Pomegranate Lemon Meringue Pie
Homemade pie crust, a sharp and smooth pomegranate lemon filling topped with a billowing fluffy Italian pomegranate meringue.
Everything you love about meringue pie, but add some fresh pomegranate! The filling is exceptionally tart and sharp but buttery smooth and tastes of both lemon and pomegranate. A lush, billowing pomegranate meringue sits on top and it’s encased in an all-butter pie crust.
I am deliriously excited about this recipe. I love it SO much! It’s been a heavy lemon year on buttermilk (the lemon bars, the lemon curd stuffed cookies, the cheesecake, the perfect curd…) and I almost (and still might!) made a classic lemon meringue pie to have on the site but then, well POMEGRANATE.
And it’s truly amazing what happens to this classic pie when you add some freshly juiced pomegranate arils: there’s a berry hint to the filling, aromatic and lovely in the way pomegranate only can be; the meringue, smooth and creamy thanks to the Italian method, also tastes of pomegranate. It’s just the best pie guys.
Recipe Ingredients
Lemons: Fresh! Organic too is best or wash them really well so we can get the best of the zest. Juice them after zesting.
Pomegranate: You might be tempted to buy a jug of pomegranate juice and you can, I prefer to make my own pomegranate juice by blending the arils and sieving out the seeds.
Eggs: Large eggs, best if at room temperature for the filling and the meringue. With the leftover egg yolks, here’s some ideas: cookies, this pie, ice cream. It’s VERY important that the meringue egg whites have no yellows at all (not even a spot).
Starch: I use tapioca which has less of a powdery finish than cornstarch but you can also use cornstarch if that’s what you have.
Sugar: Fine granulated. Don’t reduce it or it will affect the texture and structure of the filling and meringue.
Butter: It’s fine if it’s not, but if you remember, pull it out so it’s at room temperature. You can just slice it and place it in a bowl before beginning the filling process.
How to make a firm but perfectly smooth Meringue Pie Filling
Avoid overcooking & use a thermometer: Curds start cooking rather slowly but once they thicken it’s important to not overcook. With a curd you want it to each 170 F (that’s when the eggs are cooked) but if you don’t have a thermometer you’ll want to see it cover the back of a spoon.
Whisk well: Make sure to stir frequently as it cooks so it doesn’t overcook on the bottom only.
Sieve over the butter: This will remove those zest bits (we’ve already extracted the flavor out of them) and any little egg bits that cooked separate from the curd.
Get the bake time right: The filling will look ‘wet’ and shiny until it’s baked. You’re looking for a matte top and for it to only jiggle just a bit in the center. This can take up to 20 minutes in the oven. Try not to overbake though so check it after 15 minutes.
Tips to make this Pomegranate Meringue
Use a thermometer: We want it to reach 250 F which is the ‘firm ball’ stage. If you don’t have thermometer here’s a little table that tells you how to read the sugar without one.
Whip until stiff peaks: It’s harder to identify the stiff peak stage with an italian meringue without taking the whisk out and turning it upside down. In a fresh or swiss you’ll start to see the markings as the whisk moves in the bowl but Italian stays rather lofty. Once you see it rather fluffy and white, test it by taking the whisk out and turning it upside down.
Pomegranate Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe
Pomegranate Lemon Meringue Pie
Ingredients
Pomegranate Lemon Curd Filling
- 5 large eggs
- 115 g or ½ cup lemon juice
- 115 g or ½ cup ½ cup pomegranate juice
- 210 g or or 1 cups sugar
- Zest of 3 lemons
- 85 g or or 6 tablespoons unsalted butter cold
- 1 tablespoons tapioca starch
Pomegranate Meringue
- 115 g or ½ cu p pomegranate juice
- 210 g or 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large egg whites
Method
Blind bake the pie crust
- Roll out the pie dough to about 11” diameter (to fit in a 9” round pie pan) and press into the bottom of the pan. Trim excess crust, leaving a 1” border. Fold the border over itself and crimp (see my homemade pie crust video for visuals). Freeze for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F and cover the pie with foil (so that it will form a sling). Add in your pie weights (I use dried beans) all the way to the rim of the pie. Bake for 30 minutes.
While the pie crust is baking, make the filling
- Slice the butter and place into a bowl. Set a sieve on top.
- Whisk together the salt, zest, juices, eggs and sugar in a pot until well mixed. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently to avoid overcooking on the bottom, until the mix coats the back of a rubber spatula or reaches 170F.
- Pour the mixture through the sieve over the butter. Press the mix through so only the zest and bits of egg remain in the sieve. Stir the filling with the butter until the butter has melted. Stir in the starch.
- Once the crust has baked for 30 minutes, lower the temperature to 350 F. Remove weights and foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Pour the filling into the crust and bake for another 15-20 minutes until the center only jiggles in the center and looks firm on the sides.
- Remove and let cool. Chill in the fridge for a few hours.
Make the meringue
- Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Set the sugar and pomegranate juice in a pot and stir. Turn the heat to medium low and cook until a thermometer registers 250 F. This will take about 10-12 minutes. When it’s getting close, begin whipping the egg whites on low until just frothy. Once it reaches 250 F, pour into a heatsafe jar.
- With the whisk on, carefully pour in the hot liquid onto the egg whites. Turn the speed to medium and whip until tripled in size and the whisk holds stiff peaks, it should take about 10 minutes or so. Add the vanilla when it’s getting close to stiff peaks.
- Dollop the meringue onto the cooled pie and use the back of a spoon to spread it into an even layer. Use a kitchen torch to toast the top of the meringue. Set in the fridge to chill until serving.
Did you make this recipe?
Share & tag me on instagram @buttermilkbysam
Such a delicious recipe! Made it for Thanksgiving and it was a huge hit! The curd and meringue come together so nicely. I can’t get over how light and fluffy the meringue is. I used Sam’s pie crust recipe. The addition of vanilla in it was such a nice touch. Highly recommend trying this one!