For the Pie:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange pie crust in a regular-sized, not a deep dish, pie plate, and flute as desired. Set aside.

In order, in a large bowl, add all pie ingredients except raisins and mix until smooth. Stir in raisins. Pour filling into crust.

Bake in the lower half of the oven until filling is set, about 40 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

If using meringue, add as soon as the filling is firm in the center and bake about 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown. This brown sugar meringue may raise alarmingly and then fall a bit, but that is to be expected.

Brown Sugar Meringue:

In a small pan, add the tablespoon of cornstarch, then whisk in 1/3 cup water. Bring to a bare simmer in small saucepan and cook, whisking occasionally, until it just becomes thickened and translucent looking, 1 to 2 minutes at most.

Remove from heat and let cool slightly to barely or lukewarm while the eggs are being whisked. It’s helpful to transfer to a small cup as it may continue to cook and harden in the hot pan and be difficult to incorporate into the meringue.

If using stand mixer, fit it with the whisk, and beat egg whites and vanilla at medium low-speed until foamy and frothy. Mix together the cream of tartar and sugar, turn the speed up to medium-high, and add, a tablespoon at a time until incorporated (it won’t feel grainy when you run a bit between your fingers) and the mixture forms soft, billowy mounds. Continue to whip and add the cornstarch mixture, about a tablespoon at a time. Continue to beat until stiff, glossy peaks form, about two to three minutes longer.

Working quickly, dollop meringue in small mounds across the hot pie filling. Using rubber spatula, immediately distribute meringue evenly around edge and then center of pie, attaching meringue to pie crust to prevent shrinking. Top off with any remaining meringue. Using the back of spoon, create attractive swirls and peaks in the meringue. (I personally like to use the spoon to make small “scallops” with only a very few peaks which prevents the peaks from over baking before the rest is nicely browned.) Make sure the meringue is “sealed” to the crust with no gaps. Bake until meringue is light golden brown, about 20 minutes.

For more details and photos of the Meringue, see my Lemon Meringue Pie recipe.