Hi Hi Lemon Meringue Pie (Lemon Filling)

My Lemon Meringue Pie Crust post might have brought you to this second part of making the pie, the lemon filling!  Of course, I still used Betty's To Die For recipe for this and here's what you need:

3 egg yolks (save egg whites for meringue, leave at room temp)

1 1/2 cups cold water

1/2 cup lemon juice*

1/3 cup cornstarch*

1 1/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp butter

2 tsp white vinegar

1 1/2 tsp lemon extract

Pie Crust

Meringue

Firstly, you have to prepare the double broiler, and boil the water underneath.  Mix together in a bowl (that will go above the double broiler), water, lemon, cornstarch, sugar.  Mix well and continuously over boiling water until it thickens and comes to a boil.  If you feel like the mixture isn't thickening up, you'd probably need to add more cornstarch, BUT WAIT! don't add the cornstarch directly into the hot mixture!  Dilute the cornstarch in a bit of cold water first, then mix it into the bowl, stir constantly until desired consistency is achieved.

Then immediately pour on top of the pie crust and smooth it out with the back of the spatula or spoon.  Now next up is the meringue!