When you’ve ha d a beautiful meal and would like to finish with a crisp refreshing dessert then here it is. A Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie is full of flavour, incredibly easy to prepare and is the perfect end to a meal. I do cheat and use a premade pastry crust. Served cold as a dessert. Also this pie can be made in advance and frozen, just make the lemon curd and pour it into the base and allow to cool. Once cool, tightly wrap with plastic wrap and pop in the freezer for up to 2 months. Strangely, most people think that a homemade lemon meringue pie is a French pie but it’s actually an American creation first recorded in 1806.
To avoid a soggy base, I pop it into the oven for 5 minutes whilst the oven is heating up. This way the lemon curd mixture hits a warm base and starts to firm up immediately. Also by making the meringue first, it is layered on a hot curd. This means the water in the meringue also won’t make the base soggy as it starts to cook from underneath. A perfect result.
Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie
Ingredients
Meringue Ingredients
- 4 large eggs whites only
- 115 g caster sugar
Filling Ingredients
- 2 large lemons zest and juice
- 230 g caster sugar
- 355 ml water
- 4 large eggs yolks/free range
- 28 g unsalted butter
- 14 g all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 medium pie crust 9 inch
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3
- Add the eggs whites to a mixing bowl and whisk using an electric mixer. When the whites are lovely and fluffy, slowly add the sugar and continue to whisk until the whites and sugar form “stiff peaks”. This is where the whites stay raised and no longer sag.4 large eggs, 115 g caster sugar
- In a separate mixing bowl add the flour, cornstarch, salt and the sugar to a medium pan and whisk together.14 g all purpose flour, 2 tbsp corn starch, ¼ tsp salt, 230 g caster sugar
- Once mixed, add the water, lemon juice and zest and stir again to combine.355 ml water, 2 large lemons
- Place over a medium high heat and stir until the mixture bubbles away (boiling). Add the butter and stir to combine.28 g unsalted butter
- In a small bowl add the egg yolks and lightly whisk. Carefully add about 3 tablespoons of the mixture from the pan and stir to mix. Add the egg mixture to the pan and stir to mix.4 large eggs
- Place back on the heat and bring to a boil whilst stirring continuously so it doesn’t burn or stick. Once the filling thickens, remove from the heat and pour into the pie crust.1 medium pie crust
- Using a spatula, spread the premade meringue over the filling (whilst its still hot) making sure you go right up to the edges. Using the spatula, create peaks so it’s not just flat.
- Place on to a baking tray and place in the oven for 20 minutes or until the meringue is lovely and golden. If not ready after 20 minutes, leave for another 5 minutes and check again.
