My Ultimate Lemon Meringue Pie

A classic lemon meringue pie, with a few twists and turns to make it a bit extra special 🙂

Lemon meringue pie is one of those classic desserts, with most recipes being inherited from generation to generation. Unfortunately, this is not one which I inherited from anyone, so I had to consult a multitude of recipes, combine different ones, to come up with my version.

Despite looking similar, different recipes produce very different results. To begin, the base can be made from a short crust pastry, or a biscuit base. The filling can take the form of a traditional (thickened) lemon curd or a condensed milk filling and the meringue can either be French or Italian. Here is what I decided to go with and why …..

For the crust, I opted for a crisp golden short crust pastry as I feel you can control the sweetness a bit better, than with a biscuit base. Admittedly, a biscuit base is easier however, so you decide ;).

For the filling, I found the traditional lemon curd fillings to be far too tart, almost cloyingly so. In all honesty, I also favoured the condensed milk filling because of its simplicity, after spending a bit more time on the pastry.

Lastly, my favourite meringue is always an Italian version over a French. I find that it makes a more dense, marshmallow-like meringue that is more stable – not deflating as easily.

WHAT SHOULD I KNOW ABOUT MAKING THIS RECIPE?

• There are a few components to this recipe, but do not be intimidated by them – take a breath and tackle them step by step. In fact, there is sufficient resting time between each step to allow you to focus on just a single component at a time.

Pastry

• For the pastry, it is important not to overwork the dough. Do not mix it in the food processor until it comes together. Instead, it will look like very fine crumbs in the food processor. At this point, tip it onto a work surface and bring it together by hand.
• Resting the pastry at the stated times is crucial to ensure it has that firm crispness to it.
• Blind baking is essential to avoid a soggy bottom 🙂

Filling

• If your oven is too hot, the filling will curdle as the eggs scramble.
• Once you have baked the crust at 180 degrees Celcius, make sure that you reduce the temperature to 160 degrees Celcius and let the oven cool down for a few minutes.
• When the baked pie, with filling comes out of the oven. Let it cool to room temperature, and refrigerate for a few hours, before topping with a meringue.

Meringue

• I have chosen to use an Italian Meringue recipe, as I like the marshmallow feel that it provides.
• It is a bit more finicky however, so if you prefer, use a French meringue recipe. There are a plethora on the web!

If you make this recipe, please share it with me by tagging me on Instagram @adventureswithsugar or on Facebook at Adventures with Sugar.

FOR THE SHORTCRUST PASTRY

• 200g cake flour
• 30g ground almonds
• 125g fridge-cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 50g icing sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons of milk

METHOD

1. Combine all the dry ingredients: Place the flour, ground almonds and icing sugar into a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
2. Add in the butter: Place the butter into the food processor and pulse a few more times. This will be about five to six pulses. You just want the butter to look like large, irregular breadcrumbs, but not like fine sand.
3. Add in the egg and milk: Add in the egg yolk and milk and pulse until the mixture looks fine and bread-crumb like. The mixture would not have come together completely, but this is fine as we will bring it together by hand.
4. Combine and rest: Tip onto a clean surface and use your hands to bring together, until the pastry just holds. Pat down to form a disc of about 3cm in thickness. Wrap in cling wrap and place in the fridge for an hour to chill.
5. Blind bake the pastry case: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius. Roll out the pastry to about 5mm thickness and line the base and sides of a 26cm tart tin, with a removable base. The easiest way to do this is to roll the pastry out, then let it firm up a bit in the fridge for 15 minutes. Then confidently lift the rolled pastry and place into the tin, tucking into the corners and trimming the overhang. Take a large piece of baking paper and place into the tin. Fill the tin with baking beans or rice and blind bake for 20 – 25 minutes.
6. Seal, bake and cool: Once the pastry has baked blind for 25 minutes, then remove the baking beans and baking paper within the tin. Mix the large egg yolk and milk and brush it gently over the pastry case. This helps to seal the case and prevents the filling from making the base soggy. Return to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes until the pastry has turned a nice tan to golden brown, but not too dark.

FOR THE FILLING

• 770g condensed milk
• 6 large egg yolks
• 250ml lemon juice

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to the correct temperature: The pastry case was baked at 180 degrees Celcius. The filling needs to be baked at 160 degrees Celcius in order to ensure that the mixture does not curdle.
2. Combine all the ingredients: Place the condensed milk, lemon zest and juice and whisk to combine. Then add in the egg yolks and continue to whisk until it comes together.
3. Pour in the mixture and bake: Place the tart tin with the pastry case onto another larger tray to make it easier to handle. Then pour in the filling and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. The filling is set when the sides are fully firm, but the middle will be slightly wobbly.
4. Let cool before topping: Once baked, remove from the oven and let it set at room temperature for an hour. Then place in the fridge and let it set for about 6 hours before topping with meringue.

FOR THE ITALIAN MERINGUE

• 6 large egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 60ml water
• 250g caster sugar, divided between 150g and 100g
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

METHOD

1. Make a sugar syrup: Place 150g of the caster sugar and 60ml of water into a medium size, heat proof saucepan. Heat on medium heat until the mixture begins to boil and reaches 118 degrees Celcius. Whilst this is coming up to a boil, get on with the remaining eggs and sugar in step 2.
2. Stabilize the egg whites: Add the egg whites and cream of tartar into a bowl and whip until the egg whites are foamy. Then begin to add the 100g of caster sugar, a tablespoon at a time, allowing one tablespoon to dissolve before adding the next one.
3. Add the sugar syrup to the egg mixture: Once the sugar syrup has come up to 118 degrees celcius, remove from the stove and slowly begin to stream into the egg mixture. Continue to whip for about 5 minutes until the meringue has cooled and is slightly glossy and velvety.
4. Add in the vanilla bean paste: Add in the vanilla bean paste to the meringue and mix for a further 30 seconds to combine.
5. Spoon on the meringue and torch: Pile the meringue onto the cooled filling, using the back of a spoon in order to spread it out. Then use a blowtorch to gently toast the meringue. For best results, slice with a hot knife.

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com