You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch

For the holiday season I will be posting a holiday-inspired sweet treat every Sunday until the end of the year. The first Sunday Sweet is my first entry for the You Want Pies with That? blog, where bloggers from all over bake a pie inspired by a set monthly theme and a winner is voted on by the bakers. This month's theme is "Holiday Songs," so my first one out of the gate is a pie inspired by a song of the season. I decided to go with You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and made a Key Lime Meringue pie. Here's how I did it:

Key Lime Meringue Pie
inspired by Alton Brown's Lemon Meringue Pie

Key Lime filling:
4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup key lime juice
1 tablespoon finely grated key lime zest
6 drops of green food coloring (this was to get the filling a nice Grinchy green)
1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell (I used this crust, pricked it all over with a fork and baked it at 400 degrees F for 12 mins covered in foil filled with a cup of uncooked rice and then for 10 more mins uncovered)
1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.

Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lime juice, zest and food coloring until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:
4 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar
2 tablespoons sugar

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lime filling.

I'm pretty happy with how this pie turned out. The boy LOVED the flavor of the filling and would like me to try to replicate it in a meringue crust pie. I'm not sure how that will work but I'll try. I thought the flavor was great too but that the filling was just a bit too runny. Next time I make this, either with lemon or lime, I will try to cook the filling a bit more once the yolks are incorporated, to see if that helps.

I like this pie for the song You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch because it's tart but with a hint of sweetness just like the Grinch and the meringue top is reminiscent of his snowy mountain top.