this recipe.