Lemon Meringue Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie has been my favourite dessert since childhood. Mum used to cook it regularly when I lived at home. I recently rediscovered the joy of cooking and eating this dish.

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  Serves:  8       Print   

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Ingredients
For the Pie Base
  • 250 g (8 oz) packet of ready-made pie pastry OR
  • 115 g (4 oz) plain flour
  • 75 g (2½ oz) butter, cubed
  • 5 tbsp ground almonds
  • 3 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
For the Lemon Pie Filling
  • Juice of 3 lemons
  • Grated rind of 1 lemon
  • 5 tbsp cornflour
  • 100 g (3½ oz) caster sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 25 g (1 oz) butter
For the Orange Pie Filling
  • 250 ml (9 fl oz) of fresh orange juice (about 2 orange’s worth)
  • Grated rind of an orange
  • 5 tbsp cornflour
  • 50 g (2 oz) caster sugar
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 25 g (1 oz) butter
For the Meringue
  • 3 egg whites
  • 175 g (6 oz) caster (powdered) sugar
Instructions
  1. To prepare the pastry (if making): Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the remaining ingredients together with 3 tbsp of cold water. Mix well, knead on a lightly floured surface, wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
  2. Line a 9″ (23 cm) flan dish with pastry and blind bake (See recipe for blind baking pastry in the “Basic Techniques” section.
  3. Prepare the lemon curd: Blend the lemon juice and cornflour with a small whisk. Pour into a saucepan and add 250 ml (8 fl oz) of water. Bring to the boil, stirring with a whisk until thickened.
  4. Remove from the heat and beat in the sugar, lemon rind and egg yolks. Blend in the butter and pour the mixture into the pie base.
  5. Prepare the meringue: Whisk the egg whites until you can form soft peaks.
  6. Add in the sugar and whisk until the meringue is glossy and forms soft peaks (could take 10 minutes or more).
  7. Pour the meringue onto the pie and spread evenly.
  8. Bake at 150°C for 30-35 minutes.
  9. Allow to cool before serving.
Titli's Tips
The meringue may crack during baking. Dont worry; the meringue will collapse and the cracks close up as it cools!

Some other important points about meringues:

1. Use superfine sugar when making the meringue. This will ensure that the sugar is incorporated fully when you add it.

2. Make sure you beat it until you get good peaks, but don’t overbeat it otherwise the meringue will start to separate.

3. If you are not getting good peaks, stir 1 tablespoon cornstarch into ⅓ cup cold water and heat it with stirring until the starch thickens. Set aside to cool. After the sugar has been beaten into the meringue and it forms soft peaks, add cornstarch mixture 1 tbsp at a time, beating to stiff peaks.

4. Put the meringue onto warm or hot pie filling. This starts the cooking of the meringue before you put it in the oven.

If you want to make Orange Meringue Pie, dissolve the cornflour in a small amount of the orange juice. Instead of adding water to the pie filling, just use the orange juice.

Nutrition Facts
Amount Per Serving       % Daily Value
Calories 350 17%
Calories from Fat 125
Total Fat 13.9g 21%
Saturated Fat 4.6g 23%
Unsaturated Fat 8.5g
   
Amount Per Serving       % Daily Value
Total Carbohydrate 52.9g 17%
Dietary Fibre 1.2g 4%
Sugars 34.2g
Protein 4.2g 8%
Cholesterol 75.9mgs 25%
Percent Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet.