Lemon Meringue Pie

Pastry
-225g Plain Flour
-110g Cold Butter
-Pinch of salt
-1 tbsp Icing Sugar/Caster Sugar
-1 egg yolk

Now I already had pastry made and sitting in the freezer from the last time I made it so
unfortunately I have no picture of the preparation of the pastry. But Ill explain how to make it and
show pictures of my pastry pre/post cooking.

-Sift your flour + salt into a mixing bowl

-Cut up the butter into small pieces and add to the flour.

-Rub in the butter by continuously rubbing the butter + flour between your fingertips until the
mixture has a fine breadcrumb consistency

-When the correct consistency has been achieved add the sugar and incorporate into the mixture

-Add the egg yolk and a splash of water if needed and using your hands, work the mixture into a firm
dough.

-Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to cool

-Preheat the oven to 190C and grease your tin (preferably a loose bottomed tin)

-Roll out your pastry on a floured surface so it can generously cover your tin and its sides i.e so you
have a bottom of pastry and also sides to keep in your filling!
-Line your pastry with greaseproof paper and fill with beans/lentils/baking beans/something to
weigh down your pastry (this is baking blind)

-Place in the oven for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden

-Remove the greaseproof paper, lower the oven temperature slightly and place the tin back in the
oven for a further 5 minutes

-Leave your pastry case to cool until whenever you decide to move onto the next stage!
Lemon Curd
-100g Caster Sugar
-Zest and Juice of 4 lemons (Depending on how tart you want your pie to be, add less/more lemon.
I thought it would be too lemony the first time I made this although it turned out fine. The lemon
was sour but it went great with everything else)
-7 tbsp Cornflour
-100g Butter
-6 Egg Yolks (keep the whites for the meringue)

Meringue
-6 Egg Whites
-300g Caster Sugar

-First put all your sugar and cornflour in a large bowl and add enough water to dissolve all the
ingredients
-Zest your lemons and add to 50ml of water in a small pot. Bring this pot to the boil and add slowly
to your cornflour mixture until the entire mixture turns a yellow colour.
-Let this mixture cool a little before adding your butter, egg yolks and lemon juice. Mix the bowl a
little before immediately putting back on the heat.
-Stir constantly on a high heat until the mixture thickens (the change will be instantaneous, one
second it will be a liquid and the next a thick, lemony curd)
-Take off the heat and leave to cool slightly before pouring onto your pastry case

-For the meringue, put your 6 egg whites into a large CLEAN bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form

-At this point, add sugar bit by bit to the egg whites until it is all full incorporated into the whites

-It seems like a lot of meringue for your pie but it will all fit onto it and help to make it look great

-Spoon on top of the lemon curd and design as you wish (peaks always look good for meringues)

-Bake in the oven at a very low heat (~50C) for 45 minutes until browned on the outside but still soft
on the inside. Keep a keen eye on it as it can easily burn.

After you take it out of the oven, leave it to cool for at least an hour before cutting. This allows the
lemon curd to re-solidify and not ooze out everywhere whilst still molten. Enjoy!