A lemon meringue pie recipe to celebrate the day

Lemon Meringue Pie Day is on August 15 its the best excuse we could find to have some pie.

The step by step makes making the crust to the filling easy.  All4Women provides this delicious recipe from food blogger Tami Magnin.

Pastry:
180g cake flour
20ml icing sugar
100g cold butter
1 egg yolk (save the egg white for the meringue)

Filling:
3 lemons, finely grate zest, then squeeze-out about 125ml juice
1 orange, finely grate zest, then squeeze out about 75ml juice
100g castor sugar (or grind regular white sugar in a food processor until fine)
30ml cornflour (cornstarch) (Maizena)
3 egg yolks (save the egg white for the meringue)
1 whole egg
90g butter, cubed

Meringue:
4 egg whites (that you saved from earlier)
200g castor sugar
10ml cornflour (Maizena)

Method

Pastry:
Place the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor and get that motor running.

Cut the butter up into smaller blocks and drop down the chute of the processor while the motor does its thing.

When the mixture starts to look like breadcrumbs, add the egg yolk and blitz for a few more seconds until it starts to come together.

Turn the machine off and remove the blade. Bring the mixture together with your hands and wrap the flattened disc in plastic.

Refrigerate until you’re ready to bake.

Filling:
Preheat oven to 200°C and prep a pie dish or cake tin with butter or non-stick spray.

Place a baking sheet in the oven to warm up. Your cake tin will be placed onto this hot baking sheet to ensure your pastry bakes evenly.

Roll out your pastry and carefully transfer to your prepped dish. Push the pastry into the corners and trim the edges. Don’t trim too closely as pastry does shrink once baked.

Pie crust. Photo: iStock

Cover the uncooked pastry in baking paper and fill with dried beans or uncooked rice. Bake for 15 minutes then remove the paper and discard rice/beans.

Bake pastry for a further 8 minutes until golden brown.

While you are waiting for the pastry, prep your filling. Heat sugar, cornflour, lemon zest and juices in a medium saucepan on the stove. Stir continuously until thick and smooth (this takes about 5 minutes).

Remove the pan from the heat while you beat egg yolks and whole egg together and add it to the pan. Whisk briefly to incorporate and place the mixture back onto the heat. Stir over medium heat until thick and smooth (it should look a bit like thick cream).

Remove from the heat and beat in the butter until all the butter has melted and the curd is glossy. Set aside while you make the meringue.

Meringue:

Whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar one spoon at a time until fully incorporated and the meringue is glossy and thick. Gently fold in the cornflour until no trace of it remains. Work gently to ensure that you don’t knock any of the air out.

Meringue mixture. Photo: iStock

Fill your pastry shell with the hot lemon curd and top with the meringue working from the outside of the tart to the center. Place onto the hot baking tray in the oven and turn the temperature down to 160°C.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the meringue is golden brown. Watch this carefully as the meringue could burn before the full 20 minutes are up.

Turn off the oven and leave the lemon meringue inside the oven with the oven door ajar until completely cool. I prefer to not refrigerate as I find the meringue goes soft.

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