After many months of observing, I decided to join the elite group of men and women called, The Daring Bakers. This group is the brain-child of Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice and Lis of La Mia Cucina, two blogger friends, who decided to challenge themselves by baking the same exact recipe, and then posting about it on each of their blogs. It turned out to be so much fun that they decided to do it again, other bloggers started to see what they were doing, and they too wanted to join in on the fun, and the group just grew and grew. As of today there are 400 plus members and it's growing every month. The premise is the same today except now each member gets to host the challenge of their choice. This month the hostess is Jen, The Canadian Baker and her pick was Lemon Meringue Pie!!
I can't tell you how long it's been since I made a Lemon Meringue pie, I think I was a newlywed, and believe me that was many moons ago! And being that I have a thing about precise measuring, I knew this was going to be a challenge for me when I saw how long the recipe was! There are 3 components to this pie, the crust, (which by the way, tasted and turned out great!) the filling,( as you can see in my picture) was light and lemony, a bit of a challenge because when it comes together it gets really thick and you have to whisk the heck out of it!! But I'm proud to say I succeeded with that also. And last but not least, the meringue.
As for the meringue... well, I had visions of grandeur!! I envisioned it peeking so high in the center, so that when you cut into it, you would have this HUGE pile of meringue on the top of your slice, picture perfect huh??NOT!!As you can see my dreams didn't turn out the way I wanted. My meringue never got to that real stiff peek stage,instead it just flattened out when I scooped it on. My fellow Daring Baker, Maryann, suggested that maybe I actually didn't beat the meringue long enough, and you know, I think she's right! Any other input from other Daring Bakers would be truely appreciated!
In conclusion, even though the meringue flopped on me, it had a great taste, in fact the whole pie had a really nice flavor, better than any meringue pie I have ever purchased. You could really tell the difference between store bought and home made!So,I'm happy to say that I completed my very first Daring Baker challenge, and I look forward to what's in store for next month!!
