Lemo n m e ri n g u e pi e Serves
8 / prep 1 hour, plus cooling / cook 1 hour
This is a good, old-fashioned lemon meringue, with a nice sharp lemon curd filling and clouds of billowing meringue. 1 quantity sweet paÌry (page xxx) For the lemon curd 6 large lemons 230g caÌer sugar pinch of salt 80g cornflour 12 medium egg yolks (keep some of the whites for the meringue topping) 230g unsalted butter, softened For the meringue 6 medium egg whites 280g caÌer sugar 1 teaÍoon cornflour 1 teaÍoon lemon juice
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How to Bake
1. Roll out the paÌry to a circle about 3mm thick. Don’t worry if it crumbles or breaks on the firÌ roll – juÌ press it together and re-roll. Use it to line a buttered, 25cm, loose-based tart tin, leaving the excess paÌry hanging over the edge. Using a fork, prick it all over then chill it for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180˚C. 2. Line the paÌry with crumpled greaseproof paper or foil and fill with baking beans. Bake the paÌry blind for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5–8 minutes until juÌ golden at the edges and dry-looking in the centre. Trim off the rough edges. 3. Reduce your oven to 140˚C. 4. Finely grate the zeÌ of two of the lemons. Mix the zeÌ with the sugar, salt and cornflour in a saucepan. Squeeze the juice from all the lemons, Ìrain it in to the saucepan and beat with the sugar mixture. Heat gently, Ìirring often, until thickened. Take off the heat and beat in the egg yolks, then return to the heat and cook gently again, Ìirring, until thick. Take off the heat and whisk in the butter until melted. Pour into the baked paÌry case. 5. Beat the egg whites until they are holding soft peaks. Now beat in the sugar one tableÍoon at a time. Once it is all incorporated, carry on beating for 3–4 minutes until really glossy. Add the cornflour and lemon juice. Spoon over the lemon curd mix in the tart. Bake for about an hour, until criÍ on top and golden. Leave to cool completely before serving.