Spring is Here (finally) Lemon Meringue Pie Time!

Hello Readers, Throw away your casserole pots and go pick some daffodils. Spring is here! It may have been a week sine the start of meteorlogical spring but it certainly hasn't felt like it. Now the sun shines through the windows (which are open for the firs time this year) and I feel in the mood for a store cupboard showstopper with zing and freshness. There is only ever one thing I come to, the ultimate crowd pleaser, lemon meringue pie. This isnt one to eat too much of (not at 600 calories a slice) but it is the best flavour combination you will ever come across. Buttery pastry, filled with zingy but still creamy lemon and topped with and impressive melt in the mouth sweetness, delightful. However, dont be fooled, its difficult to make and takes time and patience, sometimes you just have to stick at it and the result will be extraordinary. Ingredients: For the Pastry: 150g plain four 100g cold butter, cubed 50g icing sugar, sieved 1 large egg 1tbsp For the Filling: 2 lemons, zest and juice 50g cornflour 250ml water 100g caster sugar 3 large egg yolks Fro the Meringue: 4 large egg whites 225g caster sugar Method: Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4 Put the flour and icing sugar into a bowl and rub in the butter making as little contact as possible to keep the butter cold. Add the egg, beaten, a bit at a time until you have a smooth but not too sticky pastry, add the water to do this if necessary. Roll out the pastry and transfer to a 20cm flan tin (no need to grease this), prick the base of the pastry lightly with a fork and chill for 30 minutes. You may need to chill the pastry before rolling out if it is quite soft. Bake the pastry blind for 15 minutes, if you dont have baking beans use rice or dried pasta instead. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 160C/gas 3. Then cook for 5 more minutes without the baking beans. Make the filling by mixing the zest and juice of the lemons with the cornflour. Mix the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl. Bring the water to boil in a pan. Add the cornflour mixture and whisk over the heat until thickened, remove from the heat. Whisk the egg yolk mix into the thickened liquid. Return to the heat until thickened to your preferred consistency (remember it thickens a bit as it cools). For the meringue whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form if you lift the whisk up. Slowly add the sugar 1tbsp at a time whilst continuously whisking until the meringue is thick, glossy and all the sugar is well combined. Put the filling into the pastry case then add dollops of meringue on top making sure you cover the whole pie, try to make it look almost like a mountain then use a fork to add swirls to the meringue. Bake for 15 minutes until the meringue is slightly golden. 

Look forward to some Easter bakes! The Food Kid