Lemon meringue pie
Try this classic lemon meringue pie, showcasing a homemade pastry crust topped with freshly made lemon curd and italian meringue.
Substitute:
- No lemon? Try using orange, clementine or mandarin instead.
Prep time: 60 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Total time: 120 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
350 g Plain flour
Cold butter (cut in small pieces)
2 tbsp Icing sugar
a pinch of Salt
2 Egg yolks (reserve the whites for the meringue)
1 tbsp Cold water
For the filling:
4 Lemons (juiced and zested)
90 g Caster sugar
1 tbsp Corn starch
80 g Butter
3 Egg yolks (reserve the whites for the meringue)
1 Egg
For the meringue:
80 g Egg whites (room temperature)
180 g Caster sugar
5 tbsp Water
a pinch of Salt
Recipe:
- Prepare the pastry: Use your clean fingers to crumble the butter, flour and sugar together in a bowl. Add the egg yolks and the cold water.
- Form a ball, cling film and place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Then use a rolling pin to roll your pastry (about 5 mm thick) and place inside a 23 cm tart tin. Use your fingers to press the pastry against the tin. Cut the top using a knife and use a fork to create some little holes at the bottom.
- Blind bake the pastry: Preheat your oven at 180 C/160 fan/4 gas mark. Cover the pastry with baking paper, and cover with dry beans (or rice if you don’t have beans) and cook for 15 to 18 minutes.
- Prepare the filling: Add the cornflour, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar together in a saucepan.
- Prepare the filling: Add the cornflour, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar together in a saucepan. Place over a medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and whisk in the butter, then add the egg yolks and whole egg. Bring the pan back to the heat, and cook, stirring vigorously, for a few minutes until the mixture thickens again. Remove from the heat and pour the lemon curd into the blinf baked pastry. Set aside to cool.
- Prepare the Italian meringue: Place the egg whites and a pinch of salt into the bowl of an electric mixer (or a mixing bowl if using a hand mixer). Pour the sugar and the water in a pan, and start to heat up gently for 2 minute, or until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil over high heat, and cook for 5 minutes until it becomes syrupy. Now whisk the egg whites until soft peaks. Once the syrup is nice and bubbly, gently add the syrup to the egg whites. Continue to whisk for 5-7 minutes, until the meringue is nice and glossy.
- Pipe the meringue: Fill up a piping bag with the Italian meringue, and pipe on top of the lemon curd. You can skip the piping bag and instead gently spread the meringue on top.
- Use a blow torch to brown the top of the meringue, or place the tart under the grill of your oven, watching it every 30 seconds to prevent it from burning.
How to store
Store in a cool dark place or in the fridge for up to 3 days.
