Lovely Lemon Meringue Pie

In a mixing bowl, add the flour and the diced butter and rub together breaking the butter apart.

Add a pinch of salt and the icing sugar and stir in well.

Combine the egg yolk with 2 tablespoons of cold water and add to the mixture. Start to stir in the yolk with a metal knife. To form into a dough ball, use your hands to bring it all together.

Flatten the dough slightly and wrap tightly with cling film/plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

When ready to prepare the pie, liberally flour a flat surface and roll the pastry out to fill a 9 inch flan tin. (Alternatively, you can divide it into smaller pie trays but maybe when you are used to quantities.)

Preheat the oven to 200C/390F/Gas Mark 6.

Transfer the pastry into the tin gently pushing it into the nooks. Pierce the base with a fork and add a crumpled greaseproof paper/baking paper into it. Add baking beans and pop into the oven to blind bake for about 15 minutes. This give the base a chance to bake without being soggy.

Remove from the oven, remove the baking beans and paper and place back in the oven for a further 8 minutes until the pastry starts to turn slightly golden. Remove and allow to cool. Turn the oven off.

While the pastry base is baking, grate the zest only from the 4 lemons and put in a small saucepan and add the sugar and corn flour. Place over a medium heat.

Squeeze the lemon juice into a measuring jug catching the pips/seeds. Ideally you need between 170 – 180 ml of juice. Top up the juice with water so you have 375ml. This creates a perfect level between sharp and sweet.

Add the lemon water mix to the pan slowly stirring constantly to achieve a lovely smooth texture.

Raise the temperature until it starts to simmer and thickens and cook for 2 – 3 minutes making sure there are no corn flour lumps.

Remove from the heat and gently stir in the egg yolks and the butter. When fully combined, pass the mixture through a sieve to remove any bits. Pour the sieve mixture gently into the pastry base until it levels out. Leave to cool fully.

Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas Mark 2.

Place the egg whites into a blender mixing bowl and start to whisk. Start on a low level and slowly build up until you achieve stiff peaks.

When the peaks have been achieved, add the cornflour then add the sugar a 1/3rd at a time and whisk a little, then add another 1/3rd and repeat.

The meringue should be lovely and shiny and hold its place even when the bowl is turned upside down. Also, it should not be grainy as the sugar should have been full absorbed. Rub a little meringue between your fingers to check.

Spoon the meringue onto the cooled lemon filling making sure all of the ribs of the pie tray are filled. Be as artistic as you wish with the peaks. A soft flexible palette knife is ideal for this.

When your happy, place the pie into the oven for 25 minutes. Ideally the meringue will be lightly browned and not too crisp.

When cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 25 – 30 minutes or so.