Lemon Pie Filling

Recipe No. 400 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Pies. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Cornstarch — 2 pounds (2 mess kit cups)
• Sugar, granulated — 9 pounds (4½ No. 56 dippers)
• Water, cold — 2¼ gallons (9 No. 56 dippers)
• Salt — ¾ ounce (1½ mess kit spoons)

Butter — ¾ pound (½ mess kit cup)

• Egg yolks, slightly beaten — 54 yolks (1½ mess kit cups)
• Lemons, juice and grated rind — 30 lemons

Directions

Key ingredients

Cornstarch

1. Mix cornstarch and ½ sugar together. Add ½ water; stir until smooth.
2. Mix salt, remaining sugar, and remaining water together; heat to boiling point.
3. Add cornstarch mixture very slowly. Heat to boiling point; boil 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly.
4. Add butter; mix well.
5. Pour about ¼ cooked mixture over beaten eggs; mix well.
6. Pour egg mixture into remaining cooked mixture; mix well. Heat to boiling point*, stirring constantly.
7. Add lemon juice and rind; mix well.
8. Pour into baked pie shells.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Cornstarch — 2½ oz Sugar, granulated — 11½ oz Water, cold — 3 cups Salt — about ⅓ tsp Butter — 1 oz Egg yolks, slightly beaten — 4⅓ yolks Lemons, juice and grated rind — 2⅓ lemons

Heat only to boiling point. If mixture boils the eggs will be overcooked and the mixture will be curdled. Cover pies with meringue (recipe No. 417) if desired.

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 400, Pies. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.