Lemon Meringue Pie
This classic Lemon Meringue Pie has a homemade shortcrust pastry, lemon curd filling and is topped with an Italian Meringue.
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Lemon Meringue Pie
I feel like lemon meringue pie is such a classic dessert. I don’t know anyone who dislikes it. The sharpness of the lemon curd just pairs so well with the shortcrust pastry and sweetness of the meringue.
There are so many lemon-flavoured recipes on my blog including my Lemon Curd Cake, Lemon and Raspberry Trifle and Lemon and Blueberry Cupcakes but I don’t have any Lemon Meringue recipes until now.
Shortcrust Pastry
I made my own shortcrust pastry for this recipe. If you haven’t made shortcrust pastry before, it can be quite daunting but don’t worry, it is so easy to make.
This recipe will still be perfect if you do decide to use shop-bought shortcrust pastry instead thought.
The pastry can either be made by rubbing the butter into the flour using your hands or you can put the ingredients into a food processor and blitz them. Once the milk is added it will start to form a dough.
Lemon Curd
I have been wanting to meaning to share my lemon curd recipe on here for such a long time I just haven’t gotten around to making it and photographing it.
To make the lemon curd you only need four ingredients, lemons, of course, caster sugar, eggs and butter.
The sugar, lemons and butter need to be added to a large bowl over a pot of simmering water. This is called a Baine Marie. Once the butter is melted you need to whisk in the eggs and continue whisking for around 10 minutes.
The heat from the simmering water helps to cook the egg. If you end up with a scrambled egg mixture then your hob is too hot. The lemon curd will thicken as you whisk it.
Meringue
There are so many different ways to make meringue. However, since my pastry crust and lemon curd are already baked I didn’t want to have to add the lemon meringue pie to the oven again to bake the meringue.
This prompted me to make an Italian Meringue. To make an Italian Meringue you whisk up your egg whites just as you normally would for a meringue. The bowl that you are whisking your egg whites in needs to be completely clean and dry. If there is any water or crumbs in the bowl this will ruin your egg whites and stop them from doubling in volume.
The sugar needs to be added to your egg whites one tablespoon at a time. Remember and leave time in between each addition of sugar
Once your egg whites have reached this stage you need to make your sugar syrup. This sugar syrup is then added to the egg whites and because it is so hot, will cook the eggs.
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You do need a sugar thermometer for this stage as the sugar syrup needs to reach 120C or Firm Ball Stage.
Once it has reached this temperature whisk your egg whites and slowly pour the sugar syrup in. You need to pour this into the side of the bowl and not directly into the whisks. It is obviously super hot and you don’t want it splashing back and burning you.
When you have added all the sugar syrup continue to whisk your egg whites until the bowl has cooled down.
Once the egg white mixture has cooled down you can pipe it onto the top of your lemon meringue pie.
At this point it is safe to eat and the egg whites in the meringue have been cooked by the sugar syrup. If you want to give the meringue a little bit of colour you can use a blow torch to brown the meringue.
Alternatives
You can use shop-bought shortcrust pastry instead of making your own.
You could also use a shop-bought lemon curd; this will be slightly softer than if you make your own but will still taste delicious.
Equipment
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Lemon Meringue Pie
Ingredients
For the Shortcrust Pastry
- 200 g Plain Flour
- 100 g Unsalted Butter
- 1-3 tbsp Whole Milk or Water
For the Lemon Curd
- Zest of 4 Lemons
- Juice of 4 Lemons
- 100 g Caster Sugar
- 85 g Unsalted Butter
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 2 Large Eggs
For the Italian Meringue
- 100 ml Water
- 200 g Granulated Sugar
- 6 Large Eggs
Instructions
To Make the Shortcrust Pastry
- Add the flour and butter to a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingers tips or put the butter and flour into a food processor and blitz until they form fine breadcrumbs.
- Gradually add the water to the bowl or the food processor and mix until it starts forming a dough.
- Grease your tart tin and leave it to one side.
- Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface and roll out to 2-3mm thick.
- Gently lift your pastry into your tin and press it into the bottom and sides. Ensure that there aren't any gaps. If there are fill these in with the excess pastry.
- Put the tart tin into the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Towards the end of the 30-minute refrigeration time preheat the oven to 200C/180 Fan.
- Cover the pastry with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Blind bake the pastry for 15 minutes.
- Remove the pastry from the oven, remove the baking beans and baking parchment and bake the tart for a further 5-10 minutes until it is golden brown in colour.
- Leave the pastry to cool fully in the tin.
To Make the Lemon Curd
- Put the lemon zest, lemon juice, butter and sugar into a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Stir the mixture occasionally until the butter has melted completely.
- Add the egg yolks and eggs in a separate bowl and whisk them together.
- Pour the whisked eggs into the lemon mixture and whisk continually for 10-15 minutes. The mixture will start to thicken and it is ready when it coats the back of a spoon.
- Pour the mixture into your pastry case and leave to set in the fridge while you make your meringue.
To Make the Italian Meringue
- Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks in a large heatproof bowl. Leave to one side.
- Add the water to a large saucepan with the sugar and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.
- Once the mixture starts to boil keep an eye on the temperature using a sugar thermometer. You want it to get to 120C (Firm Ball Stage)
- Once the sugar syrup reaches 120C remove it from the heat, start whisking your egg whites again and slowly pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites. Continue to whisk the egg whites for a further 10 minutes after the sugar syrup has been added until the egg whites have cooled down.
- Add the meringue to the top of the lemon mixture. If you want to brown the meringue you can do this by using a blowtorch.
Notes
- This Lemon Meringue Pie will last 2+ days in the fridge.
I haven’t had a lemon meringue pie in such a long time, but being able to make one can cure that! This sounds like a great recipe, and something I could manage.