Recipe Thirty: Lemon Meringue Pie

Another recipe as testament to my love of the lemon.

I really believe lemon is to sweet food as onion is to savoury. 

I put it in most things. 

Whether its a little shaving of the rind or a squeeze of juice it just gives food such a nice brightness.

Speaking of things bright, today is Miss MT's 11th birthday.
So here is a huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY my gorgeous cooking buddy.

xxxx

Lemon Meringue Pie

1 1/2 cups of plain flour.

3 teaspoons of icing sugar.

140gms of cold butter

1 egg yolk

2 tablespoons of cold water.

The juice and finely grated rind of 2 lemons.

1 x 395gm can of sweetened condensed milk.

4 egg yolks

4 egg whites

3/4 cup of caster sugar.

(5 egg whites is you'd like to use the one left over from making the pastry, I did & my filling/meringue ratio is slightly off)

Throw your flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor and process until you have a mix that resembles breadcrumbs. Next add your egg yolk and gradually add your water until the mixture comes together.

Transfer the pastry to a floured surface and knead lightly until smooth. Form into a small disk and stick it in the fridge for 1/2 an hour.

Combine your juice, rind and condensed milk in a bowl and whisk together.

I am assured at this point you can also whisk in your egg yolks but I'm always worried that the lemon will start cooking the yolks and ruin my texture so I leave it for another few steps.

Preheat your oven to 180C. Roll out your pastry to fit a 24cm loose bottomed flan tin. Line the tin with the pastry, trim the edges and fork holes in the base. Line your pastry with baking paper and fill the case with pastry weights or uncooked rice. Blind bake at 180C for 10 minutes. Remove weights and cook for a further 5 minutes.

At this point I whisk in my egg yolks (you may have done this earlier).

Once the pastry case is out of the oven for the second time fill with your lemon mixture and place back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.

Whilst the middle is cooking whisk your egg whites until the form soft peaks.

Add your caster sugar gradually, say in 5 parts. Whisk until dissolved between each addition. I count to ten. 

Once the middle has cooked for 5 minutes remove it from the oven and reduced the oven temp to 150C.

Spread the top of your pie with meringue and stick it back in until your meringue has slightly browned.

Let cool completely on a wire rack and serve.

xx