Preparation of Lemons

The night before you bake this pie, slice the lemons as thinly as possible while they still keep their shape. A mandolin (Japanese slicing tool) is a perfect tool for this. It should be sharp enough so the pulp holds in the rind, but you should also be able to see through the slices. If there are seeds, gently push them out of the slices with a knife.  Put  slices in a small bowl and mix gently (so they retain their hard-fought-for shape!) with the 2 cups (400 g) of granulated sugar. Refrigerate overnight.

Note: The longer the lemons sit in the sugar the more edible they become. Allow at least 5 hours sitting time.

Bottom Crust

Preheat the oven to 425°F 

Roll out  chilled pie crust to 1⁄8-inch thick. It should be about 15 inches in diameter. Place in pie pan.Trim edges so there is no more than 1⁄4 inch of overhang. Lift and crimp overhang along rim of pie pan. Chill pie crust, ideally in freezer, for at least 20 minutes or 30 minutes in refrigerator. It is really important for crust to set again and the fat to re-firm before prebaking.

Pull pie plate out of refrigerator and place foil in it. It should sit flush with the plate, come up along the rim, and fold down to cover edges. Foil protects the crust from over-browning, but you do not want the foil pressed securely to the edges. Add 1/2 pound dried light colored beans to bottom and level them out. Put the crust in oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Pull out the crust, lower oven to 375°F, and carefully lift aluminum foil by edges off crust with the beans in it. Put crust back in oven for 15 minutes. Check at 7 minutes and turn it 180 degrees.

Whisk the 4 whole eggs at room temperature. Add brown sugar and salt and mix well.

Check crust. The edges may be a little darker than the rest, but it should be set and very light in color. The bottom is more likely bubbly a little bit and looks shiny. Let it cook a bit more, 5 minutes at the most if the bottom is more shiny than matte. Then take the crust out and let it rest for 10 minutes. Lower the oven to 350°F.

Whip egg white and wash it on the bottom and sides of the crust. It functions as insurance against gaps. Remove lemon slices from sugar and lay slices flush with the sides of pan and circling in. Add sugar remaining in lemon bowl to egg mixture. Quickly whisk together and pour over the lemon slices.

Note: When you prebake crusts and use eggs, it is very important for the crust to cool a bit and for your mixture to be room temperature. If you put a cold mixture into a hot crust you are cooking some spots without intention.Place the pie in the oven. After 30 minutes, rotate 180 degrees. The pie is done after an hour. Give it a shake; it should move solidly throughout with just a loose jiggle in the middle. This little jiggle will set up with carryover cooking.

Let set 1 hour. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Note: When you pick lemons for this pie, get a few extra as backups. It is really important that the lemon is not brown inside. Don’t choose the largest lemons either; they tend to have thicker pith than the smaller ones.