National Lemon Cream Pie Day

National Lemon Cream Pie Day is observed each year on November 29. The day highlights a dessert whose development began with early custard-making techniques and later expanded into the lemon cream and lemon meringue pies baked today.

Lemon pies took shape in the early 1800s, influenced by the work of Philadelphia pastry teacher Elizabeth Goodfellow (1768–1851). Her lemon custard and early meringue-topped pies became popular through the students who recorded and circulated her recipes.

By the late 19th century, lemon pies were well established in American households and cookbooks. An 1896 recipe from Fannie Farmer’s Boston Cooking-School Cook Book shows a typical recipe for the era: a corn-starch–thickened lemon filling baked in pastry and finished with meringue. Farmer’s book, widely used across the United States, helped standardize measurements and cooking methods, which made recipes more consistent and easier to follow.

National Lemon Cream Pie Day highlights this long development of the dish, from early lemon custards to the smoother cream-style and meringue versions enjoyed today.

Fun fact: Lemon cream pies share part of their background with lemon meringue pies, which became increasingly popular in the United States during the mid-1800s. In earlier European kitchens, lemons were expensive luxury goods, so early lemon pies appeared mainly in wealthy households before the fruit became widely available.

When is National Lemon Cream Pie Day Celebrated?

Here is National Lemon Cream Pie Day, observed on November 29, listed with its upcoming dates through 2030.

If you enjoy Lemon Cream Pie Day, several other dessert-themed observances offer similar inspiration throughout the year:

• National Pie Day (January 23): A celebration of all pie varieties, from fruit pies to cream-based versions.
• National Key Lime Pie Day (September 26): Focuses on another citrus-based dessert with a tart, sweet filling.
• National Custard Day (August 17): Highlights custard desserts, a category that includes many cream pies, including lemon cream.
• National Bavarian Cream Pie Day (November 27): Marks a smooth, custard-like pie celebrated two days before Lemon Cream Pie Day.

Five Facts About Lemon Cream Pies

Lemon cream pies have a long history, and many details behind their development are easy to miss. These five facts offer a closer look at how the dessert evolved over time:

• Early lemon pies often used whole lemons (including rind) to capture as much flavor as possible when lemons were still expensive.

• Lemon cream fillings became more common in the late 19th century as cornstarch and standardized measurements made smoother custards easier to prepare.

• Many early American lemon pies did not include meringue; the topping became widespread only after Goodfellow’s students published recipes based on her teaching.

• Lemon pies appeared in community and charity cookbooks before commercial cookbooks became widespread, showing how quickly the recipe became part of everyday cooking.

• Refrigeration in the early 20th century helped lemon cream pies rise in popularity because chilled custard fillings kept their texture better and were safer to store.

How to Celebrate National Lemon Cream Pie Day

These ideas offer simple and interesting ways for anyone to appreciate the history and flavor of lemon cream pie:

• Compare historical recipes. Look at an older version, such as one from Fannie Farmer’s 1896 cookbook, and notice how the method differs from modern recipes.

• Explore citrus techniques. Practice zesting, juicing, or thickening a custard to understand how each step shapes the final flavor.

• Taste-test variations. Try two styles—cream-based and meringue-topped—to see how texture and sweetness vary between them.

• Record a family version. If someone you know makes lemon pie, write down their recipe and any details about how it came to be part of family cooking.