You’re about to discover how to make Lemon Pie Filling. It’s a survival food recipe that’s worth learning (it even tastes good too).
When you think of survival food recipes, tasty recipes with “lemon” as the main ingredient isn’t the first type of food that comes to mind. But even emergency foods from the days of the pioneers can taste good.
The lemon is one of the most versatile ingredients that we have in our kitchen. In the last article, you learned how to make Blue Flower Featherbed, now in this post, we’re going to cover the survival recipe for how to make Lemon Pie Filling. Continue reading below.
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The Lemon Pie Filling Recipe
This humble citrus fruit is a native of South Asia and was brought to Europe in the 2nd Century AD. It came to the US much later, towards the end of the 15th century with Columbus. Lemons can be used both for culinary and cleaning purposes and all parts like the juice, pulp, rind, oil and even the leaves have various utilities. This makes lemons an essential part of many survival foods.
Here we talk about one such survival dish- lemon pie filling recipe. This recipe is both delicious and easy to make. Read on to know more about this delicacy.
If you’re not familiar with this recipe and are wondering, what is Lemon Pie Filling?
Though there is no definite chronicle available about the origins of the lemon pie filling, it is however known that custards from lemons date back to the medieval times. A lemon pie filling is almost like custard and is made with lemon juice, sugar, water and some form of starch for thickening.
This basic filling is most commonly used in pies and hence the name. It is also used to make cakes. lemon bars and eaten as is. Because of its use as an ingredient in a variety of dessert recipes, lemon pie filling has its own place in the list of survival foods.
Lemon Pie Filling vs Lemon Curd
It is quite common to get confused between a lemon pie filling and a lemon curd. But they are not the same thing.
The main difference lies in the process of thickening. While a lemon pie filling uses some form of starch like cornstarch for the thickening process; in the case of lemon curd, this is achieved by adding egg yolks. This gives lemon curd a smoother texture than the lemon pie filling.
Now let’s take a look at how you can make a tasty lemon pie filling.
How To Make Lemon Pie Filling
Ingredients
As with any of the survival recipes, the list of ingredients for lemon pie filling is very simple.
- The juice and rind of 1 large lemon
- 1 egg
- 1 Tablespoon of butter
- 1 Cup sugar, white or brown
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 Cup hot water
Equipment
You will need very basic kitchen tools including:
- A saucepan and a spoon
- A mixing bowl
- A whisk
- A glass jar for storing the lemon pie filling.
Instructions
Step 1: In the saucepan over medium heat melt the butter.
Step 2: Add the water, sugar, and the juice and rind of the lemon,
Step 3: Dissolve the cornstarch in a tablespoon of water and add it to the saucepan.
Step 4: Stir this mixture and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.
Step 5: In the mixing bowl whisk together the egg and a spoonful of the lemon mixture.
This process raises the temperature of the egg gradually, thus preventing it from scrambling.
Step 6: Add this egg mixture into the saucepan and keep stirring.
Let it simmer for another couple of minutes or until the pie filling thickens.
Step 7: Remove from the heat, cool down and transfer to a glass jar.
Your lemon pie filling is ready to be enjoyed.
While you can have this lemon pie filling straight out of the jar, here are a couple of more recipes where you can use it to whip up some delicious desserts that are soul-satisfying.
Lemon Pie Filling Angel Food Cake Recipe
I forgot to mention before, we’re covering a couple more recipes with lemon pie filling. Hope you don’t mind.
Ingredients
This recipe combines two great ingredients that result in a great tasting cake. For this lemon pie filling angel food cake, you will need the following-
A box of angel cake mix of your choice. It should be the one where you only need to add water.
2.5 Cups of lemon pie filling. Use the above recipe to make your own.
Equipment
In addition, you will need some standard baking tools like
- A 9 x 13” cake pan.
- A Mixing bowl and spoon
- An oven.
Instructions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (or 180 degrees Celsius).
Step 2: Grease the baking dish with butter or oil and dust with flour.
Step 3: Take the contents of the angel food cake mix. Instead of water as instructed, add the lemon pie filling.
Step 4: Mix it thoroughly till the cake batter is well combined.
Step 5: Pour this batter into the cake pan and place it in the oven.
Step 6: Bake for about 25 minutes or till the top of the cake browns well and springs back to touch.
Let the cake cool down before you cut it.
You can serve this cake with a little bit of the lemon pie filling or whipped cream on top. However, it is also great without any toppings.
So there you have it, a delicious cake in less than half an hour. This is the easiest cake that you will ever make.
Lemon Pie Filling Bars Recipe
This next recipe is a bit more decadent than the previous one but is still easy to make.
Ingredients
For making the lemon pie filling bars you will need the following ingredients:
- 2 Cups all-purpose flour.
- 1 Cup sugar, preferably confectioners sugar. But if you do not have any available, you can easily make your own by blending powdered sugar with a tablespoon of cornstarch.
- 1 Cup butter, softened to room temperature.
- 2 Cups of the lemon pie filling using the recipe mentioned here.
Equipment:
You will also need a few things like:
- 9 x 13” baking dish
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Oven
Instructions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (or 180 degrees Celsius).
Step 2: Grease the baking dish with butter or oil and dust with flour.
Step 3: In the mixing bowl, put in the flour and sugar and mix well.
Step 4: Add the butter and cut it into the mixture using a spatula. Once mixed properly, the mixture will become crumbly like a pie dough.
Step 5: Transfer the mixture into the baking dish and press down firmly to form a uniform layer.
Step 6: Bake this in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
Step 7: Take the baking dish out of the oven and spread the lemon pie filling evenly on the crust.
Step 8: Return this to the oven for another 10 minutes or until the lemon pie filling has set.
Once done, take it out and cool down. Cut it into squares or bars and dust with confectioner’s sugar.
These lemon pie filling bars make excellent snacks with a warm drink like tea or coffee.
Conclusion
Now you know a couple of different ways to make lemon pie filling. If you end up not making it, at least you’ll have a couple of recipe ideas for when the time comes.
The next time you are stuck for ideas for some delicious desserts, give one of these recipes a try. Your family and friends will definitely love them. And what’s best, you won’t even need a lot of time or planning to make these dishes.
In fact, the hardest part is definitely waiting for the cake or the lemon bars to come out of the oven.
I hope you enjoyed this post on how to make a lemon pie filling. You might also like our guide on how to make pemmican the way the pioneers did. Also, check out the recipe on how to make fire cakes that the Civil War soldiers ate.
Have you ever made a survival recipe with lemon before?